PILOTed

Distrust

Many of us have a big distrust of press, whether it’s Fox or MSNBC or the Washington Post. Are they reporting facts, are they balancing different viewpoints, or are they spinning information to support their points of view.

Many of us distrust the government at all levels, do they serve us or are they more self-serving.

Many of us distrust large companies and their “your call is very important to us, please stay on hold.”

I thought I’d ask Bard and GPT 4 about the origins of this malaise and what we might be able to do about it.

What are the causes of the distrust that many people have in the large institutions of society such as the press, government, and large companies, documenting examples of possible corruption and self-interest, lack of transparence, and the sense of powerlessness.

Google Bard

Chat GPT 4

There are many reasons why people distrust large institutions. Some of the most common reasons include: Corruption and self-interest: Many people believe that large institutions are corrupt and that their leaders are more interested in lining their own pockets than in serving the public good. There are many examples of this, including the recent scandals at Wells Fargo, Volkswagen, and the Catholic Church. Lack of transparency: Many people feel that large institutions are not transparent enough. They believe that these institutions are hiding information from the public and that they are not accountable for their actions. This lack of transparency can lead to a sense of distrust and suspicion. Sense of powerlessness: Many people feel powerless to influence the actions of large institutions. They believe that these institutions are too big and too powerful to be held accountable. This sense of powerlessness can lead to a feeling of distrust and resentment. Here are some specific examples of corruption and self-interest, lack of transparency, and the sense of powerlessness that people feel towards large institutions: Corruption and self-interest: In 2016, Wells Fargo was fined $185 million for opening millions of unauthorized accounts in its customers' names. The bank's employees were motivated by greed and a desire to meet sales goals, even if it meant breaking the law. Lack of transparency: In 2015, Volkswagen was caught cheating on emissions tests for its diesel cars. The company knew that its cars were polluting the environment, but it hid this information from regulators and the public. Sense of powerlessness: In 2018, the Catholic Church was rocked by a series of sex abuse scandals. The church had covered up the abuse for decades, and it failed to protect its victims. This scandal led to a loss of trust in the church and a sense of powerlessness among its members. These are just a few examples of the many reasons why people distrust large institutions. It is important to remember that not all large institutions are corrupt or secretive. There are many institutions that are working hard to serve the public good. However, the distrust that people feel towards large institutions is a real problem that needs to be addressed.

The distrust in large institutions such as the press, government, and large companies stems from various factors, including possible corruption and self-interest, lack of transparency, and a sense of powerlessness among the general public. Below are some examples and explanations for each factor: 1. Corruption and self-interest: In 2015, the FIFA corruption scandal exposed widespread corruption in the international soccer federation, leading to the arrest of several high-ranking officials and undermining public trust in sports organizations. The 2008 financial crisis exposed corruption and unethical practices within the banking and finance sectors, leading to a widespread loss of trust in financial institutions. The influence of lobbyists and wealthy donors in politics has led to concerns about the integrity of the democratic process and the ability of elected officials to represent the interests of their constituents. 2. Lack of transparency: The Panama Papers (2016) and Paradise Papers (2017) leaks exposed widespread tax evasion and money laundering by wealthy individuals and large corporations, eroding trust in both governments and the business sector. The Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018 revealed the misuse of personal data by a political consulting firm, leading to concerns about the transparency and ethical practices of social media platforms and tech companies. Government secrecy and classified information, often justified under the pretext of national security, can contribute to a sense of distrust among the public who may feel that they are not privy to important information. 3. Sense of powerlessness: Income inequality and the concentration of wealth among a few individuals and corporations can contribute to a sense of powerlessness among the general population. The revolving door phenomenon, where individuals move between influential positions in government and private sector organizations, can reinforce the perception that the general public has little influence over decision-making processes. The perception that elected officials are not held accountable for their actions or are able to act with impunity can further contribute to a sense of powerlessness among citizens. These are just a few examples of events and factors that have contributed to the erosion of trust in large institutions. The complexity of these issues and the interconnected nature of modern society make it challenging to rebuild trust. However, increased transparency, accountability, and efforts to address income inequality may help to restore public confidence in these institutions.

What are some actions we can take as individuals or members of society or consumers to counteract these trends, giving examples of where they have worked in the past and documenting cases where they have worked?

Google Bard

Chat GPT 4

There are many things that individuals, members of society, and consumers can do to counteract the trends of distrust in large institutions. Some of these actions include: Be informed: One of the best ways to counteract distrust is to be informed about the issues. This means reading news from a variety of sources, doing research on different topics, and talking to people who have different perspectives. The more informed you are, the less likely you are to be misled by misinformation or propaganda. Be critical: It is also important to be critical of the information you receive. Don't just believe everything you read or hear. Ask questions, do your own research, and seek out multiple sources of information. The more critical you are, the less likely you are to be taken in by lies or deception. Hold institutions accountable: When institutions do something wrong, it is important to hold them accountable. This means speaking out, writing letters, and voting with your wallet. If you don't like the way an institution is behaving, let them know. The more people who speak out, the more likely the institution is to change its ways. Get involved: Another way to counteract distrust is to get involved in your community. This means volunteering, attending meetings, and running for office. When you get involved, you can help to make your community a better place and you can build trust between the people and the institutions that serve them. There are many examples of where these actions have worked in the past. For example, the #MeToo movement helped to raise awareness of sexual harassment and assault, and it led to the downfall of many powerful men. The Black Lives Matter movement helped to raise awareness of police brutality and racial injustice, and it led to a number of reforms, including the defunding of police departments in some cities. And the Occupy Wall Street movement helped to raise awareness of income inequality and the power of the wealthy, and it led to a number of protests and demonstrations. These are just a few examples of where individual action can make a difference. When people come together and speak out, they can hold institutions accountable and build a more just and equitable society.

