Gaming and Motivation Lesson Plan

Overview:

Learners will work in a brewing workshop, where they will be attempt to go from beginning home brewer, to advanced and award winning brew master. They will be given the necessary equipment and ingredients along the way to create the perfect brew. It will be their responsibility to assemble the equipment properly, and to use the ingredients properly.

Target Audience:

The game can be used by anyone with an interest in brewing beer and in beer in general. For me personally, I’d like this game to be used as a training tool at the craft beer bar I currently work at.

Objectives:

• Use previously gathered knowledge to successfully assemble brewing equipment and subsequently use brewing ingredients appropriately.
• Comprehend how to use all of the equipment and ingredients, in order to virtually create a great tasting beer.
• Continue to create better and better beer, using more advanced equipment, and more complicated ingredients.

Materials:

 Users will only need a computer and Internet access.

Procedure:

 Learners will be given a basic set of brewing equipment and ingredients. They will have to assemble the equipment and combine the ingredients in the proper order, in order to create a drinkable beer. As they successfully create different beers, they will be given new equipment and new ingredients with which to brew. Their end goal will be to eventually create a beer that wins them the title of “best beer” from a virtual panel of judges at a virtual beer festival.

PICK A SEAT

 1.     Pacing:  What is the pace of your lesson or game?  Who will go first?

 The pacing of my game will be up to the learner. It’s a first person, self-paced, task completion oriented game. It is entirely up to the user for how often and how quickly they progress in the game. However, if I were using this game to help teach fellow employees at my bar more about beer and the beer making process, I may want to create a timeline for how quickly I want each learner to progress. This timeline could coincide with the Cicerone Certificate program we are all required to participate in. The Cicerone program has 3 levels. I could design my game around those levels, and have the two coincide, in order to create a more immersive learning experience for the employees.

2.     Instructions:  How will your learners learn how to play your game? 

 My learners will learn to play the game through trial and error. The brewing process in real life is a process of trial and error, and I’d like my game to follow that same methodology. There will be prompts along the way, in order to help direct the learner in the right direction, but for the most part it will be up to them to experiment with what does and does not work. 

3.     Controls:  What will the learners manipulate in your game?

 The game will be on a computer, and as such the learners will manipulate basic keyboard commands. It will mostly revolve around simple clicks of the mouse.

4.     Knowledge:  What do you expect your learners to know when they enter the game? What do you want them to learn from this game based lesson? What do you expect them to know when they leave?

 In order to obtain a job where I work, once must already have an above average knowledge of beer and the brewing process. As such, this game will be designed for those at an intermediate level. I want my learners to learn about all the intricacies of brewing beer. While people can learn about beer without knowing how it’s actually made, they will never truly understand all there is to know about it, until they know where it comes from. By learning each and every facet about the process of brewing beer, the learner’s overall knowledge of beer itself will grow immensely. When they are finished with my game, I want them to have an advanced knowledge of the brewing process and beer itself. After playing my game, they should be able to go to a store, obtain all the materials and ingredients needed, put them together, and brew a good tasting beer.

5.     Achievements:  What are the short term and long term victories for the learner?  How do you incorporate operant conditioning in your lesson?

 The short-term victories for the learner will be receiving new equipment and better ingredients. The long-term victories will include gaining a great understanding of beer and the brewing process. I would incorporate operant conditioning into my lesson a few ways. The most obvious example is the reward of receiving new equipment or better ingredients for successfully creating a beer. An example of negative reinforcement I could incorporate would be having the learner’s mash tun boil over if they make a mistake at that point in the brewing process.

6.     Story:  What is the immersive story or background information that brings the learner deep into your world?

 The story that immerses my learner in this game is that of an aspiring brewer. One would start out as a simple home brewer, and it would be their task to work their way up to award winning brew master. They’d get a chance to visit different places all over the world, to learn about all the different ways people brew beer. With each successfully brewed beer, they’d be given a new ingredient and/or piece of equipment, and then be tasked with making a better beer.

7.     Endgame:  Who is the evil boss character they have to fight at the end?  What is the final outcome?  Is there an ending to your game?

 The evil boss they will have to face will be a taste panel. Their goal will be to enter a world beer tasting challenge, and have their beer win an award in any of a number of categories. Once they’ve won the ultimate prize, the game is over, but it doesn’t prevent them from continuing to experiment.

8.     Assessment:  What are the built in assessments to your game?

 The built in assessments are tastings they must submit their beer to along the way. Each time they complete a beer, they will be required to submit it to a taste panel. The panel will provide feedback on the quality of the beer. The feedback will be detailed so the learner understands what they did wrong, and how to improve upon it the next time.

