Game to help learn Immunology

I was reading elearning news(http://www.elearning.b2bmediaco.com/enews.php) and found this cool article about a video game that teaches immunology. My husband took this class during his undergrad and was telling me that this would of been great to have during those years! 

Just recently, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) launched “Immune Attack,” an exciting, fun and fast-moving video game that teaches the critical scientific facts of immunology.

The cutting-edge game is designed to teach how the immune system works to defend the body against invading bacteria. The visual elements and simulations are critical for grasping the complex interactions of the biological systems.

“Immune Attack” allows students to use sights, sounds, and touch to get better acquainted with the immune system. Preliminary surveys show that the students who play the game show an increase in knowledge when compared with students who did not. After playing, students also showed a higher interest in biology.

“Immune Attack” builds on insights from FAS’s Learning Science and Technology Research and Development Roadmap, the FAS report “Harnessing the Power of Video Games for Learning,” and the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust (DO IT).

audience, topic, medium

The review of the 10 obstacles to e-learning, brought up a thought around building to the learners competence (both from a technology as well as a subject matter perspective). E-Learning has to consider the 3 critical learning criteria to include the right audience, the right topic, and the right medium. Although e-learning may not always be the right medium to transfer the knowledge to every learner, learners need to become more adapt at learning from on line sources. Just as the onset of cable TV did not eliminate movie rentals, e-learning should complement other methods of learning. Just some thoughts generated from the class tonight and look forward to more!

Teaching Old Dogs, New Tricks

A few weeks ago Olympic fervor was taking hold of the world's attention. As I grew more interested in different events, I tried to find out more about the participants of different countries. As I was searching, I stumbled on this article describing how the 2008 Olympics would see a vast rise in web-based coverage. Fans seeking out more information would most likely encounter language barriers, as the vast majority of information about a specific athlete would be in a publication from their home country.


The article described how Boost eLearning developed a training module that focused on using tools already present in Google's search engine. The training provided users with tips on using Google to find better search results and enable fans to overcome language barriers.


The implications of Boost eLearning's training is to provide users with better, faster, and more accurate search results. The training can be applied to other areas, including education, to empower individuals with the skills necessary to seek out more information. Companies like, Boost eLearning, are helping less internet-savvy users to become search gurus.


MarketWatch and Boost eLearning

Valuable Podcasts

A former co-worker of mine introduced me to podcasts a few years ago. Since then I have subscribed to many podcasts, some which are education-related, others are simply for entertainment value. I have narrowed my listening list down to just a few podcasts which continue to post regular episodes, mostly about utilizing web 2.0 tools. I will begin my posting to this blog by sharing these podcast links.

Moving at the Speed of Creativity - Wes Fryer shares ideas, conversations and resources to aid in collaboration and utilization of online learning tools. He releases many episodes per month and involves a lot of other leading tech integrators. His website is full of valuable resources and links. Podcast feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/speedofcreativity/podcasts

Mark & Mark in the Morning - A colleague of mine is one of the "Marks" in this podcast (Mark Radcliffe). He works as a Training Specialist for the Blended Schools Consortium which uses Blackboard to deliver content to schools in PA. My school district is a member of this consortium and this podcast helps the teachers who use Blackboard become aware and more familiar with the tools it offers. If you do not know either of these "Marks," you may not appreciate their humor, but if you are a Bb user, the info is valuable. Podcast feed: itpc://blendedschools.net/markandmark/?feed=rss2

One Company's eLearning resources

This is my first Instructional Design (ID) course. What I find interesting is with the advent of "Al Gore's" Internet (ha ha), designing eLearning courses can be made easier because of it. A designer can find more resources to help them create an effective and engaging course right on the Internet!

I work at a large financial firm and am currently interning in their ID area. What's neat is the wealth of resources both internal and external they provide to IDs on their intranet. While they do have proprietary resources, the fact that an internal web page was created to help you as the designer succeed!

Below are a few of the Internet resources they provided which I thought were cool! I hope you find them helpful.

Random Name Generator:
http://www.kleimo.com/random/name.cfm

Scenario Based eLearning:
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2002/may2002/kindley.html

So this is only a couple of resources. In addition, we attend regular training sessions (WBT and Instructor Led) about designing courses. I hope you all find the information I shared useful. Talk to everyone in class!

Activities for the Week

Reading Assignments:

1. Read Chapter 1
   
2. Read 4 lessons in the "Intro to eLearning" section of Blackboard.
   

Homework and Projects:

1. Accept the invitation to this class blog (sent to your bloomu email)
   
2. Post on this class blog
   
3. Continue planning with your WIKI mates
   
4. Watch the Common Craft video on Wikis
5. http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english
6. Add to the "Getting to Know You" discussion in Blackboard

Greetings everyone, and welcome to our Online Course Design blog!

This blog will be the forum we will use for notices, announcements, information, and weekly blog postings.  I highly recommend you subscribe to the rss feed for this site, bookmark this site, and even set this site as your "home page" for your browser.  That way you will always know when there is new information posted for our class.

In preparation for the first week of class I would like for you to complete the following activities:

• Read through the syllabus carefully!
  
• Read the first chapter from our textbook.
  
• Click on the "Intro to eLearning" link on our Blackboard site and complete the Introductory Survey and read through the first 4 lessons.
  
• Click on the "Getting to Know You" link on our Blackboard site and post an entry on the discussion forum.
• Complete a PowerPoint slide with your name and some introductory information, and send it to me via email (mnichols@bloomu.edu) before Thursday, August 28th.
  
• Join me in Centra on Thursday, August 29th, at 6:00 pm.
  
• Email or call with any questions you might have!
  

Looking forward to meeting everyone, and to a great semester!

Cheers, Dr. Nicholson