Course Content

This cycle is two weeks long.

1. 1. First review the notes from the readings on on old brain-new media.. I believe this whole discourse is very interesting and it will open up new avenues of thought for you on building interactive interfaces.Write a three paragraph reflection on how any of this matters to you personally regarding your outlook on interactivity and design, and what effect it might have on your future research and/or teaching. Place your report in the Drop Box set up on Canvas.
      

      This activity should take about 2-3 hrs to complete

• We cannot leave our discussions about brain based learning without spending some time with the concepts of cognitive modeling. This is the foundations behind how we can map how the mind works as compared to learning things.
  

  This activity should take about 2-3 hrs to complete

• For this cycle we have added one more coding product. Livecode is an development package that you can use to build apps and games for all mobile devices and computers (laptops and desktops). It is a scripting language that takes off from Flash Scripting but is much easier to understand. We reserved this for last because after all you have done this term, this relatively rigorous program should be pretty easy for you to digest. I leave it up to you to allocate time to each in order to complete the little activities we have assigned. You have three weeks to look at this product. I am expecting you to spend more time on this one than the others as there is so much you can do with this one.
  

  This activity should take about 10-12 hrs to complete

• Continue with the cookbook approach to game production in Gamemaker’s Apprentice book. This time Gamemaker’s Apprentice – Part 4: Chpts 9-11. Complete your journal notes so you can turn in your final reflection at the end of the term.

These lessons and training are a continuation of the key topics I anticipate your becoming well versed on this semester. There are four sets of assignments…. one reading, a mini project, picking a theoretical basis for your final project, and the Gamemaker’s Apprentice activity. The cycle is three weeks long.

1. Henry Jenkins is a well known and respected member of the academic community who has studied human computer interactions and the effect media has on student communications and learning. The reading I have selected for you is his seminal work on Participatory Cultures and the effect Web 2.0 has had on student behavior. I believe you will thoroughly enjoy this and it will open your eyes to how today’s media-centric students think.

   This reading should take about 1-2 hrs to complete

2. Work on your third mini project:
   • Visualeyes.

   Post your artifact/link and reflection in the Drop Box set up on Canvas.

   This activity should take about 4-5 hrs to complete

3. The first deiverable for your final project is due. For some of you this is your first course in the program. We do, however, want you to contribute to this idea: that elements of instructional design need to be research-based. (Recall our earlier lessons on this topic). So, seeing as your final project is an instructional unit, a part of your design should be based in part on some sound theoretical approach. All we are asking here is for you to select one or two of those theories, and elaborate a bit on why you picked it and how it is relevant to your conceptual design of your final project. To make it easier to pick, I have included a great Website that identifies the classical instructional design theories.

   This activity should take about 1-2 hrs to complete

4. Continue with the cookbook approach to game production in Gamemaker’s Apprentice book. This time Gamemaker’s Apprentice – Part 4: Chpts 9-11. Complete your journal notes so you can turn in your final reflection at the end of the term.

   This activity should take around 4-5 hours to complete

These lessons and training are a continuation of the key topics you are becoming well- versed in during this course. PLEASE DO THESE READINGS IN ORDER.

Again, if you do get done early, you should be utilizing the time to begin digging deeper into the software you will be using in your final project. 

• • To begin with,
    1. there is a mini lesson describing the makings of a good research study. This should help you understand how to read these theories you come across and help you decide the validity of such studies.
    2. then take a look at the lesson on HCI. It goive you a background as to the premise behind the third set of readings:
    3. The Media Equation

    Once you complete all three sets you are asked to summarize your experiences and post as an audio reflection in Canvas.

    This activity should take about 2-3 hrs to complete

• • During this cycle you will be doing your second mini project. Choose between Tynker and Hopscotch Note that you are asked to enter the link to your project on a special viewing page ton Canvas so your classmates can view your projects.
    