9.     Timing:  What is the overall time you have to play this game and how do you adjust to make the game go faster or slower?

 The overall time of the game is up to the user. Depending on how quickly they want to learn, and how much they want to immerse themselves in the brewing world, will determine how much time they dedicate to the game.

10.   Fun and Motivation: Why is this game fun and why would your learners like this game? What motivation theory does your lesson address?  What operant conditions are in place?

 The game is fun because it allows a person to step into the shoes of a brewer, without actually having to go through the trouble of purchasing a bunch of brewing equipment. This way, a person can learn all about brewing in a virtual world, and in the end if they decide they don’t really like it, they’ve now saved a bunch of money that they would have otherwise spent on real equipment; and saving money is fun. I also just think it’s a unique idea, and a fun way to learn more about beer. I think this game motivates people through incentive, with the incentive being one of two things. Either, it helps you get a promotion at our work place, and/or it teaches you how to brew on your own, which brings it’s own rewards to the table.

Reflection Time

What I’ve Learned so Far

I think much of what I’ve learned in this course thus far can absolutely be implemented into my day-to-day activities. I work in an environment, where being able to communicate your ideas effectively and efficiently is very important. In addition, just about everything I’ve learned has the potential to be very instrumental in my attempts to teach others.

Communication

Part of our last reading centered on effective use of text. I work in a very fast paced environment, where a lot of high level (in terms of the personnel I’m dealing with) conversations take place, and I need to make the most out of each conversation. A problem I’ve had in the past is being able to be precise and to the point with my communication. Often times I find myself rambling, and taking entirely too long to get to the point. This course has helped me to become a better communicator. I feel as though I’ve learned some key things to help me be concise, yet still be able to effectively convey my message.

 Teaching Through Visuals

In terms of teaching others, which is exactly what my Capstone Project involves, this course has really helped me to understand how people learn, and how my teaching methods, especially through technology, can best be utilized. I think the most important thing for me has been the incorporation of visuals into my project. Originally, I had the idea of using podcasts as a means to train fellow employees. While I believe podcasts can certainly still be effective, I think the use of minicasts, which allow for visuals, will ultimately be the best tool for my project. I believe the research shown in our readings provides more than sufficient evidence to suggest that the use of visuals along with text is the most effective way to not only engage your learners, but also help them retain the material being taught.

My “Voice”

In addition to visuals, I think the concept of finding one’s voice has really helped me. As my Capstone Project involves me speaking as part of the training, it’s important that I find the “right” voice. I have a tendency to use more words and bigger words than are actually necessary to try and convey information. I also have a tendency to come off as sarcastic and comical at times. While big words and comedy do have a place in my training, I think it’s important I become more selective as to when I do use them.

 The Road Ahead

With all of the above things in mind, I do believe there will be changes in my project. For starters, I will definitely be switching from podcasts, which do not allow for visuals, to minicasts, which do.  I also think my learners will see a change in not only my verbiage, but also my tone. I want to be able to keep things simple yet effective, and engaging but not distracting. I think with continued practice and reevaluation of my work, I will be able to create a sounder and more refined final product. The principles that I’ve learned in this class will definitely help shape my final Capstone Project, as well as many other projects I foresee myself creating in the future.

Capstone Project Update

UPDATE

The original intent of my project was to gauge the effectiveness of Podomatic, an online podcast creation tool, as a means to train fellow employees in my place of work. At this point, I feel the project has been a success. I achieved my original objectives, which I will go into more in the next section. As of right now, I’m moving into a new phase of the project, which is to design specific training content. My training content for this phase, will center on customer service skills. I’m using the knowledge I’ve gained over the last two weeks, which has focused on how to effectively engage learners with multimedia, to build my training framework.

Objectives: Successful or Not?

To summarize, my original objectives centered on teaching others to use Podomatic, through a podcast I created using Podomatic, and then gauge how effective those trainings were based on my learners ability to create their own podcast/minicast, and through learner/peer surveys. I feel as though this portion of my project was effective because my learners were able to create their own podcasts/minicasts based off my original training. The feedback I received reinforced my original hypothesis that podcasts/minicasts can be used as an effective way to train fellow employees.

I don’t think that any of my original objectives need to be revised so much as they need to be added on to. I think my original work proved to me that podcasts/minicasts can be an effective teaching medium, and I’d now like to implement an actual training, which I hope to eventually show to a larger audience. I think some of my next objectives will focus on how to get my trainings implemented into my employee’s daily workflow, and to determine if trainings via podcasts/minicasts prove to be more effective than traditional classroom trainings.

