On-line Games, Simulations & Role-plays as Learning Environments: Boundary and Role Characteristics

Last July, I posted a paper (draft) on Boundary Characteristics of Game, Simulation, Drama & Role-play Learning Environments. With the help of Roni Linser, it has been updated. The following is the latest draft.

On-line Games, Simulations & Role-plays as Learning Environments: Boundary and Role Characteristics

Introduction

As the arsenal for instructional design strategies increasingly grows to include online games, simulations and role-plays there is an increased need to understand the practical and theoretical issues that are involved in the use of such environments. In this paper, we focus on the boundary characteristics that separate reality from the game space and the consequences of these characteristics to the triad of learner/player/role – a critical intersection between game space and reality.

It is often both argued and assumed that the spaces provided by games, simulations and role-playing, for convenience here called ‘game-type’ environments, are separate from the reality that intersects them. The argument is that these ‘game-type’ environments are artificially created in which players facing adversity and governed by specific game-rules, attempt to reach quantifiable outcomes. (Sales & Zimmerman 2003) While this may be a useful way to understand digital computer and video games in the context of entertainment, it is less than clear whether this separation is as clear-cut for, or applicable to, games generally and ‘game-type’ environments like role-playing games (RPG) and role-play simulation games (RPSG) in particular. Moreover, and as the paper argues, the ‘permeability’ of the boundary between reality and game space is a critical feature of online games, simulations and role-plays with pedagogical intent. Because different game designs result in environments displaying various game-boundary characteristics, understanding these characteristics can lead to better adoption and adaptation of ‘game-type’ learning environments design, as well as better strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of specific ‘game type’ environments in meeting learning outcomes.

Game environments intended for pedagogical objectives are not only inseparable from reality but intersect it in ways that are immensely useful in enabling deep learning. The paper highlights some of the theoretical and practical issues surrounding the boundary characteristics of such environments based on the teaching/learning experience of the authors focusing on two questions:

 How does reality intersect with these ‘game-type’ ‘virtual’ learning environments?
 How do the boundaries that define and maintain particular ‘game-type’ learning environments impact on the learner/player/role triad and hence on the learning process?

Since computers first entered the educational arena the concept of ‘games for learning’ has become increasingly attractive to educators seeking to create engaging 'interactive' learning environments. The element of ‘play’ as a conduit for learning is clearly not new. Johan Huizinga in his 1938 book Homo Ludens, suggested that ‘play’ was primary to and a necessary (though not sufficient) condition for the generation of culture and as such, is a core-learning mode for cultural transmission for all sentient beings. (Huizinga, 1971)

Education theorists like Dewey (1944), social psychologists like Mead (1934) and psychologists like Winnicott (1980) have all recognized the importance and value of play for learning. ‘Game-type’ environments are of course a more organized form of play. Still, building on more than forty years of work in the use of games for learning, researchers are clearly arguing and demonstrating that everyone can learn something from games (Gee 2003; Gros 2003; Beck & Wade; 2004). Numerous articles have demonstrated ways to select, research, build, sell, deploy, and evaluate the right type of educational games for the right situation (Prensky, 2001; Aldrich, 2004; 2005). While there is a continuing (often silently) passive resistance to the use of ‘game-type’ environments for learning in formal educational contexts this has not prevented learning oriented institutions as military academies, medical bodies, and training institutions from making extensive use of them for skill development, knowledge acquisition and more recently exploration of affective learning goals.

The question is therefore not whether ‘game-type’ environments are useful, but rather the criterion by which to evaluate their utility to meet specific learning outcomes - how to chose between different ‘game-type’ environments to not only meet but also best suit particular learning outcomes? Given the variety of games, simulations and role-playing games in the market, this is not a simple question.

Understanding the constraints and implication that different game spaces produce as learning spaces, or as a strategy to meet learning objectives may be useful for educators who need to answer that question. To do so we must first outline the types of game spaces available to educators.


Types of game space

Game environments may be constructed in any or combination of the following types of spaces:

Physical space

Physical space, and for convenience sake to take the common sense notion of it in order not to delve into the worlds of theoretical physics and metaphysics, is the 3D+Time environment that people perceive for practical purposes as the one they inhabit, act in and upon, change, etc. It is the here and now in which we eat and breathe, the one we sense with our five senses – perhaps more. A football or tennis arena like Wembley Stadium or the Wimbledon center court, or the local golf course, the paint-ball rooms in amusement parks or the kitchen table playing solitaire, the board-game and many others in-door and out-door spaces, both those specifically designed for the purpose of playing a game or used in an ad hoc fashion, are all physical spaces of games. A classroom, laboratory, lecture theatre and observatory are examples of traditional physical spaces used for teaching and learning. In all of them the laws of physics are applicable regardless of the social use to which they apply.

People in physical spaces typically behave consistently with socially constructed rules and norms associated with such physical space. They do so both in game spaces mentioned above and in educational spaces. However, unlike the laws of physics, these socially constructed norms and rules are continuously maintained, contested, negotiated and changed in the social dynamics of interaction. For example, in a lecture theatre most participants will assume the role of "listener" and sit quietly while one or two participants who take on the role of "speaker" that will deliver a "lecture". However a couple of participants may also start up a conversation, perhaps interrupting the speaker, which may contest the prevalent norm, upon which negotiating the rules appropriate to the space ensues. A football field is associated with a football game when there is general consensus by players to be bound by the rules of being on a football field and act accordingly since the same physical space can also be used as a baseball field with alterations to the white marked boundary lines.


Virtual space

Virtual space commonly refers to computer-generated games and simulations created as two or three-dimensional environments that allow a participant to experience and interact with a setting or situation within these environments. In typical ‘immersion’ mode, participants put on head-mount gear, glasses, wear some form of sensor-enabled clothing and walk in a ‘VirtuSphere’ (Christensen, 2005). Alternately, in the ‘token’ mode, players in a game control an Avatar (Website 1) through which they interact with the virtual environment they inhabit. In both cases, the interactions with the environment, including all game artifacts, are generated and controlled by a computer. Highly sophisticated ‘immersion’ mode flight, tank and naval simulations used for training by modern armies or the graphic complexity of fantasy environments like Grand Auto Theft, World of Warcraft or Myst in the entertainment industry are typical of such spaces at the high fidelity spectrum. Less complex graphically, at lower fidelity but still in ‘token’ mode, are games like Civilization or Age of Empires. Both the Sims and Second Life, which have been increasingly presented as a potentially powerful spaces for teaching and learning, belongs to ‘the token’ mode. Second Life is of higher fidelity than the Sims. Though in essence both are virtual environments, Second Life and the Sims are not exactly games as such in the traditional definition (Sales and Zimmerman 2003), and are closer to simulations of hypothetical environments that are used to play – but necessarily games.

Whether such virtual spaces simulate real world physics or imaginary physics the activity of users is governed by rules that are generated by scripts and algorithms - all inputs of users (e.g. moving the joystick to the left) is processed through these embedded rules to produce the activity (output) seen on the screen by the users giving them the illusion of being in that space.
[All following sections condense - ‘game-type’]
Augmented space

Augmented reality

Augmented reality ... deals with the combination of real world and computer generated data. At present, most AR research is concerned with the use of live video imagery that is digitally processed and ‘augmented’ by the addition of computer-generated graphics. Advanced research includes the use of motion tracking data, fiducial marker recognition using machine vision, and the construction of controlled environments containing any number of sensors and actuators. [Website 2]

Again, there are two sub groups here. Physical Reality augmented with virtual artifacts, such as Magic Eye. [Website 3] This lets the user see the real world around him and augment this view by overlaying or composing three-dimensional virtual objects with their real world counterparts. The idea is that for the user it would seem as if the virtual and real objects coexisted. Hear &There [Website 4] is another example. Its an augmented reality system of linked audio that allows users to virtually drop sounds at any location in the real world, and users of the system could then hear the sounds associated with a given area.

The second subgroup is Virtual Reality augmented with virtual artifacts. Examples of this include the Berlin in 3D for Google Earth [Website 5] Las Vegas 3D Buildings [Website 6] Historical events link to Google Earth, such as World War Two Google Earth [Website 7], Famous WW2 Battlefields Today [Website 8]. Last, but not the least, Google street view [Website 9] where physical space's photos are used to augment virtual space.

Some uses of augmented reality in teaching and learning are:
 Arts Center of Christchurch New Zealand (Billinghurst, 2002)
 MagicBook is a book just like any other, complete with a story written on pages that could be read without the help of AR technology. However, the pages also contained virtual animated figures, which once viewed with a heads-up display would act out the story in 3D space above the pages. (Shelton, 2002)
 "Augmented Reality" simulations by MIT [Website 10]
 Handheld Augmented Reality Project [Website 11]
 others [Website 12]

Imagined space

Long before the advent of computer generated spaces, people have been fascinated and absorbed by spaces described by authors. In this type of space, the visualization of the environment, its artifacts and characters occurs solely in our imagination with hints supplied from the text. When there are gaps in the description, our brain will attempt to fill in the missing parts. For example, when reading a novel the imagination of the reader acts on the author's description to construct the novel space in which the story is played out. Consider the vividness of the scenery and characters we imagine when reading such novels as Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

The imagined space has long been recognized as a powerful environment for learning as the cultural importance of literature testifies.

It should be noted that these spaces overlap in real situation. Imagined space, in particular, always supplement inadequacy of other spaces.

Game Environment and Game Boundaries

It maybe trivial to state that any game space has a boundary but given the varied types of game environments technologically possible today it is critical to evaluate this boundary. Within any game space marked by this boundary, a different set of rules applies to the behavior - usually with a game goal that drives all the activity within the game space. As soon as a player steps "outside the game boundaries", the normal socially expected behaviors are in effect. This section, describes our observed "boundary conditions" of the game space.

Our first observation is that game spaces do not exist isolated from the real world even if game boundaries are identifiable. In fact, game spaces are part of (a subset of) the larger space co-occupied by many different actors who act in complex combinations of different roles and stakes. Typically, when a game is used in teaching and learning, the immediately outer space of the game space will be the institute in which the games are hosted. Typical to a game space used in teaching and learning, an "institutional representative" may be present in the game space, not necessarily acting in full compliance to the game rules imposed upon other game players. The composition of the game space itself and the implications of such will be discussed in a later paper.

Many games exist in the physical space. Real world physics governs the behavior of all the artifacts within the game environment

Players can be said to be playing a game only when in game space, marked by chalk, or the imaginary line between two rocks. Even if they obey all the other rules of playing the game of football, as opposed to playing with a ball, they must be within the boundary to be playing the game..