Individuals, members of society, and consumers can take various actions to counteract the trends of distrust in large institutions. Some of these actions include: 1.       Supporting independent journalism and media: By subscribing to and promoting independent, unbiased news sources, individuals can help ensure that reliable information is disseminated and that the public is well-informed. Example: The success of organizations like ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, demonstrates the positive impact of supporting independent journalism. 2. Engaging in civic activities and grassroots movements: By participating in local politics, joining community organizations, and supporting grassroots movements, individuals can foster positive change and hold institutions accountable. Example: The Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011 brought attention to issues of economic inequality and the influence of corporations on politics, leading to increased public awareness and discussion. 3. Voting with your wallet: Consumers can choose to support ethical and transparent companies by making informed purchasing decisions, thereby promoting responsible business practices. Example: The Fair Trade movement has empowered consumers to support products made under fair labor conditions, leading to better working conditions and wages for producers in developing countries. 4. Advocating for transparency and accountability: By demanding transparency from both private and public institutions and pushing for accountability measures, individuals can help to create a culture of openness and responsibility. Example: The introduction of the Freedom of Information Act in the United States has enabled citizens to access government information, promoting transparency and holding public officials accountable. 5. Promoting education and media literacy: By fostering critical thinking and media literacy skills, individuals can become better equipped to evaluate the credibility of information sources and resist disinformation campaigns. Example: Media literacy programs in schools, such as those promoted by organizations like the News Literacy Project, have proven effective in helping students develop critical thinking skills and recognize credible news sources. 6. Encouraging corporate social responsibility: By advocating for corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, consumers can push companies to prioritize ethical and sustainable practices. Example: The success of B Corporation certification demonstrates the impact of promoting responsible business practices. B Corps are for-profit companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. These examples show that individuals and consumers can have a tangible impact on the behavior of large institutions. By working together and demanding change, people can help counteract the trends that have eroded trust in these institutions and create a more just and equitable society.

I think one of the more effective actions is to shrink our area of concern into a size where we can exert influence, as in becoming more active locally (which was mentioned), supporting family, meeting and interacting with more local people from different social circles, buying from smaller local providers wherever possible, but this was not mentioned by either AI engine.

What are your thoughts?

Is the News Media Making Us Angry?

The media has always filtered and distorted information. Newspapers, magazines, television, radio, cable news, news sites, social media, have never been impartial observers and reporters of all that’s happening locally and in the world. But something seems to have shifted in the last few years. What’s different about the media today?

If we understand the media’s role in how we receive information and perceive the world, and if we can teach the next generation, maybe we can make better decisions and we don’t have to be so angry and so despondent about the future.

The following branches from the article News in the Age of Abundance, by David Perell. There’s more to the article than what is contained here.

To understand how and why the media conveys news, follow the money. Marketing and advertising drive media and social platforms. The nature of advertising has changed over the last two decades, from brand advertising to performance advertising, and that changes the way media creates news coverage and the way we see news.

Brand advertising is designed to promote a product or service (brand) to people who may not care and who are mostly unlikely to be in the market to buy right now. If you are mass advertising (using traditional media), you have little control of whom you reach, most of the audience is not interested in your message, so the role of advertising is getting the brand in their heads so that when they are ready to buy, the brand is what comes to mind. You may not be thirsty right now, but when you are, what soda brands pop into your mind?

Performance advertising is reaching people who are already in the researching or buying process and bringing them to the next step in the buying cycle. If you are interested in looking at restaurants, there is a pretty good chance you are interested in making a reservation somewhere. Effective performance advertising became possible due to personalized advertising techniques based on large-scale data collection.

The change in advertising triggered a change in media. Reporters and entertainers used to focus on improving their craft. Now the key skill (in terms of employability and pay) is their ability to attract, keep, and grow a loyal audience of potential customers. Research and objectivity are less valued than finding and keeping sponsors and having an engaged audience. Research shows audiences are mostly engaged through memorable headlines and memes.

How do media and reporters use headlines and memes to attract viewers?

Bertrand Russel defined Russell Conjugations in 1948, showing how changing just one synonym can make sentences that were factually equivalent evoke strikingly different emotional reactions. Many words have a factual meaning and an emotional effect. Writers can change the entire meaning of a sentence by replacing a key word with a synonym that has the opposite connotation. For example:

1. I am firm
2. You are obstinate
3. They are pigheaded

Most of us regard the first examples positively, the second one neutrally or slightly negatively, and strongly negatively on the third example. The same below:

1. Based on new evidence, I have revised my conclusion.
2. You changed your mind.
3. They are flipflopping.
4. He has gone back on his word.

It’s admirable for Alan Dershowitz to revise his conclusion based on new evidence. It may or may not be okay for him to change his mind. But for him to flip flop or go back on his word merely to support a paying client? Unforgivable! Definitionally, all four sentences are equivalent, but the reporter can attract and appeal to different audiences, evoking different responses by changing just a few words.

Many people support undocumented workers who are providing needed services while trying to provide for their family, but are against illegal aliens taking jobs and using resources that rightfully belong to Americans.

 The changing nature of media rewards the more extreme forms, as they are more likely to spread and attract more eyeballs. We see that both in what attracts our attention and in the way information spreads.

The ease with which we can choose our information sources reinforces polarization.

The wide choices in media, especially seen in television, have meant people have more chance to select news that they agree with. The result is that media has become more polarizing and also more focused on entertainment than information. When people choose media that aligns with their beliefs, they are nudged further away from information sources that offer other points of view, and they then harden those differences to negative emotions which then draw those people back to reinforce those differences. It’s an escalating cycle.

