Games, General Geekery, and what knots found on the web
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Medieval Cities of Europe: Click, Tweet, Map, and Present
Medieval Cities of Europe: Click, Tweet, Map, and Present
By Kathryn Reyerson, Kevin Mummey, and Jude Higdon
The History Teacher, Volume 44:3 (2011)
Introduction: During sping semester 2010, a long-standing upper-division lecture course, Medieval Cities of Europe, 500-1500 CE, underwent a course transformation. Our goal was to address specific challenges with student engagement that we had experienced in the course in the past; our overarching strategy was to introduce technology into the course to allow students additional opportunities to engage with the material and get feedback. This course had been taught since the late 1970s to student audiences of between 40 and 60, but in the last decade, the course began to attract greater numbers of students, over 80 in some cases. The course format was the traditional lecture without discussion sections or small group exercises, taught with an instructor and a reader/grader. Because of the numbers of students and the increased enthusiasm for alternative learning opportunities through technology in the classroom, the instructor applied for a Course Transformation Grant sponsored by the Offices of information Technology in the College of Liberal Arts and the Digital Media Center at the university of Minnesota. The instructor, along with a graduate student who would be the reader/grader, an undergraduate, and two educational technology consultants, worked as a team for nine months to produce a plan to transform the course. The course transformation included a small budget for technology support, but obviously precluded any major investment in software or “Hollywood-like” multimedia development. The course transformation team looked instead for simple, existing technologies to facilitate transformative learning experiences in the classroom.
The transformation was intended to create more opportunities for active learning, increasing student engagement in the course lectures and in the subject matter of medieval cities. A particular goal was to limit “lights out, heads down” disengagement and distraction during in-class films. One of our goals was to provide students with new ways to master the core course concepts, such as the reality of the negotiated topography of medieval spaces, and we were interested, to the degree possible, in increasing the efficiency of the course and reducing the administrative overhead.
Medieval Cities of Europe: Click, Tweet, Map, and Present
By Kathryn Reyerson, Kevin Mummey, and Jude Higdon
The History Teacher, Volume 44:3 (2011)
Introduction: During sping semester 2010, a long-standing upper-division lecture course, Medieval Cities of Europe, 500-1500 CE, underwent a course transformation. Our goal was to address specific challenges with student engagement that we had experienced in the course in the past; our overarching strategy was to introduce technology into the course to allow students additional opportunities to engage with the material and get feedback. This course had been taught since the late 1970s to student audiences of between 40 and 60, but in the last decade, the course began to attract greater numbers of students, over 80 in some cases. The course format was the traditional lecture without discussion sections or small group exercises, taught with an instructor and a reader/grader. Because of the numbers of students and the increased enthusiasm for alternative learning opportunities through technology in the classroom, the instructor applied for a Course Transformation Grant sponsored by the Offices of information Technology in the College of Liberal Arts and the Digital Media Center at the university of Minnesota. The instructor, along with a graduate student who would be the reader/grader, an undergraduate, and two educational technology consultants, worked as a team for nine months to produce a plan to transform the course. The course transformation included a small budget for technology support, but obviously precluded any major investment in software or “Hollywood-like” multimedia development. The course transformation team looked instead for simple, existing technologies to facilitate transformative learning experiences in the classroom.
The transformation was intended to create more opportunities for active learning, increasing student engagement in the course lectures and in the subject matter of medieval cities. A particular goal was to limit “lights out, heads down” disengagement and distraction during in-class films. One of our goals was to provide students with new ways to master the core course concepts, such as the reality of the negotiated topography of medieval spaces, and we were interested, to the degree possible, in increasing the efficiency of the course and reducing the administrative overhead.
Medieval Cities of Europe: Click, Tweet, Map, and Present
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Adam Savage’s Blade Runner Blaster Pistol : Discovery Channel
Adam Savage recording from his workshop/man cave with Will Smith of www.tested.com
Adam Savage’s Blade Runner Blaster Pistol : Discovery Channel
Adam Savage’s Blade Runner Blaster Pistol : Discovery Channel
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Peter Jackson speaks out about Trilogy
‘The Hobbit’ To Be A Trilogy!
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Pack your satchels full of cram and fill your tankards with miruvor, because we’re about to embark on a long journey. The rumors surrounding The Hobbit were yesterday confirmed; We’re going to get a trilogy.
Speaking on his Facebook page, Peter Jackson had this to say:
What material will Jackson use though to stretch it out over three movies? Well, while J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit was only about 300 pages long — compared with 1000 pages for The Lord of the Rings — there was a substantial amount of action that occurred off page, such as Gandalf’s tussle with the Necromancer. They may also try and bridge the gap between the end of The Hobbit and the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, as Jackson also has his hands on 125 pages of notes that Tolkien made, expanding the Hobbit world.
However, if there’s one reservation I have about Jackson (and it’s only a small reservation, so don’t go crazy) it’s his propensity for long and bloated scenes. I thought King Kong was about 45 minutes too long and The Return of the King had about five different endings.
That being said, in Peter Jackson I trust and if he believes that there’s enough material for a trilogy, then I’m all for it.
Details for the third movie are still being ironed-out between Jackson and Warner Bros. but it’s believed a summer 2014 release has been tentatively penciled in. What’s also interesting is the possible name of the third movie. According to Fusible, the domain names The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: Riddles in the Dark have both recently been registered. Intriguing.
What do you guys think? Are you happy about spending more time in Middle Earth or are two movies more than enough? Sound off in the comments below!
The trilogy begins when The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14th.
Pack your satchels full of cram and fill your tankards with miruvor, because we’re about to embark on a long journey. The rumors surrounding The Hobbit were yesterday confirmed; We’re going to get a trilogy.
Speaking on his Facebook page, Peter Jackson had this to say:
We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth…So, without further ado, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.Wow. We’d been hearing murmurs from the studio that Jackson was considering making the series into a trilogy — he even admitted as much himself at the recent San Diego Comic-con — but now it’s official.
What material will Jackson use though to stretch it out over three movies? Well, while J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit was only about 300 pages long — compared with 1000 pages for The Lord of the Rings — there was a substantial amount of action that occurred off page, such as Gandalf’s tussle with the Necromancer. They may also try and bridge the gap between the end of The Hobbit and the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, as Jackson also has his hands on 125 pages of notes that Tolkien made, expanding the Hobbit world.
However, if there’s one reservation I have about Jackson (and it’s only a small reservation, so don’t go crazy) it’s his propensity for long and bloated scenes. I thought King Kong was about 45 minutes too long and The Return of the King had about five different endings.
That being said, in Peter Jackson I trust and if he believes that there’s enough material for a trilogy, then I’m all for it.
Details for the third movie are still being ironed-out between Jackson and Warner Bros. but it’s believed a summer 2014 release has been tentatively penciled in. What’s also interesting is the possible name of the third movie. According to Fusible, the domain names The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: Riddles in the Dark have both recently been registered. Intriguing.
What do you guys think? Are you happy about spending more time in Middle Earth or are two movies more than enough? Sound off in the comments below!
The trilogy begins when The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14th.
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