Computer games ‘naturally’ exist in virtual space. The simulator embedded in such computer games, may have quite different rules from real world physics, as it controls the behavior of in-game artifacts. For example, in Tetris, the falling blocks are usually implemented as falling with constant speed. (Real world physics would require any falling object to accelerate.) As the game advances to higher stages, the speed of falling increases, which is not the same as real world.

Many games exist in every of the spaces mentioned about. For games in the physical space. Real world physics governs the behavior of all the artifacts within the game environment. However, the social rules will be continuously interpreted, negotiated and contested. For games in virtual envirnoments, such as computer games, the real world physics may not apply. However, the allowed range of actions by the players is also limited so that the ability to negotiated social rules may be reduced to near zero.

Most simulators are in virtual space.

Role play starts from a physical space and there are a number of initiatives of using role play online. (Hintjens, 2005; Linser et.al. 2004; Shaw & Mendeloff , 2006; Coll & Linser, 2006) Text-based online role-play operates in the Imagined space.

Boundary Characteristics of Game Environments

The game boundary defines the separation between the game environment and the real world environment. That is, it binds the game rules and action to the game space. Salen and Zimmerman argue that such a boundary is critical in defining a game as such. The boundary, they suggest, clearly distinguishes between the ‘artificial world of the game’ and the “real life” contexts that it intersects. (2003; 94)

Linser, Lindstad and Vold (2007) however, have shown that at least in role-playing games, and in particular ones for educational purposes, this boundary is a lot more porous than what Salen and Zimmerman concede. Not only do life experiences of players cross the boundary and enter such games, but also knowledge, norms, values and social rules that exist outside the game, become strategic assets for players. Furthermore and critically important for educational purposes, in-game experiences and actions can and do migrate across the boundary into the real world. This is precisely the reason why games and simulations in general and role-plays in particular, are so useful for education.

The following characteristics do not absolutely have to be apparent in every game environment. Rather, they highlight boundary characteristics that may have pedagogical implications. The characteristics of the boundaries between the real space and the game space can be understood as variables along a continuum. The degree to which each is apparent in particular types of games and in specific game environments impacts on the quality and outcomes of player experiences. Thus, these boundary characteristics need to be considered when designing and implementing games for learning. The same game may be implemented in quite different ways due to the manner in which these boundaries are established, crossed over and maintained.

Permeability

The permeability of the boundary refers to the extent to which game rules defining the boundary are susceptible to factors and influences from the real world to enter the game world. If the boundary were impermeable it would be resistant to external influences flowing into the game space. In contrast, a boundary with high permeability suggests a vulnerability to external influence.

Permeability of boundaries is the hinge that allows the insertion of outside knowledge, attitudes and strategies into the game, as well a facilitating the transfer of knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding developed within the game environment to contexts in the 'real' world. The issue of Transfer in the literature, referring to the transference of knowledge and attitudes from game activity into the world, hinges on permeability of game boundaries. The assumption that playing games can be used as pedagogical tools to help students learn, though not necessarily, is often accompanied with the assumption that game boundaries are permeable to the transference of knowledge, skills and attitudes. If game environment boundary were impermeable to information and knowledge their utility for education would not be pedagogical, though may serve other purposes.

Most games played in physical space have permeable boundaries. Like all socially constructed rules, those that govern games are negotiated, maintained and contested as part of the game. The very fact that official games an appeal to a third party to adjudicate, a referee, who is both inside and outside game space, demonstrates clearly that the rules are negotiated and contested. Transference of knowledge, skills and attitudes is unambiguously part of the whole social phenomena of Football and players spent a lot of time training in a non-game environment in order to improve their performance during game. Likewise, experience and information gathered within the game environment, such as tenacity, leadership qualities, team spirit, can be used outside of the game environment.

Game environments do not exist in isolation. In the context of formal education and learning they are mostly situated within an "institutional space". In some instances institutional representatives will interfere with the in-character game environment thereby allowing the real world to permeate the game space. In such a situation, there is a risk that institutional relations will impact on players’ actions, which in turn may have tremendous impact on outcomes within the game environment.

Permeability to external power is a risk whenever interactions and task performance of players within the game are subject to formal assessment. One is quite likely to play golf differently when playing against the boss and best friends. Players may be inclined in such situations to be conscious that their play is subject to scrutiny and assessment by external sources to the game action and this may thus limit the scope of action they might take in the game. The course of action players might pursue is thus influenced by the permeability of the game boundary to institutional relations and norms.

However, this risk does not necessarily mean that players will alter their freedom of action within the game. Given appropriate strategies by institutional representatives (the Zen of Mod) it may actually increase the scope of actions players might take. It depends on the type of ‘interference’ institutional representatives insert into the game. For example, by providing alternative strategies, rather than insisting on what should be done, may increase the scope of actions identified by players.

The permeability of institutional relations can be subtle and unnoticeable. Educator should exercise great care when interacting with players during a game. A suggestion from a moderator can be interpreted as a command and hence steel from the players the exercise of real choice. On the other hand, a whole list of suggestions, even contrary ones, without providing preference, may enhance the players understanding and lead to even new forms of actions not envisioned previously. Whenever interactions and task performance of players within the game are subject to formal assessment, players are conscious that their play is subject to scrutiny by a power figure external to the game action and of the assessment value of particular strategies. The course of action players might pursue is thus influenced by the permeability of the game boundary to the inherent power exerted by the assessor.

Fuzziness

Where the boundary starts and where it ends is sometimes very difficult to distinguish. For example in a game of chess, if the players can hear the commentary of the game, the outcome could be influenced. It has been reported many times that when fans cheer a player in a competition this impacts on the performance of the competitor. Are the commentators or the fans part of the game or not? If the game rules of a chess match allows on-lookers to make suggestions to the players, how would that change the game? Is this the same game as a chess game where any suggestions/comments are strictly blocked? An example of this in the case of online role-play simulation is the fuzziness between the 'real' world dispute over the development of the pulp and paper industry in South America and the 'game' world dispute in the BIG Paper b-Sim. [REF] Participants report difficulty in separating the real world events and characters from those of the game world. [REF] Participants in political science simulations run at the University of Melbourne and elsewhere were indeed specifically designed with ‘fuzziness’ merging real and game events. [Linser et. al 1999; Linser, 2004]

Flexibility

Flexibility refers to the capacity of the game boundary to respond to changes to the boundary itself. In other words it refers to the ability of the game environment to accommodate changes to the game rules or artifacts while action is in play - the more flexible the boundary, the easier it will be to introduce 'on the fly' modifications to the game environment (perhaps to reflect changes within the parallel 'real' world outside the game.) For example, the scenario for the Middle East Politics simulation (Vincent and Shepherd, op cit) is set 3 weeks into the future from the commencement date. It is possible, and indeed likely, that 'real' world parameters governing the scenario may change rendering the game environment less relevant - the death of a key character in the role-play or the outbreak of war. A flexible boundary, in other words ability to change rules and roles, will allow the game environment to be changed either explicitly or implicitly to reflect 'real' world changes. In contrast, an inflexible boundary quarantines the game environment so that it remains untouched by such external pressures. Boundaries can be seen to be flexible in different ways and the following is an attempt to unpack these differences.

Plasticity of the boundary is one way in which the characteristic of flexibility may be exhibited. We have borrowed the concept of plasticity from neuroscience to denote a boundary that is able to undergo organizational change as a result of experience. Adaptive plasticity means that the boundary can change in response to new information and dynamics either within or outside the game environment resulting in changes that may be translated to self-organized modification during the game or later iterations of the game. For example a role-play game set to have, lets say 2 interaction spaces, may change to incorporate 3 interaction spaces as a result of players self organization.

Elasticity is another way in which flexibility can be demonstrated. While elasticity is a component of flexibility, it relates specifically to the ability of the game environment to accommodate changes in the number of players at the start of the game. The more elastic the boundary is the more it can stretch or shrink to match the number of players enrolled to participate. Thus, a game that is scalable in terms of allowing modification to the number of players would be seen to have an elastic boundary whereas a game limited to a fixed number of players would have an inelastic boundary.

Fluidity is a third form of flexibility. It refers to the ability of the game to accommodate changing numbers of players once play has commenced. Can the game continue with integrity if a new player is introduced into the game, or withdrawn from the game whilst play is in action?

There are other possible ways of understanding the flexibility of boundaries. In a computer simulation, the use of props such as a steering wheel or joystick may act to increase the realism of the game thereby reducing the separation (boundary) between real and game worlds. As such, it weakens the boundary. Tokenism on the other hand depends very much on the imagination and psychological makeup of the player. If a player recognizes the token as symbolic of a real world dynamic, this may also weaken the boundary. However, if the token is abstract to the point of meaning little to the player it may have no impact or perhaps strengthen the boundary.


Pedagogical Implications for the Learner/Player/Role

Learning through games, simulations, and role-playing is way of learning that depends very much on design characteristics. But it also depends on the learners themselves. As James Paul Gee puts it:

There are two ways to play a game [of Grand Theft Auto III], you can play proactively and strategically or just become a good button-masher. If you want to be strategic—both in terms of the decisions you make and the ways you solve problems—Grand Theft Auto III is subtle and amazing. I found the gang fights distasteful, so I just didn’t trigger them. I went out of my way to see how little damage I could do while still earning my living through crime. Such choices make the game partly mine and not just the designer’s. Games allow you to accept a given assumption (I have to earn a living through crime) and then see how you personally would think, feel, and act. [Gee, 2003]

In situation such as this, we obviously do not want violent criminal behavior to be learnt and transferred to real life. We don't want to train highly effective criminals, do we? We would like to manipulate the game so that the transfer of knowledge, skill and experience (permeability) are those desired and formulated learning objectives. Playing becomes an excuse for debriefing. For this type of game, the debriefing helps to correct the shortcoming of permeability of the game environment.

For a flight simulator, the skill to land a plane in an emergency situation is a learning outcome. We would seek to ensure that the transfer of knowledge and skill is directly transferred from the game environment into real life. The type of debrief is obviously different from those using Grand Theft Auto.

It is important to remember that the game environment is embedded within a larger institutional space (game, simulation, and/role playing as prescribed as part of a course), the institution representative (teacher/facilitator) has immerse power over the students. This power can permeate into the game environment easily. When a teacher/facilitator gives in-game suggestions, they can be easily interpreted as instruction to take a certain approach, denying the player the freedom to make choices. This can also seriously minimize the ownership of the game/role by the players. The same, may be to a lesser degree, be said about the powerful/friendship relationship among the players in the real world. In order to avoid real-world relationship interfere with the game, we may insist that all players are played anonymously.

