June 2015 archive

drones as a menace

Copping a ’copter

In the hands of criminals, small drones could be a menace. Now is the time to think about how to detect them and knock them down safely

http://www.economist.com/node/21650071

In March, it [the French Government] held trials of anti-drone “detect and defeat” systems.

DroneShield’s system is centred on a sophisticated listening device that is able to detect, identify and locate an incoming drone based on the sound it makes

on media literacy

Martens, H., & Hobbs, R. (2015). How Media Literacy Supports Civic Engagement in a Digital Age. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 23(2), 120–137. http://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2014.961636

https://www.academia.edu/12170937/Martens_H._and_Hobbs_R._2015_._How_Media_Literacy_Supports_Civic_Engagement_in_A_Digital_Age._Atlantic_Journal_of_Communication_23_2_120_-137

p. 134 How the different forms of literacy interact and support each other is a key question for future research, giventoday’s complex and convergent media and information environment

p. 135 Our findings support the growing demand for policymakers, educators, and community advocates to embrace media literacy as an important resource to fulfill the promise of digital citizenship.

games and psychometrics

Could Video Games Measure Skills That Tests Can’t Capture?

http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/08/11/could-video-games-measure-skills-that-tests-cant-capture/

applying the mechanics of games to the science of psychometrics — the measurement of the mind.

Scholars like James Paul Gee believe video games actually come much closer to capturing the learning process in action than traditional fill-in-the-bubble tests. My note: Duh...

Schwartz’s theory of assessment focuses on choice. He argues that the ultimate goal of education is to create independent thinkers who make good decisions. And so we need assessments that test how students think, not what they happen to know at a given moment.

more on games and gamification in this IMS blog:

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=gaming

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=gamification