Bringing Dreams to Life: Technological Innovations in Teaching

1. Bringing Dreams to Life: Technological Innovations in Teaching Classrooms of the Future-X Learner-Centered Learning May, 2004 David X. Swenson PhD The College of St. Scholastica Duluth, MN

2. Fantasy Role-Playing Games

3. What makes a good game? • Immersability • Multi-sensory • Novelty, surprise, change • Challenge, creative tension • Team cooperation • Rapid feedback • Graduated difficulty • Compelling and organized story line • Developmental skill acquisition • Opportunity to learn from experiences • Equal opportunity (to participate/win) • Creative control (affect outcomes) • Divergent choices • Clarity & complexity of rules

4. Talking Heads • AI-Expert Systems that • Respond to voice communication • Access extensive information resources • Use sophisticated decision engines • Show appropriate emotional response • Applications: • Practice job interviewing • Career interviews • Speak with historical figures • Obtain information • Expert advice (e.g., stats) • Virtual team member

5. VR equipment has become increasingly sophisticated http://www.vrealities.com/

6. MGT 6777: Systems Theory Seminar • Build a town, make it run • Construct an algorithm (systems model) that accounts for the simulation • Discuss the implications of intervening to solve a problem in one part of the system on remote parts of the system • Tweak it and see what happens!

7. Simple Systems Model for Sim City Employment opportunities More Traffic Real Estate Availability Road Maintenance Population Growth Tax Base Police Fire Facilities Neighborhood Degradation Crime Rate

8. You have traveled in a time machine but it has broken down and landed you during the Middle Ages. You must explore the village where you have landed to recover all 10 missing pieces and return home. http://www.activehistory.co.uk/Miscellaneous/hotpots/1sts/villagetour/villagetour.htm

9. Econ 3322 Medieval European Economic History

10. PowerSim–systems modeling The Department of Transportation is working on a plan for a new $150 million bypass in the city of Newport to reduce congestion. People are divided on the need, with protestors claiming it will only take 5% of the traffic out of town, while local council representatives say it is the only solution. Key variables over time Why do more roads not relieve traffic congestion?– building roads appears a short term solution, boosting construction industry, but roads continue to degrade environment & safety, increase dependency on cars, increasing congestion, and increasing roads, which further decreases safety (a reinforcing loop).

11. MGT 2120 Principles of Management– You’re Hired– now what? • You are no longer a student at CSS, you’ve just been hired as an investigative reporter for Gopher News Service • You will be a member of a journalistic team who will receive tasks to gather investigative information for news service sales • Your team must research critical questions and write newsworthy articles we can sell to our subscriber news organizations • You will need to collaborate online as well as in person as a team • You will need to conduct team building and development, monitor meeting effectiveness, and maintain timely and productive output

12. MGT 4261 & 6205 Team Management-- Virtual team development of a team training manual • You are new employees of Teamwork Associates, an organization consulting and training group for teams in the workplace • You will work as a team to prepare training modules for our clients • By the end of your probationary period (end of course) you will use your own team experiences as well as consulting assignments as a basis for designing and compiling a Manager’s Teamwork Handbook • Your work will be collaborative online and in person

13. Online Team Building • Name: David X. Swenson (Dave) • Role: Team Leader • Contact information • Phone: (218)723-6476 • E-mail: dswenson@css.edu • Fax: (218)723-6290 MBTI: ENTJ Profile: I like to work and play hard, be active and assertive in teamwork, and encourage direct feedback. I am at my best conceptualizing complex and “big picture” problems, exploring novel solutions to hard problems, seek high involvement and investment by others. My goal is to do my best to help team members be their best and enjoy working together! • Professional Information • Positions • Education/training • Achievements • Personal Information • Hobbies • Recreation • Family • Values

14. Expert System– Statistical Consultant • Prompts questions for decision tree • Request definitions and examples • Apply a statistic to an interesting sample case • Experience a guided virtual walk through for the data • Highlight interpretations • Explore applications of the results

15. Statistics flythrough— Stats are more meaningful when viewed from multiple directions and dimensions

16. Marketing & demographic analysis

17. Career Walkthrough • Workplace walkthroughs • Conversations with employees about job characteristics and desirable worker qualities • Expert system interview for presenting common career questions • Job interview with recording of responses

18. Business Simulations • Teamwork • Organizing • Analysis • Risk taking • Decision making • Problem solving • Reflective learning • Real-time business decisions • Dynamic changes in market • Teams influence market values • Multiple sources & qualities of information • “Executive dashboard” for current information on key indicators • Feedback on progress

19. Virtual Operations Management • Immersible workshop floor with movable and connecting objects • Arrange and rearrange virtual assemblies to experiment with changes in quality, efficiency, errors, safety, etc. • Algorithms built into the machine models calculate and present data for comparison • Human figures can have programmed stress measures based on repetitive actions

20. Virtual biology • 3-d layered models for dissection • Repetitive dissection with no injury to live animals • Real time physiology

21. The virtual diagnostician and surgeon– the Dr. is in…anywhere • Remote examination for diagnosis • Virtual modeling for training surgeons • Remote surgery

22. Interpretation: What does it reflect/mean? • theory/schema • dialogue • systems thinking • Reflection: What do you notice? • awareness • vocabulary • risk taking • opportunity • Application: how • can we use it? • test hypotheses • action planning Reflective Learning Cycle Implementation Task Origin Task Completion Reflective Learning Cycle

23. Where to from here?-- Virtual Tour of LA (20,000 sq mi.)

24. In virtual worlds people can browse stores for shopping, walk through towns and site-seeing novel locations, and walk through maps • Over 1,000 worlds • Real time shopping & browsing • Interactive forums • Games • Build your own http://www.activeworlds.com/tour.asp#

25. Arial view of Alpha World (2001) • A 400 sq. kilometers (2 hours to walk across) virtual world in which people build their homes and communities, display and demonstrate virtual structures and applications, and provide portals to different “worlds” and international networking Map showing .03% of Alpha World area