Game environments with great flexibility assist administrators in allocating students to the game environment when the student enrolment may change from term to term. A flexible game environment would allow the teacher/facilitator to modify the storyline, game rules or other parameters so that when sudden unforeseen situation arises (such as a critical player is not able to continue due to illness), the game play can continue without impacting the learning outcome.

In online role-play, one way of designing game environment to increase flexibility is to allow each role to be played by a team. If a member of a team is unable to continue, the rest of the team can take up the work. Team size also allows more elasticity.

Conclusion

This paper presented some characteristics of the environment boundaries involved in game, simulation and role-playing with the aim to understand and inform education designs using such learning environments.
[Section expansion]

On a personal note we think that in the head long rush into utilizing the possibilities that the communication revolution has enabled, it has been easy for teachers to over-look developments of very effective deep learning strategies that have been part of humanity’s arsenal from its inception. Role-playing is one of these and the communication revolution has provided this strategy with new opportunities. To the gaming generation, itself a product of the communication revolution, role playing games designed for education rather than entertainment do not seem to have been particularly sparkling – they don’t have the Wow factor of increasingly sophisticated 3D graphical interfaces. But pedagogically the sort of contexualised environments that on-line role-plays provide - graphic, virtual and text-based environments in which experience and reflection playfully interact in a game of identity, imagination and reality – enables an immersive engagement and deep learning experience that very few other strategies can match. In the words of an old Chinese proverb: Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I might remember. Involve me and I will understand. To this we would like to add: Let me play a role and I will transform.




References:

Aldrich., C (2005), Learning by Doing: A Comprehensive Guide to Simulations, Computer Games, and Pedagogy in e-Learning and Other Educational Experiences

Aldrich, C. (2004) Simulations and the future of learning. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.

Beck, J.C. and Wade, M. (2004), Got Game: How the Gamer Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever (Hardcover)

Billinghurst, M. (2002) New Horizons for Learning
http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/billinghurst.htm (viewed 20/8/07)

Christensen, B. (2005) VirtuSphere Immersive Virtual Reality, Technovelgy.com
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=462 (viewed 20/8/07)

Coll, J.F. & Linser, R. (2006) “Web-Based Role-Play Simulations and Foreign Language Learning: An Attitudinal Survey” in European Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning Conference Proceedings, Granada, Sep 4-7 http://www.simplay.net/papers/BlackBlizzard07.pdf

Dewey, J. 1944. Democracy and education. New York: Macmillan.

Gee, J.G. (2003), What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy

Gros, B. (2003) The Impact of digital games in education,
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_7/xyzgros/index.html

Hintjens, H. (2005) Quixotic moves online: simulating conflict and democracy in action in Venezuela. LoW2005, 2nd Annual Conference on Online Simulations, Role Playing and Virtual Worlds November 14-18, University of Melbourne Australia. http://www.simplay.net/LOW/papers05/donquixote.pdf

Huizinga, J. (1971) Homo Ludens. Beacon Press.

Ip, A. (2006) Why Commercial Off the Shelf Games Will Not Work in Education? And What is the Alternative? in Fong-Lok Lee and Jimmy Lee (eds.) in Pedagogical Design of Education Games - What Makes a Game Educational? Special Group Workshop in the Proceeding of ICCE2006, The 14th International Conference of Computers in Education, ICCE, Beijing China.

Linser, R. (2004) Predictive power of role-play simulations in Political Science: experience of an e-learning tool. Proceedings of the International Conference on Politics and Information Systems, Technologies and Applications (PISTA), Orlando, USA, July 21-25. http://www.simplay.net/papers/RPSpredictive_power.html

Linser, R. Ip, A. and Naidu, S. (1999) Pedagogical foundations of web-based simulations in Political Science. ASCILITE 1999 Conference, QUT, Brisbane, Dec. 5-8.
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Linser, R. Waniganayake M & Wilks S. (2004) A different lunch: role-play simulations in preparing early childhood leaders. IASTED International Conference on Web Based Education, Innsbruck, Austria, Feb 16-18. http://www.simplay.net/papers/ADifferentLunch04.pdf

Mead, G.H. (1934). Mind Self and Society (pp. 152-154). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Noggle, M. (2005) A Novel Simulation for the Literature Classroom,
http://www.simplay.net/LOW/papers05/novel_simulation.pdf

O'Toole, J; Burton, B and Plunkett, A, 2005, Cooling Conflict Pearson Longman, Australia

Prensky, M. (2001) Digital game based learning. New York: McGraw-Hill

Shelton, B.E. (2002) Augmented Reality and Education: Current Projects and the Potential for Classroom Learning New Horizons for Learning http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/shelton.htm (viewed 20/8/07)

Salen, L.and Zimmerman, E. Rules of Play, Game Design Fundamentals, The MIT Press, Cambridge and London, 2003.

Shaw, C. and Mendeloff, D. (2006) Connecting students internationally to explore post-conflict peacebuilding. International Studies Association Proceedings. San Diego, CA. March.

Vincent, A. and Shepherd, J. (1998) Experiences in teaching Middle-East politics via Internet-based Role-Play Simulations. Journal of Interactive Media in Education. 1998 (11) http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/98/11

Winnicott, D.W. (1980) Playing and Reality. Middlesex England: Penguin.

Websites:

Website 1 Wikipedia: avatar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_%28virtual_reality%29 (viewed 20/8/07)
Website 2 Wikipedia: Augmented reality: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality (viewed 20/8/07)
Website 3 http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/mue/www/magiceye.html (viewed 20/8/07)
Website 4 http://smg.media.mit.edu/projects/HearAndThere/ (viewed 20/8/07)
Website 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkTMMJZI65M&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs%2Eopen%2Eac%2Euk%2FMaths%2Fajh59%2F010445%2Ehtml (viewed 20/8/07)
Website 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsTm-nsJcJk&mode=related&search (viewed 20/8/07)
Website 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWrbDFRNMEA&mode=related&search (viewed 20/8/07)
Website 8 Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm60ZIVnXZw&mode=related&search (viewed 20/8/07)
Part2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX2VTr-r2sc&mode=related&search (viewed 20/8/07)
Website 9 http://maps.google.com/help/maps/streetview/ (viewed 20/8/07)
Website 10 http://education.mit.edu/ar/ (viewed 20/8/07)
Website 11 http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=harp (viewed 20/8/07)
Website 12 http://www.ims.tuwien.ac.at/media/documents/publications/Imagina-AR_EducationPaper.pdf (viewed 20/8/07); see also 7 Things You Should Know About Augmented Reality
http://connect.educause.edu/library/abstract/7ThingsYouShouldKnow/39384?time=1187613787 (viewed 20/8/07)

RIP Andrew Vincent

Dr Andrew Vincent of Macquarie University, pioneer role play designer (Middle Eastern Politics Simulation), died on Saturday April 5th in Beirut. Middle Eastern Politics Simulations [MEPS] has a 20 year history and has been used in a many institutions, world-wide. 20 years later, past students can still recall the powerful learning experience provided by MEPS. Unfortunately Dr Vincent did not publish much on his work. This may be the only one which he describes the power of online role play simulation; A Vincent, J Shepherd, Experiences in Teaching Middle East Politics via Internet-based Role-Play Simulations Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 1998 - www-jime.open.ac.uk http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/98/11/vincent-98-11-paper.html

Here are some video clips from his students after playing MEPS. 1 2 3 4

Here are a few posts which I have about him in the past.1 2 3 4 5

Spaghetti bridge

(Dis)Honesty of Quotation

By Steve Mirsky

In this podcast, Steve exposed one of the trick of propaganda

examine the writings of somebody you want to smear and then selectively quote those portions that appear to make your point

This case in point is Ben Stein's Expelled.

Toward the end, Stein reads the following quote from the book Descent of Man: “With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination. We build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick. Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. Hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.”

Is Darwin giving Nazis' philosophical support? The answer lies in what followed the quote as Steve finds out:

from Descent of Man: “The aid which we feel impelled to give to the helpless is mainly an incidental result of the instinct of sympathy, which was originally acquired as part of the social instincts, but subsequently rendered, in the manner previously indicated, more tender and more widely diffused. Nor could we check our sympathy, even at the urging of hard reason, without deterioration in the noblest part of our nature. The surgeon may harden himself whilst performing an operation, for he knows that he is acting for the good of his patient; but if we were intentionally to neglect the weak and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, with an overwhelming present evil.”

Whereis academics value citation, quotation and citation honesty seems to be more important than just quoting.

The success of serious games is tied to single-player, not multi-player

By Clark Aldrich

While Clark is one of my respected experts in this area, I have to respectfully disagree with him. Depending on angle, I can argue that ALL exercises in training and education is a form of role play. From the 'pure' mathematical exercise of solving an algebraic equation (the student is playing the role of a 'computer'), to problem solving in medical training (the student playing the role of a medical doctor). The exception may be the trade-based apprenticeship.

We learn from role playing since we were very young. Traditional formal education has done a wonderful job of removing human's basic instinct of modeling and role playing.

Classroom role play is VERY different from computer-mediated role playing. (Believe me, I know. I have seen hundreds of online role play simulations created, deployed and debriefed.) I can provide evidences to argue against all of these 7 points
* Everyone is on their best behavior.
* People are reluctant to try risky new strategies.
* The logistics of setting them up is expensive and brittle.
* People can go through them once or twice, but then the players get bored.
* There is little consistency. Some people take them seriously, some do not. Friday afternoon role-plays are different than Monday at 10 am.
* There is little ability for rigorous after-action-reviews (also called debriefings).
* They allow people to play-out existing techniques and strategies, neither learning new ones nor rigorously practicing old ones.

While designing solo serious games are difficult, designing valid, engaging and delivering REAL learning online role play simulations are not easy as well.

My partner Roni Linser has just finished a paper in which he describes the key design principles of successful online role plays. I am including a version of his paper here.

---

The Magic Circle - Game Design Principles and Online Role-play
Simulations

Abstract

The paper is an exploration of the 'magic' inherent in role-play simulations in educational contexts. It
compares and analyses a range of on-line role-play simulations used in higher education in a variety of disciplines highlighting the structural design and objectives of such role-play games, and in particular, it scrutinizes the game design principles that have been employed. As part of the new generation of educational technologies the use of such role-play is steadily increasing but very few guidelines exist as to how to translate educational goals and desired outcomes into game objectives and processes. Our paper provides a few such guidelines born out of the research and experience of creating such games.

