This summer, I am honored to be teaching first year students in MSU’s overseas Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program. Held in Galway, Ireland, the program offers students the opportunity to tinker and play, remix and repurpose, and develop a mindful approach to technology integration on the campus of...
Blog
Too Old to Begin the Training? Making the Transition from Work to Grad School
It can be daunting to go back to school after a long absence. In my case, I worked for eight years on the staff side of a small university before deciding to pursue doctoral study. It was a tough choice; I had worked hard to establish my career. I...
It’s the writing that teaches you: affordable writing resources for grad students
For the sake of transparency, let me be clear: I’m making three assumptions about you as a grad student. You’re busy, you’re writing a lot, and you’re on a budget. So here are some tools for students who need to brush up on academic writing skills, need quick...
Everything is Awesome
In our #MAETEL1 summer program, students participate in a series of Quickfire activities. Quickfires are intended to get students to quickly work on a creative project involving technology, within a specified time limit. This discourages the creative process from being stifled by perfectionism, or from being too focused on...
MAETEL1: Day 1
Day 1 of the East Lansing MAET Summer Program: The BIG Questions Michigan State University’s summer Master of Educational Technology (MAET) program in East Lansing welcomed 22 students from across the globe today who were ready and eager to learn and play. The instructors were excited — and so...
MSU Serious Games Program: Learning Expectations
Another episode from the Serious Games Certificate program at MSU, in which we talk about current game projects (and I make silly faces):
Valiant Hearts and “Big G” Game Qualities
I’m a big fan of the game Valiant Hearts, which was released by Ubisoft Montpelier last summer. It’s a game about WWI – but not an exclusively combat-oriented one. Based on my experience, Valiant Hearts falls under what Jim Gee calls “Big G” Games. “Big G” games are more than...
MAET Bridge Webinar
I was honored to participate in the MAET Bridge webinar last month with my talented MSU colleagues. Topics for the webinar included digital games, online teachers, and aesthetics in education. Check it out here: Special thanks to Dr. Leigh Graves Wolf, Dr. Michelle Schira Hagerman, Brian Arnold, and Rohit...
What’s in a name? What’s in a game?
I find the “game vs. not-a-game” debate to be problematic and unproductive; yet it’s a discussion that crops up time and time again. It has been argued, for example, that stories cannot be games because they lack interaction; and toys cannot be games because they lack player goals (Fullerton, 2008)....
Serious Games: The Commercial
Here I am, talking about the amazing Serious Games program at MSU with some of my classmates: