Games, Simulations, and Virtual Environments for Learning

     The use of games, simulations, and virtual environments by adults has grown tremendously over the years and still continues to be considered a popular form of entertainment. In 2009, video games surpassed Hollywood movies in annual sales (Barab, Gresalfi, &Arici, 2009). It is evident that adults have found the gaming experience to be engaging. Bonk (2009) stated, "...our entertainment and communications technologies have become our learning technologies" (p. 276). Due to the endless options, adults can easily find relevance in their game selections. Game types such as sports, simulations, puzzles, or strategy are considered more educational (Bonk, 2009).  The two games I have selected to highlight this week are Fair Play and McDonald's Video Game.

     Fair Play (http://fairplaygame.org/) is a game that focuses on recognizing racial bias.  Players encounter racial bias while interacting with other characters as well as in the virtual environment. The primary character is an African-American male who is in the academic world on his way to becoming a professor. It highlights how bias can interfere with a successful journey. Successfully navigating the game to win involves learning to recognize and name the biases.  While many will succeed in in Fair Play, the true winners are those that learn the reality of bias.
     I selected this game because of its focus on such an important and relevant issue we face in society. The game acknowledges this issue and provides a means to help others identify and recognize these biases. In addition, it allows for an opportunity to experience this issue first hand but in a personal setting where normally many individuals are guarded and are not comfortable speaking freely. Most adults recognize that they perform best when learning by doing in the real world (Bonk, 2009).
     In my professional practice, I can see the use of this game in a variety of ways. It would be incorporated into the leadership and management courses that I oversee. I will also share this game with my human resources partners who directly support the leaders, managers, and employees. The intention would be for them us the game to bring awareness to this issue and help to minimize its occurrence.

     The McDonald's Video Game (http://www.mcvideogame.com) brings insight to the various aspects related to running a fast food company and the complexities involved in producing the end product for consumers. It focuses on the major decisions that need to be considered to be successful and profitable. This game was created to address the criticism that McDonald's has received over the years related to its negative impact on society.  Success at this game involves effectively managing all the components involved in producing the end product along with the external factors.  This includes purchasing land, producing cattle, feeding cattle, destroying infected cattle, managing production of the beef, and managing a location and its employees. In addition, corporate operations need to be monitored such as marketing, profitability, satisfaction of consumers and other groups, and the board of directors. While the game is entertaining, it provides its players with a general idea that running a corporation is not easy!
     I selected this game because it provides a comprehensive view of all the considerations and choices that need to be made in order to manage a business let alone be profitable.  It also provides great insight into the fact that just because you may be focused on one task other things are still occurring that impact your decisions which makes it necessary to keep a pulse on all activities.
     As an adult educator, I can easily see this game being incorporated into my professional practice.  I see the value for this game in my management classes.  While the industry is different, the core principles of management remain the same. I can also envision the use of this game for all supervisory roles as a coaching tool.  The general message it provides is ownership, decision making, and recognizing downstream impacts. Willis (2011) stated, "The popularity of video games is not the enemy of education, but rather a model for best teaching practices" (p. 1).


References:

Barab, S. A., Gresalfi, M., & Arici, A. (2009). Why educators should care about 
     games. Educational Leadership, (67)1, 76–80.
Bonk, C. J. (2009). The world is open: How web technology is revolutionizing 
     education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 
Willis, J. (2011, April 14). A neurologist makes the case for the video game model as a 
     learning tool [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/video-
     games-learning-student-engagement-judy-willis 

Mobile Learning Technologies

     Mobile technologies provide the ability for learners to use their wireless devices for the purpose of learning. Examples of these devices include smartphones, laptops, tablets, and personal media players (Park, 2011). These technologies place learning at the fingertips of the user. Learners are engaged with each other and learning resources outside of the traditional classroom (Koszalka & Ntloedibe-Kuswani, 2010). I will be exploring both smartphones and webinars. Smartphones represent mobile learning technology hardware while webinars represent software.

