Hi Mike, great job! I thought your presentation was very organized and professional looking. I thought your title cards really added to the good organization of it. I appreciated the overview you gave of the actual game in the very beginning of your presentation, in case viewers were not familiar with the game. Like you, I also like old-school 2D games, so it was pretty interesting to see this game, as I was unfamiliar with it until now. I also love sandbox games, so I think this is one I will probably be checking out soon. The affinity space, terraria.org, looks to be a very good space. I was impressed with the Wiki content for users, and how useful it must be for new users especially. It was also nice to see an active, lively community. Well done!

Hello Melanie,

I am glad that you found an affinity space that was so useful in supporting your teaching practice. Your presentation showed how committed you have become to the AS and was very well done.

You observed and shared that the subreddit was a great community. The users and moderators support sharing of best teaching practice. It seemed to be a useful space where you were able to learn more about interaction of games (or being playful) and learning without knowing at the time.

Your contributions stated out as solicitations for advice on how to better engage students in a topic. When your inquiry was answered I loved your decision to pay forward the good advice. You contributions evolved into reaching out to others and offering your own point of view.

The perspective that other users shared when they replied to your inquiry about math lessons gave you new ways to approach lessons. Approaches that could make the material more meaningful for your students. This common goal and willingness to collaborate with other members is a strength of your chosen AS.

I agreed with the the three connections you were able to make between the AS and Gee and Hayes: 1 The AS is not segregated by age - math teachers were of all ages and experience were members and were all seen as equals, with no discussion of relative levels of expericne. 2 Everyone can, if they wish, produce not just consume - easy to contribute in the space by creating post or commenting on the post of others, and members can contribute, without producing, by up and down voting.<br> 3 Content is transformed by interaction - best way to learn in this space is through commutation and interacting with each other.

Great job and think you for sharing,

Darren

Melanie, I thought your presentation was wonderful. I have been playing around with reddit for a couple of months and love it. In fact, I just came across an instructional design subreddit a couple of days ago and realized how valuable this website is for so many people. I was very interested in how math educators come together on the subreddit you covered in your presentation - very cool! This seems like a very rich tool for math teachers and a goldmine for ideas to incorporate in one's own job. I really appreciated how you tied your blog post updates into your presentation. I think so far it's been the only one I have seen that has done that. Well done! S. Gill

Melanie,

Thanks for sharing. I chose a teacher specific affinity space as well and it was a bust. I now have a new direction to go in and will definitely be checking out Reddit as a resource for teachers. It was great to see that the members involved subscribed to the idea that teachers help teachers. Based on your interactions and commentary it looked like a great nurturing and supportive learning space. Your initial interaction was interesting in that you began participating by starting your own thread and then transitioned into responding and helping others with their queries. It makes perfect sense in this community, but seemed opposite compared to how many people began their interactions. Your correlations back to Gee and Hayes were interesting and focused on equality among members, production and consumption, and the way content was transformed. It’s great you found a site that you were able to apply directly and immediately to your profession. Great job!

An excellent overview for Reddit. I've never used Reddit before so now I'm curious about it, expecially from a teaching perspective. What about the space seemed the most useful to you as a teacher? I love the interaction that spanned grade levels. Did you explore or extend your experiences into any other subjects? You've made a thorough set of connections between your space and our class readings. You've taken a much more systematic approach to the reflection than most of the other Affinity space presentations I've watched so far.

You made strong connections both academically (to the readings) and personally to the engagement aspects of our course and fused all of your learning with those connections. I especially love how you've integrated your reflective process as a teacher to that of being a learner. I also like how interacting within the space caused gamer-like out of the box thinking and inspiration for doing other lessons and making real-world connections between math and the students.

Congratulations on a really focused presentation!

It was nice to see you were able to relate what you do in your career to things you are learning in this class. Did you end up contributing more than just at one post and comment? It’s great to have a space to reference or post in if you have a question. Is there some sort of notifications that are sent to you when people respond?

One of the strengths of this affinity space seem to be the peer to peer conversations. I am surprised how many people jumped in at the math question you showed. I never really thought about the use of a blog to solve problems such as that, I would have assumed no one would respond.

The feature you mentioned from Gee and Hayes consisted of an affinity space not segregated by age and one that everyone can produce not just consume. Do you think there was a certain age group that visited this page? This type of space might benefit from knowing people’s age or area of expertise. That would help direction some of the questions to the correct person.

Thank you for sharing, it’s great to hear you can use what you learned from this!

-Annie Melzer

Hey Melanie, great presentation. This is the second project I have watched that details interactions on reddit. I am seeing more of the value of that space for community interactions. Where else would I have learned that someone had made a song about factoring trinomials? That’s cool. I always liked math, but that would have made learning it more fun. It is great that you felt like part of the community once you started interacting. You mentioned that new ideas presented themselves through your interactions on the space—I love when that happens. That’s the great thing about these communities, brainstorming anything becomes less of a chore. You are usually able to, at the very least, glean a hint of an idea. You made a comment about how you felt like you didn’t have much to contribute because you don’t have years of experience teaching—I think we all feel, or have felt that way at different points in our lives. I get that feeling every day, but those feelings are usually unwarranted. The positive experience you had with your subreddit is encouraging. I like how you described the idea of games and learning and that we should think about what “game” really means. Awesome work!

