Desert Rocks

ericalvarado

joshua-tree-national-park-74399_1920

Gingerbread lemon drops sweet roll. Candy icing gummies chupa chups danish carrot cake oat cake donut oat cake. Jujubes chocolate bar wafer croissant unerdwear.com caramels soufflé wafer sweet. Gingerbread powder marzipan chocolate muffin jelly gingerbread. Danish gummies gummi bears donut gingerbread. Chupa chups tart wafer ice cream candy canes marzipan pie sweet. Tart ice cream croissant chocolate cake. Cotton candy ice cream macaroon tart marzipan. Soufflé carrot cake pastry. Jelly oat cake wafer jujubes sweet unerdwear.com croissant caramels unerdwear.com. Marzipan brownie chocolate. Biscuit sweet roll jelly-o liquorice gummies jelly beans.

Flipped Classrooms!

ericalvarado

I was reading the Chronicle of Higher Education and stumbled on this article… It’s a Flipping Revolution. The article was very interesting. Flipped Classrooms are slowly becoming more and more popular. I am not sure which buzzword is winning MOOCs or Flipped Classrooms. The concept is not new, but still has not penetrated fully into the classroom. As you can imagine, it is difficult to break tradition. A professor/teacher/instructor walks into a classroom, fires up PowerPoint or the trusty writing utensil, and begins to broadcast a message to the X number of students sitting in the classroom. Students just listen or tune out to the message being sent to them. Message receipt is confirmed through performance on exams. Wow… Just writing those sentences put me back to sleep.

It pains me to think that I am apart of making sure that that sort of transmission still occurs and is working — I work in the educational technology field. How does one make pervasive change in education while not holding a Ph.D.? How can I work to shift the teaching styles of faculty members from broadcast to collaborative? I am going to have to think about this and get back to you. However, I thought I would share this since I find it fascinating.

More Gamification…

ericalvarado

So I keep digging and getting more and more excited about this concept of Gamification. What I have found interesting is this is something I have been thinking about pretty much all of my life. It is interesting to see that most of what I have found is primarily dominated by video games… especially World of Warcraft. I really would like to find some information on board game based research or efforts. For example, board games are huge in Germany. It is threaded in their family fabric, whereby families will go together to select a board game that they will play together after dinner and homework. What a concept? The enhancement of family and values along with the increase in strategic and tactical thought along with any value the game might add.

Just a thought!

Stumbled upon Gamification

ericalvarado

Ok… so ever since I was a kid I have been designing games (which reminds me I need to find my 5 subject spiral bound notebook). Recently, I have been picking up the design element some more. I wanted to pursue some sort of degree in this area but did not know what. I think I need to pick this baton back up and see if there is something I can do.

When reviewing my game designs, I always want to convey information to the players. It is not just about the mechanics or the theme, but what people are learning about the subject. On the Crab does just that, it tries to convey what is going on onboard a Crab Fishing Vessel (CFV). My Pacific War scenario books do the same thing by convey what happened historically. I am sensing a pattern.

Originally, I thought maybe I should go down the mathematics side of the house (especially this is an area I excel in). But, maybe I need a different approach. I heard about Jane McGonigal and am finding it interesting how she has dedicated her research to game design. Way cool! I need to dig deeper and see what else is out there on this topic.

Stay tuned!

What a week!

ericalvarado

I am telling you this was a very “roller coaster like” week for me. I am glad it is over. I did manage to get one play test kit out the door and to a person currently attending BGG.con. Wish I properly calculated the time it would take to assemble the play test kit. Ah well!

Sunday in November

ericalvarado

I relaxed today with the family. Also, got to play a couple of games with Roy (Oregon and Attika). Also, got to work on my game a bit. Still need to work on new weather cards and player boards. Then cut and assemble everything for v9.3.  Tomorrow I go back to work. I am a little worried, since last week was a bit stressful.