Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Summer Games MOOC



Please join us for the Summer Games MOOC!

This will be the fourth offering of the Games Based Learning MOOC. Sign-up is at  bit.ly/12rDKit The Summer Games MOOC will be divided into two parts. Each part is designed to be a standalone MOOC, so feel free to sign-up for only one part or both.

The Summer 2013 Games MOOC
Designed using the connectivism learning theory, the Summer Games MOOC is a Massive Online Open Course focusing on game based learning in education. Connectivist MOOCs or cMOOCs started in 2008 and were introduced to promote networking and knowledge creation among peers.  Since then,  there have been a series of these free connectivism open online courses offered. The Games MOOC is informed by their design and implementation.

Since it's a connectivism MOOC, it will not look like a course from Coursera, Canvas or have the feel of a commercial learning management system. Besides connectivism learning theory, this MOOC is informed by gaming guild culture and the Gamer Disposition by John Seely Brown http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2008/02/the_gamer_disposition.html

Multi-Player Games and MMORPGs
June 3 - June 24, 2013.

Part I focuses on exploring collaboration, cross-functional teams and multi-player game based learning. We will take a close look at the features of multi-players games by going into MMORPGs (Massively Online Role-Playing Games) and also livestreaming from them. We will be exploring and even experiencing what makes these games so engaging.

in Part I, we look at World of Warcraft, EVEOnline,  and guilds that have developed in the sandbox genre games.

Immersive Environments
July 7 - July 29, 2013

Part II will be a tour of online and immersive environments for game based learning. There will be an emphasis on you building your game based learning PLN (Personal Learning Network). We will visit multiple virtual learning environments, virtual worlds, sandbox games and MMORPGs. In Part II, we will also be collaborating with the rgMOOC, or "Rhetoric and Composition: The Persuasive Power of Video Games as Paratexts being offered by Sherry Jones and Kate Guthrie Caruso http://storify.com/sherryjones/rgmooc-a-rhetoric-and-game-based-mooc

The Games MOOC is an open course for all educators. The model for participation is based on social network knowledge construction. Learners will be able to be active in the course in several ways from lurking (reading the discussions), to being engaged in game-play to actively creating content in the course with the MOOC designer and Advisory Group. We do understand that a participant’s level of activity may vary based on the individual’s interest in the weekly topics or other time commitments.

So feel free to lurk! As one of our MOOC Advisory Board member says, "Lurk and Learn!"
If you have any questions, please contact Kae Novak at kae.novak@frontrange.edu or call 303-404-5470.

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