Hi Melanie,

I enjoyed your presentation! I also used reddit for my AS project. Did you end up getting some good game-related advice? My Dad has his doctorate in mathematics (those skills did not come through for me), but I had this flashback to being in probably 5th or 6th grade when my Dad showed me Donald in Mathmagic Land.

Looking back, this was a somewhat gameful approach considering it came out in '59 and he was using it as a teacher in the early '70s.

Anyways, it's really cool that you took a practical route in searching for your affinity space.

I loved that someone posted their math songs. Were they good? The songs struck me as a sign of a pretty open and nurturing space where a variety of resources can be shared within the community.

It seems like you had a good learning moment where you wanted to contribute. You are an SME, and you have advice as good as any one else on the site. You illustrated the give and take involved in being an active member of an affinity space and contributed to the diversity of thought that existed within the space. The space I joined was dedicated to a video game that I'm not especially good at playing. I was able to ask for advice, but I missed out on the opportunity to contribute knowledge.

Thanks for sharing!

Hello Benjamin,

I enjoyed your affinity space presentation. It is nice that you were able to take an interest you had in Magic: The Gathering and find content and information to support that passion. It would seem the tools for tracking a card's value would be very useful going forward for building on to your decks.

The number of sub-communities you discovered and highlighted within the MTG affinity space was a keen observation. The overall connection to a shared interest in the game brings members to the affinity space, but the freedom, within a digital environment, to branch off and follow interests into the many aspects of MTG keeps the AS engaging for users.

Your post asking for feedback on the tournament deck you created resulted in some very interesting responses. The community offered the responses that you asked for and expected, analysis of the deck with strengths and limitations highlighted. What seemed unexpected was the follow up responses aimed at determining how the deck had fared in physical world competition. Sharing the explicit knowledge of how decks perform gives other members a chance to develop tacit knowledge when designing decks for competitions.

These interactions show how learning in the MTG AS are social, collaborative, and contested. Users first share in the community the decks they are planning, Then other users collaborate on analyzing the suggested deck. Finally when completion results are shared uses develop new thoughts on how to create competitive advantages in future competitions.

The ideas you linked to from Gee and Hayes do a nice job of illustrating learning in the AS

1. The AS is build focused on a game with design at its core, so users are able to be creative and use the game as a platform to make their own content and take ownership in the game narrative.

2. The multiple sub-communities give users a chance to fill many different roles in the community, these options make the community engaging for user that want to try out new roles and the users that want to focus on one role.

3. The sharing of explicit knowledge encourage because with analysis of game play and decks used in competition users can construct their own new strategies and develop tacit knowledge.

Thank you for the share, great presentation,

Darren

Hi Ben,

I enjoyed your presentation! Using Prezi added a fun twist. It was interesting to learn more about Magic The Gathering. I've heard references to it for years now but never looked into it. Do you play in any of the tournaments that you mentioned in the video? I'm guessing tournament play gets heated.

It sounds like the space was pretty nurturing, overall. Was it well moderated ?

I like your focus on the types of learning and knowledge that you saw most on the site. Did you learn a lot through your participation?

I checked out the company that created the site, Curse. Looks like a really cool company with sites dedicated to a number of games. That seems like a good sign.

Thanks for sharing!

Hello Ben,

Nice change of pacing for a presentation! I appreciated the fact that it wasn't another video. I don't have much experience with prezi, but it seemed to fit this particular application well!

I had heard of the game Magic before, but only in passing and never had any real experience with it. Your presentation was thorough and I personally liked how it resonated with your learning throughout this course. You were able to make relevant correlations to the semester's knowledge. I like how you narrated the engagement among the community, you broke it down into cataegories and had a great understanding of the flow of information within the community.

Your interpretation of the interaction of the community according to Gee was very accurate and well thoughtout. The community's practice was well documented through the analysis of the discussion and threads, about the topics directly related to the game, as well as, topics indirectly-related such as the price of decks and the speculations surrounding the release of certain materials.

Your knowledge of the course materials was extremely evident throughout your presentation. It seemed that your experience lent itself to a real-world application of affinity spaces, your chosen community provided you with a robust demonstration of what it exactly means to be apart of a great learning community and network of passionate people contibuting to an AS.

Great job! Thanks for sharing your presentation!

Benjamin, nice use of Prezi for your presentation. It’s a great tool and perfect for this type of presentation. Your chosen AS contains a variety of resources, but revolves around a web based forum with a focus on deck design. For the most part, it seemed that the community was constructive and adhered to the idea of a nurturing affinity space.

Your participation in the site was diverse and explored different areas. The primary focus was deck building, but you also explored the spoiler section as well as the market area. This diversity in content and ability to interact with members on a real world level were strengths of the site. The opportunity for more real world communication on topics such as pricing and trading were interesting characteristics that a lot of sites don’t provide.

