Announcing: 1st Annual STEM Game Competition

In 1957, Russia's launch of the Sputnik satellite piqued widespread fear that if America didn't shape-up, we might lose our status as global leaders in science and technology.

The "Sputnik moment" lead to America's unprecedented national commitment to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The public, private and educational sectors within the United States focused massive resources on developing the nation's STEM capacities. As a result, the U.S. became the first nation to land human beings on the moon in 1969, and what would later be known as the Internet was developed, revolutionizing communications, education, and commerce.


In 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon

Fast-forward to 2010 and it is clear that America faces a "new Sputnik moment."

Other countries have developed national broadband strategies and are graduating most of the world's new engineers, mathematicians, and scientists. The U.S. must innovate or abdicate its leadership in this area.

In recognition of this crisis and the need to re-focus on STEM, the World Wide Workshop, in collaboration with the West Virginia Department of Education and US Senator Jay Rockefeller as Honorary Chair, launched the 1st Annual Globaloria-WV STEM Games Competition on Wednesday, March 10.

From left to right: Monica Beane (WV Dept. of Ed); Gaston Caperton (Former Governor & Globaloria Advisory Board member); Jay Rockefeller (US Senator); Idit Caperton (Founder & President of World Wide Workshop); and David Lowenstein (State Director, Globaloria-WV)

Globaloria students in West Virginia public schools who choose to create web games that teach Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics concepts are eligible to enter the competition. A panel of distinguished STEM practitioners, policy makers, and game design experts will judge the students’ games. Winners will be announced on June 10. The student team that receives the highest score will win free laptops and get to present their game to the leadership at the White House Office of Science Technology Policy. Their games will also be featured on several websites nationwide.

We are excited to establish West Virginia as a national leader in STEM-learning with the Globaloria-WV community. In the words of World Wide Workshop founder and president, Dr. Idit Harel Caperton:

"The Globaloria program – through its wiki-based game design and Web 2.0 curriculum and its constructionist learning theory – has been advancing the STEM skills of West Virginia students and educators since the program’s inception. Now, with the 1st Annual Globaloria-WV STEM Games Competition, we are significantly enhancing our contribution to the nationwide effort to move America to the top of the pack in math and science education.”

By David Lowenstein, State Director, Globaloria-WV

Learning to Swim

We are always hearing about how our world is becoming so connected, and the production of web content so complex, that it is impossible to make sense of it all.

In a sense, the sheer amount of information available to us is so massive, we might as well have none at all because we can't seem to understand of any of it. Barry Schwartz writes and speaks a great deal on "The Paradox of Choice" where he argues that the near infinite variety of stuff available to us is paralyzing.

It makes you wonder: Can information make us ignorant?

The economic crisis of 2008 seems to suggest as much. How could so many people, with access to more information than has ever been available, have been so oblivious to the consequences of their actions?

But let's not throw up our hands just yet. This need to find new ways to represent complex information is being met--not in spite of technology but through it.

A few months ago, I discovered this informational graphic on the economic crisis by Jonathan Jarvis. With the expressive tools available to him, he has managed to take one of the most perplexing economic events in history, and present it in a way that even children could understand:

On The Crisis of Credit Visualized site Jonathan explains that this presentation is part of his larger mission dedicated to "exploring the use of new media to make sense of a increasingly complex world."

That is also the spirit of the Globaloria program: to cultivate the new media literacy and skills needed to makes sense of--and participate in-- our complex world. By creating educational games, Globaloria students are learning how to represent knowledge just like Jonathan, arming them with the ability to turn information into real knowledge as they navigate the uncharted territories of communication technologies.

Perhaps the great philosopher Democritus put it best around 400 BC when he said, "Water can be both good and bad; of use and dangerous. To the danger, however, a remedy has been found: learning to swim."

-Rachel

Staying Informed on Education Technology News

As members of a state-wide learning community, it’s not only important that we stay informed on what’s happening in Globaloria classrooms throughout West Virginia, but that we also stay knowledgeable about state, national, and international news regarding efforts to harness technology for education and social change. It’s a good idea to bookmark a few websites that can keep us up-to-date.

One website that can help us stay well-informed on all things dealing with education technology is eSchool News. The eSchool News website currently features articles on a new U.S. Commerce Department report that points to 40% of Americans who lack high-speed internet access home, as well as on a survey indicating that educators are not discussing STEM careers with students.

Another good on-line resource – particularly for national and international news related to video games and politics - is GamePolitics.com. Recent posts on this website include an article about 50 college students at a school in Vermont who are working on a web-based game that educates boys on the effects of violence against women.

These are just a few websites that can keep us informed on the latest and greatest information, practices, and opportunities to harness technology for education.

