I am Fishhead

View this documentary about corporate psychopaths! Use it in the social studies/psychology classroom! Tie it to the study of current events and economics!

Final Project for Dr. Z's Selection and Integration of Instructional Technology

Check out my final project website for Selection & Integration of Instructional Technologies.

http://www.uni.edu/jaxbrown/finalproject/fp_index.html

The instructional design within the site is the final project for S&I - along with a downloadable PDF guide to the module at the top of the Introduction/home.

The technical design of the website is my final project for Principles of Pub.

Let me know if there are any bugs!
 

EIT 3D Gamelab #7: Second Life

I created a "notecard" with links to Second Life locations to make a "tour" called "World History-ish." I searched within Second Life for places that are something like ancient cities or cultures. I found 10 locations that depict Rome, Egypt, feudal Japan, and other places.
I've submitted it to Dr. Z's place in Second Life.

Notecard:

Dr. Z's wall:

EIT 3D Gamelab #5: Second Life

So I've explored some different Second Life "tours" for the latest EIT 3D Gamelab assignment. Here are some snapshots.

EIT 3D Gamelab #4: Second Life

For this assignment, I had to change my avatar's appearance. I started with a gladiator avatar, beefed him up, gave him a bigger schnoz, and put some plain looking clothes on him. I do intend to go back to using the "Were-Panther" avatar, however!
Here are before and after pictures:

INSTECH 6232: UDL Lesson Link - Edward Bernays & Propaganda

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FdPSzJuewbsG81rYlsAygqSFbPwOTAojceH2AQWdt-8/edit

EIT 3D Gamelab #3: Second Life

I am totally lost!
I followed the green arrows, and completed the first part of this mission. In the second part, I wasn't able to "sit" on the green ball... maybe because I am running a Mac? And when I followed the green arrows down the stairs, there were no more green arrows and only an abandoned subway! Crap!

This is the last green arrow

Where the Hell do I go!?

EIT 3D Gamelab #2: Second Life

So I have been running, jumping, and flying around multiple "worlds" in Second Life for the past 45 minutes as assigned (yes, assigned). I ditched Dr. Z's area in favor of exploring places with wackier scenery, and populated with "people" that I could go mess with.
I have come to enjoy the over-the-shoulder camera view, and I recently switched avatars to a really badass werewolf, which I chose because it looks like my black panther cat, Smokey (my avatar is named "smokeypanther").
I went into some wierd outer-space world where a bunch of avatars where doing tai chi and yoga. Weird... I think tai chi and yoga are excellent physical-spiritual exercises in real life... but in a computer game? What's the point? Anyway, here are some photos of my exploration. 

Ancient-warrior people (and some random dude) doing tai chi

Nice looking avatar doing yoga ;)

EIT 3D Gamelab #1: Second Life

Identify what you think of the overall usability of Second Life and its possibilities in your future.

Second Life appears to good tool to use to connect learners in a distance education course in higher education, because it is a free platform for engage in multi-directional audio conversation as opposed to having to pay for Skype premium or Adobe Connect . It also is useful because it provides some visual reference, although it can also be distracting to learning when students have the ability to fly up in the air and teleport to other worlds. After enough use, the "newness" of flight and other fun things in Second Life would probably wear off and learners would focus on the learning part. The virtual blackboards/presentation screens in Second Life can also be effectively utilized for presentations and lectures.
As a secondary level social studies educator, I do not see myself using Second Life due to two issues: 1.) it would be rrrrreeealllly easy for middle and high school students to be completely off task in Second Life; and 2.) There is a lot of creeps and adult oriented places in Second Life that would endanger students and my career, and these "creeps" would have an open platform to access children on. So unless a new, safe, students-only "Second School" is developed, I won't be using it.
I sure don't mind having my college courses on the platform, however! How else could I come to class dressed as a 12 foot tall monster with tree bark for skin!?! Oh, fun.