As David Perell notes in the article, “People who read the Gettysburg Address when it was written focused on the texture of Lincoln’s prose, not the fashion of his top-hat.” Today, we spend more time getting riled up about the optics of Nancy Pelosi ripping up the State of the Union or Rush Limbaugh getting a medal during the State of the Union than on the content of the speech. The drive for media to engage means that form rises above content, glamor over truth, and emotion over rationality. Today’s political leaders understand the reality of rallying their audience with snappy slogans and emotion-filled speeches, just as today’s information sources and media rely on sensational stories and click-bait headlines to grow audiences for their advertisers.

The media, and media news, engages viewers by entertaining them, and when the information being conveyed isn’t entertaining or provoking enough, media needs to spice it up. News can be spiced up through pseudo-events (like awards shows or annual celebrations), adding color to existing stories (for example, using Russell Conjugations), or emphasizing false urgency (the Democrats are going to take away your guns, or the Republicans are going to take away your healthcare and social security).

Media companies (including the platforms) survive and grow by their ability to attract advertising dollars, which depend on large numbers of viewers. Attracting viewers is often a process of gaming media algorithms, composing misleading headlines, and spinning stories

If the most read content is polarizing or emotionally jarring, over time what does that do to carefully constructed accurate reporting? Low quality content tends to drive out high quality content.

Celebrities (or politicians) capitalize on this trend by “publishing daily distractions under the glitzy guise of informing the public.” News of declining world poverty rates or improving global health aren’t entertaining, they do not attract views, but linking the latest storm to earth threating global warning can fire up high engagement. Stories about the 725,000 people who die annually from mosquitoes are less engaging than a cataclysmic story about one of the 10 people killed by sharks each year. Homicide and terrorism account for less than one percent of American deaths each year, yet those are the stories that attract readers, not stories on cancer or heart disease, which together account for greater than 50% of deaths.

What can we do as consumers (or as teachers)?

We, and our students, have the power to choose what information we follow and the respect we give that information. We can focus our efforts and act on the things we can control. We can make a difference by taking action on often local issues instead of harping on national or global ones where we can, at best, rail to audiences who are already inclined to agree.

Just as the healthiest people control their diet and restrict their intake of empty calories, we can put effort into our information health. We can restrict our intake of the dramatic that is automatically served up by media, seek our own trusted curators, and vary points of view to see an issue from multiple vantage points.

As Perell concludes:

On the Internet, your rate of learning is limited not by access to information, but by the discipline to ignore distractions. The people you follow online is a leading indicator for your success, your health, and your happiness. Follow the right people, drink their recommendations deeply, and ditch the sugary cereal.

Some thoughts on Cuba

This past December, we went on a Friendly Planet cruise to Cuba. The cruise included lectures on Cuban history and culture, and visits to Santiago de Cuba, Havana, and Cienfuegos. It was fascinating.

The average Cuban earns about $50 a month. It almost doesn’t matter what job he or she does, virtually all jobs in the official Cuban economy earn roughly the same. But Cubans have free basic housing, basic food, education, and healthcare. Basic food means primarily rice and beans; for example, each Cuban is entitled to 5 eggs a month. Women and children get about 2.5 pounds a month of meat; men get none. If you want more, you pay; an egg in the free market is about 75 cents. So if you want more, you have to work an extra job that is outside of the normal economy, and since Cubans themselves have very little money, your best chances are to do something that tourists pay for. For example, a tour guide can earn $40 or more a day during season, or a cab driver who drives one of the old 1950’s cars can earn $50 for a couple of hours.

However, when Trump reinstated the embargo to Cuba, and blocked US general tourists from being able to travel to Cuba, tourism dropped significantly. This is really hurting the common people.

Because virtually all jobs pay the same, there are no economic disincentives to pursuing what you want. There are incredible musicians, dancers, and artists.

Every Cuban serves 3 years in public service. For men, it’s primarily 2 years in the military and 1 year of general public service, and women have a choice of military or just 3 years of service.

Cubans talk primarily about two wars. The war for independence lasted for about 10 years, during the 1880’s and 1890’s. The US did not get involved until just about the last battle. At the time of independence, there was a huge debate about whether to be truly independent or to become part of the US. When the US joined in the final battle, they made Cuba a territory of the US. In 1905, Cuba became truly an independent country, except the treaty with the US gave the US the right to intervene whenever they felt that it was in their best interest and also the perpetual right to Guantanamo bay. The hero of the war of independence was José Martí, who is buried in Santiago. Martí laid out the strategy for the war of independence and was able to marshal international support, but he was killed in his first battle.

The revolution was the fight of Fidel Castro (he is not called Castro in Cuba, he is called Fidel) against the US-backed corrupt government of Batista in the 1950s. Fidel was a master at publicity. His first battle was a disaster, when he attacked the army barracks in Santiago. Many of his fighters were killed, tortured (and then killed) and Castro was jailed (he was married to the daughter of Batista’s right hand man, otherwise he would likely have been tortured and killed as well), and then exiled to Mexico. He was able to get worldwide attention for his small band of revolutionaries. In fact, most of his men were killed in the first battle on his return to Cuba, but he was able to win the press wars and the battle was labeled a success for the revolution. Fidel managed to convince the US that he was was going to be pro-US, and so just over a year after Fidel’s return to Cuba, the US ordered Batista to surrender before the battle of Havana was even fought. When Batista left, he took over $500 million with him.

Once Fidel was successful, the US put a lot of pressure on Fidel to allow American companies to run the economy, while the Soviet Union was content to just provide aid. To a certain extent, the US drove Castro to have to choose: US or Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union actually offered greater autonomy and aid.

Except for Raul Castro, virtually all of Fidel’s senior leaders of the revolution met mysterious deaths or were imprisoned after the revolution.

Cuba used the US dollar as a form of currency until the 1990’s, but this was prohibited by the US. In fact the US will not allow any electronic funds transfer with Cuba, so this means no withdrawals and no US credit cards are usable. In other words, you have to bring as much cash to Cuba as you intend to spend because you will have no access to other funds. Also, because of the restrictions, Cuba places a 13% penalty on conversions to and from US dollars. So if you exchange $100, you only receive $87 in Cuban money. And then if you want to convert that back to dollars, you’ll only get $75 back. There is no penalty on Euros, so you are best bringing Euros in and converting them into Cuban currency when you need it.