By: David Lowenstein, State Director, Globaloria WV

If Life Gives You Snow...Make Snow Cones!

Like most of the state, I am trying to get my feet back under me after all of the snow days. Just like driving on a snow day, sometimes it’s hard to get the traction you need. Too much gas and you spin your wheels; too heavy on the brake and you slide out of control. Sometimes, even with your best effort, the car just seems to head the wrong way.

The best way to make good positive headway is to find the right balance between catching up and moving on. For most of us, the Globaloria curriculum is a great tool to do just that. Those work in a self-paced environment and can pick up from where they left off before the snow. Several of our classes have other criteria that also have to be caught up. This can include any of our content standards to be covered and other activities that were that were left out in the snow.

In my Global Biology class (where I teach biology with the Globaloria platform and modified curriculum), I have been trying to wrap up a unit on mitosis that had stretched on for far too long. To handle this restart period, as well as refresh their FLASH skills, I am going to be meeting with each group this week and they are going to tell me what they will be adding to their project to teach about either mitosis or why cells stay so small. This will let them review the material once more after being tested, review the FLASH skills they have learned so far, and evaluate how to put the two together.

So, in following the title of this post, when presented with an abundance of snow, I am doing my best to make snow cones. What are your recipes for catching up after these stretches of bad weather? Share your ideas and suggestions by commenting on this posting.

Until next time, the snow cone stand is yours.

Bill Dorsey

The Benefits of Learning Online Outweighs the Dangers

The MacArthur Foundation Spotlight on Digitial Media and Learning has an interesting article up on a new report from Harvard’s Youth and Media Policy Working Group on media safety, privacy and quality. Amongst their findings, this conclusion stands out:

As we seek to protect youth from the unforeseen risks of online engagement, it is essential that we do not in turn foreclose the benefits made possible by self‐directed, informal learning and socializing through new technologies or experimentation with teaching using new technologies in the classroom.

As leaders of Globaloria classrooms, all of you can personally attest to the benefits of online engagement. Read the rest of the report here.

Globaloria Students Share Their Works-in-Progress

Despite the cold and snowy start to the 2010 that has caused numerous school delays and closings, Globaloria students are shining as bright as the sun and making incredible progress! Presentations by students from South Harrison High School, Randolph Technical Center, Sandy River Middle School, and Pressley Ridge School, as well as special presentations to the Globaloria Advisory Board made by students from Riverside High School and Capital High School in 2010 not only showcased the development of students’ games, but also their growing technology proficiencies, research talents, communication and collaboration skills, and leadership abilities.

Presentations varied in topic, ranging from power point decks that displayed students’ research and ideas on protecting our environment, to how to combat world poverty and hunger, to game demos focused on civics concepts.

Listening and watching Globaloria West Virginia students present their research findings, demonstrate their game demos, and speak on what they’ve learned and how they want to educate others through the creation of original web games has renewed my spirit of optimism about our nation’s future.

Globaloria WV students are great ambassadors of their generation; they are highly intelligent, compassionate, witty, and eager to create a better tomorrow for themselves, their communities, and the world. That is why it is so gratifying to be a part of the Globaloria learning community that is preparing today’s youth for leadership and success in the 21st century.

By: David Lowenstein
State Director, Globaloria WV

Time for Time Management

"Time keeps on slippin', slippin',slippin' into the future."
- lyrics from "Fly Like and Eagle," Steve Miller Band

Sometimes, I think the members of the Steve Miller Band must have been teachers, because our schedules often feel just like that. As the pressures of the day go on, it can often become very easy to shortcut processes and projects; trying to fit it all in to our schedule. Even when it feels like an overload, it is all just a matter of time management.

In Globaloria, the Course Schedule is a great tool for planning ahead and it is easier than a standard lesson plan. Using this tool can help a teacher and their class feel more organized and secure in their delivery. For new teachers especially, this is a tool that can help a lot of the tension and insecurities in tackling new things like Flash and ActionScript. It allows us to plan ahead and take comfortable "bites" of material while still making forward progress. Just take a look at Heather's , Aaron's, and MCTC's schedules for different examples of how they can be used.

A second tool that can assist in time management is the Learning Log. This tool lets students and teachers reflect on successes and struggles. As a teacher, seeing what topics have stalled your class for an extra hour or day can help you adjust the future and make it easier for all parties involved. It can even help you to see what skills the students are mastering faster to alleviate extra time on redundant lessons.

In your experience with the program, have you discovered any special tips for time management in Globaloria? Please share your insights with the community!

-Bill

Globaloria Spotlight

Click on the image to visit the Globaloria Spotlight

Thanks to all of you in the Globaloria-WV educator's community for installing the Globaloria Spotlight Widget on your blog! We're so excited to see what great pictures, blog posts, game elements, videos and more you submit to the Spotlight to give your students' achievements recognition across the state.

