My Final is Finally Done!

My presentation is here:



My final project can be found at http://ruasist.pbwiki.com and my proposal is at the top of the sidebar on the wiki.

Happy Holidays and best wishes for a happy & healthy New Year for everyone.

If I were the Queen...

I shouldn't have read everyone else's posts first, because now I feel like I don't have any ideas left...

Readings:

• Keep Keen because he's a conversation-starter. If you want to replace him with another conversation starter, use danah boyd's class division article instead (I like Laura's suggestion of moving db to earlier in the semester).
• Keep Feed and Farkas.
• Get rid of The Social Life of Information. Some of the chapters are available online if you don't want to let it go completely.
• Limit books by Wired editors to one. My personal preference would be to keep Johnson and use Anderson's "Long Tail" article instead of the book.

Technology:

• Keep all of it. I do agree with Tara's observation that we probably don't need to set up so many e-mail accounts. I would recommend keeping Google and Yahoo! accounts. After the IM week, I never used the aol account.
• After using the voice chat option in Second Life, I would suggest adding Skype as one of the tools we practice with. It would be especially helpful for troubleshooting, when one person is trying to help another person get something set up.
• I would recommend doing social networking earlier in the semester. It's something that's pretty easy to self-teach, and students can use it throughout the semester.
• I LOVE Amy's suggestion of Club Penguin vs. Second Life. It's easy, fun, doesn't have so many tech requirements, and would be a good introduction into the MMOG metaverse. People who are interested in further exploration could try out SL. Alternatively, if you're going to keep SL, we should plan to have one virtual meeting in there. I had so much more fun with RR and JF than I did when I went by myself.

Interaction:

• I second all the requests for comment continuation on the blogs. My blog feels a little sad when it has posts with zero comments.
• I also second Renee's suggestion that we keep finding "new to us" stuff and bookmark it.
• We probably don't need to subscribe to apophenia. I don't mind reading it, but my reader got cluttered up with danah boyd's vacation notices and pharmacy problems, which I just don't care about.

I learned so much in this class, and although it was time-consuming, it was all worth it. I find myself telling people about how great these tools are and even convinced an RU instructor to screencast for her students (thus eliminating one or two old school paper handouts). Now I must work on my final...two due the same day.

Being Steven Johnson

"But when you immerse yourself in a book, you get a different sort of experience: you enter the author's mind, and peer out at the world through their eyes" (p. 186).

This also is a great description of what happens in Being John Malkovich, which is a movie I happen to love. Anyway, I've spent enough time looking out through Steven Johnson's eyes that I'm pretty sure I would avoid him at a party. With few exceptions, he and I do not like the same shows, movies, or games. It turns out that I am exactly like the BBC responder who was "shocked" that Johnson could write a pop culture book without any references to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (p. 203). My primary objections are not so much what he leaves out, but what he includes, mostly because I don't like so many of his examples.

His argument? I buy it. I complained in my last post that he didn't really talk about how much new technology has played a part in increased cognitive development. He covers that in Part 2, and I think the overall points he makes about the complexity of material and technology making us smarter are valid.

I strongly disagree with him that the content can be easily separated from the cognitive challenge the material presents. As a parent, I do not ever, under any circumstances, see myself recommending Grand Theft Auto to my kids (or my husband), no matter how much of a cognitive challenge it may present. However, as an interactive family activity, I have let my children watch my husband play Tomb Raider, Shadow of the Colossus and [blush] Resident Evil. The spectator kids can keep track of my husband's entire inventory, tell him which weapons are most effective, and they play complex imaginary games based on characters from the games (e.g., in one scenario, Lara Croft (TR) and Jill Valentine (RE) are best friends). My son, who does not like writing for school, writes lists of weapons, ammo, passwords, hints and draws maps for the game. My daughter reads our favorite walkthroughs when my husband gets stuck. As the family moral compass, I am in the room reading a book and vocally disapproving of violent video games. I have seen firsthand how quickly and easily the kids can absorb complex game stories, strategies, etc. and apply what they learn in one game to another. We have also had some interesting discussions about gun violence, what would happen if you jumped off a building in the real world, etc. As an unexpected bonus for me, video gaming has led my kids to look for new books in the library on a variety of subjects ranging from military weaponry to what the inside of a real Hindu temple looks like.

So, overall, I'd say playing games, watching tv, and surfing the net are all good for you...in moderation and with adult supervision, of course. For libraries and educational institutions, this means recognizing that incorporating various media types is becoming increasingly necessary to help patrons/students develop 21st century problem-solving skills.

Freak Show...er...Second Life

I already blogged about my first entry into Second Life. Good times.
FYI, here is my avatar...she's a gamer girl.



On my second excursion inworld, I teleported right to Information Island. I flew around looking at stuff, but no one was there.... I decided to look for a coffee shop, and I found one that said it was noob-friendly, but I didn't make it over to the coffee counter because there was a guy and a girl in there and they were...um...busy. Quit again.

Third time's a charm, right? I am back in the creepy coffee shop, so I use the map to "go home." I find myself in the middle of some sort of fight...Melina somebody-or-other was rude to a couple of other people (one of them is a cake. like a birthday cake?). Profanity is flying and Melina...I mean her avatar...is a nude woman with HUGE...never mind. Entertaining to watch her type, but I am starting to think I must have accidentally set myself up in a mature "red light" zone, so I quit again and consult my husband (more role-playing experience than me).

He swings in and shows me that I'm in a PG zone (like I thought) and that people are just breaking the PG (no bad language/nudity/soliciting sex) rules. Go figure. He figures out the controls pretty quickly and just walks around talking to people, most of whom ignore him. Then a guy comes over, introduces himself, says he's new and doesn't know what's going on. My avatar doesn't either, so we agree to be friends. Then Alix starts IM'ing me, asking am I really a girl? how old? I get the "nice ;]]" and I start hyperventilating and tell my husband to quit because I know where this is going. My husband thinks I'm the freak for freaking out...it turns out my inability to separate myself from my avatar makes it difficult for me to roleplay. I think I would be better at this if my avatar had a job to do, like answer reference questions. Walking around trying to make friends (and getting hit on) makes me feel creepy and weird. Stranger danger!!!

When I log in to my home this morning, some shirtless guy wants to bite me. In the spirit of roleplaying (and Twilight), I say yes. He's no Edward Cullen. Somebody tells me to report him because he's bothering everyone. I am excited to know what a "griefer" is!!



It turns out my "home" is some kind of noob ski lodge (found that out by eavesdropping on some disappointed visitors). I don't know if anyone else was "born" here, but it's a crazy place. Today I found out how to gesture...the "/repulsed" gesture includes me...I mean my avatar...saying "eeeeewww".



This is not the same guy from yesterday. This new avatar/guy gives me the creeps because his gun says "safety off" and he's gigantic. Either my avatar is a freak magnet (possible) or there is a high freak quotient in SL (I'm going with this one). Once again, I teleport to the safety and solitude of Information Island. I think I'll be hanging out here from now on.......

"Not everything is sunshine and daisies"...

I'm in Second Life. I've got a cool avatar. I've been standing in the same place for about 5 minutes (going through the tutorial) when a guy approaches...

We exchange small talk...

hi/hi
are you from turkey?/us
what's your name? (we exchange our 2nd life names)
want to go?/where?
sex/no thanks
please??????/bye

If only I were screencasting. It would cut to him frantically typing "sorry" and me frantically pressing the "quit" button (yes, yes, get me out of here).

I am wondering two things...
1) Does 2nd life have pepper spray?
2) Is it possible that Gabber Delicioso might be a hooker name?

I choose Wii!

I'm the part-time youth services librarian at my local branch library. We live in a suburban community. My main responsibility is to program for middle-school aged students. We have one large community room with a widescreen tv. I would like to get some gaming equipment that will work in that room with our existing tv for tournament-type events.

How would you research?
* I would ask my patrons what they would like to see in the library. I would also look at whether any other libraries have successfully implemented a gaming program and what they are using.

