I suppose I should begin by introducing myself.
I'm a
Ph.D. student in
Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University. I've been involved in
higher education for many years as a student, an instructor, and an administrative support technologist. I earned a B.A. and M.A. in
English at Ball State University (
Ball U!) and taught composition and rhetoric for a few years. I then studied
film production and screenwriting at
De Anza College, where I wrote and/or directed several award-winning short films (with
my brother). I was an
early adopter of the Web and served as
University Webmaster for
Santa Clara University for two years, followed by stints as an
animator (for
Blue Mountain Arts) and a
design technologist for a Web consulting spinoff of
SRI just before the bubble burst. In 2006 I earned an M.A. in Instructional Technology at
San Jose State University, where I was selected by the faculty as "Outstanding Graduating Student," thank you very much.
My
research interests include the design of instructional games and their use in learning. Therefore most of my posts will relate to
games, education, and systemic change. I believe that educational systems must undergo a
paradigm shift if they are to remain relevant to society and that public education is ripe for transformation. My approach is to change the ways in which preservice teachers learn to teach, so that they enter the public education system with fresh ideas and perspectives. I think that
games provide a promising approach to learning because they engage and motivate, provide optimal challenge and customized feedback, and require players to assume to roles and act within those roles.
One of my current projects is SimTIE, a simulation game on technology integration in education. I recently gave a presentation on the development of a board game prototype for this project at Indiana University's annual IST conference. Here's my PowerPoint presentation.