The Oculus Quest is mainly being marketed as an all-in-one VR gaming system, but I see much potential for classroom lessons.
The Oculus Go delivered a VR view, but the Oculus Quest provides us with interactions.
One major difference between the Quest and the Go is the lack of motion sickness with the new device.
The 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF) provides mobility for the student to walk forward, backward, left, right, jump up and squat down. In other words, they can move around just like they would in real life.
The affordable starting price of $399 for 64 GB is comparable to other classroom devices, such as Chromebooks, laptops and iPads.
between the Quest and the Go is the high cost of the apps. By contrast, the majority of my Oculus Go apps were free.
for the past 21 years its organizer, the Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit known as NewSchools Venture Fund, has also put millions of dollars into novel schools in public districts
Charter schools operate with public funding, and sometimes philanthropic support, but are managed by an outside organization that is independent from local district oversight. In California, they are run by nonprofit organizations with self-elected boards. (For-profit charters are outlawed.)
Their supporters and operators—who make up the vast majority of the 1,300-plus attendees at this year’s Summit—say the model offers the flexibility needed to introduce, test and adopt new curriculum, tools and pedagogical approaches that could better serve students, particularly in low-income and minority communities.
Rocketship Education was an early showcase for blended learning, where students rotate between working on computers and in small groups with teachers. Summit Public Schools, a network of charters that now claims a nationwide footprint, promotes project-based learning assisted by an online learning platform.
But charters have also attracted an increasingly vocal opposition, who charge them with funneling students, teachers and funds from traditional district schools. Aside from raising teacher salaries, a sticking point in the recent California teachers’ strikes in Los Angeles and Oakland has been stopping the growth of charter schools.
Detractors can point to fully-virtual charters, run by for-profit companies, that have been fined for misleading claims and graduating students at rates far below those at traditional schools. At the same time, research suggests that students attending charter schools in urban regions outperform their peers in traditional school settings.
While the first decade of this century saw double-digit percentage increase in the number of such schools, it has almost entirely plateaued (at 1 percent growth) in the 2017-2018 school year, according to data from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Toolwire and Muzzy Lane, two digital game-based learning (DGBL) vendors that are making significant strides in higher education through their “serious game” products. The state of DGBL in higher ed is not nearly as prevalent and accepted as it is in K-12, but growing quickly.
Serious games feature evidenced-centered design, whereby data is collected, analyzed and adapted to the knowledge level of the player
Andy Phelps, director of the Rochester Institute of Technology Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction and Creativity (MAGIC) and executive committee member of the Higher Education Video Game Alliance (HEVGA),adds that “game-based learning has the opportunity to really challenge our assumptions about linear modes of educational interaction.”
Muzzy Lane, s higher-education-oriented Practice Series games, in partnership with McGraw Hill, feature titles in Marketing, Spanish, Medical Office and Operations.
The Challenge of Creating Worthy GamesBoth Toolwire and Muzzy Lane DGBL products are not of the “Triple A” PlayStation 4 and Xbox One variety, meaning they do not have all the high-fidelity, digital-media bells and whistles that are inside the heavily advertised war games and sports games geared toward the more than $99 billion global video game consumer marketplace, according to gaming market intelligence company Newzoo.
the state of DGBL in higher education consists of very effective digital games of less-than-Triple A fidelity coming out of private companies like Toolwire and Muzzy Lane, as well as from a good number of college and university game design innovation centers similar to RIT’s MAGIC. These include the Games+Learning+Society (GLS) Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; the University of Southern California Interactive Media and Games Division, the Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center and the New York University Game Center.
! Tasks with motivational gamified mechanics → improvement in 21st-century learning skills, technical competencies,
independence, and personal accountability for devices and their readiness
! Student-led, independent, and sophisticated use of devices increased roughly 100%
! “Gamification as a motivational tool and platform for online delivery of learning activities and resources is a critical element of
integrating technology into schools”
! Students placed a greater value on their devices being present and ready to use in order to enjoy gamified content
! The use of gamification capitalized on the curiosity aspect being at the center of intrinsic motivation — encouraging students to
explore what their devices can do for them in general and what they are capable of given the task, some direction, and a
prospective reUward
Acclaim, Badger, Badge List, Credly, CSULogics, and Red Critter
Acclaim and Credly merged. CSULogics seems CCCS native; pls advise if I need to contact them nevertheless. Badgr is now with Canvas, but I still think we need to explore the options with other LMS, such as D2L.