1. Introduction: ICT and Education

Innovative approaches to teaching are proliferating at academic and training institutions as the impact of information and communication Technology (ICT) becomes widespread. One approach, that of experiential learning, is particularly interesting because of the transformation ICT impose on such experience. The virtual environments made possible by ICT have enabled communicative interactions that not only transcend certain spatial and temporal limitations but have also enabled the creation of new types of spacesand potentialities attractive to business, education and the entertainment industries.

For educational endeavors, the potentialities of the new spaces for learning had a number of effects, including changes to the role of the teacher and the nature of authority (Linser, Waniganayake & Wilkes 2004), the de-centering of the learning process and the separation of the learning space from the institutional space that provides learning spaces. (Linser 2004a) While teaching is still about the transference of knowledge, understanding and skills, the de-centering of the learning process, has meant that teachers have sought, and are still seeking, new pedagogic designs that would leverage the power of the new ICT and with which they can confront their shifting role in education.

One particular pedagogical strategy within the experiential learning approach, the use of games, role-plays and simulations, has long been used both institutionally in formal learning (Akilli 2007) as well as in informal acquisition of social knowledge understanding and skills. Informally, from childhood to adulthood we learn about our society through various forms of games and role-plays. Indeed from a socio-psychological perspective, the conceptual understanding of social roles, their acquisition and maintenance is a critical theoretical component in understanding how we become who we are and the relations we form with the world around us. (Lynch 2007, Turner 1990, Biddle 1986, Winnicott 1980, Holland 1977, Giddens 1979, Goffman 1969, Mead 1934)

However, where as modern commercial games, role-plays and simulations using ICT are rapidly becoming the entertainment industry's most lucrative product, educational use of these seems to considerably lag behind.
There may be many reasons for this, both theoretical and practical, including the failure of educators to understand the structural constraints of the different media used in the games, virtual worlds and simulations they choose to use as instructional tools. (Ip 2006, Linser & Ip 2005)

Fortugno and Zimmerman argue that the reason for the failure of games to take off as educational tools is to a large extent a failure of educators to understand game design and of game designers' failure to understand pedagogical concerns. (Fortugno & Zimmerman 2005) Similarly in his conclusion Akilli points out that while instructional designers need to pay more attention to game design principles, there are in fact very few guidelines to be followed. (Akilli 2007) The rest of the paper explores precisely those game design principles to which educators need to pay more attention in designing role-play simulations with pedagogical intent. The paper thus focuses on those critical game design features highlighting theirimplications for role-play-simulations aimed at achieving learning objectives.

2. Games, Simulations and Role-plays: Artificial Systems and Rules

Salen and Zimmerman define games as artificial systems in which players engage in conflict, defined by rules and resulting in quantifiable outcomes. Four salient features emerge from this definition: artificiality, conflict, rules, and quantifiable outcomes. They argue that while games and role-plays share the key features that define them as games, they are different in one critical respect. Whereas games have a priori quantifiable outcomes, role-plays do not necessarily have such outcomes. Thus they maintain that role-plays seem to be a limiting case to their definition. They do however concede that it depends on the framework from which role-plays are understood. (Salen & Zimmerman 2003)

They argue that what games and role-plays share is that they are artificial systems, requiring players to interact according to a priori rules in a contest or in conflict. As artificial systems, so the argument goes, they thus set both temporal and spatial boundaries between 'real life' and the artificial life of the game. In crossing the boundary from the real world to the game players thus find themselves in what Salen and Zimmerman call the Magic Circle. They insist that there is 'in fact' a distinct boundary between the artificial world of the game and the real life contexts that it intersects. Crossing the boundary means one is within the frame that communicates ˜this is play, a space that is separate from that of the real world. (Salen & Zimmerman 2003)

The notion that games are artificial systems is particularly interesting as it also closely ties up with the idea of simulation, which in our perspective is also further associated with educational role-plays. A 'simulation' in our definition is an artificially dynamic and closed systemic environment in which a particular set of conditions is created according to a priori rules in order to study or experience something that exists or could exist in reality. In computer simulations (and indeed simulation type games) the a priori rules are predefined algorithms that determine the output or outcomes of the system.

For pedagogical purposes a role-play is rather closer to a simulation as defined above. The reason is that to the extent that the acquisition of real world knowledge, understanding and skills by students are pedagogical objectives, a role-play designed with this purpose in mind is an attempt to simulate processes, issues and conditions that exist in the real world. A role-play simulation game in our definition is thus a dynamic artificial environment in which human 'agents' interact by playing roles with semi-defined characteristics, objectives and relations (social rules) to one another and within a specified scenario (set of conditions).

Given this understanding, the first major issue is that in role-plays, if not in games generally, the boundary between the space of the real and the space of playing is more porous than Salen and Zimmerman suggest in relation to games. In games generally, players take on the roles inherent in the game “ black or white in Chess, goalkeeper, center forward in Soccer, chief or emperor in Civilization, commanders, medics and soldiers in America's Army Special Forces. The rules of the game specify precisely what each role in the game may or may not do, what powers they posses, and how to deploy their powers “ they are completely within the game even if they model real world roles. The only link to the real world is the meta-understanding of what it means to follow a rule “ and in computer games this is already embedded as predefined algorithms that enable the types of actions made available to players. The Magic Circle players experience in entering a game can thus be
conceptualized as separable from reality.

In contradistinction in order to play a role in a role-play simulation, a player must ask himself/herself two questions. Firstly ˜how should this role act? i.e. what are the characteristics of the role that would lead the role to act in one-way rather than another? And secondly the player must ask ˜how should I play this role? i.e. what do I know about these characteristics and how would I act if I had these characteristics?

In the cognitive and emotive resonance between these two questions of identity and action, between imagination and experience, the boundaries of play and reality become less distinct. (Linser 2004a) Players have to insert their knowledge and understanding of the real world into the game. And it is precisely this, in the reflective process set up between the real and imaginary, that makes role-plays such an effective tool for pedagogy. When players enter the magic circle in a role-play they insert this understanding of the real and the reflective process of identity into the space of the game. This enables the integration of the experience in the game to impact on understanding of the real. It is where the magic happens - the space where the ah ha I get it!!! experience of realization blooms.

While a sharp distinction between the ˜real world and ˜the world of playing a game may serve the purpose of entertainment, it is problematic for education in which knowledge and understanding of, and skills for, ˜real life is hopefully what pedagogical purposes are attempting to achieve.

The second major issue in applying game design principles to role-plays with pedagogical intent is that the rules for a role-play have two different senses that set them apart from games in general. Salen and Zimmerman argue that rules of games specify constraints to action that must be adhered to in order for the game to remain a game. In contradistinction, the rules that govern role-plays, to the extent that they simulate real world processes, have both social rules that may or may not be followed and game rules that specify what cannot be done and what must be done to achieve outcomes and objectives within the game.

These two related issues, the porous boundary of role-play simulation games and the double sense of rules mean that the Magic Circle to which players enter in educational role-plays is not the same as the one they enter in games. It retains more of the reality to which it pertains than games generally do. By the same token it also means that in designing role-plays for education not only is it problematic to simply import game design principles, but also these principles have to be implemented differently.

3. Analysis and Comparison of Online RPS

In what follows a series role-play simulations are compared on the basis of how their design places players in a position to meet learning objectives. These RPSs were all used in higher educational institutions in different disciplines. Due to space limitation only immediately relevant aspects of the design are described.

Case 1. At the University of Melbourne Political Science department a series of RPS were created and run with undergraduate students over a period of 10 years. (Linser & Naidu 1999, Linser & Ip 2001, Linser 2004b) The pedagogical objective of these was to motivate students to acquire knowledge of conditions, processes and states of affairs in various international relations arenas; to understand the issues and problems faced by leaders; and to acquire some research skills. The game objective or outcomes however were open ended and described as ˜pursuing the interests of your roles as defined by the role profile ( role profiles were a set task that each role had to complete before entering the Magic circle “ a right of initiation. Each role had to decide what interests and objectives they should pursue. Once entered each participant could read all profiles (apart from the hidden agendas which only the moderators could read.) Almost all roles were real world leaders, not fictional ones, and were played by groups of 2-4 students collaborating on research of the role, deciding what the role should do in responding to emerging circumstances and what the role should initiate given the role profile.

Initially, having entered the Magic circle roles had to respond to a scenario written by the moderators on the basis of real events. Once underway roles initiated and responded to events created by other roles according to how they understood the role would act under these conditions. The only rules defined were: a. that all violent action had to pass moderator approval; b. that all events in the real world during the RPS could only be entered as historical precedents to action in the simulation if they did not contradict already given events that occurred in the simulation; c. that within the Magic circle (i.e. during play) all roles had to remain in character though they could develop new behaviours; and d. that a minimum of 2-5 messages a day, 5 days a week, had to be entered by the role.



Designing the game to meet pedagogical objectives meant that roles were specific personalities taken from the real world; that the scenarios that provided the context were also real with a few fictional elements; that the objectives were open-ended objectives; and that the rules of interaction (social rules) were open ended as they are in the real world. In this sense these RPS were more simulation than game.

Two other political science simulations, Venezuela” at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague (Hintjens 2005) and Afghanistan at Wichita State University (Shaw & Mendeloff 2007), both run a number of times, are worth noting. The Venezuela  simulations at the ISS had a very similar design structure to the ones run at the University of Melbourne, with open-ended game objectives, very few rules and reality-based roles. On the other hand the Afghanistan  simulation in Wichita was designed with the very specific game objective of developing a policy document for Afghan reconstruction. The rules of the game were also very specific, ordering the activity of the roles; specifying the exact steps to be taken; and an exact timetable of when they should be taken. Finally all the roles were functional but fictional. The focus was on developing policy from certain functional perspectives rather than allowing roles to develop characteristics that might influence how such a policy might be framed and developed as in The Hague's RPS and at Melbourne.

