Darfur

For the past week we have been discussing cyberbullying and the situation with Kathy Sierra. We have discussed ways to address cyberbullying and how the actions of one can effect many.

When I was in school I studied a lot about historical revolutions. The Nazi revolution and the Holocaust were part of my studies. Often when we think about these historical events we think of them in the large scale; the millions of people dead, the large scale destruction.

However, much of my study was about how in order for the mass genocide to occur there has to be millions of individual situations. One individual making a decision to hurt someone else, and many other individuals who don't do anything to stop it. The Holocaust was built by millions of individual decisions to harm, hurt, and kill people.

I am sure many of you have studied the destruction in Darfur, a region of the Sudan. Please review some information here. This is large scale genocide. Many believe the world does not care.

We have studied how simulations can effect learning. We have played Ayiti which focusses on the plight of the poor in Haiti, and 3rd World Farmer where you try to survive on a farm in a devloping country. These games have shown us that interactive games may have a place in education. Almost all of you play some sort of game online and you need to understand how they work as a web designer.

Today we will review the game Darfur is Dying. This game is developed for children slightly younger than yourselves. However, I believe we can learn important lessons about Darfur and about how learning is occurring online.

Please learn the game, play it, and then reflect on the situation in Darfur. I would like you to then write a blog entry about the game. This blog entry will be written for a specific audience. This is part of continuing effort to summarize.

Boys:
Review the game for "Gaming Developer Magazine", a magazine that caters to the serious game developer. You write for a section "Educational Games". Your article should cater to your reading audience and should be between 200-250 words.

Girls:
Review the game for "Education Week", a magazine that caters to the teachers. You write for a section "Educational Games". Your article should cater to your reading audience and should be between 200-250 words.

Technorati Tags: DarfurisDying stopcyberbullying gaming

Online Gaming and Simulations

We worked yesterday on the typing test, the Dig Here! program, and the Ayiti Unicef game. Each showed us an aspect of online simulation learning. You were each to make a blogmeister entry based on that experience. I'm still working on the super-cool science site.

Today I will ask you to look at several more sites and then make a reflective entry in your blog. Remember, we are grading the depth of your blog entries now, not just that you have made one. The ONLY grade for this week is the quality of your blog.

So for today (some of the 3D work might not work in school)....
3D Farming: Can you succeed as a farmer?
3D Architecture: Can you build a successful house.
Tall Buildings: Super-cool site about tall buildings
Power Play: Can you build a better mousetrap?
Margaret River Senior High School: This is the school on the opposite side of the earth. Its amazing how similar they are to us.

Be sure to leave time to visit the questions on blogmeister.


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Technorati Tags: k12education gaming simulations 3DFarmer

Wednesday Online Work

Today we will work on some fun online tasks as we move towards vacation.

Typing Test: Go head-to-head with your neighbor. How fast can you type?
Another cool Google Earth app. Dig here!
Science Site. This page is absolutely amazing. I SO HOPE it plays in school. You can get lost in the catapult thing for hours.

Check out the Unicef site. analyze it for usability, etc...Try out the games (Ayiti looked pretty cool). They are pretty cool, and I think a great way to learn.

Can you find other sites that are "cool". If so, add a comment or write in your blogmeister. Everyone should check blogmeister today for making an entry.