Exercise 6.3: Trust and reputation: how is it achieved?

The two communities I’ve chosen are Facebook and the community created when you conduct a Webex session.

Facebook

Usability, sociability and sustainability

I’ve now been using Facebook for about 4 months, but I have still not used all its functionally. However, as I try each new function, I am impressed with how easy it is. Way back at the dawn of the web, creating webpages with images was a real chore. The flexibility to be able to import videos, still images, links while being able to comment, share and tag these bits of content is awesome.

The ease that all this is accomplished makes the Facebook experience very compelling from a socialibity and sustainability point of view. If the site is easy to use,people are deriving some benefit from visiting it and they feel that they can control access to their content and the people who visit the site, they will continue to use the site. For me, Facebook has all of these things.

Webex

Usability, sociability and sustainability

Although Webex may not be considered a community in the conventional sense, I believe that a community can be created to solve a single problem or issue: It has a purpose, people and a size defined by the number of people at the meeting. So – I would like to use Webex in this context. I was very impressed by the Webex meeting last night for a number of reasons.

Firstly, Webex’s usability was very impressive. Being able to share and present your desktop to anyone in the group is a powerful function. Being able to go beyond a ‘screenshot’ to being able to ‘drive’ an application ‘live’ is huge.

Secondly, although much of the good humour and warmth (socialbility) was due to the wonderful personality of Justine, Webex also supported this through its panel where users could vote, emote, signal that they wanted to talk etc.

When a product is both highly usable and sociable, it becomes sustainable through attractiveness of use to any community.

Exercise 6.1: Design rules and your CSU forum experience

Purpose, people and community size in online communities.

Because we are united in the same learning context (ie this subject) the purpose of the group interaction is reasonably clear. However, some people's motivation seems to be purely to 'pass the subject' whereas others have a more genuine interest in finding out more about it. Of course there are also the people who fall between these two groups. I have enjoyed that through this group, my conservatism has been challenged and I have been required to engage with a huge variety of online learning tools. The joy of it is that I have met many new and stimulating new friends both inside and outside the course.

Each new tool has had its own challenges and thrills. Besides the challenge of learning to engage with the tools, the biggest one has been to feel 'connected' to the process and people. Two experiences that I have enjoyed were using Skype to connect with a fellow POD member and using RSS to stay in touch with what other classmates were writing on their blogs (and to ensure I was not falling too far behind).

At the centre of the class is the subject forum and this has been the most useful because it is the most used and is the main meeting point. The threads make archiving the information easy and even though the messages are very short they often provide much useful information.

The POD group effectiveness has suffered greatly because of the diminishing numbers. Ideally a POD should be sustained at 6-8 members in order to provide a diversity of view and to 'share' the workload. My POD (Blue) is down to 2 members so its more like a conversation (mainly via skype) than a forum of any kind. The second assignment (which requires a full strength POD) will be impossible to do without greater numbers. There does not seem to be enough time to not only build facility with the tools but also develop relationships within the online learning environments.

Its all been a bit rushed but, I guess it needs to be if we are able to cover a vast amount of territory in a short period of time. If we had the time to develop the relationships and to master the complete functionality of those tools that all agreed were to be more effective, then the forum experience would be more enjoyable.

Exercise 6.2: Wiki and Moodle design

What is it about the design of the wiki and Moodle that you liked or disliked?

What features do wiki and Moodle have in common and what are the differences (eg a Wiki, Forum and blogtool is also groupware design feature inside a Moodle site) ?

Is the presence of likeable features also a combination of the design tips for usability, sociability and sustainability, as advocated by Preece and Kim in earlier topics?

I've had a look around the ispg.csu.edu.au/moodle moodle but I don't think the full functionality is being explored.

People are using the blog part but I use moodle very differently at my school.

In my ICT subjects, all work is delivered, created and marked online. The scoring and work comments are sent via moodle to students and the results are collated into a spreadsheet that can be exported into the marking software we use (Markbook).

All digital resources are located in a digital library and I archive all student work so that I can show the new class examples of what is required.

I hardly ever use the blog or wiki function. I can see how a wiki would be fantastic and I will start using this function next. The great thing about Wikis is that they facilitate a process of context enrichment and debate that is moderated to ensure that sources are acknowledged and the knowledge is as 'pure' as it can be. Making access to wikis open ensures that if anyone has a different view, then they are able to challenge the status quo provided they follow the same sourcing guidelines as anyone else. Although the 'content enrichment process happens across a moodle, unless the wiki function is used, the knowledge can be spread across chats, forums, assignment work and lists to such an extent that the core elements of the site are too disparate to be of great use.