    This activity should take about 4-5 hrs to complete

• Continue with the cookbook approach to game production in Gamemaker’s Apprentice book. This time, Part 2 Gamemaker’s Apprentice – Part 2: Chpts 3-5. Complete your journal notes so you can turn in your final reflection at the end of the term.
  

  This should take you around 2 – 3 hours

These lessons are a continuation of the key topics you will become well-versed in during this course. This cycle is two weeks in duration and there is a lot to do so please do not procrastinate. If you turn things in early I will be able to provide formative review for you in order to give you a second chance to submit before final evaluation.

If you get done early, you should be utilizing the time to begin digging deeper into the software you will be using in your final project.

1. I have provided an opportunity review your classmates’ LOGO problem submissions. Take a look at what they have entered and compare their responses to what you did. If you see something you do not understand, go ahead and ask them about it. Just know that, with the exception of problem #2 (why did it not write anything), there is really no one correct answer. You can even create a new command called Triangle or whatever.. LOGO in reality, is very flexible… Don’t spend a lot of time here but use this as an opportunity to meet and greet your classmates. You never know when they might be able to help you later on during the term.
2. Review the notes from the The Gamification of Learning Module . There is no assignment due for this set of readings. It is being offered in order to help you understand what is discussed in the next module on consequence remediation.

   This activity should take about 1-2 hrs to complete, depending on your current understanding of gamification.

3. Review the notes and reading from the Consequence Remediation and Interactive Design lesson and post a reflection in the Drop Box set up on Canvas.

   This activity should take about 2-3 hrs to complete

4. Download the project files and complete the first mini project. This time we focus on Scratch, which is the ‘grand-daddy’ of web-based coding activities aimed at younger students. Tynker and Hopscotch (next cycle) are based on Scratch, so it is appropriate to introduce it to you first. Upload the file into the drop box in Canvas and/or provide a link to its location on the web. Don’t forget your reflection.
   

   These activities should take about 4-5 hrs to complete.

5. In this cycle we introduce you to the Gamemaker’s Apprentice book. Begin with part 1 – Chpts 1 and 2. Begin writing out your journal notes that you will turn in with your final reflection at the end of the term.
   

   This should take you around 2-3 hours

Note that this cycle is one week long. 

The lessons and readings are key to the topics I anticipate your becoming well-versed in during this semester

• Before we get started, the first thing we need to do is set up your expectations for this course. We are adjusting slightly the final reflection due at the end of the course with this preamble. In the Drop Box found in Canvas, think about the course and write up a sort outline of the things you 1-think you need to get out of this course and 2-believe will actually be covered, based on reviewing the Calendar page. You will again use this assignment to compare against for the Final Reflection that is due at the end of the semester.
  

  If done correctly this activity should take about 1 hr to complete.

• We need to spend some time talking about coding and how it relates to our educational mission. This first set of readings will give you some ammunition in this regard and will also help you understand why we are basing a lot of the technical content around actually digging in a little into the underbelly of game design and other interactive products. Don’t worry if you don’t envision yourself to be too technically minded. In fact, that is one of the very reasons we are doing some coding.. to help give you confidence and provide you some idea as to its potential as an educational tool.Things will unfold as we move through the semester.
  

  The readings and  activity should take about 2hrs to complete.
• In order to introduce you to the goals and mechanics of coding, we have a short series of coding problems we would like you to solve. They involve an imaginary Turtle who will respond to the commands you give it.
  

  This activity should take about 1-2 hrs to complete.

• Begin thinking about your final design project. Even though this is not due until the end of the semester, you have interim milestones to meet. The first one (Due July 13) is to select your coding product. You will be asked to create a lesson/module set in which you integrate a coding exercise from one of the mini projects we work on this term) and demonstrate how you would integrate into that lesson/module set.All the products will each have a mini project assigned.The schedule as been set up in a way so that you will have completed the four mini projects with about six weeks to spare. This will give you enough time to create the final project with the knowledge you need to make decisions about the technology and how it can be most effectively integrated.
  

  I anticipate this to be a 1 hour activity