Smartphones
     Smartphones are cellular phones that can perform many functions of a computer. They normally have a touchscreen interface for navigation, ability to access the internet, and the ability to run downloaded applications. Users can check email, send text messages, browse the internet, share information and pictures online, and manage phone calls (Bonk, 2009).
     The iPhone (www.apple.com/iphone) is the most popular brand of a smartphone with increasing technology and enhancements made regularly. Currently, the iPhone just released its 7th version. The enhancements to this version include improved battery life, enhanced speakers, and water resistance (Apple, 2016).
     The use of smartphones to support learning has become an ongoing discussion among adult educators.
The majority of adult learners own this type of device and use it for many purposes, so why not add learning to mix?
     Since smartphones have the ability to access the internet and download "apps", it makes the concept of on-the-go learning a reality for adult learners and educators. Adult learners can use their device in class to access the internet to access information relevant to the course content. Adult educators can also provide "apps" for learners to download and use to supplement their learning. Bonk (2009) stated, "The iPhone and other smartphones represent a portable learning device that is a key driver for the current learning revolution" (p. 299).

Webinars
     A webinar is a virtual instructor led training session that is conducted via the internet with specific software. Most often these sessions are conducted live to allow for interactivity between the adult educator and learners. However, in some cases it can be recorded for unlimited learner access. Ideally, webinars should focus on specific topics that can be delivered within short time frames in order to maintain learner engagement. Learners are able to be far away from educators and classmates, while cyberspace brings everyone together (Bonk, 2009).
     iMeetLive (imeetlive.pgi.com/ppc-iml-trial-lp259?) offers cloud-based webinars that only requires access to a browser. This allows learners to access without having to download any software.  This software is also configured to allow for webinar access and viewing on any mobile device. iMeetLive allows for up to 10,000 participants with the ability to customize registrations (iMeetLive, 2016). Webinar hosts have the ability to stream video, survey learners, take polls, and animate PowerPoint slides (iMeetLive, 2016).
     The use of this mobile technology software is great for reinforcing and introducing specific topics within the course content. It is also a great tool to leverage to keep learners engaged and provide learning opportunities outside of the classroom. Overall, this software fosters learner engagement and increases interaction (iMeetLive, 2016).



References:

Bonk, C. J. (2009). The world is open: How web technology is revolutionizing 
     education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
iMeetLive by PGi. (2016). PGi. Retrieved from http://imeetlive.pgi.com/ppc-iml-trial-
     lp259?.
Koszalka, T. A., & Ntloedibe-Kuswani, G. S. (2010). Literature on the safe and 
     disruptive learning potential of mobile technologies. Distance Education, 31(2), 
     139–157.
Park, Y. (2011). A pedagogical framework for mobile learning: Categorizing 
     educational applications of mobile technologies into four types. International 
     Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(2), 78–102.
This is 7. (2016). iPhone. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/iphone/.

The Effect of Social Networking on Learning

Richardson (2010) stated, "...all roads now point to a Web where little is done in isolation and all things are collaborative and social in nature" (p. 85).  There are endless possibilities for both learners and educators with the use of social networking technology to enhance adult learning.  I believe the following social networks have tremendous potential to impact adult learning:

Yammer - yammer.com

     Yammer is a social network that focuses primarily on fostering collaboration.  It provides multiple uses in supporting group work, project teams, or any group forums.  Users can create public or private groups depending upon the sensitivity of the information that will be shared. This social network allows users to upload files, photos, videos, and have conversations around them (Yammer, 2015).  Yammer can be accessed online as well as via a mobile device.
     Organizations are the target audience for this network which is why it is considered a professional version of Facebook (Pinto, 2014).  In addition to supporting collaboration within organizations, Yammer has also been introduced to adult education.  In this setting, adult learners can use this network to easily collaborate and communicate to support project work.  I selected this social network due to its ability to effectively foster group collaboration by minimizing lengthy email exchange and encouraging real time discussion.  In addition, the flexibility to access the network via your laptop or mobile phone is a bonus for staying connected.
     I would incorporate the use of this social network into my professional practice in a couple of ways.  Yammer would be the primary tool for comprehensive group work that is required in my courses.  Learners would be required to demonstrate their collaboration through the use of the tool with some specific guidelines.  Yammer would also be used to facilitate ongoing discussions with prompts from the course content to allow learners to share their thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.

