Teachers Teaching Teachers #192 - Students and Teachers Finding our Missions on Evoke: Rachel Smith and Robin - 03.17.10

Post-Show description: 

Robin is playing Evoke, and on this podcast he tells us why. Robin is in Paul Allison's English class. He's a tenth Grader at the East-West School for International Studies, and on this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers, Robin talks about his experiences in the first couple of weeks of playing Evoke.

We are also joined by Chris Wood, a student teacher from Queens College, CUNY who is working with Paul this semester.

So what is Evoke?

EVOKE is a ten-week crash course in changing the world.

It is free to play and open to anyone, anywhere.

The goal of the social network game is to help empower young people all over the world, and especially young people in Africa, to come up with creative solutions to our most urgent social problems.

The game begins on March 3, 2010. Players can join the game at any time.

On May 12th, 2010 the first season of the game will end, and successful participants will form the first graduating class of the EVOKE network.

Ninmah!
Rachel Smith is also playing Evoke and she joined us to talk about this Alternate-Reality Game (ARG) as well. Rachel Smith is the Vice President, NMC Services the New Media Consortium. In addition to being the lead writer on the Horizon Report, Rachel writes on her blog that she has

a hard time explaining what I actually do. Some of it is writing (a lot of it, lately, which is not a bad thing). Some of it is drawing, which is pretty cool. I used to doodle in high school and get detention. Now I doodle at work and get kudos. Go figure. I also organize things and direct projects and try to be generally helpful.

Rachel wrote an wonderful introduction to Evoke on her blog, "Urgent EVOKE: Agent Ninmah is Born," and she started a Discussion on Evoke, in which she is “calling all teachers!” to find ways to collaborate:

There have been many posts in other threads about getting a group of teachers together here on EVOKE. I’d like to pull us together. Here’s my suggestion:
1. In this thread, post who you are and what you teach — or, if you’re a teacher-type but not actually a teacher, like me, tell us what you do. Tell us also where you’re from!
2. Check out the google doc that happyseaurcin started — it has ideas about how to engage teachers in EVOKE.
3. Take a look at the wiki (http://urgentevoke.wikia.com/) and visit the Calling All Teachers page. Add your name (and a link back to your EVOKE profile, if you like) if you’d like to collaborate. If you have an idea for a project, add it to the brainstorming section.
Let’s see if we can get traction over the next couple of weeks and maybe pick an idea or two to develop more fully!

How did we get here?
At Educon 2.2 in January, Paul Allison had a conversation with Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss shortly after Suzie had interviewed Jane McGonigal for WorldChanging. It was Suzie’s excited comments that led him to begin to follow her McGonigal’s work and end up at Evoke. In March, several of us in the New York City Writing Project introduced Evoke in our English, Art, and Technology classrooms.

We are working together to become mentors for our students as they also play Evoke. We’re all very excited about it, so much so that on a Saturday morning last month, Susan Ettenheim, Chris Wood, Paul Allison and a few others traveled though a cold, rainy wind storm in NYC to meet for three hours, just to play Evoke together, and talk about which parts our students would need more support on and which they could do on their own. It was a lot of fun on that Saturday morning to share some of the stories of a couple of our students who had managed to push themselves onto the Leaders board already (e.g. Hannah Kohn).

Our students and we have already learned a lot with Evoke. We love the project prompts and the overall structure of Evoke! Our ultimate goal this semester is to look at other games, and to have students build prototypes of games, as well as mess around with some game building. (Oh, and we’ll be planting gardens and volunteering for City Harvest too!)
 
Please join us in this ongoing conversation!

We want to invite any teachers and students who are playing Evoke themselves and/or using it with their students to listen to this episode (and the next one, TTT #193, which is also about Evoke). We want to get your voice on a future episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers. We do these conversations on Skype. Please let us know when you can join us to talk about Evoke on a Wednesday in April (4/7, 4/14, 4/21 or 4/28) at 9:00pm Eastern / 6:00pm Pacific USA / 01:00 UTC Thursdays World Times. Plan to join us at http://edtechtalk.com/live if you want to find our more about Evoke and what were up to this Spring!

 

Click Read more to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.

