Short Sims

Short Sims: A Game Changer explores the design concepts, dialogue, and formatting of interactive simulations. Interactivity is the key to effective educational media in schools, corporations, the military, and government. However, challenges like ineffective linear content or expenses can derail the product. This book provides a proven methodology to guide anyone through the steps of quickly creating highly engaging and responsive content. The process combines decades of research and implementations with leading organizations (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Harvard Business School Publishing, Visa, State Department) with new tools that have just emerged. Key Features This book provides numerous code examples to illustrate how to put the techniques into practice. It includes expanded introductions to mathematics fundamental to computer graphics and game development. Graphics and physics are covered in introductory overviews. Author Bio Clark Aldrich is an education technology thought leader—the author of six books and developer of patent and award-winning projects. He currently builds custom Short Sims for organizations using a revolutionary methodology he has pioneered, or helps them build their own, through www.shortsims.com. He is also the host of an audio series called Education X Media (www.edbymedia.com) about evolving pedagogy in academics, corporations, and the military. ​ He has been called a "guru" by Fortune Magazine and a "maverick" by CNN. Aldrich and his work have been featured in hundreds of other sources, including CBS, ABC, The New York Times, USA Today, the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, NPR, CNET, Business 2.0, BusinessWeek, and U.S. News and World Report. He has written monthly columns for Training Magazine and Online Learning Magazine. Previously, he was the founder and former director of research for Gartner’s e-learning coverage. Earlier in his career, he worked on special projects for Xerox' executive team. He also served for many years as the Governor's representative on the education task force Joint Committee on Educational Technology, volunteered on several non-profit organizations aimed at child advocacy, and has served on numerous boards. He earned from Brown University a degree in cognitive science (during which he also taught at a leading environmental education foundation). He grew up in Concord, Massachusetts, and is the ninth great-grandson of Governors John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley, first and second governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Captain Walter Neale, the first colonial governor of lower New Hampshire.

Your Microlearning Primer Microlearning. Is it a text message or a video? Does it need to be shorter than five minutes? Do you just “chunk” a longer course into smaller pieces? Find the answers to these and other questions in this concise, comprehensive, and first-of-its-kind resource that will accommodate the most- and least-informed about microlearning. Gleaning insights from research, theory, and practice, authors Karl M. Kapp and Robyn A. Defelice debunk the myths around microlearning and present their universal definition. In Microlearning: Short and Sweet, they go beyond the hypothetical and offer tips on putting microlearning into action. Recognizing what makes microlearning effective is critical to avoiding costly, wasteful investments in the latest learning trend or newest shiny object. Only by understanding the nuances behind it can you decide what format and style suits your needs. Whether you are creating an individual product or a series of learning solutions, you need to follow a well-designed plan. This book guides readers through how, when, and why to design, develop, implement, and evaluate microlearning. Case studies punctuate what works and what doesn’t. User-friendly and highly accessible, this book is a must-have for instructional designers and anyone interested in microlearning.

“An enthusiastic, example-rich argument for innovating in a particular way—by deliberately experimenting and taking small exploratory steps in novel directions. Light, bright, and packed with tidy anecdotes” (The Wall Street Journal). What do Apple CEO Steve Jobs, comedian Chris Rock, prize-winning architect Frank Gehry, and the story developers at Pixar films all have in common? Bestselling author Peter Sims found that rather than start with a big idea or plan a whole project in advance, they make a methodical series of little bets, learning critical information from lots of little failures and from small but significant wins. Reporting on a fascinating range of research, from the psychology of creative blocks to the influential field of design thinking, Sims offers engaging and illuminating accounts of breakthrough innovators at work, and a whole new way of thinking about how to navigate uncertain situations and unleash our untapped creative powers.