Case 2. At the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) in Regina, Canada a RPS for nursing students was developed and run three times. (Nelson & Blenkin 2007) The pedagogical objective was to support skill development in managing difficult behaviors strongly influenced by medical conditions that lead to such behaviors. The corresponding game objective was to appropriately respond to a scenario in which a patient's death caused instability in a fictional care facility. Students played either patient roles “ that initiated and exhibited such behaviors “ or staff roles that responded and collaborated in addressing the initial scenario and subsequent behaviors of ˜patient' roles. Unlike the Political Science RPS at Melbourne and The Hague, the roles were completely fictional and functional (e.g. 34 year old nurse with history of substance
abuse or 40 year old male psychotic patient.) Though roles did have personal names and students were instructed to create fictional characteristics, the rules stated that the medical conditions of roles had to be played based on research. Also unlike the political science RPS the rules were more specific “ each role was given certain tasks that had to be completed in specific ways.

Case 3. A role-play simulation based on a novel, The Scarlet Letter, run twice at Caldwell community College in Hickory North Carolina for an English Literature course (Noggle 2005), was designed with the pedagogical objective of familiarizing students with the novel and the core values and mores of Puritan society in the period in which the novel was set. Students played the characters in the novel. The game objective was to find out whether given these Puritan values and mores, an alternative ending to the novel could be created and if so what would be the consequences. The rules and roles of the game were defined and constrained on the basis of the novel 's setting but remained open as to how these were to be interpreted and played out.

Case 4. At TAFE Gippsland in Australia a role-play simulation was designed for a staff development project with the dual purpose of acquainting teachers with the idea of RPS and with enabling understanding of sexual harassment issues in higher educational institutions. In this RPS the roles were functional, though each role was also given specific characteristics like in the nursing RPS. But unlike the nursing RPS and closer to the Political Science RPS, the rules were open-ended allowing players to choose how they would act out their part. However given the scenario of a higher educational environment it was expected that the players would use their knowledge of university life and follow the appropriate social rules and procedures. So while fairly flexible in terms of how roles should be played, the constraints as to what was appropriate relied on the social rules imported from reality.

Case 5. A number of similar role-plays for students in an Instructional Technology course at Appalachian State University in North Carolina were designed with the pedagogical objective of familiarizing students with online role-play simulations. Unlike the Political Science RPS where the game objectives were different for the different roles, the game objective was to research and draft a document about implementing new technology in a higher education institution. All the roles were functional and their characteristics mostly defined by players.

Case 6. At Headmark University college in Norway a role-play was designed for a course in International Crisis Management Communication and Collaboration. The learning objectives included providing students with tools  to better understand cross-cultural and intercultural issues that may give rise to miscommunication and/or misunderstanding. It was also intended to provide participants with awareness and experience of problems and communication breakdowns using English rather than their mother tongue. The simulation was thus designed to enable an exploration of typical issues and problems that arise in intercultural collaboration. (Linser, Ree-Lindstad & Vold, 2007). While some roles were fictional like the Nursing simulations at SIAST, other roles were reality-based as in the political science simulations at Melbourne and ISS in The Hague. Unlike all the simulations above, the design of the simulation included two different scenarios, an earthquake in Turkey and a Refugee Camp on the Sudanese/Eritrean border, and each participant played 2 different roles corresponding to each of the scenarios. The game objective in both scenarios was to mange the crisis depicted in these scenarios. Some roles were given specific instructions to create communication misunderstandings so that other roles would need to find ways to overcome these in order to meet the pedagogical objective of the role-play. Like the political science simulations, very few rules were specifically defined allowing the social rules to become the main focus. Indeed it was these social rules that were the designed target that participants had to understand given the pedagogical objective.

Case 7. Finally a series of RPS developed and implemented at the US Army War College were designed with the pedagogical objective of exercising high-level officers in strategic thinking. Like the Instructional Technology and Afghan simulations, it had very specific game objectives of developing policy from certain pre-defined functional and organizational perspectives. In some, roles did not even have names but where known by their organizational position e.g. Intelligence Liaison Officer. Further like the Afghan RPS an exact time-table of activity and rules for interaction was provided leaving very little room for creative maneuvering as the political science simulations at Melbourne or the Sexual Harassment simulations had done.

4. Principles of Design for RPS: What Worked and What Did Not?

Nearly all role-plays described above included questionnaires designed to get student feedback on their experience after the end of play. The overall perception by students was that role-plays were useful for learning. However, when analyzing the level of engagement in the different role-plays by comparing the quantity and quality of interaction in the different designs four salient issues corresponding to the main design
features that comprise a game become evident.

Firstly, role-plays that had overt conflict between roles tended to be much more engaging to players. All the political science role-plays apart from Afghanistan  highlighted the conflict between roles. Conflict was also a feature build into the relations between roles in the Sexual Harassment, The Scarlet Letter and Crisis Management role-plays. The Afghanistan  role-play where the functionality of roles and cooperation to draft a proposal was highlighted resulted in less enthusiasm and engagement. Similarly, the Instructional Design simulations at Appalachian State University and the strategic thinking RPS at the US Army War College where the game objective was to cooperate in order to draft a document also resulted in less engagement and enthusiasm.

Designing conflict into role-play simulations, as in games, seems to raise the level of engagement by participants.

The Nursing simulation at SIAST however had no overt conflict built into the role-play yet students still remained highly engaged. One explanation could be that playing clients and nurses intrinsically sets up adversity, as the first group creatively engages the second in manifesting behavioral problems that the second group has to creatively manage. But there may be other factors involved both in design and administration of a role-play that also contribute to greater engagement.

Secondly, it became clear that greater flexibility in game objectives, i.e. Limiting quantifiable outcomes of the game; was associated with higher levels of engagement and motivation. This seems to go against the idea that games require quantifiable outcomes if one allows role-play simulations to count as games. Creating a document as a game objective (a quantifiable outcome i.e. 1 document) in the Afghan, Instructional design, and strategic thinking RPS were all associated with lower levels of engagement as opposed to the rest where open ended game objectives were designed into the role-plays, including the Nursing RPS. In this latter RPS, greater flexibility in game objectives may be a contributing factor to the levels of engagement despite the absence of overt conflict.

Designing open-ended game-objectives, where participants decide the objectives they pursue in role-play simulations seems the better design strategy to elicit engagement.

Thirdly, the more stringent the game rules that were imposed the less students felt engaged but on the other hand when the RPS design required attending to the social rules of the game as game rules, the greater the sense of creative engagement. All the political science RPS, apart from the Afghanistan one, were designed with very few game rules governing interaction. Participants negotiated role relationships according to how they perceived their role should act. This was also true in varying degrees in the Scarlet Letter, Sexual Harassment, Crisis Management, and Nursing RPS. The Instructional Design, Afghanistan and strategic thinking RPS had more formal game rules imposing constraints on the interaction between roles and how game objectives were to be achieved.

Allowing social rules to act as game rules governing interaction to achieve game objectives thus seems to be associated with more creative engagement. Conversely the association to such engagement is weaker in designing formal game rules governing the interaction.

Fourthly, the greater link of roles to real world personalities, rather than functional or fictional personalities the more research and engagement that took place. The political science and Venezuela role-plays all used real world personalities for almost all roles as opposed to all others role-plays discussed above. Both Conflict Management and the Scarlet Letter role-plays used a very small number of real world personalities as roles but like the Nursing, Sexual Harassment and Instructional Design RPS, the greater majority were fictional characters. But in these, all roles were given some information about each of the roles upon which to construct the role's personality. The strategic thinking RPS based the roles on functions within an organization “ so that in some of these RPS the roles did not even have personal names but something like Intelligence Liaison DD  “ seemed the least engaging.

The issue of designing roles as real world personalities goes to the heart of the porous boundary between the real world and game world of role-plays. Ultimately it is an issue of identity. The experience of playing chess, perhaps hones strategic skills, but very little if anything about the White role. Playing Civilization, which bases the role of chief on historical leaders, or a medic in America's Army, moves the emphasis closer to reality but like Chess the emphasis is on honing skills within the game “ the world outside the game bears little impact on the game. Playing a real world personality in role-plays not only refers the players to their knowledge, understanding, skills and experience in reality but more significantly to a reflexive process between their identity as a role and their real world identity. The Magic Circle into which they enter in a role-play simulation
game is magic because they are both inside and outside the game examining and acting on their ˜other' self.

It should be emphasized that every role-play simulation will have the principles of artificiality, conflict, and rules embedded in the design. The issue is not that they are irrelevant but that they need to be applied differently in role-play simulation games with pedagogical intent. The mix between formal game rules and social rules, between the artificial and the real and between pre-determined game objectives and quantifiable outcomes on the one hand, and flexible game objectives that are decided by players as roles, on the other, needs to lean towards the second of these oppositions for role-plays to be more engaging.

In summary, highly structured rules that are essential to games seem have been somewhat counter-productive in role-plays; on the other hand, leaving participants to identify and/or define the social rules of the interaction in the game exhibited greater appropriate engagement. Moreover, while quantifiable outcomes and specific objectives that have to be reached, seem to lower engagement in role-plays, open-ended outcomes are associated with higher engagement. Finally, the more functional and abstract were the roles as opposed to roles based in reality, the less enthusiasm for the playing.

5. Concluding Remarks

While there is no panacea method to developing game objectives and process from pre-defined pedagogical goals, in role plays clear relations to the realities being studied seems to motivate students more. Perhaps because the more obvious the relations to reality, the more students feel they are engaged in a productive enterprise of learning. Yet it is clear that like all games, role-play simulations are artificial and there is a boundary between the real and the game. However, the Magic Circle that requires players to traverse the boundary between reality and the game, to be both inside and outside the game simultaneously, enables players to do and say things they would not otherwise do or say, to be both self and ˜other', and consequently
to integrate the experience to meet pedagogical objectives in an engaging manner.

For educational purposes the Magic Circle in role-play simulations is magic precisely because of the inter-penetrability of reality and game boundaries. While clear separation of the two is perhaps what makes games an appealing endeavor and commodity in the commercial and entertainment industries reproducing it in designing role-play games with pedagogical intent seems counterproductive.

For educational purposes to maintain engagement and motivation the design needs to be more attuned to the learning opportunities inherent in the inter-penetrability of reality and game boundaries “ in other words the more research into roles and social rules a player conducts vis-Ã -vis their role and the more they insert these into the role play, the more engaging it becomes and the more opportunities that open up to learn about the real from playing a role.

Perhaps role-play simulations are not games, but they certainly feel like they are upon entering the magic-circle.