Disaster in Haiti: Response and Reflection

For weeks now we have been awash in news regarding the devastation in Haiti. People all over the world have been amazing in their empathy and response. I am sure that we have also seen how quickly and decidedly our students have responded in our schools. At Capital, the student council has been coming to homerooms on a near daily basis to collect donations. My students have emptied their pockets in response. I think it is equally important to think about humanitarian aid in all its forms.

Money is a wonderful way to help from a distance but not the only method. Another way our society can help is to educate. That is a strength of the Globaloria program: using socially responsible games to enlighten and inspire.

Title screen from Ayiti: The Cost of Life

A perfect tie-in for our students is the game called Ayiti: The Cost of Life, supported in part by UNICEF. This game is set in the rural regions of Haiti and shows just how hard life is in that country even prior to the earthquake. Playing this game has put Haiti's tragic current events in context for myself and my students.

First-year teachers: as your classes come to the "Playing to Learn" unit, direct your students to try playing Ayiti. It will help connect our use of the term social-issue game with an actual social issue that they are all aware of today. Experienced teachers: you can offer playing this game as a suggestion for students who have completed their work for the day.


Please encourage your students to visit the following organizations:
Save the Children
Help Haiti Now
UNICEF
Famine Relief Foundation
Doctors Without Borders
Mercy Corps

Even though this is a terrible disaster with massive damages and loss of life, it is a perfect example of how people from around the world can come together to make a difference.

Let's help our students understand their place in the world and think critically about how they might assume responsibilities as Global Citizens.

Until next time, the soap box is yours.

-Bill

images courtesy U.S. Armed Forces and are part of the public domain

Starting out the Spring Semester

Heather McChesney shares images from her first day of class

From a read of the Globaloria community's blogs, it looks like the spring semester is off to a great start!

Our conversation at the January Academy on student motivation was extremely fruitful, inspiring such insights as Tracy Halsey and Larry Thackett's ideas about relevancy and feedback.

Tracy writes, "One of the reasons I applied to the Globaloria program is because I knew students would be interested and therefore hoped student motivation would be increased. For the most part, it has proven to be true. If you can see a relevancy to your life then you become an active participant. Another thing I try to do is provide feedback to my students."

And Larry resolves, "to help [my students] keep that motivation by:

• Involving them in the learning process by stressing the importance of collaboration and teamwork. Letting them know that their input is important to everyone's success.
• Relating the work they will be doing, and how they do it, to the real-world of work they will face after they graduate.
• Stressing that their success, or failure, is in their hands. I am there to help and guide, but they will have to work to succeed."

Dionne added to the discussion by stressing the importance of getting to know the specific needs of your students:

To foster student motivation, it is imperative that I know my students: their strengths, areas of improvement, and how they feel about school and learning. As I learn about my students, I begin to understand what they need to be successful, and am able to set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) goals with them and help to provide them with the knowledge base and skills necessary to accomplish those goals. As they see small levels of success, and we recognize their accomplishment, they have an internal sense of gratification, and they continue to work, thus becoming more successful. After all, like success, motivation is continuous.

These insights and more were extremely helpful, and already they seem to be paying off!

A Spring-start educator, Heather McChesney had a great first day, and has already posted some pictures of her Globaloria class on her blog. And Tracy, starting her second semester, shares some gorgeous game scenes from her talented students.

Larry has hit the ground running, exclaiming, "Wow! Just finished my first Globaloria game design class and I am nothing short of amazed!"

It's exciting to see you all applying your new abilities and rejuvenated verve to in your classrooms. Fostering student motivation certainly can be hard, but judging from your accomplishments this week, I have to second Jim Allder's advice that motivating yourself can be infectious:

As a Globaloria educator, I have found that the more I invest myself in self-learning, the more motivated I become to teach the next lesson. It is exciting to share new information. (why do you think gossip shows and magazines are so popular?) And those around us are sure to pick up on this excitement and become more self motivated.

This comes a little "back to the basics", but I believe the best way that I can motivate others is by being prepared and learning the skills myself. In music, this involves studying scores, listening to professional recordings, in some cases communicating with the composer, and researching the story behind the composition. In Globarloria, it is accomplished by taking on personal flash projects, finding tutorials, looking for things to blog about, and keeping up the wiki.

Through this preparation, we make ourselves more confident, proficient, and MOTIVATED. This type of motivation is sure to rub off on others.

Keep up your self-learning as the year progresses, and don't hesitate to reach out to your peers, mentors, or the Foundation team for support when you need it!

Good luck!
-Rachel