Globaloria Games Wanted!

Exciting news! The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a national competition that celebrates students’ creative talents, is inviting Globaloria teams to submit their completed games for recognition!

Please reach out to students with completed games – students from past years, or second year students – and invite them to apply. You, the teacher, can also submit a student's game on his or her behalf.

Submissions are due before December 15^th, so please circulate and encourage today!

Last year, a Globaloria student won gold prize for game design and was invited to Carnegie Hall in NYC to receive his award! Please notify your students about this once in a lifetime opportunity!

Giving Thanks, Giving Back

Globaloria is all about changing the way we learn and grow as a community. Our responsibilities as educated citizens extend outside the classroom, as we recognize our places as contributors to a globally conscious society.

Since Hurricane Sandy hit our hometown area in New York City, members of the Workshop team have been actively involved in the relief efforts. We have been collecting donations that are distributed in the affected areas and also lending a helping hand in the field.

Here I am with my trusty gloves & boots @ Randall's Island!

Last week I volunteered in an effort to clean up Randall’s Island Park, a beautiful place where many local schools take field trips.Volunteering was a nice bonding and networking experience with the others out there. It also heightened my consciousness and awareness of my place in the world. All that plastic and pollution in the water- it made me so happy to work in an office that consciously recycles. As I became tired raking, I was so grateful for my 4 limbs and strength that others may not have- and I was happy to put it to good use, as I hadn't done manual labor in awhile! 

What are you thankful for this season? Please share your stories.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Jaime, Special Projects Coordinator at the World Wide Workshop

Announcing: Globeys 2013

We are thrilled to announce the 2012-2013 Globaloria Game Design Competitions...aka The Globeys! 

 

This celebration of student work in Globaloria culminates with an award ceremony in the spring, where outstanding students are recognized with exciting prizes! (think laptops, drawing tablets...)

NEW this year: Students do not have to register for the Globeys. To be eligible, students must upload milestone projects to their Team Page by the assigned deadline.Their Team Page now features a Globey status so students can see whether they're on track. It's easier than ever to participate!

Also, for the first time ever Hidden Object Games will be eligible for Globeys recognition. Stay tuned for more on this!

Find the deadlines for your students below & start spreading the word!

WV, TX, CA - Full Year Program

1. Paper Prototype - Jan 25
2. Game Demo - March 1
3. Game Presentation - May 15
4. Final Game - May 17  

WV - Fall Semester Program

1. Paper Prototype - Dec 10
2. Game Demo - Dec 15
3. Game Presentation - Jan 15
4. Final Game - Jan 20
   

WV - Spring Semester Program 

1. Paper Prototype - March 15
2. Game Demo - April 15
3. Game Presentation - May 15
4. Final Game -  May 17
   

NY- Full Year Program

1. Paper Prototype - March 1
2. Game Demo - May 1
3. Game Presentation - June 5
4. Final Game -  June 7
   

Send questions to competitions@globaloria.org
See past winners & more at Globaloria.org/competitions

November 13 Mini Workshop

Happy Friday Everybody!

Rock n' Roll y'all!!

Just wanted to take a minute to remind everyone about our upcoming Mini Workshop on TUESDAY November, 13 2012 at 7 pm EST (6 pm CT, 4 pm ET). The topics covered in Tuesday's session will include: How to request Professional Game Reviews, Information about this year's Globey Awards, and a lesson on Drawing & Animating in Flash!

Please complete the assignment on the November Mini Workshop page and post your work! Make sure to bring your questions to Tuesday's session.

Thanks guys!


Yvonne

REMINDER! Oct Mini Workshop TONIGHT 7pm ET

Hi All,
Just wanted to remind everyone about our Mini-Workshop tonight at 7pm ET (6pm CT, 4pm PT).

To-Dos before the session:
- Complete the Buttons assignment on the October 2012 Mini Workshop Page - Post your work! 
- Join us for a Live Q&A TONIGHT! October 9, 2012 from 7-8 PM EST (6-7 CT, 4-5 PT), in our Virtual Classroom

- Win Prizes for your participation! Flash software, drawing tablets, gift certificates and more. Click here for all the details. 

Hope to see everyone there!

Yvonne

Blogger Notice!

Teachers, have you tried to edit your students' blogs, but realized you cannot click on their posts? Don't panic, we have a fix for you! When students add their teachers as authors to their blogs, they are defaulted as Authors. This means that they can create and delete their own posts on the blog, but not the posts of the student. In order for teachers to be able to edit their students' blog posts, they need to have their students go back to the Permissions settings and change the teachers from Authors to Admin.

