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Day 1 Activity

Build mentoring and peer teaching as part of the class culture.

Students put sticky notes on board with names.

Skills I have: --- --- ---

Skills I want to learn: --- --- ---

Facilitate learning opportunities with peer teachers.

#peer teaching #collaboration

Citing Images

If you use an image in your work, you must cite it. This includes papers, presentations, theses/dissertations, publications, blogs, etc. Le

This guide was just updated to MLA 9th edition.

Resource on citing creative commons licensed works in MLA 9:

Here's a resource on citing creative commons licensed works in MLA 9: https://library.northeaststate.edu/c.php?g=886625&p=6386032

UTexas citation guide

LibGuides: Creative Commons: Attribution

Game Design Glossary

Because games is a complex subject, the language can be confusing. So I've assembled this glossary of terms, many of which are common but so

A vertical slice is a portion of a game which acts as a proof of concept for stakeholders before they agree to fund the rest. It is not the

Techniques and Tasks in Team Teaching

Learn about team teaching and other co-teaching models. Explore the benefits and challenges of each model and learn strategies to help make

#team teaching

Formative Assessment

Within these methods you’ll find close to 40 tools and tricks for finding out what your students know while they’re still learning.

#teaching

Four Zones of Awesomeness

A recurring question from students is how to learn concept art and which classes to take. While we know that bolstering our design/concept/ideation outcomes is needed, we're currently running a couple classes in this category: Concepts of Visual Style with Neal and Foundations of Design and Visual Development with Honoria. I recently shared this fantastic talk from Shaddy Saffadi, Concept Art is Dead: https://youtu.be/CYbYvImd7Bw

Not only is this talk PACKED with information, but it's very AET. His 4 Zones of Awesomeness describe many tricks such as photo/kit bashing and 3D modeling/lighting to accelerate the process and deliver the vision needed for various projects.

This reminds me of other recent changes in the way content is created: with Adobe Spark students can create compelling videos in a fraction of the time it would take them in Premiere, asset kits can accelerate world building and level design for games and 3D scenes, Mixamo can auto-rig and animate 3D characters, etc.

These advances change industry practice and can be a real advantage when we consider teaching students at all skill levels to create great work. With every syllabus revision, it's important to ask how we can accelerate their progress through technology and other cutting-edge industry tricks, and question if we're teaching the old ways for nostalgia's sake or because they are truly foundational.

____________

This information is from Michael. More about the 4 zones of Awesomeness is in the essay Art & Life Lessons From Shaddy Safadi – One Pixel Brush

How can we incorporate social emotional learning type Instapoll questions? This is from Austin Kleon who recommends Kat Vellos for more ideas about conversations and friends.

ACTLab Philosophy

Metacognitive questions

These are some questions to help students learn about their own learning.

1. What stands out to me? What makes me wonder?

2. Which parts or terms are new to me, and which parts do I recognize?

3. How does this connect with what I already know? There is a good image of a flow chart activity in this part of the article.

4. What follow-up questions do I have?

5. Why is this idea important?

5 Metacognitive Questions For Students Learning New Material by Paige Tutt (2021)

Guiding Questions for Diversity and Inclusion

Some guiding questions for faculty/instructor self-reflection:

What are my social identities?

What are my personal biases and assumptions and how might these affect the learning experiences of my students?

Do I feel prepared to handle challenging situations or facilitate difficult discussions in the classroom?

Do I have strategies in place to get to know my students better and increase their sense of belonging in the classroom?

https://ctle.utah.edu/inclusiveteaching/reflection.php

3-2-1 minute paper

3-2-1 Format

Basic Strategy

The 3-2-1 format is a quick reflective activity similar to think-pair-share. It encourages students to reflect on a course experience and organize their thoughts and identify areas of confusion or concern.

Why would you use it?

Similar to minute papers, muddiest point, and think-pair-share, the 3-2-1 Format can be a helpful tool for getting students to organize their thoughts, and promote reflection and metacognition. This activity provides an easy way to check for understanding and gauge student interest. It is also an effective way to promote discuss or review material.

When can you use it?

This activity would traditionally be introduced toward the end of a lesson or after a lecture. It could also be used in response to an assigned reading.

How does it work?

In reaction to presented content, students are asked to take a few moments and jot down:

3 ideas or issues from what was presented

2 example or uses for how the ideas could be implemented

1 unresolved area / muddiest point

Students are then asked to share their ideas in pairs or small groups. Use the responses to help guide teaching decisions. Consider areas of curriculum that need to be reviewed again or specific concepts or activities that are most interesting for students.

Alternative versions

Use 3-2-1 Format to transition into class discussion.

Student can complete 3-2-1 as individuals, pairs, or small groups.

Make the 3-2-1 questions content specific (differences, similarities, etc.)

Have students focus 3-2-1 on main ideas (most important ideas, supporting details, etc.)

