CA Summer Training Academy - Day One!

Educators Working Very Hard!

We are in the beautiful hills of Los Altos at the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College. This year, our new educators are making Hidden Object games. So Exciting! Today we made profiles, blogs, and started choosing topics and planning for our games. Tomorrow we'll start drawing in Flash. Hooray!



-Yvonne

Check out how others are using Flash

http://htwins.net/scale2/scale2.swf?bordercolor=white

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/page/scale-universe-cary-michael-huang-california-high-school-15573968

It is so amazing what students can do.

Globaloria Community Connection

      On March 28, a Globaloria Community Connection was held at Randolph Technical Center in Elkins, WV.  Randolph County and Barbour County came together to share ideas, to celebrate successes, and to plan for the future.  Students in the ProStart restaurant management program at the tech center provided food to complement the main course of pizza (gamers’ delight!).

     Our special guest for the evening was Dr. Idit Caperton, who welcomed 56 guests from the two counties, including leaders, educators, students, and parents.  Idit graciously chatted with guests and posed for photos.  Students were very excited to meet her: after all, how often do they get the chance to meet the inventor of their course curriculum?  We were also honored to have Ian McQuillen and Paul Franz from Education Week in the audience.

     Randolph County Superintendent Dr. Jim Phares and Barbour County Superintendent Dr. Joe Super shared their thoughts on the value of Globaloria in their schools.  Dr. Phares compared the effects of technology on his community to the progress brought by the railroads at the turn of the century.  “Just like the railroads, this is life-changing technology that is not going away,” Phares said.

     Dr. Super added, “Globaloria allows students to own their knowledge. It provides the chance for students to participate in education as it should be, not as it is.”  Both leaders recognized their principals and teachers for their vision and dedication in providing students with the skills to succeed in college or careers through Globaloria.

     The highlight of the evening was game presentations by nine teams of students.   The following teams shared their creations:

ELKINS MIDDLE SCHOOL:  June Proctor and Eric Lucas, Educators

Team:  Black Thunder

Game:  Red Cross: Tornados

Team:  Trilobite Terrors

Game: Trilobite Terrors

Team:  Cute Is What We Aim For

Game: Oak Hill Murder

TYGARTS VALLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL:  Mollie Ferguson and Melissa Walters, Educators

Team:  The Pink Fluffy Monsters 

Game: Fishie Friends

Team:  L and K

Game: Fraction Monkey

Team:  The Awesome Aliens

Game:  Jose the Space Alien

TYGARTS VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL:  Diane White, Educator

Team:  Wolf Warlock

Game: Finding Mr. X

RANDOLPH TECHNICAL CENTER:  Christina Waybright, Educator

Team:  Flash Masters 2 

Game:  Call of Technology

 PHILIP BARBOUR HIGH SCHOOL:  Allyson McNaboe and Gerald Furby, Educators

Team:  Banzai Secret Agents

Game: Gun Control

     Principals and educators attended from Philip Barbour High School Complex, Kasson School, Elkins Middle School, Tygarts Valley Middle/High School, and Randolph Technical Center.  Educators discussed the various implementation models in their schools, including stand-alone electives, content integrations, and CTE game design courses.

     Philip Barbour teachers Allyson McNaboe and Gerald Furby shared their unique collaborative model of team teaching.  Allyson’s civics students team with Gerald’s game design students.  Both teachers and students learn together in a true integration that can be replicated in other schools.  Next year, students will get two credits for the combined courses, thanks to the vision of Principal Lisa Heinbaugh.

     Tygarts Valley Principal Steve Wamsley and Elkins Middle Principal Rich Carr plan to expand Globaloria offerings in their middle schools next year.  So that students can continue Globaloria in a second year, WVDE has issued course codes for both Globaloria I and Globaloria II.  Tygarts Valley eighth graders with middle school Globaloria credit will be able to take Game Design I for high school credit.  This is a terrific idea both to retain and to recruit students for the program!

     This Community Connection was so successful that we would love to arrange Connections among other adjoining counties.  So, consider hosting a Community Connection.   You will hear from me soon to discuss options for your area!