Here is how you do it:
Under Settings > Basic - in the section called Permissions, set the Permission for the teacher's account from "Author" to "Admin".

Don't know what I'm talking about? Then please check out this post on our revamped Knowledge Base of the Help Desk!

Happy Blogging!

Calling All Globaloria Girls!

Know an outstanding Globaloria girl? Encourage her to apply for the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Award for Aspirations in Computing, which honors high-school women active in technology. Awardees are selected for their computing and IT aptitude, leadership ability, academic history, and plans for post-secondary education.

Prizes include:  

• $500
• Laptop computer  
• Engraved award (for student & for school)
• All expenses-paid trip to awards ceremony 

The application deadline is October 31! Find application details online, or email kara@worldwideworkshop.org for more information.

How to Post VBlogs

Computers are wonderful things and most students enjoy and learn tons when using computers.  However, many states feel there are too many dangers and block certain things. With all the legibility issues today I can understand why but as an educator it can be annoying.  In West Virginia now videos uploaded straight to Blogger will not display.  A big white box will appear.  Globaloria is updating the lesson so this is just a reminder that it is different and here are the steps to make it work.

1.  Upload video to Viddler.
2.  Copy the Embed Code.
3.  In Edit on your blog post, click the html tab.
4.  Paste
5. Publish

One of my students figured this out!  How awesome to know that they will play until they figure it out!

Custom Cursors from Overfelt HS!

Hey all,

Just wanted to highlight some of the great work we've seen so far on our September 11th Mini Workshop page and remind everyone else to post their custom cursor SWF and FLA files!


Jenny Kim of Overfelt High School added a cool cursor to her hidden object game!


Keep up the great work and please share your work! Upload and embed your files on the Mini Workshop page on the Educator's Wiki and bring your questions and comments to our first Mini Workshop of the school year on September 11, 2012 at 7pm ET (6pm CT, 4pm PT).

Thanks Everybody!

September 11 Mini-Workshop!!

Happy Friday Everybody!

is it the weekend yet?

Just wanted to take a minute to remind everyone about our upcoming Mini Workshop on TUESDAY September 11, 2012 at 7 pm EST (6 pm CT, 4 pm ET). The topics covered in Tuesday's session will include: Setting Up Code, Custom Cursors, Blog Management and an overview of the new Wiki features.

Please complete the assignment on the September Mini Workshop Page and post your work! Make sure to bring your questions to Tuesday's session.

Thanks guys!


Yvonne

Award Day and Leadership Training: Leaders of Today cultivating Leaders of Tomorrow

After spending four days with teachers, it was soon time to celebrate with the students. That means: The Globeys!

Who needs the Olympics when you have this?

For those who don’t know, The Globeys is Globaloria’s annual award ceremony for student games. We have a ceremony for each of the states we work with, this year’s being Texas, California, and West Virginia. Because Globaloria focuses on effort and creativity, we don’t solely look at whose games work the best. We look for a good idea, originality, education factor, and how much effort went into the production of the game. So, potential is just as important in doing well in this competition as quality would be.

The energy during the ceremony was fantastic! Everyone was very excited to be there. It was especially nice to see the smiling students and their hard work being shown off. In addition, for me, it was nice to see how everyone’s hard work – from the school’s side, with teachers, students, and administrators to the World Wide Workshop side, with Shannon, Denise, and many others – came together. It really helped me understand the impact that everyone’s roles have. Kudos to everyone making this all possible!

The Winners!

After the Globeys, we had another training session devoted to training administrators. We did not have them make games, but we did show them the tools they needed to support their teachers. It was nice to see the administrators take such an active role in Globaloria.

After getting the administrators up to speed, we all headed to the Leadership Inspiration Awards at the Caperton manor. Being a newcomer to Globaloria, it was a very eye-opening experience. Various principals and superintendents shared their Globaloria stories, which really showed me how devoted everyone was to the mission of Globaloria. Overall, the entire trip was amazing, and I encourage anyone that has an opportunity to go to a Globaloria training to go and do it!

- Jonathan

Globaloria New Features Q&A Recording

Hi Everyone, Happy Friday!

 
Here is the link to review our Q&A session on new platform and curriculum features from last night.