Ryder Malone is content to practice indigent defense from his mountainside cabin overlooking Longstreet, the perfect little tourist town. But after a chance encounter with a prisoner in the county jail, he discovers there is a dark underside surrounding Hickory Mountain, and it’s threatening his love and his life. Will he survive long enough to discover who’s murdering innocent men? ~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~ The prisoner clutched the bars so hard his knuckles were white. His nails were clean, and he wore chinos, a purple Izod shirt, and red-laced boots that looked like they came from Neiman Marcus. He was maybe in his mid-forties, average height and trim, and he wore tortoiseshell glasses. A good haircut. Clean shaven. Not a typical prisoner in any jail Malone had ever seen. “Yes, I’m a lawyer. Ryder Malone.” “I’m Mark Coker. I need a lawyer. They just pulled me over this morning, said I was weaving, then claimed they found a hidden gun in my car. I wasn’t weaving, and I don’t even own a gun. They won’t let me use the phone. I can pay you.” Malone handed him his card and asked, “Where are you from, Mr. Coker? What do you do?” “I’m an architect from Marietta. I was supposed to meet clients on a mountain tract overlooking a lake named Amadahy,” said Coker. “Lake Amadahy is in Nolan County. Next county up.” “Well, I took a dirt road on the right going up a mountain, which was what I was looking for,” said Coker. “But I came to a group of trashy houses and trailers. A big metal garage with tractor-trailer trucks. Parts, rusty equipment scattered all over the place. I figured this had to be the wrong road, so I turned around. When I got back on the highway, I didn’t get far before blue lights lit me up from behind, and I pulled over. Then another car came rushing in with lights flashing, blocking me from the front.” “The second car came in right away?” Malone asked. “It all happened real fast,” Coker said, nodding. “I didn’t know what was happening.” That seemed odd. A coordinated stop-and-block on a weaving case when the guy had just gotten on the road? Malone assumed there was something Coker wasn’t telling him, a common phenomenon in the world of criminal defense. “Have you made any statements?” Malone asked. Coker shook his head. “They haven’t asked me anything. I told them that wasn’t my gun.” “Okay. Don’t make any statements, don’t talk about your case. I have to talk to the DA on Snead’s case tomorrow, I’ll see what he has to say. Maybe he will agree to a bond.” He quoted a retainer, and Coker gave him the names and numbers of his wife and his attorney in Marietta. Malone assured Coker he would contact his wife immediately and started to leave. Then he thought of another question. He turned back toward the cell. “When you turned around where the trucks and all were, did you see or talk to anybody?” A witness who could say Coker wasn’t drunk would help. “There was a man who came rolling out from under a truck on one of those flat things with wheels, you know, like mechanics lie down on. He stood up wiping his hands on a greasy rag, and just shook his head when I asked if the road went to Lake Amadahy.” “What did he say?” asked Malone. “Nothing. Nothing at all. Shook his head no, that’s it,” said Coker.

Technological failure results when one side in a conflict does not fully grasp the potential impact of known, or even familiar, weapons in the enemyas hands. In most cases, such failure resulted from higher officialsa ignorance or their total misunderstanding of the importance and relevance of such technology and science as well as of their application to warfare. Technological failure is also the root cause of technological surprise. While operational surprise on the battlefield poses grave problems, technological surprise is far more serious, because, as Azriel Lorber explains, it often leads to disasters on the battlefield and is more difficult to recover from. In too many cases, technological failure and surprise stem from all-too-human characteristics, such as self-satisfaction, disdain for the adversary, obtuseness, and conservatism. Because these traits show no evidence of disappearing, political decision makers and military commanders should be aware that technological failure and technological surprise could happen at any time."

All games are potentially transformative experiences because they engage the player in dynamic action. When repurposed in an educational context, even highly popular casual games played online to pass the time can engage players in a way that deepens learning. Games as Transformative Experiences for Critical Thinking, Cultural Awareness, and Deep Learning: Strategies & Resources examines the learning value of a wide variety of games across multiple disciplines. Organized just like a well-made game, the book is divided into four parts highlighting classroom experiences, community and culture, virtual learning, and interdisciplinary instruction. The author crosses between the high school and college classroom and addresses a range of disciplines, both online and classroom practice, the design of curriculum, and the transformation of assessment practices. In addition to a wealth of practical exercises, resources, and lesson ideas, the book explains how to use a wide and diverse range of games from casual to massively multiplayer online games for self-improvement as well as classroom situations.