Concept Art (very basic) for something I am working on.

Deceiving Children

Normally I would not advocate lying to children. Although my father did it to me:

Dad: "remember Cole, you don't like Butterfingers. You should give them to me, since I do like them"

Me: "ok daddy!" (I lost many Halloween Butterfingers that way!)

However, in the world of educational games, I think that tricking the kids is king. In his book, The Last Lecture, (a very non-academic resource) Randy Pausch talks about this very idea being the brain child of the Alice Project. The idea is, make the game fun, and the students won't even realize they are learning. I think it is important that they play educational games for the fun factor rather than the learning factor. It is kind of like those high school English novels we all had to read. Many of them were great pieces of literature, but we still hated reading them because we were forced to. If we can trick the kids into forgetting the forced learning part and focus instead on the fun, they start to enjoy learning.

So one important question then is "how do I know if my game is fun enough?" I really liked the first item on Marc Prensky's list of Digital Game Based Learning Principles. He basically says that the game should attract both the target audience and those who are not the target audience. As far as game developing goes, I am of the opinion that as much attention as is given the educational aspect of the game, an equal or greater portion needs to be put into the fun part of the game.

Wild West Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

So if you haven't been able to tell by the layout, this is my first blog. I have posted to my wife's blog about two times, so with this post I will already surpass all my previous blogging experience. Something else I am a bit new with is cooking. I mean, I have loved cooking for years now, but I have just recently started actually spending good amounts of time on really getting better at it. I would not call myself a foodie yet, but who knows, maybe someday.

For my first foray into blogging about food, I am going to post a recipe inspired by a wonderful chicken sandwich from Chili's. As the title implies, there is buffalo sauce on this sandwich. Buffalo sauce has been an acquired taste for me. I am not a big fan of vinegar based sauces in general, but have grown to love buffalo sauce because I love chicken wings so much. So anyway, my wife loved these sandwiches, and I hope you do too:

Wild West Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

• 2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup Flour
• Generous amounts of your favorite spices (I use garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, and lots of Cavender,s greek seasoning)
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• Vegetable oil
• 12 Slices of bread or 6 hamburger buns
• Ranch dressing
• Spinach lettuce
• 6 slices of cheese
• Buffalo wing sauce

Slice each breast into three pieces. (I like to cut off the thin end for one, and slice horizontally through the thick end to make two more.) On medium heat, fill a frying pan with about half an inch of oil. In one small mixing bowl, mix together flour and spices. In another small mixing bowl, beat egg. Put bread crumbs into a third small mixing bowl. Dip each chicken slice into first the flour, then the egg, and last the bread crumbs, making sure to coat both sides of the chicken with each mixture. Place chicken in hot oil and cook on each side for 1-3 minutes. Remove chicken and place on a plate with paper towels. Lightly toast bread if desired. Prepare bread with ranch dressing, lettuce, and cheese. Add chicken and pour buffalo sauce over chicken. Enjoy!

Chemistry online....really?

So one of the reasons that I am working on my Masters of Educational Technology is that I want to be able to teach online. Being the fun-lovin' guy that I am, I am hoping to integrate games into the mix. One such game that is generally very open to online education is Second Life. I am even taking an online class now that meets weekly in second life. We are able to speak with each other, perform activities, have round table discussions, and fly. I like falling without my parachute, it makes a splat sound when you hit the ground.

Check out that picture up top from our first day in class. That's me!

Anyway, my concern is: how do you teach Chemistry in a Second Life atmosphere? English and History lend themselves very well to Second Life. You can create art in the game, recreate civilizations, put on plays, manipulate objects for Math and Physics, but how do I show chemical reactions? My professor gave a good idea that I can create objects that represent atoms and molecules and create rules for combining them that simulate the laws by which atoms behave. He also noted that the sciences are an under-represented area in second life. I hope to be able to find some ways to change that. I think that the learners are ready and waiting, we just need to find some more creative ideas.

I think ultimately, that is what I am hoping to get out of my Second Life class this year. My concern is that creating effective online, interactive Chemistry teaching is going to prove to be quite a challenge. I do think it can be done though.

Wish me luck!

About me...

Well, I love to cook, I teach high school chemistry, and that makes me an educator. My family (wife and two kids) and I live in Texas, for now. We are thinking about moving back to our families soon, but we will have to wait and see. Anyway, how I got here (writing this blog). I used to think of myself as a gamer, but being a teacher does not allow me to spend much time gaming, or much money to buy them. I still have a fondness for games, and play when I can, but I guess you could say I have grown up. Not that I am too old for games (not possible), I just have other more pressing responsibilities at the moment. So even if I don't have time for games, I still have to eat, so I figured, why not cook? I love food, and I love chemistry. Cooking is the perfect way to experience both. My wife considers herself very lucky, she also loves food.

On the education front, I not only teach, but am also working on my Masters of Educational Technology at Boise State University. Technically, this blog post is an assignment. I have been wanting to start a blog for a bit though, so I decided to use the assignment as a great opportunity to dive into the blogging world. I am neither a great cook, chemist, or educator...yet. But I do think I have a little something to offer. So check back to see the occasional recipe, chemistry class story, or education soap box.