 Timeframe

I think my project implementation was on track according to my original timeline, but now that I feel there should be additional objectives added, I will need to revise and ultimately create a new timeline for those objectives.

Obstacles

The biggest obstacles I face with the implementation of my project are the current state of my company’s training program and its financial climate.  After coming up with my idea, and looking into having it implemented into my work environment, I discovered that we already had a team of people who had been diligently working on creating their own training program. In addition, my company is experiencing some difficult financial times, and they are reluctant to invest in any new, untested products. While Podomatic can be a free podcast/minicast creation tool, I believe a more advanced, and more expensive version would need to be explored, in order to create the sophisticated, higher-level training my company would be looking to implement.

BP9_ We Got RILS, YES We Do, We Got RILS, How Bout You?

As much fun as I had working on my own RILS project, and exploring Podomatic, I also had a great time viewing my classmates projects, and the tools they chose to use. It’s been a pleasure working with my classmates this month, and seeing all of our hard work come to fruition.

The first RILS project I explored was that of BiBi Bennett, and her work with the site Storybird. Storybird allows students to create their own virtual stories, and subsequently share them via email or through a number of social networking sites. To learn more, and see my more of my comments click here.

The second project I explored was done by Renee Williams, and focused on the site Masher. Masher allows students to create their own videos as well, and looks to have the potential as a great learning tool in the classroom. To see more about Masher, and to see more of my comments, click here.

BP8_Reflections

It’s been a number of years since I was last in school, and upon beginning this class and this program, I was quite nervous. Even though I work at the school I’m attending, and have worked very closely with other students who have/are attending the school, I was still anxious about my classes, and what I could expect. I don’t think I could have started out with a better class than this one, and as you’ve seen through my previous posts, we hit the ground running fast and haven’t looked back. Much of what we’ve been learning has been designed to prepare us for the creation and implementation of our Relevant and Innovative  Learning Scenarios (RILS).

Reflecting on the RILS Process

I couldn’t be happier with my project and the path I took to get there. Ultimately, I chose Podomatic, an online Podcast/Minicast creation tool, to use for my RILS; however, I got the chance to explore many other tools along the way. Not only was my own research extremely rewarding, so was the research and subsequent blog posts of my fellow classmates. When I was in school prior to Full Sail, the only chance we got to see our peers work was at the very end of the semester, and that was only if the Professor actually had us present our work. With this class, I got the chance to see my peers work as they were working on it, and developing it, which was fantastic. In addition, by visiting their blogs, and exploring their work, I got to see 10x what I would have got the chance to see had I been on my own. I’m hoping this philosophy and approach to learning begins to spread not only through the University ranks, but also down into our High School and Elementary school levels as well.

Reflecting on My RILS

Overall, I was quite happy with my decision to use Podomatic. Prior to ever even finding out about Podomatic, I was intrigued by Podcasts and what their potential use could be. As I thought more and more about my current work environment, and the area of opportunities I could identify, how I could implement Podcasts into my world became clearer and clearer. Once I started to float the idea around to some of my coworkers, I was pleasantly surprised at their positive responses. The idea of being able to conduct and/or complete a training via podcast seemed not only like a viable idea, but an extremely effective one as well.

Positives of training through Podcasts:

• can complete from anywhere
• can listen to as many times as needed
• can listen to whenever one pleases
• can pose questions in the comment section and connect with others

Negatives of training through Podcasts:

•  limitation of visuals

To this point, I haven’t identified many negatives of using Podcasts as a training tool. It’s both convenient and collaborative, which were two of the main things I was looking for in my search for a new training tool. I plan to continue to play around with Podomatic, to improve my proficiency with the site. I also intend to search out other Podcast creation sites, to see if there is anything else out there I may be able to use. For anyone looking to implement new and innovative ways to train their employees, I definitely recommend Podomatic, and the use of Podcasts in general.

Until next my friends, I bid you a fond farewell…

 

BP7 – Podomatic

Goal/End Product

Over the course of my certificate program, I plan to use Podomatic, a free online Podcast/Minicast creation tool, to teach my fellow trainers a new way to get training material out to their employees.

