Miscellaneous …

• Do you think that Technology Skills should be a broad category on this list of transferable skills? http://bit.ly/Ljluw #
• RT @Goamick: Webpage for the Emerging Digital Technologies Certificate program at Central Lakes College http://bit.ly/bafVaj #
• Ultimate Rube Goldberg … This too shall pass http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w #
• All faculty meetings should be run in Pecha-Kucha format. 5 minutes, 20 slides. Anyone can talk, but that’s all you get. #
• The data coming in from my dissertation survey is fantastic … fantastic I tell you! All becomes clear sifting through it. #
• Need a shoebox to store my 2010 business receipts. This means that I have to buy a pair of shoes. Shoes are (therefore) a business expense? #
• The ability to find a single quote on one of the 250 assorted papers by just searching for “real-world” is stunning. I love A.nnotate! #
• I know that I’ve said this before, but everyone should have an illustrator on hand to create last minute images for presentations! #
• How do you edit a hyperlink in @prezi … every time I click on the text I want to edit, Prezi jumps to the hyperlink #
• Anyone know how to re-order the layers in @Prezi? Is there a way to do it? #
• Aha! RT @derekbruff the prezi pop-up menu (when you select an object) has send backwards and send forwards commands. #
• Common sleep disorders in Academia: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?n=1287 (thanks Fred!) #
• RT @moehlert: Innovation results from daily creative behaviors and actions, from:TEDx http://bit.ly/70YoXh #innovation #creativity #
• RT @suburbanlion plenty of rising tension in algebra (& rising frustrations), but it could really use an exposition, climax & resolution #
• RT @gsiemens: More on robot teachers: http://bit.ly/cq7ugM // for those who think educators can’t eventually be outsourced #
• RT @chronicle: Generation X professors say they don’t want to spend as much time on work as their academic elders have. http://bit.ly/daV1fF #
• I propose a tweet up on Friday night for #ICTCM. Anyone? #
• I am collecting GOOD vetted math games into a mindmap. I need people to help with a rubric for evaluating and to play games. Anyone? #
• Using Technology to Engage Today’s Math Students http://bit.ly/cpnqaO (today’s presentation) #
• Do I get extra points for making the punchline “Resist the urge to be an academic zombie!” #
• Presentation is done. Audience broke out into spontaneous applause in middle of presentation. Good sign! #
• #ICTCM Tweetup Friday night at 8pm in hotel bar? #
• Flying is SO much easier with Medallion status. Much less stress. #
• Airports turn out to be a great place to deal with email, provided you have a Broadband2Go card. #
• Finally installed offline gmail and offline google docs clients. This will allow me to catch up on “reply” emails on the next flight. #
• Just spent 3 hours in fascinating conversation with Peter Bishop. I think we’re going to co-teach a course on simulation games. #

About Playing to Learn Math …

• What if LOTR (http://xkcd.com/657/large/) had to be learned textbook-format? http://screencast.com/t/ZjA2NWJkZjU #
• “The brain is made to fill in blanks.” – Raph Koster, A Theory of Fun http://screencast.com/t/OTQ3Njcw #
• “a simulation or a formal system where choices and rules are important” … know what that is? It’s a definition of a game … or algebra #
• Games are exercises for the brain: http://screencast.com/t/ZDg3NjAxYT #
• It’s no fun if someone tells you the “cheat codes” every time the going gets a little tough. Yet, isn’t that exactly what we do in math? #
• “Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension. It is the act of solving puzzles that makes games fun.” – Raph Koster #
• “Boredom is the brain casting about for new information. It is the feeling you get when there are no new patterns to absorb.” -Raph Koster #
• Algebra grows boring, because, as presented in the modern-day context, it presents no cognitive challenge. Rules are given to the student. #
• There’s no “one size fits all” model of education, but we need more inquiry-based learning in math, and guess how we’re going to get it? #
• Trick for educational games is walking a delicate balance between boredom because of easy gameplay and boredom because of frustration. #
• Factoris by Hotmath … a fantastic game that teaches multiplication as area, factors, and spatial relations http://bit.ly/9uhSJF #
• Some of these so-called educational game websites should really consider taking down some of their “games” … they’re BAD. @funbrain #
• We need quality control … the bad games are like the bad apples in teaching. Some sites with fantastic games also have bad ones. #
• I think Gamequarium must be the worst offender re: quality control in what they call a “game” #
• I am now building my @prezi presentation on “Playing to learn math” in the style of a game board … #
• How do I get somebody to learn something that is long and difficult and takes a lot of commitment, but get them to learn it well? -James Gee #
• (that last quote was about designing video games, BTW, not math … interesting parallel, huh?) #
• This stinkin’ presentation is even more complicated than “How can we measure teaching and learning in math?” – will I finish it by Saturday? #
• Is it just me, or is there no way I’m going to be able to answer this secret question? http://screencast.com/t/M2IyOTRiY #
• Here’s what the layout of the whole presentation looks like: http://screencast.com/t/ZGNjMTY3N2Yt #
• After 12 straight hours building this presentation (which doesn’t include reading or thinking time sunk already), I’m going home. #
• Sidenote: There should be a bit more about the research that supports game-based learning, but I’m too tired. Going w/ philosophy instead. #
• The problem with inquiry-based learning is that it would take to long to reconstruct math yourself: http://bit.ly/9dQ5I0 (hee hee) #
• Playing to learn math? Prezi about why we should use games in math ed: http://prezi.com/r2lbb3lfomg5 #
• Surprised that nobody has made the little leap of realization this morning. There can only be one conclusion after seeing the presentation. #
• About two years of research and reflection begin to pour out of me in Saturday’s presentation. Let the floodgates open (at least a little). #
• Kind of curios, actually, what I will actually say … Interesting to see what insights I have under pressure. #

Tweets from #lrnchat …

• Is it heretical to say learning is fun, training is not fun? #lrnchat
• Training is prescribed learning, right? Like when doctor that you need to eat healthy, better if motivation is internal. #lrnchat #
• Just had a great grok: Participating in fast-paced #lrnchat is great preparation for interviews and Q&A at the end of talks. #lrnchat #
• There’s a question … what comes first, the motivation to be trained or the training to motivate? @tidmarshm #lrnchat in reply to tidmarshm #
• Maybe we should rename training and learning, call it “playing”. Read: A Theory of Fun (fun = brain mastering something new) #lrnchat #
• How many of the 10 ways to learn (http://bit.ly/9Pbvxs) get used in training? Maybe we should look there to improve training. #lrnchat #

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