Online options

3-2-1 Format could easily be adapted into an online discussion board activity.

https://www.mghihp.edu/faculty-staff-faculty-compass-teaching-teaching-strategies/examples-classroom-assessment-techniques#321

Students advice to future students

FROM ACUE Training

Use advice cards. At the end of the semester, distribute blank index cards to students in your course. Ask them to write down advice for students who will be taking the same course in the future. You can provide students with the panel questions listed above to help them brainstorm ideas. Collect the index cards and read them to familiarize yourself with the kinds of advice your students are offering and to identify patterns among responses. At the start of the next semester, distribute the cards to students who are taking the same course. You can give one card to each student or have students form small groups and distribute multiple cards to each group. After students read the cards, ask them to share the advice on their cards with the full class. Engage students in a discussion about how they can be successful in your course and use this as an opportunity to direct students to useful resources.

56 distinct elements of talent (DELTAs)

Defining the skills citizens will need in the future world of work June 25, 2021 | Article by Marco Dondi, Julia Klier, Frédéric Panier, and Jörg Schubert

Overall, survey participants with a university degree had higher average proficiency scores across 56 distinct elements of talent, suggesting that those with higher levels of education are better prepared for changes in the workplace

Why are we meeting online?

Pedagogical reasons for meeting online or hybrid.

ONLINE FLEXIBILITY provides ready access to diverse learning materials such as videos, photos, UT Library resources, and websites. Instructors and speakers can integrate other formats like polls, online whiteboards, forums, breakout rooms, or discussions to increase the interactivity of lessons.

ONLINE INTERACTIVITY In the Foundations of Arts and Entertainment Technologies, the concepts of interactivity are key to the curriculum. Modeling various online interactivity methods while teaching those methods grounds the curriculum in lived experience.

ONLINE INTERACTIVITY DYNAMICS As students become proficient in multimedia learning software, they critically think through methods that effectively communicate and engage even as technology and social dynamics change, such as in team projects or panel discussions with Q&A.

ONLINE CONNECTION TO FUTURE WORK ENVIRONMENTS Online class communication and interactivity is effective career readiness training because remote work has become a standard in interactive fields such as game development

HYBRID CONFERENCE PREVIEW The hybrid model of starting out in an online mode and presenting with in-person mode sets a foundation for a common pattern in creative careers in which members of distributed teams attend a conference on the theme of their industry where people may meet in person for the first time.

Added

I would only add a point of clarification regarding the plan to teach 3/4 of the semester online. Our semester project has been broken into four parts, the first three of which cover content areas individually (Storyboarding, Fabrication, and Audio, respectively). The 4th part is devoted to the intersection and synthesis of the first three, including play testing and feedback amongst the students (within their genre tribes), and finally presentation of their work. We felt that this created a logical flow from online demonstrative teaching into live conferencing in the final portion of the class for the culmination event(s) of presenting their work before peers and then the public. - from team teacher CO

HYBRID STUDENT ENGAGEMENT can be increased by having a strong contrast between online delivery and in-person events.

Faculty CIS scores

CIS AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT - CIS scores are key engagement indicators, and engagement is a key indicator of learning. When faculty have improved CIS scores in the online or hybrid format, it is evidence of student engagement. Faculty, check your CIS scores for the classes you taught online and notice any changes in the patterns.

Design challenges

Smartphone loneliness

“Do We Need Grades To Learn?” Rethinking Assessment

Critical Thinking Activities

These questions are the ones we ask learners most often, and we've seen them used by teachers as the provocations for achieving transformational learning all over the world. They can work the same way for your own learners.

What are you CURIOUS about? What subjects and topics are exciting to learners? What do they want to learn about? Asking these things is empowering to them. It indicates that their ideas and opinions have value and that we cherish their potential for independent thought and action.

What are you CONCERNED about? It is surprising to realize just how deeply connected kids are to the issues of the world, and their awareness of the fact that many of these issues are quite serious. We'll never know what they're worried about, or how much they want to help, until we ask them.

What do you want to CREATE in the world? How we hand responsibility for learning to students involves giving them space to do what they do naturally. Our learners' inherent abilities and desires to create and collaborate are fuelled by the right processes for critical thinking and problem-solving.

https://wabisabilearning.com/blogs/critical-thinking/10-great-critical-thinking-activities-that-engage-your-students

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10 Powerful Visual Storytelling Techniques to Remember

Bernie DeKoven

Interactive games

https://www.deepfun.com/funny-games/

In 1971, Bernie DeKoven created the Games Preserve, the first institution to be dedicated to the exploration of games and play for adults. In 1978 his book, The Well-Played Game was published by Doubleday in 1978, establishing him as a pioneer in play theory. The book, reissued in 2013 by MIT Press, has become a standard text in the majority of game studies courses around the world.

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