Week 4: Monday, World of Warcraft Wrap up

Task Discussion

• 
  DelightfulDoowangle   April 10, 2012, 8:56 p.m.

  Gratitude

  Untold thanks to our capable guides and willing peers as we dove into World of Warcraft this week. Chris Dede of Harvard spoke of how educators must learn to unlearn in his keynote during the 2012 Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference. 

  Unlearning to me as a noob in World of Warcraft meant becoming vulnerable and dependent until I achieved enough self efficacy to navigate and even use new tools to ask for help. There were occasional frustrations as I pulled a Leeroy Jenkins running into an area where perils abound resulting in multiple deaths and respawns. "A little help here please" came not from me who was busy dying, but from my guide and capable, trusted colleague, Dr. Frankie Antonelli. She spent hours working with me grinding  to levels making it possible to participate in mass chaos with the guilds. Sometimes I felt like Icarus, feeling the warmth of the sun just before everything went gray and alas. I was in the graveyard. Again.

  Convening together with for dicussion in WoW among the various educators was transformative for me. Favorite game-based researchers, practioners, and theories could be shared without concern for being too fringe. My dissertation topic must incorporate some concepts that must be experienced and translated. After the fifth time in WoW I bought a subscription and vow to make time I do not have to delve deeper into the community of praxis. 

  How fitting that this week, Dr. Frankie and I attended a grants day sponsored by our university where we learned of the plans for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)  to focus on collaborative problem solving in 2015. The current 2012 PISA focus surrounds problem solving and research into the science of teams such as found of Teamscience.net sets up the type of interdisiplinary collaboration required to level up in World of Warcraft.

  Perhaps this Collaboration and Team Science Field Guide created by the United States Government will help me and others tackle wicked problems that affect us all. If practicing in WoW, can make me a better collaborator, I am all in. Thanks again everyone! 

   

       

   

   

• 
  Jack Mosel (Jack Buxbaum in Second Life!) @moseljack (Twitter)   April 10, 2012, 10:26 p.m.
  In Reply To:   DelightfulDoowangle   April 10, 2012, 8:56 p.m.

  Just...

   

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkCNJRfSZBU

   

  Jack

• 
  Beverly G. McCarter   April 11, 2012, 8:59 a.m.
  In Reply To:   Jack Mosel (Jack Buxbaum in Second Life!) @moseljack (Twitter)   April 10, 2012, 10:26 p.m.

  One of my favorites! It's a great example of the leadership dynamics in WoW.... And how a lack of coordinated teamwork can negatively impact the effort. ;). Although they did say they only had a 33.3% chance of succeeding (and that was better than they usually did!). Thanks for sharing it, Jack. Bev

• 
  DelightfulDoowangle   April 11, 2012, 9:02 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Jack Mosel (Jack Buxbaum in Second Life!) @moseljack (Twitter)   April 10, 2012, 10:26 p.m.

  Such a funny and clever video. Easy to imagine how Leeroy could get impatient and toss caution to the wind.  

  Instructional Design Aspects

  Here are some thoughts about the chunking, sequence, and activities of WoW week. It was so helpful to have the pre-WoW immersion meetings in SL to have an orientation. The information provided was adequate to give just enough support without being overly explanatory. Experiencing WoW, especially with others in a group and having the benefit of audio was most useful. The pace was brisk. Occasionally I felt anxious trying to navigate and complete tasks, but enough pauses were built in to reconnoiter.  

  The $50 trick of depressing both mouse keys to navigate was the biggest boon to keep pace. Remember my epic fall trying to jump on the boat where everyone already gathered? Whew! How nice to be cheered on and not get behind. Just made it. 

  Running in a pack was so exhilarating. When we were all together in the city center in the Alliance it was astounding to try and sort out who was who among our own group and who were players that came up to us out of curiosity. 

  The complexity of the tasks assigned to us each night were manageable. How fun to jump all the time to communicate that we were paying attention or show readiness and solidarity. Boing, boing!

  The synchronous guild chat with 3DGameLab drove home the value of engaging in WoW. The game itself for me is a laboratory that just happens to be very engaging. More questions are forming in my mind and I do want to continue to explore other MMOs as well. 

  I do not really feel like I am role playing though in WoW yet. So far it just feels like I am watching a cute game character. When Delightful wears a medieval gown in Second Life I feel more like a damsel. I am still too shy to actually role play in voice in theatre, but as the emotions get more unclogged I can see how easier it may become to slip in and out of role in Second Life. This is the true power of SL in my mind. My AV in open sim has a weak connection so far too.

  Will I eventually feel really attachment to the WoW characters? Angela said chosing a name is very important. Perhaps she meant it just for that reason. In Second Life I was so shy until last year. It is hard to explain how I would explore places on my own and then choose to leave or go somewhere else as soon as a green dot showed up. In real life I am sociable and will talk to anyone about everything ;-) I do not want to feel lonely in WoW and I hope with the new friends made in this mooc that we can continue our explorations as shedules allow. Shared experience is such an amplifier. 

  The battlefield and dungeons went by too fast for me to process. My instinct was to run first, then defend, which is why I dies a lot. I need more exposure to see how the game mechanics work. Much more practice is needed to wield newly acquired powers. Any advice on how to save time learning will be most valuable.  

  At some point I would like to apply the machinima skills learned during week 2 of this mooc to make WoW examples to illustrate some of the findings of Constance Steinkuhler and other researchers. 

  It would be nice to show clips for faculty development sessions. Reflections posted afterwards are also critical. Blogging is something I am still learning how to use the tools. When you do not use the tools everyday and everyday stress piles up it is easy to get defeated. Gridjumper and some others in our mooc are exemplary for how they share so quickly and naturally. 

  Everyone working and playing in these environments must be resilent and compassionate for other learners. Our lurkers on this mooc are incubating their thoughts and ideas. I cannot wait to hear more from them when they are ready. Thanks everyone for all the support and encouragement ;-) I hope my insights are useful.