Because Cuba has no access to US products, and little access to any outside goods, Cubans have had a hard time doing normal repair. You’ll find older cars might be refitted with boat engines, or lights that are built out of old bottles. Anything is fair game if it will work.

The number one source of outside currency is tourism. Second is money sent back by family members who left Cuba, and third is medical and pharmaceutical revenues. Cuba provides physicians to other countries, and has started producing some very effective drugs against forms of cancer and diabetes that are now being used internationally, although not in the US. With the expectation of increased tourism, cities are slowly being upgraded. You can really see the progress, as one block has building that look brand new, and the next is totally in disrepair.

Raul Castro will be leaving the government in April (plus or minus a few months). Elections will be held in February, and the next leader will be from a younger generation. Cubans do not vote directly for the president; they vote for local representatives who then vote for the president. There is really only one party, but often more than one person who initially seeks office. There is talk that the next leader will continue to open up the economy.

Until Obama opened up the US Internet to Cuba, Cuba only had a line to the Internet through Venezuela. Not even tourists really had access. Now, most universities have high speed access to the Web, the Internet, and apps like WhatsApp. We’ve been able to maintain contact with a few of the artists and university professors we met in Cuba. High speed access is beyond the economic means of most Cubans, but it’s expanding and the price is getting lower every few months.

Cuba has a reputation for their great medical care. Every community has a local doctor, who is responsible for about 120 families. The doctor is responsible for making sure everyone get checkups and stays on whatever regimen they need, and they will make house calls when needed. For this, Doctors get a free residence/office, a free car, and a slightly higher salary than most citizens.

It’s a fascinating country going through a lot of change.

If you're interested, here is a link to our Cuba photos.

The Power of Gaming: A Global Phenomenon

by guest blogger Ryan L. Schaaf

This article first appeared at http://blog.amplify.com/digitalgames/learning-through-gameplay-0

During sporadic times in my life, I would have labeled myself a gamer. I started with the classic Atari 2600 in the early 1980’s (no old jokes, please). As I developed through my adolescence, the video game industry continued to evolve. The Atari 2600 made way for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the NES made way for Sony’s PlayStation, the Playstation gave way to the Super Nintendo, then PC games, then the Xbox and so on.

Today, my children have access to a wide variety of game types on various platforms - access is quickly becoming less of a barrier for gameplay. Although my boys and I enjoy a wide variety of activities, we love to play games together. Games, both digital and non-digital, are an incredible draw for so many people.

Playing digital games is an immensely popular form of entertainment. Simple real-world observations will attest to gaming’s connection to our youth. Go to a restaurant such as Buffalo Wild Wings and the restaurant passes out tablets for its patrons’ children to use. And on each tablet (besides germs and BBQ sauce) are digital games ready to engage children in gameplay; allowing their parents to have a conversation that doesn’t involve Barney or the Teletubbies. This recurring pattern of turning over mobile devices to children is occurring everywhere. A quick scan at restaurants, in the backseat of cars, or in their own homes helps draw a simple, crystal-clear conclusion – our youth love to ingest media.

Seventy-two percent of children age 8 and under have used a mobile device for some type of media activity such as playing games, watching videos, or using apps -- Common Sense Media, 2013

These children, the members of the always-on generation, are growing up with hundreds of ways to consume and produce information using media.

The digital games of today are visually more appealing, contain better storylines, are developed using better technology, encourage both single and team gameplay, and are easier for new players to adopt than classic games from the past. Today’s digital games are products of an incredibly powerful and awe-inspiring market that have helped spawn “a gaming culture”.

The gaming industry is a booming and lucrative one. After all, there are between 1.75 to 2.1 billion people in the world that play games (Levin, 2016; McKane, 2016). Over the years, the number of new gamers adopting the pastime has steadily increased as more and more countries embrace new technologies. Market research firm Newzoo projected global revenue would reach over 128 billion dollars by the year 2020; an overall compound annual growth rate of 6.2%. The mobile gaming sector accounts for about 42% or 46.1 billion dollars of this revenue. (McDonald, 2017)

Source: Newzoo, 2017

If we focus specifically on the United States, then the data is quite compelling and convinces us that the old barriers and stigmas associated with gaming are rapidly disintegrating. First, 150 million or roughly about 59% of people in the United States spread over a vast variety of backgrounds, ages, genders, socioeconomic statuses play games.

About 65% of U.Sl households are home to at least one person who plays 3 or more hours of video games a week -- (ESA, 2015)

Next, the preconceived notion that a gamer is a teenage boy playing in a dark basement at night all alone is no longer accurate. It’s true that about 99% of teenage boys do play games at least weekly – that is a no-brainer for many of us to accept. However, the surprising statistic is that 94% of teenage girls also play games weekly. (Lenhart, Kahne, et al., 2008) Here’s a question to consider (No Googling) – What is the average age of a gamer in the United States? 10 years-old? 15 years-old? Maybe 20 or 25? All wrong – the answer is 35 years old. (ESA, 2015) So, more and more people; young and old, boy and girl, novice and expert are jumping into stories, sending game requests through social media, fighting foes, traveling through time, and finding hidden objects in an ever-expanding global culture.

A culture that is growing with no signs of slowing down.