References

Akilli, G. K. (2007) Games and Simulations: A new approach in Education? In Gibson, D. Aldrich,C., and Prensky M. (eds.), Games and Simulations in Online Learning: Research and Development Frameworks, Information Science Publishing Hershey PA, 1-20

Biddle, B.J. (1986) Recent Developments in Role Theory. Annual Review of Sociology 1986 12:67-92

Fortugno, N., & Zimmerman, E. (2005) Learning to Play to Learn - Lessons in Educational Game Design. 2005.
Retrieved 7 April 2008, from: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050405/zimmerman_01.shtml

Goffman E. (1969) Where the Action Is Allen Lane, London 41

Giddens, A. Central Problems in Social Theory, The Macmillan Press, London, 115-120

Hintjens, H. (2005) Quixotic Moves online: Simulating Conflict and Democracy in Action in Venezuela. LoW05 Proceeding of the League of Worlds Conference, 2005, League of Worlds, Melbourne, Retrieved 7 April 2008, from:
http://www.simplay.net/LOW/papers05/donquixote.pdf

Holland, R. (1977) Self and Social Context, The Macmillan Press, London, 81-163

Ip, A. (2006) Why Commercial Off the Shelf Games Will Not Work in Education? And What is the Alternative? Pedagogical Design of Education Games - What Makes a Game Educational? Special Group Workshop in the Proceeding of ICCE 2006, The 14th International Conference of Computers in Education, ICCE, Beijing China.

Linser, R. (2004a) Suppose you were someone else... the learning environment of a web-based role-play simulation. SITE 2004 Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education 15th International Conference Proceedings, AACE, Norfolk VA.

Linser, R. (2004b) Predictive Power of Role-play Simulations in Political Science: Experience of an e-Learning tool.
Proceedings PISTA 2004 of the International Conference on Politics and Information Systems, Technologies and Applications, International Institute of Informatics and Systemics, 2004, Orlando Fl.

Linser, R., & Ip, A. (2001) Evaluation of A Role-Play Simulation in Political Science. The Technology Source,
Jan/Feb 2001.

Linser, R., & Ip, A. (2005) Imagining the World: The Case for Non-Rendered Virtuality - the Role Play Simulation Model. AusWeb05 The Eleventh Australasian World Wide Web Conference, AusWeb, 2005. Retrieved 7 April 2008, from: http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw05/papers/refereed/ip/index.html

Linser, R., Ree-Lindstad, N. & Vold, T. (2007) Black Blizzard “ Designing Role-play Simulations for Education. International Educational Technology Conference Proceedings, 2007 Nicosia, North Cyprus, May 3rd-5th. Retrieved 7 April 2008, from: http://www.simplay.net/papers/BlackBlizzard07.pdf

Linser, R., & Naidu, S. (1999) Web-based simulations as teaching and learning media in Political Science. AusWeb99,
the Fifth Australian World Wide Web Conference, 1999. http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw99/papers/naidu/

Linser, R., Waniganayake, M., and Wilkes, S. (2004) Where is the Teacher? e-Learning Technology, Authority and Authorship in Teaching and Learning. Proceedings of ED-MEDIA 2004 World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications, AACE, Norfolk VA.

Lynch, K. D. (2007) Modeling Role Enactment: Linking Role Theory and Social Cognition. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 2007 37 (4), 379 “399

Mead, G.H. (1934) Mind Self and Society, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1934, 152-154

Nelson, D.L., & Blenkin, C. (2007) The Power of Online Role-Play Simulations: Technology in Nursing Education. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, Vol. 4 / Issue 1

Noggle, M. (2005) Novel Simulations in the Literature Classroom. LoW05 Proceeding of the League of Worlds Conference, 2005, League of Worlds, Melbourne, Retrieved 7 April 2008, from: http://www.simplay.net/LOW/papers05/novel_simulation.pdf

Salen, L., & Zimmerman, E. (2003) Rules of Play, Game Design Fundamentals, The MIT Press, Cambridge and London, 80-94

Shaw, C., & Mendeloff, D.A. (2007) Connecting Students Internationally to explore Post-Conflict Peacebuilding. Proceedings of The fourth annual APSA Conference on Teaching and Learning in Political Science, 2007 APSA, Charlotte, NC.

Turner, R. H. (1990) Role Change. Annual Review of Sociology 1990 16:87-110

Winnicott, D.W. (1980) Playing and Reality Penguin, Middlesex England.

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$50 interactive white board

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Collaboration; wiki or email

How to build Stongehenge without machine?

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AnswerTips

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Regenerative human organ

Future is definitely going to be very different. CBS reports new medical development which allows damaged parts by regrowing from own cells.

Collaboration and its fractal

(1) We usually think of collaboration as students group together to solve, collaborative, a problem. I can visualize this as a problem (or course) as at the centre with students working around it.

(2) When we are faced with a problem, we would try to find information related to the problem in order to find a solution. It is an inverse of the visualization above. A student is at the centre with different information surrounding him/her to solve a his/her problem.

(3) However, it is important to note that the simplistic visualization of (1) is inaccurate because each student in (1) also brings in a lot of information. So each student should be a visualization similar to (2).

The simplistic visualization of (2) is also inaccurate because each piece of information was a problem because and has been solved collaborative by a group of people. Hence each information in (2) should be replaced by (3).

Collaboration is a fractal recursion of information/problem/solution with people.

Do you agree?

Water Balloon

Exploding (so last year)


Not Exploding (so cool)


Note the elasticity of the balloon.

Australian Parliament Says Sorry

[Photo from NineMSN.com.au]
Today is a great day in Australian History and should go down the history book as one of the most significant day. Our Prime Minister Kelvin Rudd, as the first business of the government for the 42nd Parliament delivered a sincere apology [news from ABC and the whole speech] to the past wrong of several previous governments resulting in the removing of aboriginal children from their families.

Two notable absences from today's celebration: former PM John Howard and Mr Tuckey (the member for O'Connor in Western Australia).

History will also note that!

Here is a comment I found in ABC website:

Well done and thank you, Kevin Rudd. I am glad you represent me, a multi-coloured new Australian. I live in Wilson Tuckey's electorate and am ashamed by his red-neck and immature actions and his ignorant, callous and superior attitude. His actions have been un-Australian in the extreme. He does NOT represent me.

On the issue of potential compensation claims:

One small step for Aborigines, one giant compensation bill for Australia!

Kevin 07 ?

Told you you'd be sorry.


Now we sit back and watch the record compensation claims roll in.

However, it seems to me the consensus is:

Yes. Compensation should be preserved for really important, worthy cases of true suffering, such as when Mr. Bolkus fell from his bicycle inside parliment house, or that poor armed robber who broke his leg climbing out of parramatta gaol.

Just because compensation would be expensive doesn't mean it is undeserved.

HOWEVER compensation was not the agenda item here, but recognition.

Oh and by the way did anyone else note the irony of John Howard officially declining to attend ? technically he has given his apology for the the apology :)

Tell us [name omitted], if it were you is that what you'd want? Is it? Have you heard a single thing Fred Chaney has been saying lately?
Oh, and I'm not sorry.
I'm happy and proud once again that we're governed by generous, imaginative, bold thinking men and woman and that the punishers and straighteners are back in their box for a while.

Today is really a proud day for Australian.

Full Text of PM's speech:
"Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia."

Rubik's cube

Hi teachers, if you want to impress your kids, practice the solution provided in these videos:

psrt 1


part 2

Chinese New Year of Rat

Today is Chinese New Year of Rat, wishing you a rewarding new year.

My friend sent me a slide show which I am sharing with you all.

BitTorrent Traffic Vs the rest of Internet Traffic

I read with horror how a chief technical officer at APConnections publish an article with misinformation (i guess the aim is to convince users not to use BitTorrent).

Here is what I disagree; [My comments in square brackets like this]

First of all, lets look behind the scenes at how BitTorrent can affect a large ISP's network.

Torrents create thousands of connections. If you use a BitTorrent program on your laptop and attempt to download content (music, movies, et cetera), your computer will locate and find as many sources of this specific content as possible and download from all sources simultaneously. [true]

Conceptually, this is like simultaneously downloading separate chapters in a book from different sources, and then putting the chapters back together on your computer when the downloads complete. Your motivation is time; downloading all the chapters simultaneously is much faster than downloading them in sequence. [good conceptualisation]

In addition to looking for multiple sources for a single file, BitTorrent clients allow the user to attempt more than one file download at a time. [that's the beauty of BT!] This behavior further multiplies the number of active connections from your computer to the Internet. The amount of concurrent connections generated by one home user to the Internet can reach into the thousands. [Untrue! Most torrent client sets the TOTAL connections to around 400] Compare that number of connections with somebody who passively browses the web, and perhaps runs an AIM messenger client on their home computer; their connection total would not exceed fifteen or so at any moment in time.

But multiple connections generate tremendous overhead for a provider, too. [FALSE]

Each connection from your computer across the Internet must be accounted for [???] in various switching points (routers) in order for the data to flow. [OK, data packets go through] You can imagine these switching points as little traffic police standing at the intersection of a street during a 5K road race telling the runners where to turn. Now imagine thousands of races running all over the city at one time; each starting and terminating at a different location. Obviously the traffic cops would get overwhelmed and have to restore some order, like making sure organizers did not run their races all at the same time. [Bad conceptualisation. The effectiveness of Internet traffic is based on packet switching. That means that each packet may traffic from source to destination on different paths. The little traffic police at the switch does not care whether this packet is for the same connection to the last packet. Each packet is routed on path depending on the current traffic situation. CONNECTIONS do NOT increase any workload for the traffic police. The amount of traffic DOES!] In a nutshell, that is one of the motivations for a service provider to try and limit torrents. [I don't think the motivation is because of number of connections. Rather it is more related to the AMOUNT of traffic] The spontaneous and overwhelming number of connections they can create can overwhelm their circuits.

Where do all these BitTorrent files come from? Who is serving up this content?

When you set up a BitTorrent client and start downloading files you also unwittingly become a BitTorrent host/server. Any file you download to your computer can also be sent to other users while your BitTorrent program is active. [True]

From a content provider perspective there is great value in having your data hosted by millions of home users connected by BitTorrent; they can reduce your distribution costs. A content provider that distributes content from servers hosted on their private servers would be charged accordingly for the amount of data uploaded from their hosts. By using a BitTorrent model for distribution, however, a content provider becomes a parasite on third party sites allowing them to replicate and distribute content like a benevolent virus. [Bad comparison and deliberately biased against bitTorrent! Are you saying that you are objecting your users to host home-base smaill web servers. They are serving content as well. When a user connects to a website, the initiation is also out-going traffic! Again, a packet is a packet and is a packet. To the ISP, except for accounting purposes, incoming or outgoing packets should be treated the same and have similar load on routers.]

