more boolean and Flash!

I met with Kevin today, briefly, to get some feedback on  Boolean Slots.  He had a lot of good ideas:

1. Make the “start” button disappear after it’s clicked on each machine.
2. Remove some of the “reminder” slides.
3. Show dollar signs on score cards.
4. He made new score cards, so I could redo those slides. (This required more work in Photoshop to create versions of the coins with just one object.)
5. Change the dollar coin slides to be centered.
6. Add as much interactivity as possible.
a. Instead of telling folks about and/or/not in the beginning, use a matching game.
b. Instead of reminding folks of their score at the end, use matching games.

We’d also like to add interactivity throughout the game, so I need to think about that some. I’d also  like to add a reflective slide at the end.

So, I was able to make corrections 1-6 this evening. I’ll see what I can do about the other two tomorrow (I’m taking a day of PTO to get a lot done on this project).

Again, the major problem is the sheer number of slides.  Things that should take all of 30 seconds to fix can spin out of control to take an hour.  I’m still not entirely pleased with the quizzing slides, so I need to work on those tomorrow.

Kevin and I also talked about the other games.  The only way to really make them like we envisioned is to use Flash.  Kevin doesn’t have time to do so yet, and I have a lot of hours of practicum to work on, so he uninstalled it from his computer and I am going to see what I can learn and implement tomorrow and for the rest of the practicum.

Installing Flash was the biggest headache and the worst part is that I don’t know what was causing the problem.  I had to restart my computer at least five times and for some reason the final one took.  Several websites on Flash recommended taking the 8 tutorials that come with the program, so I’ll probably do that in preparation for the other games.  Hopefully we’ll see some progress tomorrow!

Meeting with Kevin & Boolean Slots Updates

I met with Kevin on Tuesday to go over the updates I made the night before. He had a number of good suggestions including working on timing for the slides that are text heavy and working on the images. We think that using images for words, whenever possible, makes sense in light of recent research suggesting students tend towards visual learners today.

Tonight I streamlined the background image. This meant I had to use Photoshop to modify the background, I had to figure out how to move images to the “back” of the slide in Captivate, and I had to manipulate about a third of the slides.

It was productive, and I think a good exercise.

I’m going out of town for the next two days, so I’m going to spend this time focusing on the practicum goal of becoming familiar with online pedagogy. I have a number of articles that I’ll be taking with me, and I’ll post a report of my reading when I get back online.

meeting

Notes from today’s meeting with Susan & Kevin:

1. We need to add an intro slide that explains the goal.  
2. Research question: wake forest XX ACC sports. (add NOT SomeSport)
3. Explain what the desired outcome would be.
4. This can tie it in to the actual concept.
5. Make the score card clearer.
6. Change “OR” to have all three images.
7. Lengthen amount of time on the last slides (so the people can read them).
8. Goal: have all three always be different
9. Need: basketball, football, lacrosse

meeting with kevin

Kevin and I met today for about half an hour.  We went through what I came up with the other night and discussed where to go from here.  Kevin’s re-vamping the images to fit full-screen in the game.  After that, I’m going to apply the logic from the version I came up with the other night.

The main thing I’m considering now is how to fill the 90 hours. I suspect, at this rate, we can get all 4 projects done in way less time (but I’m not totally sure about that).

notes from today’s meeting

Look into screen capture software

• Camtasia
• Captivate

Goal for presentation:

• 3-5 minutes on keyword searching
• walkthrough/demo
• interactive

split screen

• left side: bullets with important notes
• right side: video/interactive piece

Module 1:

• keyword
• trucation/wildcard
• boolean searching
• (would plug into catalog or database)

Module 2:

• using mod. 1 concepts in the catalog
• pull data for reinforcement?

Lib100 replan meeting notes

I don't have a part in replannning any classes for this course, so my notes are really just a few brainstorms around general class topics.

Intro Class

Info timeline

• Move information along the timeline?
• Use something like TILT's LC organization, but use timeline info?

Choosing a Topic

broadening a topic:

• could a flash game be useful for this?
  • Maybe moving bubbles around to show progression from specific to broad and vice versa?
  • this includes buying into the "gaming" generation… maybe include "distracter" bubbles and give minimal instructions
  • Maybe "level 1" could be about putting them in order and "level 2" could be about matching them to the right type of paper?
• Maybe a very structured game in which students enter text and they get a correct/incorrect response with feedback?

Database I

• What is a database? How is it different from Google & Scholar?
• Pit Google Scholar against Databases, show pros and cons of each.

Do something around the idea of vendors or engines

• Specify: Ebsco data searchable via their engine or via Grokker
• Specify: Ebsco as a vendor that provides a number of databases
• Don't get too deep into this
• Maybe use with an analogy? Ebsco, the vendor, similar to country, while databases are similar to states?
• Maybe a family tree?
• How to make this interactive? Can they do something in "real life" on half of a split screen and enter information in on the other half to get feedback?

recap of first meeting

Today I got together with Susan and Kevin to get an idea of where we're going with this project. I was lucky to be able to stay for part of a LIB 100 revamping meeting afterwards wtih Susan, Kevin, Erik, Giz, Mary, and Caroline. Here are my notes:

next actions:

• Send really awesome "flipped" LIB100 article to Mary, Susan, Giz, Erik, Caroline, and Kevin. What was that again?
• Find library tutorial links and email to Susan and Kevin (pay attention to interactive tutorials dealing with the catalog.)
• Create a draft tutorial for the catalog. Include: subject heading, format, limiting, sorting. It's going to be challenging to make the info lit points b/c you can't really "fail" with guided keyword the way you can with author or title.
• Send draft to Susan and Kevin for consideration.
• Talk with Roz to find out what is needed for journal finder tutorial.

After this we'll look into "fun" tutorials.

Some ideas to consider:

• Susan currently uses movie clips to reiterate what is taught in class.
• Interactivity would be a good addition.
• Text based answer and response as close to real time as possible.
• I will have access to Susan & Erik's current class. Check out syllabus for interesting areas for future tutorials.
• Look at the revamp lib 100 paperwork.

If we create a text-based feedback exercise:

• Make one, see how it goes over with current LIB 100 teachers.
• What do you want to test?
• Maybe this could take the edge of grading.

Start with a proof of concept.

Software to look into:

• hot potatoes
• demobuilder: catalog and journal, not interactive
• web + javascript: allows for interaction
• camtasia: can it be interactive?
• flash (Kevin and I will use after July 1)

Sources for fun tutorials

• Revamp lib 100 paperwork
• Susan & Erik's Blackboard syllabus
• Web 2.0 technologies
• Privacy issues
• Classification & folksonomies
• Political and economic dynamics of information
• and, social epistemology (just kidding!)

Update: the "flipped" article is:
Manuel, K. (2002). Teaching Information Literacy to Generation Y [Electronic Version]. Journal of Library Administration, 36, 195-217. Retrieved 5/22/06.