In addition to coinciding with several affinity space elements taken from Gee and Hayes, the connection revolving around Games and Learning that was emphasized was the venue and opportunity to share both tacit and explicit knowledge through the site’s various venues.

Thanks for sharing!

Hi Ben- Enjoyed your prezi! It was nice to control the pace of the presentation so I could jot down the important parts :)

It sounds like anyone who has prior knowledge and understanding of the game and willingness to learn would be considered an "insider" within the forum-based community. Do you think that people with no prior knowledge but willingness to learn could succeed within the space?

It sounds like you are pretty familiar with the game and didn't take too much time lurking around. Most of your contributions were around deck building, spoiler alerts, and trading cards. What would you think is the most popular topic in the space? Deck building?

I understand that one of the biggest strengths of the space is that is really fosters a sense of belonging within the community, which it's an important social aspect of the game. What do you think are the limitations?

I think the features of affinity spaces you chose make sense and are appropriate for the community. The variety of topics, roles (lurkers and aficionados), and skill / strategy level show how important it is for participants to want to keep learning. The sharing and critiquing support growth, which could not happen by oneself (or at least it would take a lot longer!)

Great job!

Cool game! I played it on Steam awhile ago, but never took the time to learn all the mechanics. Never knew they had forums! Terraria looks like it supports sandbox learning with with different types of play styles.

What type of profile customization is allowed? What do the titles under username represent? Is this status or can members choose anything? I also wonder how this space compares to the Terraria subreddit. Guild Wars 2 has it's own official forums where the devs are in charged, but i found the Reddit space to be more open.

It's great that in the rules they specify that everyone is equal. Did you see any abuses taking place while your participated? I like your background music by the way!

Hello Mike,

I thought your project had great flow and that the title cards did a wonderful job of keeping concepts organized.

You shared about how the affinity space you joined is run by the company that developed Terraria and that this decision on the part of Re-Logic shows commitment to user/consumers ensuring that they get a fulfilling expericne through interactions with each other and expanding the Terraria narrative. This discussion will help build excitement for new uses by promoting cooperation in creating new ways to play in the sandbox.

Also you pointed out the large membership to the affinity space, 70,000 registered members members, and thousands more guest who visit without signing up. At the time of your presentation there was about a 1:15 ratio of members to guests, if the ratio holds there could be up-to 1,050,000 active guests in this community.

I can see that your first contributions to the community were to illicit information from the seasoned Terraria players. Part of the information your were looking for was the correct places within the affinity space to ask game play questions and find corresponding answers. I think this brings up a good point that there needs to be an understanding that new members in a AS will need support for navigating the space as much as they may need the endeavor based information.

You share many strengths and some weaknesses for the Terraria AS. The strengths included that the community was moderated by game produces driven by their commitment to maintaining positive play experience by users, that the community was safe for all users - with rules and guidelines posted in every forum. The safety of the space, however, leads to one of the glaring limitation in that the safely removes some freedom of expression from the contributions users want to make.

You made three great connections to Gee Hayes:

1 Common endeavor - The game play of Terraria inspires passion in its players and the connection to the AS, through the game producers, gives users, even new players, a place to share their passion. 2 The AS is not segregated by age - Players who become members to the community do not need to share their ages because experience in the game is the central requirement for status in the community. 3 Newbies and experts share space - The forum's posted rules state that all members are there as equals and need to treat each other with respect.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and analysis, Great job!

Darren

Mike, great job breaking down your affinity space and sharing your experience. I thought it was interesting that the expectation was to come to the table with a certain amount of experience/knowledge about the game prior to really getting involved. From your observations, the site is friendly and helpful, but it does function typically at a higher level. Due to your recent immersion into Terraria, much of your participation in the site was as a consumer. The strengths of the site include the credibility, as it is moderated by the game developers and is therefore an extension of the game. It is also a safe space with clearly mandated expectations for conduct. Three elements that relate back to Gee and Hayes are a shared passion, a shared space regardless of age, and a space where all members are equal. Thanks for sharing!

Great job, Mike! Just like Emily, this is also the first one I've come across an affinity space where the members have to join via membership. It was interesting to me how you descibed the developers of the site as the insiders, because it does not seem to be obvious at first. I know, like you, I was not too high on this idea of contributing to an affinity space at first. I am quiet and resvered and just do what I do, not interact with many people. Howver, I found that after contributions it actually was fun and beneficial. I understand the challenege you went through to make your first contribution to the affinity space, but I hope that you felt like it was benefical in the end? The best way to get a source of information is from the source itself - the developers! This is definitely the highlight and strength of your affinity space community. The site is realiable and people can hold it accountable for the information. I thought your connection to Gee and Hayes was strong and that your space was definitely a strong space. It was clear that there was the ability for participants to learn and share knowledge, there was no segregation in the community, and that everyone is there for the same purpose. It is crucial to have this because this way people are able to interact and benefit from the interactions they have.