Being able to use 'likeable' functions such as images, emoticons, chat and a wide range of dialog styles can personalise the learning and teaching experience a great deal and for some students this can be a big motivator. If my students were geographically isolated from the school and each each other, these features would be a big advantage is bringing students together as people and to make the site more sustainable

Because my students are all in the same physical classroom as me, it is more convenient and effective to communicate with them 'in the real world' than via the blog.

I love moodle.

Exercise 4.3 (b) Social networking tools for your "PLN"

Make a up a social profile at two new social networking sites, using one from each list or from any you found online.

I've made up social profiles on Facebook (last updated a week ago) and on LinkedIn. The two profiles were very different because of the way I regard each site.

Facebook started off as being frivolous although all information I provided was truthful. It described the lighter 'more arty' side of me. I wanted to have fun with the site, so I welcomed lots of applications for friends. As it developed, I got some much frivolity on my wall that I got really sick of it. I began 'culling' my friends and blocking the nuisances. Now its really pared down and I only receive information that I'm interested in from people who I know and respect.

I was very perfunctory with this site because I am really not looking for another job. I have the dream job and I cannot think of anywhere else I'd rather be. So I did not have much motivation to dust off the the old cvs and present myself as an attractive prospect for HR people. Been there done that - YUK! However, if employment was not the only outcome of LinkedIn and genuine knowledge exchange was the object then I could see real value in it - provided the database had real integrity in terms of talent and scope. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to really test this.

Exercise 5.2: Social architects and online games

Social Architecture

Andrew Gent in the 'Incredibly Dull' website offers the following definition:

Social architecture is the conscious design of an environment that encourages certain social behavior leading towards some goal or set of goals.

http://incrediblydull.blogspot.com/2009/04/social-architecture.html

Facebook - Objectives, rules of engagement and unique features

Facebook received its first investment of US$500,000 in June 2004 from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.[33] This was followed a year later by $12.7 million in venture capital from Accel Partners, and then $27.5 million more from Greylock Partners.[33][34] A leaked cash flow statement showed that during the 2005 fiscal year, Facebook had a net loss of $3.63 million.

In August 2009 Facebook acquired social media real-time news aggregator FriendFeed, a startup created by the former Google employee and Gmail's first engineer Paul Buchheit who coined at Google the phrase "Don't be evil"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook#Financials

Facebook follows two core principles:

1. You should have control over your personal information.

Facebook helps you share information with your friends and people around you. You choose what information you put in your profile, including contact and personal information, pictures, interests and groups you join. And you control the users with whom you share that information through the privacy settings on the Privacy page.

2. You should have access to the information others want to share.

There is an increasing amount of information available out there, and you may want to know what relates to you, your friends, and people around you. We want to help you easily get that information.

Facebook - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Whyville objectives, rules of engagement and unique features

Whyville was launched in 1999 by Numedeon, Inc. to apply over 20 years of research in education and cooperative learning to develop new web-based tools for education.

Researchers have identified the middle school years as a time when children, especially girls, lose their interest in math and science. Studies suggest that exposure to engaging educational and in particular scientific activities during this critical period can substantially influence future academic and career choices. We launched Whyville as a virtual city, which engages young people in constructive educational activities while promoting socially responsible behavior. It is an outgrowth of the company's extensive research and practical experience related to learner-centered, hands-on, inquiry-based education.

http://www.whyville.net/smmk/nice

Conclusion - Are they true social architects?

In my view, both sites are true Social Architectures according to Gent (above). In order for the sites to develop they need finance and resources. The pressure for these sites to remain true to their principles while looking for a revenue model than is sustainable is immense. Both sites require advertising to underwrite their development and what they offer to advertisers is exposure to their enormous communities. Facebook claims a user base of 45 million. As with all modern sites, both are database driven and provides the capability of delivering highly targeted advertising because the choice of advertisements is determined by user choice through search and other navigation throughout the site.

Having joined and experienced both sites, I believe that they both are true to their principles and despite being at best revenue neutral, they DO offer value (not $) to their users and stakeholders. I also believe they provide a positive difference to their communities.

Exercise 5.1: The many faces of you

My personal learning network (PLN) comprises many interfaces including:

MyCSU, Interact, Austar, Wikipedia, Facebook, Google, Images, Email, Edumail, Skype, Blogspot, Broadband ISP, Moodle, Ning, Secondlife

Do you show multiple identities or are you consistent across all instances?