SOURCES

• Common Sense Media. (2013). Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use in America 2013.
• ESA. (2015). 2015 Sales, demographics, and usage data: Essential facts about the computer and video game industry.
• Lenhart, A., Kahne, J., Middaugh, E., Macgill, A., Evans, C., & Vitak, J. (2008). Teens, video games and civics. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.
• Levin, M. (2017, May 15). Yes, 'Call of Duty Flu' Is a real thing. Here's what to do about it. Inc.
• McDonald, E. (2017, April 20). The global games market will reach $108.9 billion in 2017 with mobile taking 42%. Newzoo.
• The global games market reaches $99.6 billion in 2016, Mobile generating 37%. (2016, April 21). Newzoo.
• There are 1.8 billion gamers in the world, and PC gaming dominates the market. (2016, April 26). MyGaming.

Games for Learning: What makes games good?

The Games for Learning Summit in NYC, organized by the US Department of Education, dove into the Why and the How of games in education with a passion. Richard Culatta from the Dept. of Ed. spoke on what makes the best games, saying they give feedback quickly – every 10 seconds – and they give students the freedom to make choices. There is a zone, Culatta said, between “what I can’t do” and “what I can do” called the zone of proximal development. This is “what I can do with some support,” and this is where learning happens. Good games adapt to learner needs to find that zone, and keep students engaged so they stay there. The value of play is that it allows for safe failure. When students don’t fear failure they will try again and again; games allow the opportunity to keep playing until the student succeeds.

Games are optimal for education for another reason, as well. It’s important to test students’ knowledge, or educators won’t know who “gets” the material and who doesn’t. And with games, assessment can happen in the background. Assessments can be fun and engaging. With games, curricula are transformed into challenging design elements.

One of the fantastic speakers was Refranz Davis, who by her own admission is a gamer, so she can’t keep calm. Her nephew gets bored with school and homework, but he can spend hours perfecting his Minecraft skills. He goes to YouTube and does research, he learns from it, and then he tries to buildin Minecraft. Her son prepares for a history test by copying 45 minutes of notes beforehand. He’s completely disengaged with history in school. But then he turns around and plays Assassin’s Creed, which is like a living history. He does research on the characters he finds, like Paul Revere, and it has kindled in him a love of history. But he still doesn’t like history the way it’s taught in the classroom.

Good game developers ask: “what do our users want and how can we make what they think they want, better?” This doesn’t seem to bear much resemblance to the way school is taught. But look at the results: engaged players who voluntarily spend extra hours acquiring skills and knowledge. We have to remember that our goal isn’t for every student to know the dates of the Civil War. We are trying to build better people, better students, better scholars.  

Michael Gallagher, CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, made a compelling point that there are 400 universities with video game curricula, a major that didn’t even exist five years ago. There is a growing shortage of coders. We will need 1.4 million coders over the next 10 years, while there will only be 400,000 Computer Science graduates. Educators repeatedly ask him, “how can I implement game based learning in my schools.” His reply, “Let your students be the advocate for games in education”. I have to agree with him.

Paul Cross, from Ubisoft, got into the details of game design by reiterating what journalists already know: you need to start out with a hook. The intro is critical to getting people engaged in a game--it creates a story and a reason for staying in the game.

He explained that Guitar Hero is both a commercial and teaching success because it wasn’t built from the standpoint of “let’s make music lessons better.” The process of innovation doesn't mean making something better; innovation is transformative. People wanted to play the music they liked and they didn’t like to practice. Guitar Hero let’s them do that and have fun while learning. You have to start with the problems you need to solve, and take the opportunity they give you to innovate.

Jeff Hemenway is from Unity, where they help people build games. He was surprised at how hard it is to convince parents of the value to letting their kids code, play games, or develop games. He quickly outlined a plan for using games for assessment. First, he says, list the Competencies you will develop in the game. Determine what evidence you need for each competency. Then create Actions in the game around the evidence.

Adding a multiple choice question in the middle of a game is good pedagogy.Good learning systems, whether they are mediated by teachers or games

• Provide goals and learning expectations to students

• Allow students to take ownership of their own learning

• Facilitate students as instructional resources for each other

• Provide feedback to move learning forward, and create a structure for students to act on feedback

Games can especially help teachers who may not have been trained in pedagogy around a learning goal.

The Department of Education did an incredible job putting together people from the gaming and entertainment industries, educators, edugame developers, and researchers. You could see the conversations and connections grow.

 

I am proud that the Games4Ed collaborative is helping lead the way so that students can learn by solving engaging and challenging problems.

Education Social Media Icons Launch Edchat Interactive

Steven Anderson, Tom Whitby and Mitch Weisburgh Revolutionize online Professional Development

New York, NY (October 20, 2014) – Today Edchat Interactive announces the platform that replaces talking head webinars with an interactive, online Professional Development web experience.

Nationally recognized authors and social media icons, Steven Anderson, and Tom Whitby join with humanitarian and veteran edtech consultant Mitch Weisburgh to launch Edchat Interactive, transforming the way educators participate in live online professional development.

The inaugural Edchat Interactive web event takes place Wednesday October 22 at 8:00 PM EST. The first session will highlight Anderson and Whitby’s co-authored book, The Relevant Educator: How Connectedness Empowers Learning. Participants in this interactive session will examine how connectedness empowers educators to be better professionals, to share tips and techniques to save time, to overcome obstacles, and to develop new skills.

“There are so many incredible educators out there doing absolutely amazing things with their students,“ explains Mitch Weisburgh. “But we saw that there is no effective way to transfer these practices across the country and around the world. Live face to face PD isn’t scalable, and webinars just don’t teach the way we all learn.”

“The three of us saw an opportunity to conduct PD that is more in tune with the way we learn,” stated Steven Anderson. “Educators are far too busy to sit and watch a lengthy talking head presentation. They want to interact, reflect, and participate in their learning. We believe the Edchat Interactive model fits into the busy lives of educators. Five years ago we started the Edchat Twitter chats because we saw an opportunity for educators to direct their own development by interacting with other educators. We see a next generation opportunity today with Edchat Interactive.”