That's awesome that you were able to bond with your son over the game during the semester! Did he participate in the forums as well and did he have any significant takeaways from the game? I had never heard of Terraria until now. I like the options for mobility and the variety of platforms. It sounds there like a somewhat unusual variety of resources the website made use of that would encourage an active prosumer following where contribution would be encouraged. Very cool. I understand the hesitance posting as a newb. It took me quite a while just to understand the language in the space I chose. The dedicated introduction space is an awesome idea! I haven't seen that in the spaces I've searched. I've noticed people introducing themselves, but haven't run across a site with a dedicated space for it. That seems like a very nurturing characteristic. You mentioned that there was no online chat on the site. Is there a chat feature during gameplay? You have some great content here! My only criticism is the audio is pretty rough. During the third background audio track, I can barely hear you over the music. I noticed you're working with WeVideo. I'd recommend using a cellphone to record audio and then import it in.

Hi Mike- Great overview of Terraria and it's affinity space Terriari.org! I appreciate the comparison to Minecraft as I now know what that is after watching 2 of our peers presentations on it :)

This is the first presentation I've watched where visitors / guests can access the community forums though there is a membership option. Great way to describe the developers who run the site the "insiders." I don't know if I would have made that connection on my own.

Your hesitation to contribute is something I'm sure a lot of people feel. For people who prefer to lurk in the background and consume, putting yourself out there can be challenging --especially when you aren't that knowledgeable in the subject matter. Kudos for working through it! Sounds like all newbies should spend some serious time in the getting started wiki page.

I agree with your strengths for terriria.org in that it is most definitely the place for players to get information directly from the source: the developers. It's a site with, as you put it, credibility.

I agree with your selection of Gee and Hayes's features of an affinity space. It's obvious from your presentation that participants are all there to learn and share knowledge about Terrari, the space does not segregate by age and participants, whether members or visitors, all share the space.

Great work!

It's awesome to see another Reddit affinity space! Great explanation of how Reddit works. Have you ever used Reddit before this AS or was this your first time? I ask because I would be interested if you found it easy to get started?

I made the same observation on my subreddit that everyone is equal. I like that no special status is given to one user over another. The members if your space did seem to interact more-so to help each other than in mine. For many gaming subreddits such as mine, I noticed members post to try to get that delicious karma.

Hi Melanie- I enjoyed watching your affinity space presentation on Reddit. It sounds like you were able to make some strong connections with our course reading and make it applicable to you as a professional.

Thank you for explaining how the community works by your analogy of "teachers help teachers." I understand that your affinity space encouraged collaboration, feedback on lessons, and answers to math education related questions.

I appreciate your methodical approach to participation: observing first then commenting and finally posting a question to the crowd. It is obvious how the space helped you grow your confidence as a participant as well as a professional. You put it best when you said that no one knows that you are only a 2nd year teacher-- everyone has something to contribute!

I especially liked how, even though you felt lost at the beginning, you were able to relate your experience to games and learning by way of engagement. Playing through engagement helps make information stick, which I think is incredibly important for people learning math.

Your chosen affinity space features by Gee and Hayes seemed appropriate for your purpose, especially the one that calls out all ages are welcomed. This is important for both novice and seasoned teachers as we all have something different to share.

I completely agree with you that the best way to learn is by interacting and communicating and I really liked when you said content is transformed through interactions.

Best of luck to you as you move forward into your new year as a teacher. I hope your affinity space continues to be useful to you!

Hi Darren,

Raiders fan, huh? JK, Go Broncos!

So far, out of all the presentations that I've watched, you've had the most successful post on an AS. Three pages of responses reveals how engaged the community is (or you have made a name for yourself on the site). Either way, nice work.

In regards to the negative poster you encountered--that stinks. He might have been drunk or had a really bad day, or both, and vented on your post when he ran across it. The fact that he didn't continue to comment negatively likely means he realized a flaw in his argument, regretted the comment, or he's simply a jerk that randomly shit posts (sorry for the language, but I think it's the technical term now).

I'm impressed by the willingness of the community members of the space to engage when they directed you to multiple resources for learning materials and references. It sounds like a really cool way to engage students. Some may not be interested in football, though.

It made me think about the Darvasi 2016 article when he discusses the ward game. The teacher made it only 10% of the grade. It was a pretty safe, thoughtful way to test it out. It might be worth trying the same approach when you test the waters using fantasy football as a tool and a way to cover yourself if you're worried that parents might complain about aspects of the approach.

One way to avoid the trolls and give your students an aid in their lessons is to create your own space. You could create a Google + group or a Facebook page and share resources. If you have any relevant connections to share things, tap into those. Maybe it's the football coach at your school.

I really enjoyed your presentation, and I hope that your lesson plans really shine when you decide to implement them in your course.

Hi Jennifer,

The more I learn about MineCraft, the more impressed I am with their growth. They have really tapped into the market and expanded over the past few years. I really need to start playing it to learn more.