Part of me is consistent and part of me changes - it depends on what interface I'm interacting with. For instance in my blog (Blogspot), I'm pretty focussed on responding to the requirements of 510 in as few words as possible. In Facebook, however, I don't discuss the academic side of my life. Its about old and new friends, keeping in touch with fellow musicians and setting up real world meetings. I use Moodle purely to deliver the courses I teach at my school. It has everything to do with curriculum delivery and assessment....and so it goes. Despite these outward differences, deep inside I feel like I'm always the same person - I'm just showing a different side of me. The real test of whether you are different comes when asked to complete your profile for each interface. I don't do it for everyone because I found that afetr the first few times, I was just repeating myself. It didn't matter whether the site was 'serious' (CSU, Moodle,Blogspot) or 'frivolous' (Facebook)

What does your "persistent identity" online say about you, and what shouldn't it say?

My 'persistent identity' says that I'm a pretty focussed sort of person who has little time for the frivolous. I don't have a problem with that. I'm old enough to know that life is short and that you must get the most out of every waking moment. I don't pretend to think that anything I do is of interest to anyone but I have lately come to realise that in order to find and receive information and support within a network, sometimes you need to tell people about who you are and what you do.

The challenge is to decide how much to divulge and how much to keep to yourself. Obviously I would not divulge banking pin numbers but I would not also divulge a whole lot more information that would not be of use to anyone - just because I don't think it would be necessary for it to be on public domain. So the generic answer is that it should not say anything that you don't want it to say.

4.3.3 Do you have a personal learning network? Look at the potential and challenges of each new site as platforms for learning and inclusion in a PLN

Michelle Bourgeois looks to have got it right. Now I don't have a personal learning network as sophisticated as hers but I can now see that I could and should create one. There are many that I would use. Out of the list I would choose, Youtube, Blogger, Bubbl.us, Linkedin and Teacher Tube would be at the top end.


Those of less use to me would be Twitter, Facebook and Bebo. This is not because I don't believe in frivolous social networking, its just I don't have the time. I spend so much time looking at a computer screen, that I prefer to interact with the real world of earth, air, fire and water in my spare time.


I love the way Michelle has used the best features of each platform and has linked some of them so that followers can see her in another way on another site.


So far, the main PLN in my studies is the one associated with this course. I'm really pleased the way it has developed and that via the links, I don't really need to communicate directly with many people to be aware of what happening in the course.


The challenges in building a PLN operate on several levels. On one level is the technology that has to be mastered in order to get the best out of the software. Then there's finding the time to be a useful and active network member so that you can influence and be influenced by the discourse going on in each of your sites and places of interest.


If you can meet these challenges, the potential for learning and expanding your networks is enormous. Some of the benefits are increased professional competence, access to important information and teaching materials, access to professional opportunities and the chance of increasing your personal and professional support base beyond your immediate real world workplace.

Exercise 4.3 Social networking tools for your "PLN"

Make up a new new table from lists A and B showing which sites have or do not havepotential and challenges as platforms for:

i) Learning

ii) Professional development in the workplace

Site	Learning Potential in working space Yes/No	Comments
Yahoo!	Y	Good directory site
Twitter	N	I don’t care what people do from minute to minute. Year to year is so much better
Bebo	N	School network disallows this site – it must be valueless according to DEET
MySpace	Y	Encourages self promotion and information sharing
Facebook	Y	The value depends on who are your friends. Dumb friends=Low value site
RevYu	N	Everyone’s got an opinion on something and sometimes it’s useful
YouTube	Y	A picture tells a 100 words- a video a million. Great learning platform
Flickr	Y	See above. Getting images to tell stories and explain concepts is great!
Ning	Y	Finally, a site that encourages people to talk to each other ONE subject at a time!
SocialGo	Y	Not as silly as it sounds but really just a web building wizard.
LinkedIn	Y	Great idea for people who see networking purely a stepping stone to knowledge and career building
Digg	Y	Love it. A bit like Facebook but more focussed on documents than experience.
Delicious	Y	Let the technology tell you what people are looking at. Great for marketers. No long term view.
Bubbl.us	Y	Fantastic idea. Not enough sites that help the brainstorming in such a structured way.
TeacherTube	Y	Teachers should be the best social networkers in the world because none have the time to develop all their own resources.
reddit	Y	A bit like Revyu but more book focussed. Very useful.