So who is absorbing the distribution cost when a content provider distributes their data by releasing it into the BitTorrent cloud? [Good questions, but it should be asked from an accounting point of view rather than technical.]

The additional cost of delivering BitTorrent content is essentially shouldered by the major ISPs who likely did not account for this traffic overhead when building out their networks. [No!, ISP do NOT have another additional cost except users are actually requesting the ISP to meet the sale agreement. For unlimited quota plan, most ISP will offer different prices based on different speed limits. So users using BT only INCREASE the amount of traffic, which is agreed in the price. For limited quota plan, BT users are godsend. They need more traffic and you have a great reason to ask them to upgrade! Another point to note, once a physical link is built (eg an optical fibre) the cost of running the fibre is small compared with the capital investment. Amount of traffic does NOT have any effect on running cost! Quota is a mechanism in accounting!]

If I am wrong in my interpretation of Internet technology, I stand to be corrected. Please cite sources when pointing out my mistake.

Students demo cheating & my reaction

Jason Schultz posted 4 videos of kids demonstrating their favorite cheating techniques. Jason's reaction is "it's fascinating to see all these kids disclosing their favorite techniques"

Here are the videos. I will disclose my reaction after I saw these vidoes after them.





My reactions;
1. How clever these kids are (1st and 2nd videos) and how well they can present the information! Education has already succeeded!
2. The technical skills used in the third video already show that this guy can find a job in media with no difficulties.

Back to the 'problem' of "cheating". Yes, there is a problem here. But it is the way the examination is set up, not the students. Isn't obvious to you that the so-call cheat are memory-aides? When questions are set to measure memory recall, which any educator can atest to you is one of the lowest level of mastery of knowledge, these memory aides become cheat. when the questions are set to measure higher skills, they are useful information to help solving problems.

I program in Javascript day in day out. But every now and then, I need to do search on Javascript functions which I use less frequently. Is that cheating? Yes, of course. But that's part of the work process.

Our children are growing up in an era where information are abundant. Information are literally a few clicks away. To them, memorizing pieces of information is a waste of time and energy.

I wonder when school will reflect the reality and teaches our students to properly use the memory aide in solving authentic problems.

4-screen Laptop

This is how I get 4 screens for a workhorse computer and optional control on my second laptop.

Configuration:
Workhorse laptop is running Windows XP and a low-cost laptop running Windows Vista Basic Home (This Vista laptop is basically useless except I need it for testing.)
I have two old monitors. So each laptop gets a secondary display. Via the windows display property, I extended my desktop to these secondary display.

Now, on my workhorse, I have two screens. On the vista, I also have two screens.

But I want to have 4 screens for my workhorse when I am not testing using the idling vista. If I can control the vista from my workhorse, then I don't need to move my hand to the vista's keyboard. (BTW, my workhorse has an external keyboard and mouse which make editing so much easier!)

I bought Mirror Pro from Maxivista.com. (I am upgrading from a previous version, so I am paying only half price. If you don't need desktop mirroring, you can opt for the Professional. I would not suggest you to go for the Standard version!)

Install the software on my workhorse. During installation, it will prompt you for generation of client viewer. I asked for two client viewers.

Copy both client viewers to the vista and install both. Configure one of the client viewer to link to the laptop's primary screen and the other to its secondary screen.

From my workhorse computer, activate extended screens of both Maxivista viewers. I can see the background of the vista changed to the workhorse background. Open the workhorse display property and move the screens to their correct positions.

Viola! I use 4 screens at the same time. Optionally, I can control the vista using Maxivista too! Sometimes, finding the cursor from these many screen estate can be difficult. I use a custom set of cursors (brighter and bigger!) to help with my failing eye-sight!

This software solution requires both computer connected to a network, which is my case anyway.

There is no additional hardware and less cable than using KVM switch.


This is a printScreen of my current desktop.

In fond memory of Marie Jasinski

I remember Marie as a lady with a big smile, infectious laughter and infinitely energetic.

We first met in the early 2000 when she participated in one of my role play simulation workshop. After the workshop, she came to me and said she would help me in spreading the idea. Few months pasted, I got an email and she had organised a workshop for a group of TAFE lecturers to design an online role play using Fablusi - X'mas Party from Hell' [Note: the demo linked in Marie's post has expired. The updated link will be posted later] was born.

She asked me to be a mentor to the TAFE group and I visited Adelaide three times for the workshop. Instead of mentoring the group, I received one of the most rewarding mentor from her!

Marie has made important contributions to my understanding of how online role play simulation (RPS) differs from other learning strategies. Here are some of her contributions:

1. One of the first learning opportunities presented by RPS is asking the players to develop a role profile. This requires the player to have an understanding of the circumstances in which the role play will take place. Marie suggested to use the term 'role embellishment' to describe the concept. From then onwards, we faithfully provide only a sketchy description of the role and ask players to embellish their character in any way they like.

2. During the trial of X'mas Party, my server connections was bad - constantly disconnected due to ISP malfunctions. As a mod, Marie "evacuated" the building within X'mas Party and ended the role playing. Here came the idea of a mod is also a story teller - constantly adjusting the story line to meet circumstantial needs. [see this]

Marie also introduced me to Thiagi [and Eastern Indian dining].



Marie, you are an inspiration. I miss you.

Here are the links to video clips of Marie on "Role play" recorded for National Summit on Online Role Play in October 2002.
# Why use role-play?
# "There’s three key things teacher need to be aware of…"
# "Moderators need quite a complex lot of skills…"
# " A lot of time with role-play you debrief afterwards – we found it is necessary to debrief any time it is appropriate…"
# "It’s the immersion…"
# "Students don’t have to play a role alone…"
# "I’ve just been involved in a role-play that was spread across Australia…"
# "No matter how good your design is, it’s the players who bring that design to life…"

Here are some online tributes to Marie;
Stephen's Web
Full Circle Associates
Janine’s blog

RIP: Marie Jasinski

Died peacefully at Hobart on January 21, 2008. Much loved wife of Martin Cielens. Beloved daugheter of Dorothy Jasinski and Leonard Jasinski (dec.) Cherished sister of Jenny and John. Much loved sister-in-law of Janet Plater, Viesturs and Andrew Cielens, Kym Tilgals and Michelle Marsh, and daughter in law of Tatjana Tilgals. Adored “Auntie Rie” of Sam, Grace and Max Jasinski. To all of us, a friend, companion and guide; someone who wove webs of joy and adventure. An exceptional person who will be deeply missed yet lives in all of us.

I am saddened by the news.

To celebrate her wonderful life and her effect on some many people, an online event has been organised by Janine Bowes (see her tribute to Marie). Details:

Elluminate Live! session:

Name: Tribute To Marie Jasinski
Type: None
Starts: Jan 25, 2008 05:00 PM Eastern (EDT) (This is Australian Eastern time, GTM+10)
Ends: Jan 25, 2008 06:00 PM Eastern (EDT)

Format of the session - This celebration for Marie will be informal but will of course have a moderator. People attending may like to come along with a memory to share - it could be a favourite moment, a funny situation, a particular inspiration, a URL that illustrates a point, a game to play, whatever. Some of us in Hobart will attend having just come from the funeral service and audio of some of the presentations at the funeral may be available (technology permitting!). If anyone has media they would like to be pre-loaded, please email to Frankie Forsyth on [frankie at bigpond dot net]

RSVP for virtual catering purposes (please indicate any special dietary requirements) would be appreciated but not essential (RSVP to Janine Bowes [janine dot bowes at education dot tasdot gov dot au] by replying to this message and editing the subject line)

Position possibly vacant (moderator for this session)We have 3 possible moderators so far all of whom will be attending Marie's funeral service. Traffic jams are unusual in Hobart but you never know on a Friday afternoon. Thus, if anyone else is able to take on the moderator role it would be preferable. Volunteers please email me or phone on 0417 350 956.

Janine Bowes

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE TECHNICAL TEAM
(thanks Cathy, Jyothi, Jenny for setting this up so quickly)

To join the session, please click on the link below
https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=995&password=M.F7C543063CEC856877486925D4E59B


To view the hardware and software pre-requisites for Elluminate Live! please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support

You can check to see that everything is working fine by going to the PRACTICE ROOM before the session, found on the networks site here -

http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/flx/go/home/projects/2007/cache/offonce/pid/259;jsessionid=23D2A8149F804E7B73C9B11FAAEC7616


Networks Administrator

Phone: (612) 62074832
Email: networks at flexiblelearning dot net dot au

Here are some contributions of Marie to this blog:
Maiden Voyage - Engineer's Journal 1
E-learning models

No Child Left Behind…There’s More Cheating than Ever, and the Teachers are Doing it

It may sound impolite for me to say that it is NOT new. In Chapter 1 of Freakonomics, titled "what do school teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common", the authors explain the phenomena clearly.

It is no use to trying the catch the cheater. It is the system and to solve the problem, we should fix the system.

What if when a school is found under-performing, a huge amount of resources are poured in to help. Then every school, in chasing the resources, will push up its standard to look under-performing!

Got it?

Should the 500 teenage party host pay for the $20,000 damage bill?

In the last week-end, a 16-year teenage issued an open invitation on mySpace while his parents were away on holiday. As a result, 500 teenagers turned up. Somehow, the party spiralled out of control causing damages to neighbours and police cars. The Victorian Police Chief wanted to send the damage bill to the teenager (or his parents). [see news here and here]

I am not endorsing this act. However, the notion of punishing the teenage sounds inappropriate.

1. In our society, we don't blame one person because another person behaved badly. The teenager(s) who caused the damage should be billed, not the host. In the case where the police cannot get those involved, that is NOT a reason to send the bill to the host.
2. Before the issue is settled in a court (or after a proper procedure), anyone should be presumed NOT guilty. Some reports suggested that alcohol was served at the party. That's wrong and illegal if the teenagers were under 16. If the teenagers were over 16, but under 18, an adult must be present. Again, any charge of this should be properly served and go through the proper procedure.

Again, I must emphasis that I am NOT saying that teenagers should be allowed to host unsupervised party while parents are away. What I am questioning is whether our Police Chief has stepped over a fine line. What is your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Coverage Equity - Part 2

The issue of a syllabus and the limited time we have as a teacher/instructor/guide is the tension between the breadth and depth of treatment of a subject area. Traditionally, as an information gatekeeper, the issue on breadth is an important choice to make. Today, when information are just a few clicks away, learners potentially can access whatever information that interest them. The information gatekeeper role has long gone!