“We wanted to replicate the presence, interactivity, and social learning that takes place in great face to face PD with the scalability offered through the Internet and we believe that Edchat Interactive provides the platform for learners to be in charge of their learning,” stated Whitby. “Participants will work in small groups to discuss the challenges faced by connected educators and how we all can over come them.”

Together these education experts and founders of Edchat Interaction bring years of successful teaching and consulting experience in both the K-12 and EdTech industry.

Steven Anderson, a former teacher and Director of Instructional Technology is highly sought after for his expertise in educational technology integration and using social media for learning.

Tom Whitby, founder of Edchat Interactive, is a highly recognized expert in Social Media for Education. He served as a social media consultant for SmartBrief and a contributing Editor for SmartBlog on Education for SmartBrief. Currently, he blogs for Edutopia.

Mitch Weisburgh, co-founder of Academic Business Advisors, applies his knowledge of business, instructional design, and systems to help organizations align their products and services with academic needs and education market funding requirements so that they can scale and make a difference to kids and educators.

For more information about Edchat Interactive and to sign up for the event, please visit http://www.edchatinteractive.org/

About Edchat Interactive:

Edchat Interactive utilizes technology, pedagogy, and education innovators to transform education outcomes and to revolutionize the way we participate in online Professional Development.

Please Note:

There is an ongoing schedule of Edchat Interactive Events at http://www.edchatinteractive.org/upcoming-seminars

 

Press contact:

Sue Hanson

PR with Panache!

[email protected]

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Are they having fun or are they learning?

Lucas Gillispie (above) works with teachers in his district to offer semester, full-year, and after school programs to Middle School students using games, or, more precisely Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). He co-authored a full one-year ELA curriculum using World of Warcraft (WoW), maintains a website on courses using Minecraft, and runs a third website to start showcasing curriculum that can be followed using practically any game. This is his fourth year teaching with games.

I recently got a chance to talk to Lucas about using MMORPGs for learning.

Do you incorporate the learning into the games, or do you offer the games as a reward?

Students play, and they learn, and then they learn some more. For example, students might get together in World of Warcraft to form a player guild. This could be across classes or schools. They look at what a guild can do. They come up with what they want this guild to do. They discuss and research what they want their reputation to be, and then they write a mission statement for the guild. They research mission statements to figure out what a good one is, and then they write one. They decide on norms of behavior and rules. And they compare what they’ve done in WoW to what they experience in real life. This lesson combines digital citizenship and writing.

Are there other types of writing, other than mission statements?

Here is an example of creative writing. Students study riddle poems and look at examples. Using what they have learned about World of Warcraft, they create their own riddle poems for that world. They get feedback about the poems from friends before going public with them. They then go into a crowded area in that world to challenge other players to answer their riddle poems and give prizes. In this process they have researched, written, given constructive feedback, and performed for a real virtual audience. Then they reflect on the experience.

In another type of exercise, students look at characters and how they impact the storyline of the world. They are learning to consider characterization and point of view. We’ve had them tweet in character as they were acting in WoW. We have quests where they use argumentative writing. They write fan fiction, writing from their character’s point of view.

We’ve had them write reports on books like The Hobbit, relating their quests in WoW to the hero journey, and then relate those to their real world experiences as well.

All these lessons are available on our website.

Do you recommend World of Warcraft to other schools?

We’ve had about 20 schools use our curriculum, and I am often asked to speak. The problem with WoW is the cost. It costs $15 per month per student.

That’s one of the reasons we tried Minecraft. Minecraft is like a virtual world made of an infinite supply of Legos. Just think of the lessons you could create out of that!

Students can design buildings. They can design roller coasters and study forces in motion, like determining where the potential or kinetic energy would be highest. They can recreate scenes from literature. We’ve had students recreate the arena from the Hunger Games, replay some of the scenes, and then reflect on what they created and what happened.

We’ve had elementary students research landmarks and attractions, recreate them, create virtual tours, and then post them on Youtube.

We’ve had students look at the human impact on ecology, like what happens to wildlife when you deforest an area, or how could they build environments that supported wildlife by counting the animals after making structures. Then they related what they learned to events that happened in the real world.

What about other games?

We are building the Story and Game Academy website to show that if you have access to any gaming platform, you have access to learning.

What kind of results do you see?

There have been lots of comments from other teachers and parents. All of the students showed growth, although we have an admittedly small sample size.

A lot of what students learn doesn’t fit into standardized testing. In addition to math, ELA, science, or other academic subjects, students are also learning soft skills like solving fuzzy problems where the issues are not clearly defined, leadership, conflict resolution, and working as part of a team to accomplish a group goal.

Teachers play along with the students, and you always have to be ready with teachable moments when they happen.

How would a school or teacher get started?

I have posted a good overview of games and learning in the classroom on SlideShare.

On the Minecraft in School Wiki, we have instructions on setting up Minecraft for a school, with Math, Science, and ELA lessons and ideas, and we have links to other good resources to get started.

We are also working on creating PD, and I am often asked to speak at conferences.

Endnotes

Students having fun while learning? What a concept.

Related articles

Minecrafting the Classroom

What can we learn from Minecraft?

Minecraft: The Gamification of GIS

Joined a teacher's guild on the World of Warcraft: Cognitive Dissonance

How to teach history (and lots more) with Minecraft

Mobile Technology at the SIIA Lunch and Learn

The Software and Information Industry Association hosted a lunch and learn on advice for developing mobile applications for education (mLearning) today. The two speakers were Stan Watts, VP of Engineering at Classlink, Inc.  

Image via CrunchBase

and Judah Karkowsky, VP of Business Development at Wireless Generation. ClassLink is known for LaunchPad, a Codie Award winner that provides students, parents, and teachers access to applications from any device at any time. Wireless Generation is known for their mClass products, which began with streamlining qualitative students assessment by teachers and has expanded

The general consensus is that, sometime before the end of five years, mobile learning is going to be larger than print, desktop, or laptop; it’s where the growth is, while usage in the other areas is likely to shrink. If you are not starting with mobile development now, you will be left behind in three years.