Objectives

1. Use previously gathered knowledge of Web2.0 tools to watch a training Minicast created by me.
2. Comprehend how to use Podomatic, in order to create effective training tools via Podcasts/Minicasts.
3. Create their own Podcast/Minicast using the experience gained watching my training.
4. Evaluate effectiveness of the Podcast/Minicast through a peer survey. Their answers to the survey would be given in the form of a Podcast they create on their own, and used to help me gauge how effective my fellow trainers thought Podomatic was as a training tool.

Materials

• Computer and high speed internet
• Working email address
• Podomatic account – http://www.podomatic.com/login
• A willing and eager brain

Procedure

1. Visit http://www.podomatic.com/login
2. Create a free login.
3. Follow the link to my Minicast, entitled “How to create a Podcast.”
4. Watch my Minicast training video.
5. Comment on my Minicast in the comments section. Their comments can be questions or any type or feedback they deem relevant.
6. Login and create their own Podcast. Their Podcast will be a reflection of what they learned from my training video, and how effective they thought my training was.
7.  Publish their Podcast.

Social Participation

The participants of this project will be able to interact socially in a number of ways. First, for each Podcast/Minicast created, there is a comments section. The comments section allows users to interact and discuss the topic(s) covered in any particular Podcast/Minicast, and also serves as a place for people to ask questions to their fellow participants. Second, participants will be able to create their own Podcasts/Minicasts as a way of showing what they’ve just learned, and also implement new learning material of their own.

Technology

Podomatic is a free online Podcast/Minicast creation tool, which allows users to create and publish Podcasts/Minicasts for a public audience.

Reflection

The participants of this project will be asked to create a reflection Podcast. The Podcast will be a reflection on the things they learned from their experience, and how they can use those tools in the future.

After the project is over, the trainer/manager will create a Minicast, which through speaking and visuals, show what they’ve learned through their training experience, and how they can make improvements for future trainings.

Target Audience

Fellow trainers/managers from various departments, who are looking for new and innovative ways to train their employees.

Making Connections

1. Most trainers/managers already have existing knowledge of what they will be teaching their learners. Podomatic is just a new way of presenting that material.
2. The trainings will be relevant for all learners involved because each of them currently holds a position in which they manage a group of employees that could benefit from this training style.
3. Because Podomatic is a Web2.0 tool, users can interact with each other to discuss previous content, and/or create new content of their own to be shared with a larger audience.

PE3_iMovie_Alaska…almost

Well friends, here it is, my first iMovie creation. Here are a few of the tools I utilized with this particular project:

• Home photos – since I didn’t have much original video to shoot from, I chose to usually most photos from my library, with a short video clip thrown in the mix.
• Audio – I used one of the many jingles iMovie makes available for you within the audio options.
• Voice over – this was one of my favorites. With all the photos, I had to add some voice over to tell a short story about my video.
• Transitions – I used the option to have all the transitions the same for this clip. Each clip has a transition with dissolved diagonal movement.
• “Ken Burns” effect – for a few of the clips, I used the “Ken Burns” effect for mood.

I had a blast learning to use iMovie, and I hope you will take my advice, go to Lynda.com, and start the adventure yourself. Enjoy…

 

PE2_iMovie_”I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it…”

Welcome back! If you’ve been following along, then you most likely just got a nice introduction to iMovie, my new favorite program. In my previous post, I provided an introduction to the user interface and user toolbar. For this post, I’d like to go a little further into the iMovie, movie making process.

Organizing Your Clips

For someone who uses iMovie sparingly, this probably doesn’t bear much importance, but for those who plan to create their own filmography, this is a key part of iMovie. Here are some of the useful tools for organizing your clips:

• Organizing within Events – here you can split clips into different events, merge events together, and arrange by date among other options.
• Rate your Clips – here you can rate your favorite clips. You can also rate clips as “rejects,” which will remove the clips from your main event library and place them in their own place. Once the rejects have been removed, you can choose to delete them forever, or store for possibly future use.
• Tagging with Key Words – it’s as simple as it sounds. Tag certain clips with certain key words, and it makes them that much more easy to find for future use.
• Finding People in your Clips – this feature is rather new to iMovie, and it allows you to tage clips by face recognition.

Key Word Tagging

That should give you a good idea on how to best organize your events and all of your clips. Now that we know how to use and organize our interface, let’s take a look at editing video.

