Posts made by Tia Carr Williams

Good Morning and welcome everyone to Serious Games and Virtual Worlds.

During the next three weeks we will hope to explore, debate and share our collective understanding of these two subjects which are currently being developed both academically and commercially to great effect and success.

Today, Wednesday, we request that registrants post a brief introduction and indicate what specific interest they have in Serious Games and what questions they are seeking answers to.

All registrants have been accorded a 30 day free licence to register at www.IndustryPlayer.com, for which I am the VP of Corporate Relations. To download a special SCOPE code has been created in the dropdown at the download menu. Select SCOPE and you will receive free credits to play for 30 days. IndustryPlayer is unique in its immersive dynamic business world design as an MMOG, and the creator, Thomas Lehnert, has much improved the game dynamics in the last couple of months to offer educators offline versions for classroom application. We can discuss the ways that MMOG portals can provide a cosntructive, stimulated learning environment and see what people think about this type of serious game from first hand experience.

On Tuesday, 10th April,  we have a special guest, Ron Edwards, CEO of  www.ambientperformance.com who will co host a simulcast in Second Life and skype and we recommend that anyone wishing to attend, create their avatar in good time and have their skype id available.

I believe that the future of Serious Games in education will enhance the ability of the educator to truly engage the 'digital native' in ways that make learning more enjoyable and continuous. The Digital Classroom is prescient, is this something you believe, as educators, will improve your ability to achieve learning objectives and outcomes?

These and other questions can be explored in the coming weeks and Im delighted to have this opportunity to meet so many educators who are seeking greater understanding of what can be accomplished with games.

Tia Carr Williams

Christie,

I'm sure we can manage both.

As someone who has been chief cook and bottle washer at my own collaborative portal for two years now, I can speak to both roles. Frankly, setting out to convene an environment of professionals has only led to one occasion where moderation was required. A tone of mutual courtesy, despite diverse opinions seems to hold a space for all exchanges of viewpoints without recourse to flaming thus far, and certainly we have left of left and right of right participants in the membership. Im a firm believer in chaordic principles entitling participants to take ownership of the environment which seems to induce a degree of self moderation.

 

Firm relationships have evolved from this network, to the extent that we have formed a new consultancy consisting of members who have used VOIP to create 'stronger ties' through verbal exchange. Therese Weel has been a formidable agent in supporting and delivering value to the platform, so it is she who subsumed the role of facilitator to a greater extent too and it helps to people who rise to the capability with skill and commitment.

Wearing my 'facilitator' hat to inspire and incite postings and exchanges means I am required to daily manage the portal with new content (usually things that are relevant to collaboration for individual or organisational interest) or just things that interest me and where I m seeking response from the readers. I frequently 'matchmake' between members if I see there is a direct relationship that deserves a mutual introduction and this has helped create real value for our members.

I think amongst my colleagues, we have commonly agreed that new communities demand people who perform these roles without which a group engagement is generally doomed. It's demanding but fruitful to see a community start to bond and prosper from the engagement, going from virtual to realtime.