Thank you Natalie Ellis, for coming to discuss the new platform features! We enjoyed talking with you, good luck with your classes this year.

Everyone else - we realize this time of year is very busy. Please make sure to watch the set of videos we provided, do the suggested activities, and contact us through the Help Desk if you have any questions.

Thanks and have a great weekend!


-Yvonne

The Hidden Object Game: Old faces, new problems.

The latter two days were focused on actual game design aspect of the curriculum. This was also the time that the returning educators joined the fray. Flash design and programming was a new concept to the new educators. The returning educators had experience programming in Flash after going through their first year, but they had to work on a Hidden Object game, a new addition to the curriculum this year. So, ultimately everyone was on the same page as far as the project goes!

The new educators working on their games.

The new educators did a great job in the short period that they used Flash! The games weren’t perfect (what game is, really?), but they had some really wonderful ideas in the scope of a Hidden Object game. There were games about literature, game about history, and some about science. All of them were great! It was especially nice to see the educators grow more confident with Flash (quite literally) overnight! A lot of them surprised themselves on how much they understood about the program after a few hours of tinkering and experimenting with the features and with the curriculum. Future educators, please note: You can do it too!

The returning educators working on their games.

Watching the returning educators tackle the Hidden Object game was very encouraging to me. They really showed what a difference a year of experience can make. The returners were in the same shoes as the newcomers last year, so seeing them so confident with Flash after about a year of use was nice to see. Once again, future educators: You can do it too!

Overall, everyone did a great job! Kudos to all of the educators!

WV New Educators 2012: Stepping up to the plate.

Shannon talking more about the curriculum.

The first two out of the four days were dedicated getting the new educators up to speed about Globaloria at large. This means getting them acquainted with who we are, what we do, and what their roles are. Shannon and veteran teachers Denise, Bill, and Diane lead the discussions. Me and interns (and Globaloria alumni) Lindsey and Valerie were also there to help. All of the educators had eager faces, and were a combination of being excited about the program, and being terrified about programming Flash. Nonetheless, they were all willing to give the program a try, which is what the program encourages – effort.

Bill leads the discussion about Blogger.

Training in Charleston, WV 2012

Hello everyone! My name is Jonathan, the new kid on the block running the Help Desk for Globaloria, among other things. To further facilitate my training, Shannon invited me to join her with her trip to Charleston, West Virginia. There I helped out with training both the new and returning educators of WV (and one from TX). It was a great time, and I have some neat pictures showcasing the busyness and energy of the event. I also stayed for the West Virginia Globies, which was a blast as well! Without further ado, let’s get started!

Austin Globaloria Academy

The Austin Globaloria Teacher and Leadership Academies here in Texas finished up a couple of days ago, and everyone involved had a brilliant time! Here are a few shots of the action:

Morning of Day 1, everyone getting acquainted

Nyssa giving Jessica a hand

Mandy working on her hidden object game

Leadership Academy

Leadership Academy

Denise explaining reports to the leaders

Bill helps Kelsey solve a coding issue

CA Summer Training Day 4! - Carlos Inda wins Best New Educator!

World Wide Workshop VP Shannon Sullivan congratulating
Best New Educator Carlos Inda as Idit cheers them on from the NY Office!

Today we took a moment to video chat with Dr. Idit Harel Caperton, the President and Founder of the World Wide Workshop, who answered questions and inspired everyone in the room! As she looked on, we also honored one of our Best New Educators, Carlos Inda. Carlos is a second year educator at Christopher School in San Jose, and has done a wonderful job so far! Five of his students won Best Game at this year's Globey Awards, so we think he deserves to be recognized with Adobe Flash Software and a drawing tablet! Great job!

Check out the winning game, Math Sports from team Barcelona!

CA Summer Training Academy - Day Two & Three!

Educators working hard on their games

Phew! We just finished day three of our California Summer Training Academy at the Krause Center for Innovation, here's a recap of the past two days. On Sunday, our superstar educators worked on converting their paper prototypes into drawings in flash, and adding game ingredients to make their Hidden Object Games come to life!

Mentor Educator Bill Dorsey and his presentation group

On Monday, all educators broke up into groups and presented their final games and their projects pages, showing all the hard work they did so far. We were so impressed by all the awesome games and ideas that we saw. Can't wait to see what their students come up with!

Shannon Sullivan and her presentation group

Looking forward to tomorrow, when we'll go over all the awesome new tools you can use to manage your Globaloria class!

Whee Training!!

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