.:|randgaenge|:. » Learning http://randgaenge.net thomas n. burg - on social media, software tools and its benefits for us, and sometimes wine Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:14:35 +0000 en hourly 1 mobile casual games (learning) http://randgaenge.net/2008/mobile-casual-games-learning/2678/ http://randgaenge.net/2008/mobile-casual-games-learning/2678/#comments Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:43:10 +0000 Thomas N. Burg http://randgaenge.net/2008/01/29/mobile-casual-games-learning/ Ok, I’m rather new to the (casual) world but got addicted pretty fast. While commuting and playing a lot of simple games it struck me. One of the casual games at Playyoo reminded me of the games my 5 year old daughter is playing. She is a big fan of Fragenbär and his friends. Those games have one goal after all: learning and having a fun time. And then I was wondering once why she was fascinated by ‘s offerings since we didn’t think of her as the target group.

Now it’s clear to me: 2 strands flow together. Learning works best if based on gaming. And works best if it’s based on simple . That might be shallow but heh why don’t we have mobile casual learning yet.

Luckily I found this a few days later. Gamasutra – the source for everything games.

Gamasutra – Opinion: Reflexive’s Carroll On Understanding The Casual Gamer: “reasons for playing include educational use of leisure time, mental exercise, confidence building, stress relief, entertainment, and pain relief.”
[...]
Gaming has often been seen as just simple entertainment without any need for meaning. However, when considering the casual gamer, it’s clear that they are not satisfied with just being entertained; they may be looking for stress relief, learning, distraction, self-improvement, or simply a pleasant way to spend time with friends. Instead of looking for excitement, adventure or competition like the core gamer, casual gamers often want to feel that their time is being used beneficially.

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]]> http://randgaenge.net/2008/mobile-casual-games-learning/2678/feed/ 0 Links http://randgaenge.net/2007/links-6/2580/ http://randgaenge.net/2007/links-6/2580/#comments Sun, 14 Oct 2007 00:30:11 +0000 Thomas N. Burg http://randgaenge.net/2007/10/14/links-6/ I found these lately:

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]]> http://randgaenge.net/2007/links-6/2580/feed/ 5 Social Software and Competitive Intelligence http://randgaenge.net/2006/social-software-and-competitive-intelligence/2198/ http://randgaenge.net/2006/social-software-and-competitive-intelligence/2198/#comments Tue, 19 Sep 2006 09:46:59 +0000 Thomas N. Burg http://randgaenge.net/2006/09/19/social-software-and-competitive-intelligence/ I started thinking and drafted this chart as a first attempt to understand the transfer ( ) of Social Software into the enterprise ( ) context.
Keep in mind that this chart represents IT-support and even more important facilitation and organizational frameworks that support such a scenario.

businessIntelligencethumb.png

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]]> http://randgaenge.net/2006/social-software-and-competitive-intelligence/2198/feed/ 0 Inside/Outside – the canon of concepts http://randgaenge.net/2006/insideoutside-the-canon-of-concepts/2192/ http://randgaenge.net/2006/insideoutside-the-canon-of-concepts/2192/#comments Mon, 04 Sep 2006 12:20:35 +0000 Thomas N. Burg http://randgaenge.net/2006/09/04/insideoutside-the-canon-of-concepts/ Just back from a course I taught at the Danube University Krems. It was the last input day for the students of the E-Teaching/E-Learning program. We had a very fruitful conversation about the meaning and usage of socalled Web 2.0 ( ) / Social Software ( ) concepts in formal learning contexts. The most important aspect from mpov was not so much the concerns about privacy and security for students but how can we – as instructors, consultants – transfer experiences and applications and models from the open Web into closed settings of formal education or organisational learning ( ) aka knowledge-management ( ).

A student told us about the integration of a Mediawiki ( ) clone into their LMS, called Ilias ( ), and similar stuff. The benefits are clear: control and integration. But what they lost was the openess of a participation that needs the network and its cumulative and emergent traits. If those 2 traits are of utmost relevance – and I do believe that – than we are heading into a big problem.

(Research and practical)Questions that arise?