Stan, Judah, and attendees talked about the following issues regarding mLearning.

Authentication

Teachers, parents, and students don’t want to have to log in for every application. The OAuth protocol allows users to login in and authenticate from other applications. Have you ever been offered to login using your Google, Facebook, or Twitter accounts? That’s OAuth. Automatic login using LDAP can be used for single sign on inside the school.

Image via CrunchBase

Privacy

Education privacy, or FERPA, is pretty strict, and there are potential pitfalls to storing student data in the cloud. On the other hand, if you have the school district store sensitive data (like student names) on their equipment and disassociate that data from applications specific data in the cloud, you make it that much more difficult for a person to follow the footprints and obtain information that might hurt a student. Wireless Generation has very strict policies, for example any person only has the rights to the information to the students that he or she is directly involved with; a teacher can’t even access a former student’s information the following year. A large cloud storage platform, like Amazon, has many safeguards built in, but the data will only be as secure as your applications data architecture.

ClassLink is a district wide solution for authentication and privacy, so application and content developers might want to consider ClassLink compatibility and talk to either Stan or to Berj Akian.

Platform

The consensus seemed to be that for distributed applications, REST, or Representational state transfer, is fast, universal, and scalable.

When developing for specific devices, programming in the native platform gives you greater access to features and somewhat faster response time than programming in a more generic platform. For example, if you are creating a system for iPads, and you want to access the device’s camera, you need to program in iOS.

However, developing in a platform like Sencha Touch allows you to develop once, and then have your application run on a wide variety of platforms. If you don’t need access to hardware features, this may be the best option, and Sencha has a lot of data collection capabilities built in.

The iOS 4.3.x home screen, as shown on an iPhone 3GS. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Apple Approval

If you want your application to be available through Apple's App store, it needs to be approved by Apple. The approval process generally takes about two weeks, but it is highly unlikely that you will be approved the first time you apply. For example, one of the developers was rejected because the name of his application had a capital letter in the middle, and that is against Apple standards. Another was not able to send data between two of his own applications. He needed to have the first application store the data on the cloud, and then have the second app access it there rather than on the device.

The main disadvantage to not being on iTunes is that it’s more difficult for potential users to find you, and secondarily that there are some features of iOS that are not accessible through the browser and are only accessible in native applications.

Furthermore, Apple has no provision for a sandlot or beta rollout. If you roll out or post your new release on the App store for a limited number of people, you are technically in violation of Apple’s contract, and you could lose your ability to create any applications to be accessed from the App store.

User Interface and Usability

Don’t let your developers create the user interface.

There are three aspects to any app: the interface, the functionality, and the data. Create functional specs for the functionality and the data, and then go to professional designers to create the User Interface. They’ll often come up with ideas you’d never thought of.  In fact, it may be worth the cost to have three groups of designers develop different interfaces, go through a few iterations, and then pick the best one. UI design is not generally that expensive, but is critical to the usability of your application.

Internal development vs outsourcing

Outsourcing has become more expensive over the last three years. It can reduce your overhead, but it can also be disastrous. Make sure that you plan so you can re-source development if it goes awry.

Conclusions

Both speakers stressed the importance of UI testing, multiple rounds before product release. In the near term, expect greater mLearning adoption in grades 6-12 than in elementary. If you have existing web products, chop them down to what people really use and what is really important about them before developing mobile applications.

Post Conclusions

After this article was posted, I received an email from my sister, Betsy Silver, who is the Director of Public Sector Business Development at RDA Software. She pointed that if you do your due diligence correctly, the team that you hire will have done this type of development many times for other clients, so they can get the work done faster and better since they are familiar with both the pitfalls and the best practices. If speed to market and quality of development are more important than cost, outsourcing can be a win. She also noted that RDA does this tpe of hybrid cloud/on-premise work for mobile devices as well as cloud applications.

 

Related articles

• OAuth 2.0 Playground and Google Drive API (googledevelopers.blogspot.com)
• Adding mLearning to your eLearning? Adobe Captivate 6 is the 'HOW' (blogs.adobe.com)
• What's holding mLearning back? (nerdinsider.wordpress.com)

The New Internet Marketing

This is article is primarily for those who are running Ed Tech companies, want to, or are interested in marketing. If you are putting most of your Internet dollars into lead generation and advertising, you are barking up the wrong tree.

Marketing is the use of communications channels to drive sales.

In their free book, The Zero Moment of Truth, Google quotes Bob Thacker of Gravitytank:

Engagement with the customer today isn’t just pouring a message down on their head and hoping they get wet.

It really is understanding that you must be present in a conversation when they want to have it, not when you want to.

The old marketing model consisted of three steps:

1. Stimulus: something prompts a person to want to purchase a product or service; this could be an advertisement, an email, or a piece of direct mail. Its primary purpose was to generate leads, which could then be converted into sales.
2. Shelf: the person goes to wherever he or she goes to purchase the product or service, finds it, and makes the purchase. The purpose of marketing was to make it attractive for the person to buy; product packaging plays a major role, as do brochures and sales aids.
3. Experience: customers use the product or service; it works; and they are happy. They become loyal customers, and hopefully recommend the product to others through word of mouth.

Proctor and Gamble, probably the giant of consumer marketing, called the second and third stages (Shelf and Experience) the moments of truth. Specifically, finding the product and going through the purchase process is the first moment of truth (FMOT), and using the product and enjoying it is the second moment of truth (SMOT). If either of these fail, the brand has lost a customer. And, the moments of truth generally lead to word of mouth, so failure often has even larger repercussions.

What has changed today?