Exercise 4.2 Hosting good conversations: House Rules!

a) Discuss three ways of providing users with more control in an online community.

1. Provide good learning support through site tours, knowledge banks and maps,
2. Include a chat facility as a back channel to a facilitator to answer questions during the session
3. Provide good context such as an agenda and an opportunity to try the application before a synchronous session.

b) Howard Rheingold wrote the The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online in 1998. What three rules or tips did you find interesting or have experienced so far in your online meetings or interaction?

1. Encourage people to hide long responses or big graphics.
2. Hosts catalyze, facilitate, nurture -- and get outta the way.
3. Let the community co-create its own dramas, shared language, founding myth. These all must precede discussion of creating a social contract -- dramas that all witness and participate in, shared language, rituals, myths, jokes, customs are how people get to know and value one another enough to want to go to the trouble of creating a social contract.

c) Read the ISPG policy for user behaviour in a MOO at http://ispg.csu.edu.au/subjects/cscw/moo/moo-policy.doc and compare it with the Community Guidelines at http://digg.com/guidelines. Why do collaborative social software systems with synchronous and asynchronous communications need to develop a set of “rules of engagement"? Is the need the same or less when using a document sharing systems only?

The ISPG document was far too technical for a newbie like me. I don't have a programming background so I could never do any of the sleazy identity thieving things it spoke of. This doc made MOOs seem very scary places to be. If that was the case, I wouldn't participate anyway.

A 'rules of engagement' is necessary in collaborative social software systems with synchronous and asynchronous communications because often participants are brought together without the community or host knowing too much about their offline personalities, prejudices and peccadillos. These differences can sometimes unwittingly cause conflict and high anxiety. Making the 'rules of engagement' a requirement of participation provides a way out if things get desperate. Understanding that hosts can block people who break the rules sometimes gets people to mitigate their behaviour before they get nasty.

The Digg document was far more friendly and positive but it seemed only to be a document sharing platform therefore asynchronous rather than MOO. With asynchronous platforms, the rules can be more relaxed because unlike MOOs, people can think about their communications far more, before they speak. Also, Digg is really just a referral service. It asks for minimal editorialising beyond the referral and therefore people are less open to disagreement than in the MOO.

Exercise 4.1 Blog or Wiki design

Blogging is still a new thing for me. In terms of design, its important to understand that a blog will probably be only only one part of your Personal Learning Resource.

According to Wikipedia:A blog is (a contraction of the term "weblog")[1] is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

It is only recently that I’ve been able to connect my blog to others by including others sites to follow in my blog. I wanted others to comment on my posts but so far only one person has. According to my blog most people want to lurk but not comment.

I have tried to comment on some sites but have been frustrated by the security procedures to get the post accepted. The best outcome is being able to see the progress of others posts and to confirm that my own work is of a similar quality and stage of development.

The development of the blog has come from me trying to enable every function I can with the blog software and by looking at other blogs to see what others are doing. Some seem to have features I do not have – perhaps they are using different software.

Despite this, I am reasonably happy with my blog. I’ve been able to use images, change the look and feel of the text and to monitor other blogs. Recently I’ve looked into the tracking features to identify user behaviour but I don’t have enough data to make any observations.

In terms of the Kims underlying principles:

Design for growth and change. The design allows for growth (being able to add and edit posts) and change (management and addition of content).

Create and maintain community feedback. Community feedback is technically possible (despite frustrating security procedures) but you can’t force people to give feedback. If nobody cares, nobody comments.

Allow your members to gradually take more control. This can only occur if people want to interact. You can’t make this happen unless you write for your audience – not for yourself. My blog so far is written for myself. I have not tried to promote the blog using internet means (bulletin board seeding, metatagging etc). Maybe I’d get more reaction if I tried this.

Skype Session

I was part of both Skype sessions and I had a very different experience in each. In the 11am session there were only four people (I think) and I only had direct communication with Ken. Two others were there but we couldn't quite get to talk. The communication I had with Ken was clear and useful. We were able to try various configurations and reconnect we we need to. It seemed a very good way to communicate, particularly if it was a 1 to 1 interaction or close. Good for teaching and learning and customer support. The 8pm experience was as frustrating as the 11am one was illuminating. Having about 12 people on at the same time forced the situation where only one person (the one with the microphone) could be heard. Unfortunately, by the time we engineered this scenario, the drop out situation for me became unbearable. I can't believe I spent 40 minutes desperately trying to make sense of a conversation of which I could only hear one in three syllables. The agenda topics were really good, but I'll have to look through the logs to find out what was said. In the past, I have done conference calls on the phone as they seemed to be much easier to do - even with the same number of people as we had. Perhaps the fact that there were 12 people spread all over the place rather than 2 groups of six (in the same room) meant that moderation became infinitely more difficult. My overall view is that Skype is great for reducing your phone bill and talking with no more than two other people (who are not in the same place). There needs to be more overt functionality to alert people on when to listen and when to speak. This is where 'chat rooms' beat Skype hands down.