From: Hank from Badge List <hank.holiday@badge-list.intercom-mail.com> Reply-To: Hank from Badge List <hank.holiday@badge-list.intercom-mail.com> Date: Friday, April 26, 2019 at 4:53 PM To: Plamen Miltenoff <pmiltenoff@stcloudstate.edu> Subject: Re: Discuss a setup of microcredentialing system
Please look that over and we can help you via email if you have any questions.
Cheers,
– Hank
From: Ben from Badge List <ben.roome@badge-list.intercom-mail.com> Reply-To: Ben from Badge List <ben.roome@badge-list.intercom-mail.com> Date: Monday, April 29, 2019 at 5:30 PM To: Plamen Miltenoff <pmiltenoff@stcloudstate.edu> Subject: Re: Discuss a setup of microcredentialing system
Hi Plamen,
We’d love to get on a call but unfortunately we can’t spend those time resources on accounts that generate below $4,950 per year. Does your budget meet those requirements? If so we’d be happy to schedule a conversation.
the emphasis (strong side) is the streamlining of the different offices and activities on campus
levels of proficiency is very much geared toward undergrads
aspects of gamification, but no peer support credit/badge
U of Pittsburgh – OCC outside the class curriculum
Monclair U (NJ second largest):
U of Wyoming: after level 3, career coach does storytelling appointment.
pilot is $5K and institutional can vary between $10-15K
Anchor allows users to record and edit podcast episodes, all through an app on their cellphones. The service distributes and uploads episodes to streaming services, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and provides analytics following publication.
“Traditionally, it’s write, write, write, write, write, and if you’re not a strong writer, you may start to think you’re not good at an English class in general.”
Podcasts that require scripts similarly encourage students to explore writing formats that stray from the traditional essay.
“When it’s just my eyes seeing it, it’s one-on-one and I’m the safety net,” Stevens said. “Even when you open it up to their classmates, they realize ‘OK, I’m going to be judged by them,’ and then you open it up to the internet. It’s a big deal.”
Last spring, cinematic arts and broadcast journalism teacher Michael Hernandez introduced his 11th and 12th graders to podcasting to teach them speaking skills that could be necessary for upcoming college or job interview.
Weakest students more likely to take online college classes but do worse in them
Survey of rigorous academic research on online education finds lower grades and higher drop out rates Column by JILL BARSHAY February 4, 2019
According to the most recent federal statistics from 2016, roughly one out of every three or 6.3 million college students learned online. That number is growing even as fewer people are going to college.
Online degrees are also concentrated among a handful of nonprofit universities. Just three — Western Governors University, Liberty University and Southern New Hampshire University — enroll about a third of all online students at private, nonprofit institutions.
overwhelming research evidence that community college students aren’t faring well in online classes
Another 2017 study of students at a for-profit university which offers both in-person and online classes found that students who took an online class not only got lower grades in that class but also in future classes. Online students were more likely to drop out of college altogether than similar students who attended in-person classes.
There are much stronger results for courses that combine supplemental materials online with traditional, face-to-face instruction. But the authors do not consider this hybrid instruction to be “online” learning.
A Professional Development Opportunity for All Faculty and Staff
What: Statewide opportunity to read, discuss, interact, share and learn with a book on a topic of interest and relevance for our work. This year the topic is improving communication with students and enhancing their sense of belonging. Created by: Rebecca March and Cheryl Neudauer, Minneapolis College
The book is The College Fear Factor: How Students and Professors Misunderstand Each Other. Rebecca Cox “spent five years talking to, and watching, community college students. She noted carefully the many ways they failed their classes. She listened closely to their reasons why.”– Jay Mathews, Washington Post blog
Three 90-minute virtual Adobe Connect meetings to discuss how the experiences and perspectives in this book relate to our students and communities. Virtual meetings are scheduled for:
Thursday, February 21 – 12:00-1:30 pm
Thursday, March 28 – 12:00-1:30 pm
Thursday, April 18 – 12:00-1:30 pm
D2L Brightspace course to explore issues related to communicating with our students both outside of and within the classroom, orally and through our documents, policies, and electronic communications and how these impact their sense of belonging. The “course” will use short, asynchronous, interactive activities to help us explore how we can better serve our students, connect across the system, and share resources.
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2nd meeting, March 28, 2019.
CHAPTER 2 THE STUDENT FEAR FACTOR (pp. 20-41)
Engaging the Online Learner Activities and Resources for Creative Instruction:
