Why bother with games and on-line simulations in geoscience education?
Google Map, Wikipedia, Wikitravel? have new opportunities for teaching.
New opportunities from Web 2.0 for learning 2.0
New media (e.g. Convergence Culture) changing how we and students interact with media
The ways we use technology inside and outside education are starting to come together.
What is Alan's group exploring?
Horizon Project - remote collaboration to create a report on the technology in education horizon (at various timescales)
e.g.
Grassroots Video
Collaboration Webs - (e.g. google home page;
Mobile Broadband
Data Mashups (map based)
Collective Intelligence (e.g. aggregating small bits; building on each others work, NetFlix contest - put out data, set criteria for success, tested against data, and had a prize for motivation (wired has an article))
Social Operating Systems (merging facebook type networking in other technologies - moves away from login into every distinct site)
Games
Engaging - but take a lot of work -- is this viable in a small community like geo education, gaming engines may make more affordable
what skills underpin expertise or ease with games--how does this impact use in education
role of goals vs exploration in games
what makes game promote thinking -- multiple choice games may not promote this; role of open-ended exploration in next level types of games
alternate reality games (ARGNet) - World without oil
is the NetFlix contest an example of this?
Second Life
Exploring collaboration in a virtual world - sorting out what can be done
big learning curve especially for building
big win is collaborative construction of content in real time(arts, NOAA)
big potential for visualizing in 3-d, realtime collaboration in 3-d.
power is in social interaction not in data manipulation
compare to google sketch up work in architecture -- need realism and real data manipulation (sketch up reduces learning curve and financial barriers - limited capabilities but does basic things you want to do for drawing buildings-- now getting a collection of buildings on campuses and then build on that. Similar model for geoscience things?)
Google Earth as a Mirror world -- misses the interactions of 2nd life - but starting to incorporate the street/texture rich buildings from sketch up
Open Croquet
Wonderland - organizations can run their own virtual world in their own space -- collaboratively using desktop applications
Comments - importance of Google Earth in generating interest in geoscience careers.