Twitter - twitter.com

     Twitter is considered a micro blogging tool that allows for its users to share quick updates with their followers (Richardson, 2010).  These quick updates are commonly known as tweets.  This form of micro blogging can be distributed by mobile phones or the Web (Java, Song, Finin, & Tseng, 2007).  Twitter includes categories of interest for its users beyond their individual contributions and followers.  These categories include music, sports, nonprofits, arts & culture, and many others (Twitter, n.d.).  Since the number of characters are limited for each tweet, users must be specific, clear, and direct in the information that is shared.  It is not a tool for storytelling.  While its use and technology are fairly simple, the impact that this tool can have on learning is invaluable.  Adult educators have found this social network to be powerful in supporting professional development and communication (Richardson, 2010).  Learners can use the directories to find others with similar interests and follow them to gain different insights and perspectives along with sharing their own.  I selected this social network because it is simplistic to use and it offers endless possibilities as an adult educator.  Richardson (2010) stated, "It's the blend of the professional and the personal that makes Twitter such a cool tool on so many levels" (p. 86).
     The use of this network would be incorporated into my professional practice in many ways to support learning.  I would incorporate its use into my courses by having learners identify applicable directories related to the course content, select users to follow, and share their insights with other learners.  As an adult educator, I would have learners follow me and require responses to prompts to tweets related to the course content.


References:

Java, A., Song, X., Finin, T., Tseng, B. (2007, August). Why we twitter: understanding
     microblogging usage and communities. In Proceedings of the 9th WebKDD and 1st 
     SNA-KDD2007 workshop on Web mining and social network analysis (pp. 56-
     65). ACM.
Pinto, M. B. (2014). The Use of Yammer in Higher Education: An Exploratory Study.
     Journal of Educators Online, 11 (1),
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for 
     classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:  Corwin Press.
Twitter. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.twitter.com.
Yammer. (2015). Retrieved from www.yammer.com.

Applications and Multimedia Resources for Learning

Engaging learners and providing transformation learning experiences are essential to be an effective adult educator.  One of the ways to accomplish this goal is with the effective use of applications and multimedia resources.  After some research, I would like to share the following technologies:

Flickr - www.flickr.com

     Flickr is a tool used for creating, publishing, and using images online (Richardson, 2010).  I selected this tool because of its endless possibilities of the use of digital images in learning and its ability to reach learners around the globe.  This tool also provides visual learners with a playground to be innovative as it relates to their learning and nurturing their development to understand the targeted subject matter.  This has become the preferred choice for web-based digital photography for many educators (Richardson, 2010).
     I would incorporate the use of this tool into my professional practice in a variety of ways.  Learners would create presentations, slide shows, and illustrate subject matter utilizing the tool.  The annotation feature would be utilized to encourage learners to add commentary as necessary.  All learners would be required to provide feedback or questions on each other's work through the online discussion to foster a dialogue to support the objective of the assignment.  Overall, the use of Flickr would be incorporated in the learning experience so that assignments would be targeted to the use of the tool while reinforcing and supplementing the content of the course.

Screencast - TechSmith.com

     Screencasting is the ability to capture computer navigation with narration (Richardson, 2010).  This action is made possible with camtasia software.  Screencasts can be created in 3 easy steps with this software (TechSmith, 2016).  I selected this tool because it can be many uses and versatility for the instructor as well as the learner.  Screencasting can be used to support a blended learning experience as well as reinforcement for learners with their direct use of the tool.
     The use of this tool would be incorporated into my professional practice in very specific ways to support learning.  Live screencasts would be created during instruction and provided as supplemental materials and review for learners.  Screencasts can be used as support materials for adult educators (Richardson, 2010).  In addition, I would use screencasts to provided a blended learning environment by pre-recording some elements of the course instruction that would allow for more specific application during the learning experience (TechSmith, 2015).  The learning experience would include specific assignments that required learners to create screencasts to demonstrate their understanding and application of skills and knowledge of the subject matter.

References:

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.).
     Thousand Oaks, CA:  Corwin Press.

Make a Screencast with Camtasia. (2016).  In TechSmith.  Retrieved from www.TechSmith.com.