I'm glad that two people chose the same space. You and Annie are the only two people, that I'm aware of, that used the same space. It was really valuable seeing both points of view. Annie focused more on the Twitter chats, and you on the forums. I learned a lot by seeing multiple approaches and perspectives in analysis and took away different things from each presentation.

Every presentation I've watched so far touches on the literacy needed for interaction. It seems like the search bar, while frustrating at first, could function as a motivator in learning the language.

I'm impressed by how accessible the staff seems to be on and off the site.

I liked the computer frustration photos, especially the one where the monitor isn't plugged in--that gave me a good laugh.

I'm still so sceptical about badging. You said that some might find it motivating. Did you find that it affected your view of members and staff on the site?

Thank you for sharing your insights! Your video furthered my interest in MineCraft.

Hi Kait- Loved your creative approach to your affinity space presentation! It really gave me a nice feel for the game Vampire the Masquerade.

Based on the information you provided in your presentation, it is very important for players to remain in character, not cross the 4th wall or, the human and virtual worlds, and never hijack a storyline. Since this is a roll playing game, I can understand why this is imperative to the overall success.

Since you have been gaming for quite some time, you're contributions to the affinity space (email and FB group) started out strong. I admire the strength of your character and ability to develop and maintain the storyline.

You also mentioned that this affinity space is a way for players to gain social skills and cultural competencies that are necessary for participatory cultures, tying it back to Jenkins. I think these are also necessary skills for everyday (real) life!

I agree with the aspects of affinity spaces you chose from Gee and Hayes and especially think the connection to porous leadership works great here.

Great work!

I wonder if a game with a more focused intent would be an effective simulation and get the player more involved.

Interesting thoght. Great way to support a message and get the word out.

That does sound really interesting. Utilizes many of the resource management ideas that are present in many games and placed in a real-world context.

You're not alone. I didn't either. The readings provided some insight into a world I know little about, but I didn't connect with them.

That is a good point. I wonder sometimes if moderators are more worried about nitpicking things like posts being in the wrong spot than the overall behavior of the community.

I see this result as the player's mind surpassing the dull slowness of real life. Playing games influences thinking speed. You have to learn to process information and make decisions quickly to suceed. Serious gamers don't have the patience to deal with the vapid nature of reality. They require more stimulating input than mere non-gaming humans :)

Interesting setup. If any class could use a change in methods, it is math. Yawn.

It is if you don't know how you learn new things and process that information. Where do you start? Am I understanding what I am expected to? I have found through this degree program that I am able to manage just fine, although the added social connectivity we practice via Twitter and Hypothesis is a great help.

Hey Brian- I enjoyed watching your affinity space presentation on the World of Warcraft forum. I'm sure going into your space having so much knowledge and experience about the game differed from many of us who chose a space at random(ish). I'm glad you were able to connect the dots with how affinity spaces behave as an effective learning resource.

Based on the information you shared, the forum is easy to join, once you have your battle.net login, and participants range from developers to WoW players, newbies to seasoned players, and age doesn't really matter. Forums are moderated tactfully and sarcasm isn't all that usual among members.

I really liked that you asked participants their thoughts on learning through WoW play. What better way to investigate ways WoW forum supports learning than to ask and get real feedback. It was interesting to see the breadth of responses (from transferable skills to reaction time to encouraging failure) and how learning through play is different for everyone.

WoW forum depends on a wide community / fan base. As you mentioned, networked individuals creating and sharing ideas and information, forming nodes of interest and knowledge, and continuously learning and evolving within a larger digital organism not only empowers but supports a broader environment to learn. For a game so complex as WoW, a space limited to say, 30 people in a more traditional learning environment like our Canvas discussions, wouldn't get the same experience. Participants would eventually need to pull in resources from outside sources.

I agree with your connections to our semester readings in that this community absolutely consumes and produces knowledge. It's what keeps the engine running. To your point though, this type of participation requires a huge time commitment. Something I found with my space too. But, as you mentioned, your affinity space is more than becoming an expert player, it's teaching people how to collaborate, become comfortable with failing, and improves the digital literacies often lacking in our educational institutions.

Great work!

That seem to be the case with your gaming group, if you have been playing for two years persevering your way to a perfect win on the hardest level, congratulations!

Cool, I love it when games come with neat little figurines.

The different skill set of the characters let learners have strategy discussions around economics, specifically division of labor and absolute advantage.

Wow this game is not afraid to get get real.

Discussion is always a awesome feature to promote learning experiences.

Great intro! Have you thought about writing promotional material for table top games?

Great :)

Do you find that you still enjoy the game or have you gotten bored and over it? Even with increasing the difficulty, I feel like learners can get tired of a game after a while and are ready for a new experience.

Is this a good or bad quality of games?

Interesting game! Can make playes feel like it is real life. I just spent a week in Arizona and definitely understand the idea of staying out of the excruciatingly hot sun! Not always an easy task :)

I have no confidence in my spelling for this or Scrabble, but at least the fast paced nature of Bananagrams makes it fun to watch, and you are correct I learn a lot more words. Just don't necessarily remember how to spell them.