1. Stimulus: the person still might get prompted by an advertisement, and this might be on the web or through some other means.
2. Online Research: Instead of going out to buy, approximately 84% of potential buyers do research on the web, looking for reviews, comments, or sending out inquiries on social networks.
3. Shelf: based on information the person selects the outlet or store and product.
4. Experience: the person uses the product or service, and whether it works or not, they become part of the word of mouth network, whether live or online.

This new step, online research, is becoming known as the zero moment of truth or ZMOT.

Online advertising is relatively ineffective as a stimulus for action (it was 8^th; the first four were ads on television, mail, articles in newspapers or magazines, and ads in newspapers or magazines).

However, with 84% of potential buyers doing research, online search was the most likely place to research products (the next three were: talking with acquaintances, looking at the product in a store, and online comparison shopping).

What do potential buyers look for online?

• More information about the product
• Similar products that might also meet the need
• Experiences others have had with the product and the other solutions; their SMOT becomes potential buyers' ZMOT
• Offers, discounts, and coupons

What they want to know is:

• How can I save money?
• How can I save time?
• How can I improve my life, job, or results?

And they want to hear it from people who are just like them. Superintendents want to hear what other administrators say, teachers want to learn from other teachers, parents of elementary school students want to hear what other elementary school parents have to say.

Not only are they going to look for this information on your website, they are going to use general search, paid search, blogs, youtube, and social network sites to find similar people who have written, blogged, commented, tweeted, or made videos about the products and services they are interested in.

If potential buyers can find satisfying information about your product at the ZMOT, you'll likely get the sales, if not, you've lost it.

How do you find out if your ed tech company is competing well in the ZMOT?

• Does your site come up in the top third of the first page as you start typing your company name or product into a search engine?
• When you type in searches based on the problems you solve, what comes up about your product?
• What comes up when you type in a search for "[your product name] review" or "best [your category]”?
• What questions do people ask about your product or category, how easy is it to find your answers to those questions?
• What do people most want to know when they are considering purchasing products in your category? How does your product come up when they ask those questions on search engines? Do you have landing pages that pose and answer those questions?
• Where can people find how to videos about your product(s), and how easy are they to find?
• Are most people staying on your website for at least a few pages, or do you have a high bounce rate?
• What happens when someone with a mobile phone lands on your website; how is their experience?

Yes, ed tech companies still need to concern themselves with lead generation, sales, and customer satisfaction. But the social web has opened up a fourth front, the ability of potential buyers to easily research products, and the ability of customers to easily participate in product conversations. If your company can effectively market in this new environment, it should be poised for growth.

 

Podstock 2011

In case you missed it last year, Podstock is a Kansas education technology event orchestrated by Kevin Honecutt of ESSDACK in Wichita, KS.

 

You can't capture the spirit of Podstock in a post; it's collaborative learning while having fun, hanging out with friends, and passing through chaos. And you certainly can't get a feel for anything but the chaos part from the website: http://podstock.ning.com/.

 

But, here is a taste, a summary of the keynote session I attended on July 22, 2011.

Dean Groom offered a lot to think about. You can also follow his blog and learn more about him at http://deangroom.wordpress.com/.

Let's say you're riding on a bus, you look up, and you see a sign: "Spitting is Prohibited." It makes you think, in what world do we need a sign to tell us that spitting on a bus isn't the correct thing to do?

Most of us do things without waiting or someone to tell us we can or we should, we can figure out what's the right thing to do, and we're generally pretty good at figuring out how to get them done even when there are rules against it. Many of the technologies used in schools today are there because someone (one of us?) has figured out how to get away with it, even if it isn't within the regulations. In communal teaching, teachers also become learners, and students become teachers.

A lot of what we do now in the classroom is like adding a clock onto a toaster. It's pretty straightforward to do it, and it does allow you to make toast AND know what time it is, but why would you ever want to do it?

But it seems that we could be seeing a fundamental shift going on in teaching and learning.

Good classrooms and good learning today are based on communities.

A community has shared values and shared goals, and when you are part of a community, your perception (your reality) gest expanded beyond your wildest ideas. Effective communities offer many rewards for learning, among them fun, knowledge, a sense of belonging, possibly money and/or power, and this is what good games offer as well. While communities may not need signs like "No Spitting" they do require an effort to make sure that values are shared and understood by their members.

Content is becoming less important.

We are starting to differentiate between teaching content and teaching cognition. Is it more important to know the dates of the major battles in the US Civil War, or to understand how certain wars have changed the social network and our collective understanding of human nature and social values?

Ability is becoming more valued.

Age, race, and gender are becoming less important, as we look for accomplishments, knowledge, and skills as criteria for advancement.

Pedagogy is becoming gamified.

Students are spending an average of 2 hours a day playing games. They're learning, and they're learning a different way of how to learn. One can think of an iterated four step process in becoming proficient in a game:

1. Learning the basic rules
2. Exploration and early success with simple tasks
3. Mastering the game
4. Generalizing skills learned to advanced levels and other games

We are learning how to construct learning strategies and projects around these same steps.

Summary

As we get better at modeling classroom learning on these emerging methods, rather than regurgitating Blooms taxonomy, we can conform education to the way kids are learning to learn. In this transition, accepted teaching practice will involve showing kids how we are going to assess them and how they can assess themselves, making sure they know how to learn on their own and learn from and with others, giving kids tasks where the solutions are worth celebrating, providing a sense of adventure, and making learning unpredictable.

There is actually a lot more I could write about in today's sessions, from friends and experts Dean Mantz (on the 21^st Century classroom), Chelsea Whisnant (student ePortfolios), Sharon Ricks (the best educational Apps), and Jill Bromenschenkel and Nancy Mangnum (connections and collaborations between classrooms). But, it's time for the dance.

Related articles

• Skype is connecting teachers and classrooms across the globe (blogs.skype.com)
• Reflections on Teaching and Learning (collaboratoria.wordpress.com)