Five Educational Games I Wish I Had Invented

Jeopardy! - Growing up on the Monterey Peninsula, we were all aware of the local greats: John Steinbeck, Bing Crosby, Clint Eastwood, Paul Anka, and Merv Griffin. I knew of Merv Griffin, a mild-mannered talk-show host and former big-band crooner. Our claim to fame as teenagers was that one night we jumped the fence at Griffin’s private tennis club and swam in the pool. I had no idea he was a game show superstar and media mogul, creating shows such as Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! For Jeopardy!, he credited his then-wife, Julann, with the idea of reviving quiz shows by giving the players the answers and making them come up with the questions. It demanded the same kind of retrievable knowledge that quizzes require. Griffin even wrote the ear-worm jingle for Final Jeopardy! What Griffin may not have known was how easily teachers could adapt the game for whatever content they were teaching. “I’ll take HTML Tags for $600, Alex.” Jeopardy! was created in 1964, definitely before my time. But talk about staying power. As a show and as an online game, it’s still incredibly popular. But don’t forget to phrase your answer in the form of a question.

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? - I was on a team tasked with creating online training for insurance premium entry systems. Our solution was to create a near-simulation which allowed students to try out the system without wrecking it. Another goal was to make the training engaging. Just up the road from us was Broderbund Software. They released an edutainment title that took the market by storm. By chasing a cartoon villain all over the world, players were pulled into locations, learning geography all along the way. I must say, as instructional designers, we were impressed: dreary education made engaging. Years later, I consulted with a geography teacher who wanted to create a geography game, but we couldn’t come up with any design improvements on what was already on the market. (Now I know it’s crying out for an Augmented Reality (AR) component…)

Pictionary® (MattelGames) - Charades was a classic party game. So Pictionary was a variation on that theme, using a marker. I can call it educational because drawing is a language in its own right, yet in our schools it gets relegated to the level of recreation or arts & crafts. I like it because I think visually and I like to draw. That gives me an unfair advantage over casual opponents. “Just watch what Les draws…”

Pokémon Go - I described training ideas for AR in an earlier blog entry, so when Pokémon Go took off last year, I felt vindicated… and left behind at the same time! It didn’t hurt to launch the new idea with an established, popular franchise. But by exploring the possibilities of AR for both entertainment and education, Pokemon Go really stepped out as a pioneer. It got fans off the couch and out looking for their favorite characters. Now let your imagination run wild. How can AR help museum tours, fix-it auto repairs, or local history stops? Gotta catch ‘em all!

Brixo blocks - Here’s an idea that’s emerging on the market. These bricks are “wired” so you learn about electronic connections and even the Internet of Things by assembling your own creations. Why didn’t I think of this next-step twist on a tried-and-true system?

What’s next?  Think… think… think...

Don't Forget to Look (or, the Eyes Have It)

Robert Fulghum's Web Page

Creativity

NPR interview, replayed 1/29/2009

Miles Davis, Jazz Great

wikipedia.org

Let's End Endless Lists!

A couple of weeks ago, I made a case for ending bullet-point lists by thinking visually.  Here are some examples of replacing lists by presenting information with graphic organization:

Two items fit well on a seesaw.  If one has priority, or greater "weight," it can be shown lower on the seesaw.

What's a better way to present three items than a triangle or a pyramid? 

 Placing tiles is a great way to present four items.

Five items can be presented around a five-point star.  They can also be presented around the fingers of an open hand.

Now you're getting the idea.  There are graphic ways to present multiple pieces of information. So, let's end endless lists.

The Last Marker Boards of May 2017

Not the Camera - the Eye

I walked into Mr. Pankratz’ class without the required 35mm film camera.  I had a Kodak 120 roll film box camera.  I thought I’d be laughed right out of the room.  Mr. Pankratz looked at my gear and he ran down the plusses and minuses of my choice.  A plus: the film size is much bigger, so I’d be able to blow up images easier in the darkroom.  A minus: the enlarger we’d use had glass holders.  We’d need super attention to cleanliness to keep dust spots off the negatives. Another plus: since the roll film was advanced manually, I could play with special effects in ways that my fellow students couldn’t. Also a minus: since the roll film was advanced manually, I had to remember to advance it myself when I was ready to take the next photo.  If I didn’t, I’d get unintended double exposures.  And then the topper: “It’s not the camera that makes the photographer.  It’s the eye.” In my whole career as a small team videography/photography outfit, I’ve remembered that.  I’ve been able to upgrade and downgrade my gear over and over.  But it’s my eye, not my gear, that dictates my shots.

Last week I took several classes in CreativeLive’s Photoshop Week series.  Of course the cool course for gadget-heads was Create Stunning Drone Images with Adobe® Creative Cloud® with Colin Smith. And the first part of the presentation was exactly what you’d be looking for, features and specs on different drone models.  The second part though, focused on using drones as a camera platform that you can place anywhere.  One thing that Colin said was, “Don’t shoot everything from 400 feet up just because you can.  Some subjects don’t look good from 400 feet up!”  He emphasized that we’re still photographers.  We’re looking for “that image.” 

“You know that moment in a sunrise when the horizon splits as the sun rises above it? Terrestrial-based photographers have that moment just once. I get it ten times!” He talked about framing and composition and using drones as a photo tool.  That’s when he really got my attention. Yes, drones are techno-cool. But more importantly, they’re a tool that helps photographers achieve their vision.  Check out photoshopcafe.com for more tutorials and news from Colin Smith.

So get the cool gear, but train your eye.

It MUST Be Tuesday

Time for some more marker board fun!

Remember Your Target Audience!

Making Mistakes by Marva Collins