Digital Citizenship Education Plan (for INSTTECH 6232)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17CSZ7T6ZSCn8ThxIktydbCILeBVLWec--bYAFLP4b9c/edit

Educational Video Games: Paradox or Paradise?

There is no question that video games are engaging, if not addicting. I’ve known kids whose entire lives revolved around video games, as well as adults. The serious, “don’t waste time and brain cells on this crap” person in me cringes at video games. The time and money that go into gaming are hard to justify, since the result of gaming can in no way be construed as productive. Beyond that, the bio-psycho-social-emotional effects of gaming are varied and often profound in extreme cases. As much as I don’t like seeing my friends, family, or students “hooked” on gaming, I can certainly understand the nature of the drug.

I grew up with Nintendo, playing Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt very proficiently. The Nintendo 64 rocked my world, and I lived in Mario 64 for months, and later other totally awesome games. I owned a handheld Sega Game Gear, and I remember hours and hours playing a side-scrolling Beavis and Butthead game- the stupidest game imaginable- but totally awesome to me at the time. Then at some point I bought a Sony Playstation, and the original Grand Theft Auto was my favorite game. Then Playstation 2 came out, and I bought that at some point. I dumped a lot of my life into the "NCAA" football series, and every Grand Theft Auto game. NCAA football was enjoyable because it was a chance to play my favorite sport in a fantasy world, but I only enjoyed it when playing against my friends, because it was a competition that felt like it “mattered.” I never got excited about winning or losing against a computer program.

Grand Theft Auto was another story… I was (and still am, yet self aware) a product of violent movies, games, and television, and I absolutely, positively, to a frightening degree-enjoyed running around, raising absolute Hell in the Grand Theft Auto games! I would usually play several missions and try to beat the game, but I spent 99% of my playing time just trying to accumulate the maximum police-wanted level (“6 stars”) by killing everyone, stealing cars, and running from cops, FBI, and Army- while annihilating them with rockets, machine guns, and flamethrowers. It is in this game that I achieved “flow” as described by Bowman in “A Pac-Man theory of motivation” (1982). I was one with the game, like Neo in the Matrix, time slowed while I jumped out of each stolen car and hit the ground running and firing on target, switching between weapons flawlessly for maximum effectiveness, and jumping into new vehicles to tear off and begin the chase again. I was a master of “rage mode,” as my friends and I called this way of playing GTA.

But what did I get out of that flow? Surely a lot of laughs and demonic pleasure, but zero self improvement or growth.

But what if GTA was somehow modified into an educational game? I can’t even imagine how, but what if? Would it be fun if I had to stop and think? Or even think at all? It seems that flow and enjoyment through total engagement with video games is usually because the user is reacting and using practiced skills based on reactions, not meaningful thought. It seems like injecting academic content into a game could potentially kill the whole experience. Educational games can’t compete with the furious reactions-type games, like first-person shooters and sports games... but I think there is the potential to at least use the medium to engage students, especially “gamers” who are drawn to the medium. 

But that leads to another problem... Do we really want more kids playing more video games, and at school… especially those who are already spending huge chunks of their lives overstimulated, jerking thumbs with glossy eyes at a flashing blue screen. Perhaps these kids are better off reading books, creating with their learning, and discussing ideas with human beings… or perhaps the ultimate educational game just hasn’t been created yet?

Bowman, R.F. 1982. A Pac-Man theory of motivation. Tactical implications for classroom instruction. Educational Technology 22(9), 14-17.

Selection & Integration of Instruction Technology, TIM Matrix Assignment Link

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uVN6FWaXWA2iJoej5Gw6R0G29YxiJKuXfow8sqXGTUU/edit?pli=1&hl=en_US

Flatter than the Real World

What is the Flat Classroom?
Dr. Z (UNI Ed Tech guru) has recently introduced me to the Flat Classroom Project led by Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay. It is a “global collaborative project” undertaken by middle and high school students from around the world. Students communicate with Web 2.0 tools such as wiki spaces, instant messaging, and Skype to improve tech skills and learn about other students’ cultures and perspectives while they create projects based on the topics raised in Thomas Friedman’s book, The World is Flat. I have signed up to be an “expert advisor” on Globalization and Outsourcing for this project. One of FCP’s videos states: “Flat classroom projects have the power to produce international citizens with a world view based on understandings, not misinformed bias.”

