“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.”

“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” -- Albert Einstein

I find that I quote Albert Einstein more than I should. Like this quote: "It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." That a quote attributed to Einstein that I use in my line of work ... a lot. I never give up until I run out of ideas. And if I run out of ideas, I am disappointed in myself and I come up with a few more.

This week has been a week where I feel I have run out of ideas. Therefore, I am disappointed in myself. This feeling is not isolated to EdTech 564, but extends across the several courses I am studying. I am realizing not only how much I don't know, but how difficult it is for me to communicate my ideas. Yet I am grateful for deadlines so I do not continue down the rabbit hole of "what else can I try."

I have finished my first draft of Instruction Unit Proposal. I look forward to feedback from my peers as I don't know if what I have in my head has been transcribed to paper as well as I would like it to be. I love the idea of this unit and I am just hoping that the addition of games and technology will increase the engagement of students.

Developing an Instructional Unit

This past week I have been developing an instructional unit that will integrate components of AR/VR/Game/Mobile devices. I currently teach two undergraduate courses in digital forensics. I teach an intro course and a small device forensics course. I am leaning towards developing this unit for the intro course, Introduction to Computer Related Crime. I have taught this course on campus for the last two years, but next semester I go back to teaching this course online.

It is important for me to teach online courses that are interactive and I believe that adding a game component to this course could greatly enhance student learning. I am also looking at the Bloom Taxonomy and realizing that creation is an upper level learning attribute that could take my students from passive learning to active learning.

I have three various activities chosen that I am building my unit around. One of them I already introduced this semester with some success. In class I have students take apart a computer and look at the parts. Online, this activity is missing. An AR google expedition, however, allows to look at computer parts in interactive 3D. I am excited to further expand this module.

SavingThanksgiving

I ran out of creativity this week. My well may have dried up. Or it could be because I was so sick last week that I am worn out this week. Whatever the reason, I am not as happy with my app this week as I have been with past apps. And it may just be because I don't care for smash 'em up games. But I do like them for the younger set - like toddlers. It is a great fine motor skill developer.

My app this week involves squishing the bug to save Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't add a sound effect to it because I liked the idea of playing it and not alerting people to the fact that I am playing a game. I guess that same effect can be had if I turn the volume down.

My son told me that the point of a MoleMash is to have the mole pop up out of a hole. He felt that the app I designed this week was too much like the smash game I made a couple of semesters ago. Fair point, so I didn't show him the concept app, which is way better than my app. Again, maybe that is why I don't like my app this week.

Anyway, here is the apk for my SavingThanksgiving app. This app is slightly different from what I turned in. The faster button on the app I submitted for grading did not reset the game. This faster button resets the game, like the user is trying a harder level.

Here is the app for my MoleMash2 as taught in the AI2 book.

I am a little sad to end on this app. Next week, instead of designing another app, the class starts identifying apps to place into a teaching unit. I have a bit of an idea on that score so I am looking forward to changing gears.

Dodge Ball

One of my favorite games in elementary school was dodge ball. We played a version at recess called murder ball. That was where a line of us stood agains the wall while the other team lobbed balls at us. Last person standing won.

This week my class was challenged to modify a simple space invaders engine. I converted mine to a virtual representation of murder ball.

Personally, I enjoy playing it. I have a toggle button that will play a midi of Simon and Garfunkle's early hit, "Red Rubber Ball" which I imagine is about the big rubber balls we played with on the playground in the primary grades. I gave my sprite's names because I felt bad that the girl kept getting hit by the ball. In the end, I made a second level so Sally could play.

Gameplay is not as smooth as I would like it. I am trying to animate the sprites more than just moving across the screen. I want them to change positions so I change the png periodically to another pose. Although I have given my ball sprite directions as to how it should respond, sometimes is goes too fast so the player doesn't track it. Other times it goes off at a 45 degree angle instead of the 90 degree heading I give it. I don't know if the bug is in the design or if it is asking too much of the AI2 platform.

I am looking forward to exploring the software design more. Below is a QR code if you are interested in downloading and playing this game.

Pieces of 8 and more

Before I get into what I did in Edtech 564 this week, I want to share an update with what I did last week. It bothered me that my app didn't center when opened. It only seemed to center once gameplay was initiated. I fixed that by setting the screen as responsive rather than "fixed". I also did not like that my sounds overlapped (and neither did my professor). On my app this week, I was able to avoid that. Applying what I learned this week to what I did last week, I was able to update my Ping Pong Pong app and not it is kind of cute so I am sharing the update in case anyone wants to play

This week our goal was to make a Magic 8 Ball. My favorite Magic 8 Ball is the one I keep in my office. It is something I got in a Happy Meal back when the movie Pirates of the Caribbean was released.

It reminds me of the pirate jargon, "pieces of eight", from the Spanish "Peso de Ocho", referring to the Spanish dollar which according to Wikipedia, "is a silver coin...worth eight Spanish reales." So I designed my Magic 8 Ball to resemble a pirate skull and use pirate language.

  You can download it and try it out by scanning this QR code with your Android Device.

I am baffled as to why I enjoy designing these games. I am not a big gamer IRL. I take little enjoyment out of playing board games or cards. When my kids beg me, maybe I'll play a little rummy cube or Mormon Rook. I find it exhausts me to play a video game on my own. I takes so much concentration to block out everything else I could be doing.

I must admit, however, I love creating.

Back Again with the AI2!

This week I am back playing with App Inventor 2. The challenge this week was to do a variation of BallBounce. I made a table tennis game. Basically I dressed pong up to look like ping pong -- like when you squish a ping pong table up against a wall so you can play a lonely one-player game of ping pong.

The pong paddle is dressed up to look like a ping pong paddle. I have a score card and when the player hits 8 points, the ball speeds up. The ball again speeds up when the player reaches 15 points. The ball changes color to indicate an increased speed.

I showed it to my coworker, who said and I quote, "Ya, I would never play that." I wanted to respond, "And what do you play?" I don't think she is much of a gamer, but because she has a taser on her belt, I just said, "Oh".

Here is a picture of my lonely ping pong game on my Samsung s8

Here is a picture of a QR you can scan if you'd like to download Ping Pong Pong

Educational Games and Games for Fun

This week was a lot of fun in Edtech 564. We were assigned to play games. Being assigned to play a game is about the only time I can enjoy playing. Usually I am too concerned with my daily, weekly, and monthly to-do list that I don't enjoy pushing all of that to the back of my mind while I play. Luckily I enjoy much of what I do, so I don't ever miss playing games. Naturally, when I am tasked with playing a game, I enjoy that time as well.

I played four games this week, two educational and two strictly for entertainment. I have to say I enjoyed the educational games better than the entertainment games. For education, I played DuoLingo and Never Alone. For entertainment, I played Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly and Knights of the Old Republic.

Duo Lingo keeps harassing me, encouraging me to keep playing. So I haven't really stopped playing it. I plan to keep going with never alone. But I think I am done with Enter the Dragonfly (It isn't my favorite Spyro and I don't like playing as the other characters). Knights of the Old Republic, even though I legitimately spent $10 to purchase the app, I am pretty sure I am done. Maybe one of my kids will play it for me to get my $10 worth. Maybe I will try again if I find myself on a long layover without any homework.

Right now I think homework is a mix between gaming and social media for me. I find I check my Moodle more often than I check my Facebook. But I am almost done with school and maybe then I will need games to keep me distracted.