- How can we transfer successful patterns of the open web into organisational settings without loosing their main building blocks?
- How do we need to conceive of an environment that supports the building of (learning) networks?
- How much of the original traits and affordances do we need to give up to import innovations into established practices?
- Is it necessary to wait ’til the traditional forms of – for instance – educational institutions erode and give way to open network-based-somethings?
- Who is the driver of such a development?
- Are applications in the driver’s seat?

I started that day in Krems with this notion from Sebastian:

Seblogging :: Weblogs, CMS, and personal Webpublishing for learning and education :: blogged by Sebastian Fiedler since July 2002 :: : “I yet have to hear a story about a young professional who felt the terrible need to install and run his own LMS platfrom to support his or her personal change project. But I know loads who use an array of small, simple and (increasingly networked) personal tools to their advantage. And guess what? It is usually a pretty messy sight… no integrated interfaces, no single-sign-on mechanisms, no careful workflow management.”

It becomes quite clear that a LMS ( ) is nothing that belongs to the user. It’s quite the opposite to what we call learner or user-centered design. Well then, why do we need those LMS’s? Who benefits? And is it plausible to expect every individual to have those tools at hand like we use cellphones etc.

Since Blackboard ( ) filed a patent the road is free to get rid of those tools anyway. Let’s put the learner in the driver’s seat. Tell them how to use those tools to benefit from networked, peripheral etc. learning.

On the other hand: it’s easy to claim that and by quoting Stephen Downes:

[...] It’s about enabling and encouraging participation through open applications and services. By open I mean technically open with appropriate APIs but also, more importantly, socially open, with rights granted to use the content in new and exciting contexts. (E-Learning 2.0)

The most – at least equally – important task is to take away the fear in the eyes of those in charge. Those that design curricula and grade students need to be able to see an new promising frontier. A new frontier that makes life more interesting and colorful by utilizing global networks of content creation, conversation and participation. This is – of course – an exhausting change process.

Translation and transfer of successful open web concepts and applications into organisations settings is the biggest challenge nowadays. It’s nothing less than incorporating innovation by changing it and changing the culture of the receiving organisation as well.

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]]> http://randgaenge.net/2006/insideoutside-the-canon-of-concepts/2192/feed/ 1 social skills conference Salzburg http://randgaenge.net/2006/social-skills-conference-salzburg/2140/ http://randgaenge.net/2006/social-skills-conference-salzburg/2140/#comments Sat, 08 Apr 2006 08:30:59 +0000 Thomas N. Burg http://randgaenge.net/2006/04/08/social-skills-conference-salzburg/ Completely forgot about that: I’m invited to speak at about the nature of Tagging ( ) aka social classification as a part of knowledge organization. The organizers brought together almost everybody in Europe who dealt with weblogs and social sofware over the last years. The conference in Salzburg ( ) is aimed at the educational sector but the issues at stake are overall interesting – so if you are close enough be there.
Social skills through Social Software: Tagging: Beschlagwortung und Wissensteilung in offenen und geschlossenen Netzen, Thomas Burg, Geschäftsführer permalink “

They always forget the N. – I fight for that since I’m 20 or so ;-)

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]]> http://randgaenge.net/2006/social-skills-conference-salzburg/2140/feed/ 1 The end of instructional solutions http://randgaenge.net/2006/the-end-of-instructional-solutions/2124/ http://randgaenge.net/2006/the-end-of-instructional-solutions/2124/#comments Wed, 08 Mar 2006 23:36:08 +0000 Thomas N. Burg http://randgaenge.net/2006/03/09/the-end-of-instructional-solutionsrosenberg/ Well, that ultimately leads to building knowledge and practice networks enabled via collaborative aka social software. The clickable course is the exception not the rule. At least in this utopian draft. Saying that after having talked to some school officials.

What Lies Beyond E-Learning? By Marc J. Rosenberg
: “[...]What workers are looking for is straightforward and reliable access to information and expertise that answers their questions, demonstrates a task or processes, provides advice, and makes their work easier and better[...].” (via weiterbildungsblog)

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