I think these kind of active participation rules build a little ritual into the game and participating in the ritual helps expand the game culture love for the game.

I loved finding, at my grandparent's house, my parent's old versions of the games that my brother and and had at home. It was funny to think of my parents as kids.

I like to watch Bananagrams, even when I am playing Bananagrams all I do is watch. My spelling is not good for that game.

Great point! Skills need to transfer form the game environment to new environments. Discussion of what was learned in the game is a great opportunity to transfer learning into a conversation.

I hope you are successful with integrating this game into your practice. Thanks for sharing your analysis.

Having students record the incorrect problems and solutions and then reviewing them with a teacher/peer is a good way to reflect on what was practiced and reteach misconceptions.

This is also what I like about video games for math facts. The practice can be repetitive but if is fun then motivation is increased.

I think math video games are good for practicing math facts. I have mixed them in for homework options or as a math station.

New teaching challenges are great for time for trying new methods, best of luck to you!

Do you know if there is a mobile version for students to practice on the go? Or, are you thinking this will be an in-class activity?

For me, someone who is horrible at math and not a fan of games, this would be a stressful experience (especially as a tween!!!) Will it be required as part of a grade or something more like "flashcards" to help students practice. Are you going to reward students for playing?

Congrats and good luck with your new position!

Does the school provide you with resources / training to get you up to speed or is it completely up to you?

Thanks for giving us a perspective of the disappointing and functional issues of an affinity space. I like to learn what works as well as what does with any system.

This kind of thing usually turns me off of any site when I run into them.

It takes someone to drive the discussion, to encourage people to want to contribute and bring others into the disussion(s). I agree with you about status acheivements helping to engage more folks.

I have found this to be the case in any of the creative communities I have either participated in, or browsed through.

It sure is.

I think it is all of the above as well. If the badges give you something to achieve that motivates you learn something new, well that's a plus.

That's a cool feature of the space. It is similar guild ranks in pretty much any MMO game like World of Warcraft. Guild members can be promoted by the owner of the guild, giving that member more responsibility and ways to contribute to the guild.

Those who hold to these regressive ideas are lashing out--a cornered dying animal in its last death throes.

As I see most video games.

I have said this before: Violent media is a reflection of our violent culture. Not the other way around. We are constantly at war with someone, or something.

I think it is brilliant. Use the game to send a message and take out some agression at the same time. Since it isn't purdent to smack ignorant people upside the head in real life.

This is amusing. Seniors playing Grand Theft Auto V.

https://youtu.be/KHoOrFdgYR8

I think our attitudes toward assessment have to change along with our ideas of teaching. I feel it is difficult to evaluate a students' understanding of an idea through game-based learning with a straightforward quantitative test.

What do you believe to be the most motivating factor in Trivia? The need to be right (competitive) against other teams, or the actual prizes for the evening?

I have participated in trivia via GWD at Blake Street in Belmar, and The Pioneer off of University many years ago. It was such fun every Tuesday night.

Is this an actual prerequisite? Must you live in the area?

I think this is the next biggest mechanics of timed trivia. Other than knowing the actual knowledge.

Did anyone take the lead in the game to be the "final answer" person? Switch off rounds to be the final say? Or was it a majority rules approach?

Would there be any instances where a team would have a particular advantage over another team? Does a team with 5 players versus a team with only 3 players have a greater chance of winning?

Did a lot of community networking take place by-way of trivia?

What was your team name?!?

Where there a lot of spectators? Have most people played before or were that a lot of newbies? I would imagine this changes the game.

I think this is one thing that can make group work intimidating. Can't always go against the rest of the group.

I'm terrible at trivia, are you allowed to use your phone to look up answers or must you know the knowledge? I think this would change the gameplay a lot.

Would it be easy to cheat and look on your phone?

It is safe to say that this series of games could be condiered a franchise? Do you think other players of the game, have been enticed to play the other editions in the series, like yourself? Longetivity is a huge success, especially when there is an abundance of games.

This is a great takeaway regarding recent games, especially because most games do not have a very deep storyline. But I agree the greater the storytelling aspect, the better the game, because you are pulled in to not just learning the mechanics, but rather interacting in a more meangingful way.

Is there a benefit by only reacting via dialogue or action, or vice-a-versa? Or is it best to have a combination?

Do you select how to which they will respond within the game only in the beginning, or can you modify as the game progresses?

What is the milestone or metric, that you can say you have not even reached the 1/2 way point? Is it from the number of levels in the game?

Did it take you 5 years to play the game, or was this edition just recently released? How did you originally learn about the series?

Overall, I'm very impressed with the fact that you created the game. What was the main challenge you faced?

I definitely find this an advantage to a game - some players want to make the game easy for them to accomplish at first, while others are ready to be challenged right from the beginning. Do you find that most players move in a progressive matter, where they start easy and not in-depth and work their way up?

I'm impressed! I played for about 5 minutes :)

Really appreciate the simple prompts. They helped guide me to where I needed to go (or not go) to get those pages.