Editing Video

Your options for editing your videos are plentiful and diverse. We won’t go into all of them here, but I’ll show you a few of my favorites below:

1. Trimming and slip edits, specifically, “clip trimmer,” was one of my favorites. It gives you so much control over exactly how precise you want each of your clips to be. You can literally cut it down to the very second. For a control freak like myself, there can be no better tool.
2. Creating and adjusting still clips was also at the top of my list. You can choose precisely where you want the still to appear, whether it be an inserted photo, or actually making part of one of your clips a still. The default setting will add a subtle zooming effect to your still, commonly referred to as the “Ken Burns” effect. As a big fan of Ken Burns, naturally this editing tool appealed to me.
3. Lastly, let’s talk transitions. Everyone loves a good transition. Whether it be in writing or in video, a good transition helps to mend the whole presentation together. iMovie is kind enough to supply you with an ample amount of preloaded transitions. The default setting will have one clip transition to the next in half a second, but as is with most of the other default settings, you can easily adjust this. Once you get the hang of the different transitions, and how to use them, your videos will have a professional touch in no time.

“Ken Burns” Effect

 

Alright folks, while there were a number of other features highlighted in the tutorial on Lynda.com, I don’t want to spoil all the fun for you. You’ll just have to go to the site and check it out yourself. This concludes my second post about iMovie, stay tuned for my third and final post…if you’re lucky, I might even post a homemade video for you all.

PE1_iMovie_Mind Just Blown

iMovie

WOW!!! No exaggeration there people. Coming from someone who is new to both iMovie and Lynda.com, I have to say I could not be more excited about either this program, or this website. When I first got my Macbook, iMovie was one of the first things I checked out, but to be honest, I got a little discouraged because I felt so overwhelmed about learning how to use it. With the help of Lynda.com and Garrick Chow of Lynda.com, I’m no longer discouraged, and am actually very excited about my future with this program.

iMovie Main Screen

Introduction to the Interface

Above, you see the iMovie main screen. This is the original screen you’re taken to upon first opening up iMovie. Now for those of you well versed with this tool, you’re probably rolling your eyes, but for someone who’s never used it, it can seem quite daunting, despite its appearance of simplicity. Now the Lynda.com tutorial starts with some basics on how to import video from various sources on to your Mac, and into your iMovie library. I’d like to start with the user interface, as this was the part that frightened me upon my initial visit.

For starters, there are four key areas to note as a beginner. In the top left, you will see your Project Pane. In the top right, the Viewer. In the bottom left, is your Event Library, and in the bottom right, is your Event Browser. These four main areas are where you will be doing the majority of your work. Mr. Chow does a fantastic job introducing you to the basics of iMovie, and within 20 minutes of watching, I already felt way more at ease with the program. Below, you will see an image of the user toolbar; a very important tool for just about any program you’re working with.

User Toolbar

Here are some of the basics (from left to right):

• The arrow is your simple tool for navigating throughout the page.
• The next icon allows you to highlight which clips you would like to move from your Event Browser to your Project Pane.
• The two stars and the x are there for you to rate your best and/or worst footage.
• The key is for adding keywords.
• The microphone is for adding voice over.
• The next one is for cropping footage.
• The “i” is so you can get info about each clip.

There are more options on the advanced toolbar, but these are the basics for now. Now that you’ve seen the main screen and the user toolbar, you should have a pretty good introduction to iMovie. Stay tuned for more to come…

BP6 – RILS – Podomatic – My Learning Experience

At the bottom of this post you will find my podcast creation, as if I were an employee participating in my customer service training program. As I continued to explore Podomatic, I found some great new tools, which I think will be beneficial during the implementation of my project. For starters, you’ll notice this is a Minicast, and not just a podcast. The difference between the two is that I was able to insert pictures into my post with Minicast. As a training material, I think it’s important to appeal to more than just one learning type. Aside from that, it also adds a little personal touch to my creation.

Minicast Maker

 

Through creating this Minicast, and then going back to review both my original podcast and my new Minicast, I noticed some great things which I believe will really help in the development of my project. For starters, you can share your casts through any number of social networking sites, including WordPress. In fact, there are at least 50 different options for you to choose from.

Second, I realized that the “comment section” portion of this site can be extremely useful. For example, in this Minicast, I described my views on Customer Service in the 21st Century. Now, as a trainer, I could instruct my staff to follow the link to my Minicast, and then comment on their thoughts after listening/watching it. The site has now become a virtual discussion board. My learners can view the site, and then discuss as a group their thoughts and feelings on what they just viewed. This is an easy, and effective way for employees to gain knowledge on a subject, and participate in a discussion, while continuing along in their daily work flow.

I’m excited to see where I can take this project through the use of Podomatic. In the meantime, enjoy my brief thoughts on Customer Service in today’s world.

Customer Service in the 21st Century