Reminders

The end of the school year is approaching so quickly and we have a few reminders for you.
1. Quarter 3 Progress Report is due April 25
2.  Second semester classes need student information added to the database
3.  Check all classes and remove extra classes, teams, and users that were created for practice or by mistake
4.  Mark students inactive who have left the class
5.  Watch the webinar for April 10 on the educator's wiki and get some great tips for preparing students for final game competitions submission
6.  If you haven't done so request Professional Reviews of student game demos

Let me know if you have any questions or need anything.
Denise

April 10 Mini Workshop Tonight at 6pm EST!

Hi Everybody!

Wanted to send out a reminder about the Mini Workshop we have planned for tonight where we will be answering all your questions! Having trouble with something in Flash? Questions about anything else? Now is your chance to ask! You can post questions in the comments of this post even if you can't attend tonight and we will still answer them for you to see in the recording!

We will be meeting TONIGHT on Adobe Connect at 6pm EST. Here is the link again.
http://globaloria.adobeconnect.com/meet

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

-Yvonne

Quarter 3 Progress Report

This is just a reminder that April 25 is the due date for Quarter 3 Progress Reports.  Look forward to reading everyone's reports.

Reminder: Upcoming Game Design Competition Milestones Deadlines

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to remind you of the upcoming Milestone submissions dates for the Silicon Valley Globey Awards and Spring Course Civics and STEM Game Design Competitions.  Please pass this information along to your participating students.

• Spring Course Civics: Game Demo Milestone Due Friday, March 16, 2012
• Spring Course STEM: Game Demo Milestone Due Friday, March 16, 2012 
• Silicon Valley Globey Awards: Game Demo Milestone Due Friday, March 16, 2012

I have included instructions below on how to submit a milestone to the competition. Email competitions@globaloria.org if you have any questions.

Best,

Yasmin

How do I submit milestones to a competition?

• Once you have completed a milestone, embed the file or video on your team page.
• For game demo and final game milestones, add the .fla and.swf to your Game page on the Game Gallery.
• Go to: https://www.progress.myglife.org/auth/login to log into the competition site.
• Sign in with your school wiki username, and your personal Competition password, which was emailed to you.
• Scroll down to the "MILESTONE SUBMISSIONS" section.
• Paste your team page URL only in the box for the milestone that is due.
• Click "save" to timestamp your submission.

Time to evaluate progress

Hi All

At this point in the year most of the classes should have the team pages totally completed except for the final game and updating the timeline.  Please take some time to see that your teams have their team pages completed.  Remind team members to upload progress at least once a week so their game progress is visible.

This is important because it is a major element during the competition judging. 

Remember that the game demo presentations are now the professional reviews and to request those right away.  The feedback can be used by students to make improvements before the final game.

If you need anything just let me know!
Denise

National STEM Challenge Deadline Extended

Hi all, 

The 2012 National STEMVideo Game Challenge just announced that it has extended its deadline to March 23, 2012. Globaloria educators and students are strongly encourage to submit their games.

Please note, students with finished games from the 2010-11 school year and Fall 2011 are still eligible to apply.

Globaloria students will be shining stars in these categories:

• Written game design documents
• Games made with any tool (Open Platform) - this includes Flash
• Educational games made with any tool

Globaloria Educators should also apply! There is a particularly great opportunity for teachers to submit games they have made. Educator Category: http://www.stemchallenge.org/about/Default.aspx?Cat=Edu.

Please let us know if any of your students plan to submit their game to the Challenge. If you have any questions email competitions@globaloria.org.

March 13th Mini Workshop!

Hey Everybody!

Just wanted to remind you that we will be having our next mini workshop on Tuesday, March 13th at 6pm EST on Adobe Connect. Mentor Educator Jeremy Ross will be leading a session on Sound Effects and Background Music. Check out the topics, refresh your memory, and think of any questions you want to ask! Find at least one free-use sound file that you want to use in flash before the mini workshop!



Here are some websites that can help you find free sounds:

• http://www.grsites.com/archive/sounds/
  
• http://www.findsounds.com/
  

See you all next week! I'll send out another email reminder with the link to Adobe Connect and the example file you'll be working on before the session.


-Yvonne