Decided to get Mooc'ed

 Having read about them. watched video clips and hovered around the edge of actually registering for one, I finally took the plunge recently and signed up to a MOOC.  The course: - Second Life MOOC  ran from April 1 to 30 2014. 

The theme was connecting online for collaborative learning and teaching through Second Life. The live presentations included speakers reflective process on teaching and learning in fully online and blended learning formats.

 

Course Highlights included: -

• Experience Life in Second Life
• Avatars will Present about their Lives in Second Life
• Learn how to Teach in Second Life
• Get Acquainted with Learning Environments in SL

If you were not used to virtual worlds such as Second Life then there were sessions for  beginners and advanced Second Life participants alike. I was also pleased to see that Moodle was being used for asynchronous work with the synchronous side of things handled by WizIQ & Second Life. We also had recordings on WizIQ, Google Drive, YouTube, and Vimeo.

As part of our completion task we were asked to produce a learning resource that would be made available in-world on the subject of connectivism. I must say that I do enjoy Second Life and feel that its full potential as a learning environment is still to be fully explored and this  course really took every opportunity to bring us together in that particular virtual space; most enjoyable.

Our course instructor was Nellie Deutsch on Integrating Technology Toronto, Canada, and she did a great job, thanks again Nellie.

You will see that I have included a small screen shot of my certificate, soon to be placed on my office wall.

I recently posted on the use of games in education and today another guide dropped across my browser that I thought would be a useful accompaniment to the toolkit.

I like this guide because use real-world examples of how game-based techniques can energise online learning programmes and make a positive, measurable impact. Some techniques (such as immersive 3D virtual environments) require substantial levels of investment, while others can be produced quickly and cost-effectively with just a little imagination, planning and game-based thinking. If you're interested in gamifying the provision of learning in your organisation, this guide will give you some useful food for thought.

A few thought provoking facts are included that I thought worth posting here:-

By 2014, more than 70% of Global 2000
organisations will have at least one
‘gamified’ application (Gartner).

By 2015, more than 50% of organisations
that manage innovation processes will
gamify those processes (Gartner).

The average game player today is 37
years old, and 42% of game players are
women (The Entertainment Software
Association).

Students recall just 10% of what they
read and 20% of what they hear. If
visuals accompany an oral presentation,
retention rises to 30%. If they do the job themselves,
even if only as a simulation, students
can remember 90% (the Federation of
American Scientists, 2006).


This guide covers:
Why use game-based learning?
Story, characters and goals
Virtual role-play
Avatars and reward systems
Leaderboards, competition and
team games
Exploring virtual environments
Mobile games
Take-a-break games
Conclusion
Acknowledgements and further reading
Contents

Well that's all for now, but you have anything surrounding this post that you would like to share then please feel free to comment