How many pages do players need to find? I collected 3 and then got stuck in the bathtub.

A lot of games I've played usually start with hacking tutorials. Do you like Deus Ex's approach better? It's nice that they have the guides in the menu, I appreciate it when games don't explicitly spell everything out for the player.

How does the game you play model this?

I never would have thought of doing something like this - really great idea! Probably gets the idea across better than the writting jounral entry does because we are "living" the game by watching your video! Really, really cool!!!

I always try to go into these types of games using stealth as well, but it never takes me long before I mess up and end up going guns blazing. Why didn't any guards come running over when you triggered the camera?

This game has been in my play queue for awhile.

great list of the pros.

It sucks that you have to dig a bit to find the original poster's thread to get the gist of what is being said--then you miss out on what has been going on while you were digging about.

That's something that has irked me too, but I have slowly come to terms with it.

I need to join one some time.

That's neat. Cost effective field trip.

I doubt it. I don't watch where I am going and fall down crevices every time.

yup, or they get are denied any of the loot.

Any raid that I have been involved with--it took 2-3 hours just to get the thing going. So much arguing, shuffling players' groups, etc. I don't have that kind of time.

now that is cool. I haven't come across anything like that in the WoW forums. You can find vids on YouTube, but that doesn't get you into the content first-hand.

Same thing with Warcraft.It's irritating.

I see nothing wrong with this. All writing has an agenda, but to complain that someone is producing content with the aim of social justice is warped thinking. I do agree that being in bed with the industry and not disclosing those ties is unethical.

I wouldn't have thought of this, but it makes sense. I would decline as well.

If I post about a product, I make a note that it is not a sponsored article--I just happen to like whatever it is

That does sound like a great idea.

Brilliant! I've let my skills pretty much wither and die. It's been over twenty years, but I have to get back in the habit. I miss it.

Having to be involved in all the administrative tasks rather than the creative ones, you find yourself removed from you initial passion. It is easy to slip into that rut.

Those that exclude just need to stop being obnoxious weiners about everything.

Many male gamers think that they are part of a special breed, better than everybody else just because they might be good at pressing buttons on a controller. It's nonsense and makes for a toxic environment.

You see this in all facets of society. It is childish, shelfish, and greedy. Me, me, me, mine, mine, mine. Rubbish.

It confuses me as well. A lot of ugliness swirling about out there.

I think this applies to adults as well as high school students, they are not alone.

PVP in games always intimidates me. I just feel like I never have enough time to learn a game good enough to play against others.

Is there a way to combat this? Do players get kicked for this? Are there any norms?

This makes me skeptical of these types of games. I like how Guild Wars 2 does it, where you can only buy cosmetic items with real currency. Everything else is kept balanced.

Is there matchmaking to play with those of equal skill level?

What are your thoughts on freemium? Do those that pay make it to the top of the ranks faster? Is this a problem?

Do you think incorporating everyday activities into math education is a good way for students of all ages to learn? There seems to have always been criticism among students that what they are learning in math class will never be applied to anything in real life. Thoughts?

I literally just said the same thing in my critique blog! Learning seems to be unique for everyone...

I agree! It has been so helpful in my learning as well. We get perspectives from a handful of folks vs 1 (from literature or professor).

Awesome! Do you find that this motivates you to want to keep blogging?

Just curious since Reddit allows for threaded comments... Did anyone respond back to your response? Sometimes I've seen the majority of the interactions take place right in the comments.

Even if you're not posting your own new posts, I think this is a great way to stay engaged.

Interesting, where there previous results to compare this to? Anything you might adjust again?

Do you think this type of distribution took place before social media? I'm thinking no where to this degree. It's so easy to hurt your business with the wrong tweet now as well..

Thoughts on how we might address this?

haha, I'm guessing this part isn't in the book?

Looks interesting, I enjoy books on social media.

Is there anything in particular you're curious about? What type of extrinsic motivation do you think there is in MMORPGs?

I agree, have have different motivations depending on the genre of game as well. I think in MMORPGs, I have had all four of those motivations listed above.

The "killer" section seems kinda harsh. Do you think this breakdown is accurate or what might be missing?

I know there will be some headaches going forward, I've had these same issues. Are there any connection to our readings your can draw on?

What is it showing? Any thoughts on these types of tools? I've noticed a few that member in my affinity space created as well.

Wow... that was long. What do you agree or disagree with?

Technical glitches...always the biggest drawback of technology. If you're on Win10 I find the built in game recording feature to be really nice.

Are there different ways you can engage besides asking questions?

I like the strategy here. I'll be referring to this if I'm able to find my blokus game.

I have this game...somewhere, though, I'm now wondering if it was lost during our last move. I only played it a couple times, but I remember it being fun.

Very clever approach to user-friendly design that shapes the experience.

That's really cool that the game includes the ability to use tactics like this where the design of the landscape can be used not just strategically but as a weapon.

So this new version kind of ventures beyond the genre in ways that it previously did not?