Moo session

I got into the session and learnt a fair bit about it without being very active. Although I lurked most of the time, I was able to move around the site, save a log, take a few courses, talk and emote a bit, try most of the buttons and to project a slide.

Compared to Second Life (SL) or even some of the Blogger interfaces I've seen, I found the interface very 'old time' - lots of flowery description about the gorgeous environs but no pictures. I think the Moo needs a facelift. I think it was designed to provide the virtual multimedia experience that SL can but it looked to have been designed last century.

I didn't realise who 'Hopper' was until the very end. I didn't get it even when Hopper held up the signs. In terms of its taxonomy, I would put it somewhere between a chat room and SL. It also had elements of a book in that it asked you to visualise what was being described in pictureless text. I liked the idea that people could go to different rooms and I found the emoting was fun. Unfortunately at the end of a hard days teaching, I wasn't as sociable as some of the people in my room.

I think it could be a good 'discovery learning' resource but (perhaps because I was just getting familiar with it) I got the impression that the technology sort of got in the way of communicating and learning. I suppose OUR learning was to engage with the technology rather than communicate anything too profound. If that was the object, I had a positive and useful experience.

ITC510 Assignment Essay 1

Major published works or conference activity over the last ten years and evolution of ideas over the course of that time

Ward Cunningham

Howard G. "Ward" Cunningham (born May 26, 1949) is the American computer programmer who developed the first wiki and HyperCard. A pioneer in both design patterns and Extreme Programming, he started programming the software WikiWikiWeb in 1994 and installed it on the website of his software consultancy, Cunningham & Cunningham (commonly known by its domain name, c2.com), on March 25, 1995, as an add-on to the Portland Pattern Repository. (Wikipedia, 2009)

Adam Curry

Adam Clark Curry (born September 3, 1964 in Washington, D.C.) is a broadcasting and Internet personality well known for his stint from 1987 to 1994 as a video jockey on the music video channel MTV. In the mid-1990s, Curry was a World Wide Web entrepreneur and one of the first celebrities to personally create and administer a Web site. In the 2000s, he helped pioneer podcasting, and is often called the 'Podfather' because of his efforts. (Wikipedia, 2009)

'Light bulb' moments or ideas that they have proposed or pushed?

Ward Cunningham – Wikis, Object Oriented Programming, Extreme Programming

Adam Curry - Podcasting

Are they good change managers for other work groups?

I would say they both would be good change managers for other work groups because each one of them has contributed toward making work groups function more efficiently. The areas that they have contributed to include the consolidation of discrete pools of knowledge (Wikis, blogs and XML), the distribution of knowledge (podcasting and RSS).

Give examples of any shared experiences, synergy or context that you share with any of these people.

Ward Cunningham and Adam Curry are the two people on the list whose activities and achievements are closest to my experience.

The Wiki is a ‘killer app’ for the pooling of knowledge into discrete areas that are accessible to anyone on the Internet. The concept of inviting people to contribute their own knowledge and to declare their sources means that while the knowledge is always changing, it’s nearly always improving because of its planet wide scrutiny.

Having worked in a software engineering environment that embraced ‘Extreme Programming’, I believe this system has been a very important development in allowing ‘clients’ into design process. I now also use this cyclic process in my music and computer art teaching. Recording and requesting changes from my students prior to assessment submission is an important tool in ensuring they will get the best result possible for the assessment.

Adam Curry’s development of podcasting has enormous applications for radio and for the distribution of knowledge. I too, have experience in ‘self-publishing’ and I can remember when people could only distribute their ideas through the very totalitarian media machine of the large publishing and recording studios, the newspapers and through other print and electronic media. The only way that you could get your product out there was if the media Mongols/gatekeepers said you could. Now anyone can and mostly that is a good thing.

Bibliography

Wikipedia. (2009). Ward Cunningham [Electronic Version], from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham. Retrieved 05/09/2009.

Wikipedia. (2009). Adam Curry [Electronic Version], from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Curry. Retrieved 05/09/2009.