I’m all for open communication, and studying and giving value to different cultures. But whose idea was it to dedicate educational objectives to producing “international citizens?” I speak three languages, have a BA in Anthropology, I've traveled extensively and lived and taught abroad... but I am definitely still an American citizen.

America's industry and wealth are out the window. Disinformation and Bread and Circus makes citizens increasingly unaware, apathetic, impoverished and enslaved to an encroaching police-nanny state that serves a corporatocracy. This country may be fermenting, but my objective as a social studies educator is to help students understand where that wealth and liberty was lost, by studying history. Thus, as an American teacher in the USA, I want to produce American citizens with informed worldviews. American citizens can still teach and learn in a flat classroom project.

With regard to the last part of that aforementioned statement in the FCP video, “understanding, not misinformed bias,” I must highlight a key consideration. Who exactly are the students in the Flat Classroom Project? There are students from public schools in the USA, and students from international schools in several different countries. Ok, so that means that there will be a great diversity of perspectives to weigh in on the topic of globalism in Friedman’s book, right? Well, we need to understand that students who attend international schools may not necessarily be of such diverse perspectives, based on their common socioeconomic standing. International schools serve the children of the wealthiest members of society in their respective cities, usually with considerable populations of foreigners working for a multinational corporation. International schools and students are direct products of globalization. International schools' students’ families have benefited from globalization, and of course, will likely share a common perspective that is favorable of it. I highly doubt that the students who attend Brazil’s public schools for half days (because the government can’t afford to provide full days) in crowded classrooms of 50 or more students with no computers or access to the internet will contribute to such projects. The same applies to those millions of lower class students from Africa, or China, or India, etc.

International collaborative online learning projects like FCP indeed create unique learning opportunities for participants, and can help to broaden horizons of students. Yet one must bear in mind who exactly all of these international students are, and consider what bias they will carry based on their SES and backgrounds. To truly develop a diverse understanding of the "flat world”, we need to hear from the students who have been negatively affected by globalization and outsourcing. Children of jobless American autoworkers, Chinese factory slaves, and fatherless Indian farm children would contribute very different perspectives than children of wealthy business and government elites.
So what is the flat classroom? I don't believe it exists. Will it?

Who Benefits in a "Flat World?"

In response to Globalization and Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat":

 

In “Globalization 1.0”, the most technologically advanced nations sent their killers to Africa, India, Asia, and the Americas to harvest souls, land, slaves, and resources. They also often set up colonies, or installed puppet governments to rule the natives while sucking wealth and rewarding a few cooperative elite rulers. The British Empire eventually consolidated most of this industry, and since WWII, the United States of America has taken over the brunt of the work. “Globalization 1.0” is still in effect, however, multinational banks and corporations from “Globalization 2.0” are now the driving force. Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya exemplify what may be called "Globalization 1.5."

"I LOVE CLUSTER BOMBS!"

Image Source

In  “Globalization 2.0”, corporations transgressed borders and became incredibly wealthy and powerful, “flattening” the international economic playing field by becoming more powerful than many nation states. Multinational corporations have overthrown nations by force and by stealth. Insiders profit from the destruction and rebuilding of countries, such as Halliburton and former CEO/Vice President Dick Cheney’s massive profits from the Iraq War and other conflicts. [1]

Impossible-to-repay IMF loans and false promises of future prosperity have conned leaders from third-world nations into massive infrastructure projects sold by “Economic Hit Men” or forced by “Jackals.” Increased debt and social stratification resulted in the majority of these suckered states. [2]

Back home in the USA, American jobs have been off-shored, largely to China, where a massive workforce of destitute poor will clamber for slave-wage factory jobs. The low labor cost allows corporations to sell cheap Chinese goods to Americans with a deflating currency and shrinking job market.  Call centers and financial firms in India and other countries service American corporations, lowering their overheads and further shrinking service sector opportunities for Americans.

