open educational resources

GCIEL activity, community, and HASTAC 2017

Since October I have been working hard to establish an immersive environments lab at Grinnell College and have been making some significant headway toward getting this project off the ground. With the launch last week of the Grinnell College Immersive Experiences Lab (GCIEL) website and the delivery of some VR-capable desktops and associated hardware, it…Read more GCIEL activity, community, and HASTAC 2017

Unity C# Quest Scripts

 Introduction The C# Unity scripts I wrote for the Uncle Sam Plantation project create a basic quest structure that guides players through a 3D game or simulation. My research into 3D digital game-based language learning environments show that goal-directed player activity in these environments provide learners of a second language and culture with a more…Read more Unity C# Quest Scripts

German language and culture skills: One way to stand out as a job candidate

When I was an associate professor of German, one area of program growth I was keenly interested in was language for specific purposes (LSP), otherwise known as a “Business German” or “German For Your Career” track. By making tangible connections between what students learned in the German program and internship or employment opportunities after graduation,…Read more German language and culture skills: One way to stand out as a job candidate

Educating the world with open educational resources

It has been a while since I last posted on my research blog. Since then I have moved across five states and two time zones to accept a new position as Digital Liberal Arts Specialist in the Digital Liberal Arts Collective (DLAC) at Grinnell College. Our mission, as is explained on our website, is to "help the…Read more Educating the world with open educational resources

MOOCs, outreach, and program growth

I read an interesting article today on NPREd about free online courses (MOOCs) and what was learned when the data generated by 1.7 million online students in EdX. Although I read the report earlier and was already familiar with the findings, I was particularly struck by what some people wrote in the comments: In many ways, these…Read more MOOCs, outreach, and program growth

5-Minute German Grammar

I have been teaching the same introductory German sequence for, oh, 8 years now and yesterday I finally came to the conclusion that I need a change. Really bad. I want to spend more time in class actually working on important skills - speaking, writing, discussing cultural artifacts - and less time on covering grammar. I…Read more 5-Minute German Grammar

Away For Much Too Long

It's been several months since posting my last entry and it's time to get back down to business. Reason for my absence has been partly professional, and partly pure digital distraction. Let's start with the last point first. After having played Battlefield 2142 for, oh, a *really* long time, I decided to step up to…Read more Away For Much Too Long

Download Game Prototype

The Digital Bahnhof (DigiBahn) Project is an interdisciplinary software development initiative seeking to program a 3D digital game-based learning (3D-DGBL) environment for teaching German language, vocabulary, and culture to advanced high school and beginning university students. The current basic prototype addresses the topics of recycling and waste management in Germany and has been developed to…Read more Download Game Prototype

Creating Instructional Materials

Now that the game prototype is finished, I have been spending time getting the instructional materials ready. First to be created was the story, which the students will read before doing the related exercises and playing the game: I was able to find several websites dealing with recycling in Germany and Austria (Berlin sammelt and…Read more Creating Instructional Materials

Walk-Through for DigiBahn Game Level

A few days ago I made a video highlighting the finished game, essentially a walk-through of the environment. After capturing the video with FRAPS, I put the computer on standby and went off to teach. Once I came back to the office a few hours later I found, to my horror, that the computer would…Read more Walk-Through for DigiBahn Game Level