Exercise 3.2: Mobile computing research What is the educational value of online mobile games and mobile social network access?

According to Mobile Gaming Market Hot on Downloadable Titles by Enid Burns, ClickZ, Jul 10, 2006

"Over half of mobile games played are downloaded to mobile handsets, and 71 percent of revenues from downloaded games are from on-portal offerings. That's according to research released by mobile performance measurement firm Telephia.

"Entertainment is a big driver for content consumption on mobile phones, with games a driver of the category. Thirty-nine percent of mobile subscribers play preexisting games on their phones, while 53 percent download additional titles. An additional 8 percent play Web-based games on their devices. While many companies provide both on-portal and off-portal content, 71 percent of revenues for mobile games come from the on-portal channel. The remaining 29 percent comes from the off-portal bucket. The finding that consumers tend to go to the carrier is consistent with other content types, as identified in a report from M:Metrics." http://www.clickz.com/3618966

The question for this blog is:What is the educational value of online mobile games and mobile social network access? I can see value in mobile network access. Having instant anywhere access to information is an important tool in moving things forward. Being able to schedule and prioritise, being able to research and calculate and transfer information and decisions from a device that fits in your pocket and has access to any network is a powerful thing.

The case for online mobile games is not so compelling. I'm sure that there would be some instances where value could be demonstrated but in the overwhelming number of cases that i have observed, mobile phone or smart mobile device gaming is done purely as a way of filling in time or to distract students from the real world. Addiction to mobile devices while driving vehicles is becoming a major cause of road accidents. Compared to the consequences of a road accident, the need to communicate via text while driving demonstrates that some humans are incapable of being trusted with such devices.

The figures above refer to 'entertainment'. They do not refer to education because I do not believe that education is taken seriously as an outcome of mobile gaming. In my view, mobile communication is dominated by content that consumes lots of bandwidth (media rich) and data. It is in the interests of the mobile access and platform vendors to make the mobile experience as compelling and addictive as possible. In their world its called 'doing good business'.

I do not believe that instant access to information and the ability to instantly respond to many people is necessarily a good thing. It might be good in a situation where many lives are in imminent danger but this is a rare occurrence. Having instant communication has several down sides. Two notable examples are people who indulge in the current fad of 'swarming' (ie using mobile devices to call large groups of people to invade a party or to join in an assault) and the school playground practice of 'copying' messages to a whole phone book of phone pals as a way of spreading rumours.

The enormous damage these events cause could be avoided if the perpetrators did not have access to mobile devices. Many of the games that the devices present are extremely violent and new efficiencies in technology that improve the sound and vision have made the platform an extremely compelling platform for the violent. Having a violent game on the same device as that used to summon fellow perpetrators is a very dangerous thing. It shortens the gap between violent fantasy and real violence. Is this education or entertainment? I hope its neither.

Exercise 3.1: The Battle for Wesnoth

My Lords and Ladies (and MAC users)......

I interacted with Wesnoth and found some good things and some bad things. The good things were that I liked the sound track and became mildly more informed about the history and sociology of Wesnoth. I don't know whether Wesnoth really existed or is an amalgam of myth, fantasy and fact. If its purpose is to inform users about how Wesnoth really is (or was) then what I saw in the game did not convince me. If it was fantasy, then it certainly was not MY idea of fantasy. If it was myth, then let's know about where the myths came from and who the actual personalities were. If its purpose was to help me use my computer keyboard in new ways, then it probably succeeded. Asking a MAC user to left click to get anything done at Wesnoth was not only tedious, it treated MAC users like second class villagers (or whatever the serfs are called in Wesnoth). I confess (humbly) that I am certainly not a 'gamer' and the thought of becoming seriously entrenched in anything other than the 'real' world leaves me cold (and probably alone). I had similar prejudices about Facebook, Skype and Second Life. However, after engaging with them with about as much time and energy as Wesnoth, I have changed my mind about all of them. Sadly, Wesnoth has not moved me in the same way. At least with Facebook, Skype there is a demonstrable connection to the 'real world'. Even Second Life has more in common with the 'real' world than Wesnoth.

Despite my negativity, I can see the value of games such as Wesnoth in education - but with one proviso:If the game is a true simulation, then it must be historically accurate as much as current knowledge permits. If it does not claim to be historically accurate, then it is entertainment. If the development of games such as Wesnoth is a way of teaching students how to design, program and develop game strategy within the realm of entertainment education then I'm all for it.

Onwards! The Barbarians await us.