I'm struggling with my affinity space because I feel the same way. That and part of the guidelines for the space specify searching for the information you want to ask about before asking and the information I want has usually been covered already.

I think the same rings true in the game play itself. Playing with better players helps you learn how to play better.

Do you think they would they be more helpful once you've reached a certain level of mastery? I did the same thing. I got the box, looked at the manual and realized this information wasn't likely to be useful until I had started playing.

I experienced the same thing with my choice of game. I was also amazed at how much spaced it required. It took up like 35 gb of space.

This sounds like an excellent choice for study this semester because you'll really be able to look at the learning component.

Did you given a chance to share your imput?

It definitely helps to continue the suspended disbelief if the tutorial is woven into the narrative.

I agree. Is there an easier way that we can get the information to the player?

Do you find this the most beneficial way for the gamer to learn the game?

As a non art teacher I know I would participate in an event like this and know many others would to.

It is so important to know what to do to keep joy in your teaching.

This seems like a fun idea, support the educators with a creative outlet and give students a chance to see their teachers as artists.

This sounds like a interesting sections of the article. Where there any particular examples from that you could share?

No reason to give up on making learning more playful but just redefine how you approach the looking for solutions.

I find myself drawn to the application areas in Games and Learning.

I've spent quite a bit of tgime on Reddit myself and it is not at all the place it pretends to be. Front page of the internet and the back alley as well. Cesspools of hate and discrimination exist on Reddit. Lots of movements get started on it.

Was this the first time you had played this game?

Great coorelation and inference to our course readings.

Great job identifying the nuances between the perceived constraints versus the open-ended upgrades customizables.

How can you confirm it was created with the difficulty level intentional? Or is it a by-product of the complexity of the game and the metagaming to whcih you refer to later?

I like this attribute. But I am a sucker for backstories of products, games.

I am not a Playstation user, but I was surprised that it is played on that console giving the graphics of the link I clicked in the beginning of the journal. Moral of the story....don't judge a game by a click.

So one can advance in the game, but not necessarily be considered "successful" without the tacit rules? In your opinion, what is the incentive is being successful versus just playing?

Word Porn!!! Level up.

This is a good take-away and coorelation to our course readings. What changes could be made to the game to reduce the "learning to learn" attributes?

Do you typcially download Google game apps on a regular basis? Or is this atypcial?

I wonder how much they spend on advertisements. Or the cost to acquire one player. I'm assuming from your journal, that the game was free. Is there bonuses or items/tasks that you can unlock through purchase? $$$

I think this statement is pivotal to your assessment of the game. It definitely sounds more like an edutainment game, rather than a strategic game. More of a time-killer, busy-work game than complex.

What mechanics are included in this game? Is it 1-player VS the game, or is there an opportunity to play versus other gamers? Are you part of a farming community?

I agree. A few apps that I have downloaded have used this tutorial strategy as well. I, too, am not a fan. I would rather have a 20K foot view of the game play and not how to click and drag a particular item. To me that's no more instructional than how to slide your finger across your screen.

So you can see the progress in terms of what has been completed, and what has not? Is this their way of incentivizing continued game play?

I can relate to this thought process. I like your style.

Any particular reason you decided to play this game? Or did you happen to just come across this game by happenstance?

Do you think there would be an advantage to this game if you had been a seasoned player? (played > then 2+ times)

What, if any, real-world take-aways did this game provide for skill translations? i.e., what similarites could you see this particular style of game play mirrored in an everyday activity or task.

I think I have heard this term before...now where could that have been? Let me think! :)

Is this the strategy I was asking about in my previous annotation? Pruning bad bets...as in your own bad bet or is this a strategy to improve your odds of winning?

Was there much strategy to game play, in addition to game rules? For example, can you block your opponents next move? Or cause them to make an error?

Other than it being your first time, what other difficuties arose during game play, and if not for you, did your 2 game mates mention any difficulties they experienced?

Interesting actually! What were your thoughts on this being a way to gain coins? What are your thoughts now that it is not a way?

How many differences do you find between the game and the tv show?

I'm sure that made for an fun learning experience!

I'm not a huge fan of microtransactions or in-app purchases, but would be interested in hearing your thoughts. Do you think this affects gameplay at all?

I usually uninstall games when I find out they have those.

Such a great connection to this cycle of work!!

That could defintiely make the game fun though if you're both new!

You're even better than me! I don't even like to try and learn the games because I don't like to accept defeat and really hate to lose, so if I don't play, then we're all set! Props to you for being eager to try games!

Did you have to return to the rule book a lot? Did this negatively impact your play?

Yeah, seems like a game in of itself.

Seems like quite the time commitment. Would this limit new players?

Where you competing against each other in this? What is the end goal?

Oh dear...i guess half the fun is learning the rules?

How long did a game end up lasting? Would it be better with more players or not?

Is this a flaw in the game?

What did you like about it? Anything you would improve?

Do you obtain agendas by drawing cards?

Ugh..I immediately thing of Risk.

Can this help you earn a victory or does this not really add anything to the game?