Friedman calls outsourcing “collaboration,” framing it as a positive social force. [3] This form of collaboration seems to most benefit corporate executives’ bottom line. Perhaps my perspective on collaboration is different than that of Friedman, himself a multimillionaire and married into one of America’s 100 wealthiest families, the Bucksbaums. [4]

In “Globalization 3.0,” Friedman states that individuals and small groups have the power to globalize. However, what does this actually mean? How much do individuals actually benefit from globalization? And even if individuals “go global,” will it ever change the existing power structure set in place during “Globalizations” 1 and 2?

Surely, the world economy appears to have been “flattened” by globalization, but the hills of American prosperity were not necessarily plowed into the valleys of third world nations. Americans were promised increased jobs due to off-shoring (itself an oxymoron), and the present state of our economy easily refutes that. With actual unemployment rates hovering around 22% (not 9% as is presented by mass media), the United States in dire straights. [5] Yes, all of these outsourced jobs are now employing people in China, India, and other countries. But Globalization has fundamentally, or radically altered the cultures and economies of nations in arguably destructive ways.

·      Does it benefit anyone (except McDonald’s executives and investors) to sell silicon and petroleum-laced chicken nuggets and heart-stopping French fries to people around the globe who have traditionally eaten local organic foods? [6] 

 

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·      Is it right that Monsanto has “collaborated” with Indian government officials to convince farmers into purchasing and planting their ineffective and expensive genetically modified Bt cotton seed? [7] Bt creates eternal dependence on Monsanto, as farmers must purchase more seed every year because the GMO product is sterile. Some 200,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide since Indian agriculture came under corporate control in 1997. [8]

·       Does it really benefit Chinese farm children to abandon their subsistence lifestyle in favor of moving to cities to live in dormitories, work 18 hours a day six days a week, and endure exposure to unregulated toxic chemicals and dangerous working conditions with no job security, in order to be able to participate in the global economy of fast money, Levi jeans, and MTV? Recently, a wave of suicides in Apple’s iPad factories in China has led to window fencing to stop “jumpers”, security crackdowns, and forced “no suicide” pledges for workers. [9]

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So Globalization is here, for better or worse. How will it affect education?

In a nightmare scenario, teaching jobs will be outsourced to private firms based in China and India, where highly educated, fluent English-speaking nationals will instruct Americans via the internet on the cheap. So many Americans will be unemployed that state and federal government will justify its resort to outsourced education as a result of dismally low tax revenue. Children will flock into cyberspace for their “global education”, and to escape their “flattened” communities, and become complacent, brainwashed zombies. And eventually, America will completely collapse into a 3^rd world state and China, India, and Brazil may begin to outsource their industrial production to United States!

In a best case scenario, informed teachers will facilitate a critical study of Globalization based on real evidence and not what corporate-whore politicians and media figures tell them. Enlightened students will go into the world armed with knowledge and technology, produce and consume locally, and engage in commerce in ethical ways that will reverse the negative impacts of corporate Globalization.  I hope that this is the culmination of “Globalization 3.0.” Check my sources!

1.     http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/about_hal/about.html

2.     Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins; 

      also view http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFC18pFvo1g

3.     http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/266

4.     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/billionaire-scion-tom-fri_b_26164.html

5.     http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21656

6.     http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/a-little-silicone-and-petrol-in-your-mcnuggets/

7.     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton#Genetic_modification

8.     http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-05/world/india.farmer.suicides_1_farmer-suicides-andhra-pradesh-vandana-shiva?_s=PM:WORLD

9.     http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1282481/iPad-factory-suicides-China.html