I have been careful not to use 'knowledge' in a general sense to describe information. I believe there is a huge difference between 'information' and 'knowledge' - and this is particularly important in the information era. Bloom taxonomy and many other similar scheme come into mind when we are dealing with "knowing" something, but that is for another day or another occasion. The distinction here is that something needs to be known before it can be qualified as knowledge. The process of helping someone to "know" information is the task for the teacher/instructor/guide. The availability of information is now given.

When we give someone a piece of paper with something printed on it, this is NOT teaching. When we can ensure that the information has been read and understood, then that piece of information (not the paper on which information reside) has been transformed to a piece of knowledge for that special someone who manages to read and understand that is written on that paper.

However, this process of transformation - from information to knowledge - is an inner task which can only be performed by the learner. We cannot do that for anyone. One can only lead a horse to the water, right? The obvious task is to make the horse thirsty at the first place before we lead it to the water!

That comes back to the issue of coverage of a subject area again. How can we design a course which make the learner more thirsty the more the learn knows about the subject area?

Like pushing drugs, satisfying the immediate need is NOT the secret of the selling of drugs. It is the addictive nature of the drugs which sell themselves.

If we can arrange the coverage of a subject area in a way similar to drug - addictive to the learner and urges the learner to want to know more, we have a solution!

Hardware Review of XO laptop

If I were to make one general comment about the OLPC XO-1, it’s that its mechanical design is brilliant. It’s a fairly clean-sheet redesign of traditional notebook PC mechanics around the goal of survivability, serviceability, and robustness...

The post goes on to describe the design of the XO laptop.

How to cross a road (in India and China)?

This is how a road junction traffic looks like in India:


This is an attempt to cross the road:


And this is how it looks like if you are in one of the car:



Both, according to the description are shot in India. In my last visit to Beijing, China (Dec2006), the same applied.

Only God Gets Things Right First Time

I really like the title.

Whether there is god or not, it is OK for us to make mistakes - not only the first time, but many times, again and again ... until it works!

Small successes generate fulfillment and encourage more try and error.

Small failures build experience and resilience.

"R & D" is "Repeat and Duplicate". Only after successfully repeat previous experiments and duplicated results that we can start making small change which may or may not lead to improvement.

Aha moment is the sudden connection between seemingly unrelated concepts which give insight (or a different angle) to the solution of a problem. Again that means the concepts have been in our mind for a long time and the problem has persisted enough to recognise the significant of the sudden connection. Experience, experience!

Coverage Equity - Part 1

Are teachers obliged to cover every part of a syllabus?

When I was teaching in Hong Kong, I used to tell my students that "I teach things that won't be examined and I set questions which I have not taught" (教不考,考不教.) Of course, in an examination oriented system, I got lots of protests.

BUT, I can explain. I told my students that there is no way I can predict what will be set in a public examination (even for those serving as question setters, they should not let their students know the question in advance, right?) The only way I can teach them (my students) to be well prepared is not by teaching them how to answer "a" question. The best way is to teach them how to answer "any" question. So those that I used as examples in my lessons, I promise them that they will not appear in the papers that I set for their examination. (This explains the first half.) For those questions that I set for their examination, I won't discuss in class! That's the other half.

It is better to teach how to fish rather than just give them fish!

But the same proclamation has also protected me from not covering every part of a syllabus.

I always asked my students to come to my lesson "unprepared". They need to bring no textbook (unless I explicitly asked them to do so in the next lesson). They only need to bring a working brain, a rough sketch book, pen and ruler to my class. I emphasis on a working brain, explaining that "day-dreaming" brain is NOT a working brain in my class!

I believe science is a journey, a process of exploration and discovery, a joy in discovering something new about nature and the things surrounding us. I ask questions, get them focus on the issue at hand and ask them to find the answer.

Discovery and innovation are slow and expensive (compared to duplication or copying, - just simple transfer of information). Hence it is often the case that I can only cover that much of material in the allocated time.

It was over 15 years ago. My role as a teacher was still very much an information age keeper. Obviously some students would/should hate me. But in real life, I found that I was one of the most favorite teacher. When I walked into a class empty-handed, students would love the class. When I walked into the room with a textbook, they knew that I was forced to cover material, in a quick hurry!

Today, information is widely and freely available. Many a time, students could be more knowledgeable in a special area than the teacher. Teacher no longer is the information gate-keeper. What should be our role? Should we insist on covering every aspect of a syllabus (to give the students a more "balanced" perspective on the subject area)? Should we allow students to specialise into parts of a syllabus? How should an evaluation system be designed to meet the new reality?

Problem-based : Role Play Simulation

Is role play simulation (RPS) a form of problem-based learning (PBL)?

Both starts with considering a problem situation and try to provide an authentic learning experience to the players/students.

PBL typically has ONE problem (although it may be complex and involve several steps) to solve and it is also typical that there is ONE best solution. ALL learners are expected to solve the same problem.

RPS presents a complex situation, with multiple (conflicting) stakeholder interests. There is typically NO single correct solution. Students play our the situation in the sole of the roles (each role may represent one or more stakeholder interests). The game goal can change as the simulation progress (indicating either the result of the learning experience or the need to adapt to different strategy).

PBL does not finish until a solution is found. RPS focuses more on the process and it is normal to end a RPS without reaching a solution. (For example, Andrew Vincent's Middle East Political Simulation can have an end as it reflects the real life. History will not stop!)

Some RPS do NOT have any embedded problem. While the simulation designer may create a scenario with a compelling kick-start episode, the kick-start episode not necessarily represents the actual problem/issue that the RPS has been designed to 'teach'. Mary Noggle's "Scarlet Letter Simulation' for American Literature is designed to give the students a "stage' to experience the life at the Puritan era. The kick-start episode is just a start and there is no obvious problem for the players to solve.

Both PBL and RPS are not designed for transfer of information, they act as motivator for students to seek out and understand information necessary for solving the problem (PBL) or handling the situation/issue (RPS). The design motivation is the same.

Science Project for the holiday

What you will need:
a plate
full cream milk
food colours
detergent

An improved procedure [source]

1. Pour some full cream milk into a dinner plate
2. Squeeze some drops of food dye into the milk (one colour on one side, other colour on other side)
3. Add a drop of detergent onto the edge of the plate so it runs down into the milk
4. The colours begin swirling like a psychadelic pattern
5. You can add more detergent if the motion stops

Explanation [The explanation in the above video is incorrect]

Like milk itself, this classic experiment is actually quite complicated. Milk is a suspension of tiny fat globules (about 4% by volume) in water, plus a whole range of proteins, sugar (lactose) and nutrients like calcium. Detergent is a form of surfactant (short for surface active agent) - individual detergent molecules can bind with both water and oil.

The swirling effect in milk is probably driven by the detergent molecules racing around and coating the fat globules. As the detergent molecules are "consumed" by the fat, they create currents. You'll notice colours from the opposite edge of the plate appearing near the detergent and then shooting across the surface.

9-yr Old Review of XO laptop

BBC reporter brought back an XO laptop and gave it to his 9-year old son for a review.

With no help from his Dad, he has learned far more about computers than he knew a couple of weeks ago, and the XO appears to be a more creative tool than the games consoles which occupy rather too much of his time.

Frankly, at the price of a game console (for 2, one is denoted to the needy), everyone should consider buying XO laptop to give to their children - as christmas present perhaps while helping the kids in the under-developed countries.

Season Greeting

To all my readers and friends:

Wishing you all an

Awesome Lively Brilliant Entertaining Rewarding Terrific

holiday

Yahoo! Answers: Teachers' Nightmare or Blessing?

From Slate:

The blockbuster success of Yahoo! Answers is all the more surprising once you spend a few days using the site. While Answers is a valuable window into how people look for information online, it looks like a complete disaster as a traditional reference tool. It encourages bad research habits, rewards people who post things that aren't true, and frequently labels factual errors as correct information. It's every middle-school teacher's worst nightmare about the Web.

This highlight the need to enable our students to be able to distinguish between correct and accurate information from false, incorrect or deceptive information. Teachers are no longer the gate-keeper of information. Instead, teachers should aim to help students develop critical analytical skill to handle the vast amount of information available.

Instead of asking students to provide information to some traditional essay type paper, why can't we ask the students to identify incorrect or misleading information from sources such as Yahoo!Answers. Is it a much more valid exercise?

Yahoo!Answers may be a nightmare for the librarians, for the creative teachers, it may be a blessing - a prefect opportunity to let students exercise their critical and analytical skills in processing information.

Review of XO laptop

XO laptop, aka $100 laptop which is now costing some $180, is reviewed by David Pogue at The New York Times.

Hey, XO may be a potential ebook reader killer!

EnRoLE network members at ASCILITE Singapore 2007

Congratulations and thanks to EnRoLE network members representing the online role play community at  ASCILITE Singapore 2007

Workshop: Online role play: What it means for learners, developers and educators Ann Davenport and Judi Baron The University of Adelaide

Papers presented in Online Role Play Symposium :

Online role play Symposium
Chair: Sandra Wills

Jamaludin, A., Ho, M.L.C. & Chee, Y.S. The impact of structured argumentation and enactive role play on students' argumentative writing skills

Demetrious, K. Playing a critical role: Experiential learning resources and analytical media studies in higher education

Jones, S. Adding value to online role plays: Virtual situated learning environments

Ogilvie, A. & Douglas, K. Online role plays and the virtual placement: Aiding reflection in work integrated learning

Davenport, A. & Baron, J. Meeting the 21st century challenge: The situational learning initiative at U Adelaide

Lambert, S. & Macdonald, D. Reuse of a role play for new university teachers

Devonshire, E. Peer review: A process of EnRoLE(ing) as a reuser

Roberts, A.G. Beyond a participation focus

Leigh, E., Meyers, W. & Rosser, E. Learning design discussions: A conversation tool

Cross posted to EnRoLE

How does Richard Dawkins gain the respect of John Grahm-Cumming

In John Grahm-Cumming's post title Double-checking Dawkins, John double-checked one sentence written by Richard Dawkins in The Blind Watchmaker. After some research, John found out that in 1986 when Richard was busy writing the book on an Apple ][, Richard has actually spent time to poke around inside his computer's ROM.

This is a respect well-deserved. If Richard has been so careful to make sure a minor fact in his book is correct, I have faith that the rest of the facts would have been more than double-checked. My salute to Richard Dawkins!