What would your criteria be?
* Money! How much money do I have 1) for a system, and 2) for games.
* The equipment can only be used in the community room (that's where our only tv is), so it has to work with our existing equipment.
* Our library is small, so games need to be family-oriented (suitable for sibling and/or grandparent spectators).

Which do you think you would get?
* Like so many others, I would choose the wii. The wii can be used by disabled patrons, it has lots of family-friendly games that students enjoy playing, and the whole system is less expensive than the PS3 (which the kids are clamoring for). The wii accessories (e.g., extra remotes) are reasonably priced, and the system has a good track record for durability and ease of use. Other libraries in my area are successfully using the wii for gaming in the library, which makes it easier for me to justify to my superiors!

Steven Johnson vs. Bugs Bunny

Is popular culture (games, tv, film) just a method to "sophisticatedly deliver stupidity" (paraphrasing George Will)? Was it ever? I generally agree with Johnson that there is something to be said for engagement with media and the resulting skill sets that can be developed. I guess my problem is that I think this has been the case all along, and that we, as both consumers and producers, are simply adapting to more sophisticated and interactive media.

Johnson doesn't spend a lot of time talking about ubiquitous modern media and our unprecedented access to it. When I was a kid, there were about 8 channels to choose from (3 networks and 5 UHF/VHF channels). I listened to records or whatever was on the radio and was pretty jealous of my friend's mom's awesome 8-track in the car. My dad was the video gamer who played Time Pilot late into the night...



A big problem I have with Part 1 is that I feel as though Johnson glosses over the importance of technological advances and how they have contributed to the complexity of the games/shows/movies, etc. that he is discussing. More sophisticated graphics, special effects, and programming capabilities allow for more sophisticated storytelling. System portability allows users/viewers to access modern media when it's convenient for them. If they don't "get" a Seinfeld or Simpsons reference, they can pause the show and Google it. As he describes the highbrow(?) Simpsons as a model for a show that "contains a joke that makes sense only if the viewer fills in the proper supplementary information" (p. 85), I think he must have missed out on Bugs Bunny as Rabbit Hood:



Some other classic Bugs that you may enjoy (if only for the trip down memory lane):
What's Opera, Doc? and Rabbit of Seville

So far, Johnson isn't saying anything to me that's really new. We'll see if that changes in Part 2.

Find Four (or not)

My kids use Club Penguin to play interactive games, so I tried "Find Four" in the ski lodge. I lost.

Here is a link to the screencast of my ignominious defeat. (Not embedding due to previously discussed gigantism issues with Jing embeds).

Screencasting How-To

1) Picture your audience. They can be in their underwear if that helps. I find that I do better screencasts if I envision talking to a particular person or group. I think about what my audience would want to see, and then I show them.

2) Size your screen!! and do a runthrough. I size my screen first, then record a dry run. If I'm doing a one-off that can't be redone (like how to set up an account), I just pretend to do the steps for my first take. Then I watch it to see if everything I wanted made it into the picture (sometimes stuff gets cut off that you're not expecting) and whether I rambled or was too close to the mic for "p". I also watch for delays. Sometimes my process takes longer on the screen while I'm recording than it does when I play it back. Then I know to keep my commentary (more or less) in synch with what "really" happens. Finally, I am not an "ummmer," but I do tend to get off-topic, so my runthrough helps me identify and avoid these pitfalls.

3) Just do it. I make sure my Westminster-chiming clock is far enough away from chiming for me to do my screencast, and I just start talking to my virtual audience, demo the process, and end it. The more you do, the easier it is. Also, if you practice too much or try to make it too perfect, you can get stuck in an endless loop of rerecording, and you don't have time for that!!!

4) File name!! Amy already covered this, but do rename your files. It helps you remember what each one is about and it helps others know what they're going to be watching. You can do it before or after you upload to screencast.com.

FYI, I have been selling Jing as a great way to do quick screencasts. I have also been selling screencasting as a great way for instructors to help students know what they need to do tech-wise for a class. So if you're taking Materials for Young Adults with Jill next semester, you might be getting some screencasting homework (to watch, not to record).