Scratch #2 - About me

Scratch link
The 2 Scratch Cards that I used were say something & follow the mouse. Both of these are very obvious in my little project!

My Scratch

Project link
It;s about a diver getting eaten by a shark. Very dumb, but it was my first time.

Gardens of Time

While I personally did not like the game due to its lack of challenge, this game does exhibit 5 of the 10 things Schools can Learn from Video Games (found on DEJ #9). The first one is 5. Ordered Problems. This means the the game compels the player to learn techniques or methods to solve problems. One technique that I used was to locate a few of the items listed before I started clicking because you can get a double bonus if you find the items quicker. The second is 1. Interaction. While this one isn't as prevalent as ordered problems, it still comes into play. Interaction is the player interacts with either other players or the environment of the game. In Gardens of Time, you interact with other players by hiding gifts in their garden for them to find. The next is 10. Exploring. This encourages players to explore and not move on too quickly. This game does this by letting you build in your garden instead of going on mission after mission. You have time to explore yours, and your neighbors gardens, and sometimes you find  gift that they have hidden for you. Followed by 7. Context. Context is basically the help button and the instructions to help move you through the game. The man in the corner of the screen is always reminding you of a mission or that someone needs your help and how to navigate the page. The last thing found in this game is 3. Risk Taking. This is when there is no real risk in failing. In this game there's no risk in not finding all the hidden objects.

DEJ #9

 This concept is utilized in boss encounters, which forces players to utilize previously learned skills to attempt, perhaps fail, and then use those initial failures to determine the pattern of behavior and gain feedback.

This quote was taken from the risk taking section of this article. I do agree with this statement because this is something that schools try to get their students to understand and use in daily life, especially Science. When reading this quote, the first thing I thought of was when I played Space Invaders, and after so many levels, the player has to face off against The Boss. I died many times trying to figure out a way to get past this alien until I played two player and my friend noticed that if you go to the very end of the corner, the alien can't shoot you. So we hid in the corner til The Boss moved, then came out and shot him. This method proved effective! In science, we're always told to form a hypothesis and test it. This is exactly what we did in the Space Invaders, and I agree that video games can help to utilize what they previously learned.

Resource:
 Boss attack in Space Invaders.

Citations:

admin, . "10 Things Schools Can Learn From Video Games." Learning in Gaming. N.p., 20/001/2012. Web. 22 Mar 2012. http://www.learningingaming.com/10-things-schools-can-learn-from-video-games/.

Picture found at http://www.ign.com/images/games/space-invaders-n64-10407/115689

Activity #1 - Validate Website

Website: California's Velcro Crop under Challenge
Who:
1. Can you contact the company or author through a real world postal address or phone number?
No, this website did not provide a phone number or an address. There wasn't even a publishing company mentioned.
2. Has someone taken responsibility for the content of this Web site?
Ken Umbach which has a link to a site that the author made about himself.
3. Can you confirm that the company or author is a credible, authoritative source of information?
No, unless we credit the "Totally Bogus Biography" the author made about himself.

What:
1.What's the copyright status of material found on the site?
There was no publishing company found on the page.
2.Does the site clearly state the topics that it intends to address?
Yes, the information is easy to read and even includes a graph on the information presented.
 3. Is emotion used as a means of persuasion?
This site is more about presenting the facts than a persuasion of the audience.

When:
1. Is it important that the information you're looking for be absolutely current?
Since the page was made in 1993, I think the information should be updated at least every 5 years. A lot has change in the 19 years the page was made.
2. Is a reference date provided to show when the material was put online, or when it was last updated?
By the title there is (1993) to suggest that was when this site was put up.
3. Do the links work?
Besides the link to the autobiography, the other links do not work.

Why:
1.Can I get the information faster offline?
Since I live in West Virginia, there probably isn't a lot of information on California available. It would be faster to search online.
2. Does the online material I'm finding suit my needs?
The information isn't very credible, but it does address the shortage on Velcro like I was looking for.
3. Am I able to verify this information?
No.

My Teaching Philosophy - Voki

DEJ #8

More seriously, they put their faith in the "wisdom of crowds," believing that by having many people watching what appears there, errors and vandalism will be weeded out, sooner rather than later

Reflection:
Knowing the way that people function, I would not put my faith in the "wisdom of crowd," and I'm guessing my teachers have felt the same way considering when doing any kind of research, they forbid the use of Wikipedia information. I understand what the company is trying to do by putting the power in the people and showing the knowledge that individuals hold, but many people think of it as joke and don't put reliable information on the articles. I understand that many of the articles are reliable and very correct, but the bias that has been instilled in me has made me turn away from any kind of Wikipedia information.

Resource:

Tosh.0	Tuesdays 10pm / 9c
Wikipedia Updates
tosh.comedycentral.com
Tosh.0 Videos Daniel Tosh Web Redemption

You may need to download Adobe Flash to view, but this is a video of a comedian, Daniel Tosh (Tosh.O), who makes a wikipedia page for his fans to make about him and it gets taken down due to the vulgar nature of what's written.


Citations:

Cohen, Noam. "Wikipedia." Times Topic Page on Wikipedia. (2009): n. page. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20090206friday.html.
Tosh, Daniel, perf. "Wikipedia Updates." Tosh.O. Comedy Central: 02/03/2010 . Television. <http://tosh.comedycentral.com/video-clips/wikipedia-updates>.

DEJ #7

Advocates of digital media education agree that reading online demands different skills than reading print-only texts does.

Reflection:
I 100% agree with this statement. As an honor student my entire life, I've excelled at every kind of book work including reading out of a text book, taking notes by hand, and print outs, but as the world got more high tech and online, I wasn't gaining the skills I needed to succeed. The first time I had to take a read a story on the computer screen and then answer a series of questions about what I read, I exceeded the time frame because it was extremely difficult for me to read on the screen. If schools helped teach children at a younger age, reading on the computer screen versus a textbook would be much easier for them.

Resource:
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~adillon/Journals/Reading.htm
Reading from paper versus screens: a critical review of the empirical literature

Citations:

David, Jane. "Educational Leadership." . ASCD, 003/2009. Web. 4 Mar 2012. <http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Teaching-Media-Literacy.asp&xgt;.

Dillon, A. (1992) Reading from paper versus screens: a critical review of the empirical literature. Ergonomics, 35(10), 1297-1326

Teacher of the Year - ME! :)