20:53:02 jenny brandon: Discussion about EVOKE tonight?
20:56:53 jenny brandon: EVOKE tonight?
20:57:03 Paul Allison: Yes.
20:57:08 Paul Allison: We will be starting soon
20:57:14 Paul Allison: Do you Evoke?
20:57:28 Paul Allison: http://www.urgentevoke.com/
20:57:34 SusanEttenheim: hi jenny
20:57:36 SusanEttenheim: welcome!
20:58:06 jenny brandon: hello!
20:58:15 jenny brandon: I Evoke as of this afternoon
20:58:18 SusanEttenheim: jenny can you hear us?
20:58:31 jenny brandon: I evoke as of this afternoon
20:58:58 jenny brandon: not yet
20:59:12 jenny brandon: my text is coming in very slowly too - odd
21:00:20 SusanEttenheim: edtechtalk A
21:00:26 SusanEttenheim: hi mslaneeus welcome!
21:00:41 SusanEttenheim: can you hear us?
21:00:59 mslaneeus: Hello and thank you.  Not yet but I'll hook in.
21:02:41 SusanEttenheim: hi ! can you hear us now?
21:03:32 mslaneeus: I can.
21:04:15 Rachel Smith: Hi everyone
21:04:23 tunaguy: Hi Rachel
21:05:21 jennybrandon: Hello all
21:05:29 PeggyG: Hi everyone!
21:05:34 jen: Hello
21:05:38 SusanEttenheim: hi peggy can you hear?
21:05:47 PeggyG: yes hearing great!
21:05:48 jen: No audio on my end
21:06:07 PeggyG: @jen-click on the icon under EdTechTalk A
21:06:18 Rachel Smith: audio will be back in a minute :-)
21:06:26 PeggyG: the first icon opens in iTunes for me
21:06:27 jennybrandon: I get a few sentences and then its back to rebuffering  argh
21:06:32 Paul Allison: We're about to begin.
21:06:37 Paul Allison: http://paulallison.tumblr.com/post/453578838/learn-about-the-power-of-ev...
21:06:40 PeggyG: so sorry jennybrandon--so far so good for me
21:06:53 ChrisW: hello. i look forward to the conversation
21:06:58 Paul Allison: We just went out... but we'll be back in seconds.
21:07:15 jennybrandon: I'm sure it's my end - my test is delayed tonight too - weird
21:07:33 PeggyG: no audio right now but they'll be back soon
21:07:36 jennybrandon: text is delayed
21:07:47 PeggyG: there is a short lag between the chat and the audio--about 30 secs
21:08:39 PeggyG: I'm hearing the audio now-sounds good
21:08:45 SusanEttenheim: hi everyone welcome
21:08:49 SusanEttenheim: we just restarted the call
21:08:53 SusanEttenheim: can you hear ok now?
21:08:55 tkraz: Who should I be hearing?
21:08:58 PeggyG: yes Susan
21:09:21 PeggyG: I'm excited to be hearing from Rachel!!
21:09:33 anachorete: @peggy is there another event @ your calendar for tonight? ;-)
21:09:35 Rachel Smith: Thanks, Peggy :-)
21:09:49 PeggyG: @anachorete-no, this is the last one for the night :-)
21:10:07 SusanEttenheim: ahh peggy!
21:10:09 PeggyG: http://paulallison.tumblr.com/post/453578838/learn-about-the-power-of-ev...
21:10:11 SusanEttenheim: hi carol welcome!
21:10:14 Kimberly Herbert: is there supposed t be video?
21:10:15 SusanEttenheim: hi cogdog
21:10:17 SusanEttenheim: welcome
21:10:22 cogdog: hi
21:10:33 SusanEttenheim: ok everyone... would you please introduce yourself? Where and what do you teach?
21:10:37 SusanEttenheim: Hi Bron welcome!
21:10:55 PeggyG: a humble big gamer :-)
21:11:02 Bron: thx for the welcome
21:11:03 carolteach4: hi, computer technology integration teacher at middle school in CT
21:11:12 SusanEttenheim: hi roxanne welcome!
21:11:12 jen: Jen, grade 7-12, english, social studies, multimedia, art, photography
21:11:13 Kimberly Herbert: Kimberly 4th grade Writing/Science/Math and Tech contact Deaf Smith Richmond Texas
21:11:19 PeggyG: I'm a retired elementary principal and university preservice instructor in Phoenix AZ
21:11:19 SusanEttenheim: where and what do you teach?
21:11:24 SusanEttenheim: welcome kimberly!
21:11:31 Bron: I teach teachers
21:11:45 anachorete: luxembourg (europe) #culture & #technology
21:11:49 mslaneeus: Siobhan Lane a.k.a. mslaneeus. Grade 6 teacher in Kamloops, British Columbia.
21:11:55 PeggyG: http://www.nmc.org/
21:12:20 cogdog: Not a teacher in formal sense- try to teach people not to fear tech, work for NMC, logging in from Strawberry, AZ
21:12:23 PeggyG: hooray!! lead writer for the Horizon Report! :-)
21:12:45 PeggyG: really looking forward to the K12 edition of the report!
21:12:46 [Action] cogdog: waves across the Ocean to Bron
21:12:52 Paul Allison: http://ninmah.be/about/
21:13:00 Bron: Hiya cogdog
21:13:40 PeggyG: http://ninmah.be/2010/03/05/urgent-evoke-agent/
21:13:51 SusanEttenheim: welcome everyone! who is playing Urgent Evoke?
21:14:07 SusanEttenheim: register now as you listen!
21:14:08 PeggyG: I'm just learning about Urgent EVOKE!! :-)
21:14:22 Paul Allison: Sign up as we talk. http://www.urgentevoke.com
21:14:40 Bron: I have an approved account but have not started playing yet - here to get motivated :-)
21:14:51 SusanEttenheim: bron where and what do you teach?
21:15:02 SusanEttenheim: welcome!
21:15:29 Bron: I teach teachers globally about social media - including Quest Atlantis
21:15:37 Bron: I teach online
21:15:40 Bron: mostly
21:15:46 Rachel Smith: hi there Cogdog! (Cogdog works with me at NMC)
21:16:04 SusanEttenheim: welcome cogdog!
21:16:06 [Action] cogdog: waves to agent ninmah
21:16:17 SusanEttenheim: bron you teach through what organization online?
21:16:42 Bron: Indiana University or CPsquare
21:16:58 SusanEttenheim: ahhh just started teaching with VHS - Virtual High School
21:17:14 Bron: kewl
21:17:22 Bron: R u enjoying that?
21:17:27 SusanEttenheim: welcome anachorete
21:17:32 SusanEttenheim: very much!
21:17:48 SusanEttenheim: ohhh have to enter my grades tonight and not forget!
21:17:56 PeggyG: what a great description and definitely makes us want to try it!
21:18:08 SusanEttenheim: have you started peggy?
21:18:13 PeggyG: just signed up!
21:18:27 Bron: Author Alchemy Dakar, Senegal Urgent Evoke Evoke is a crash course in changing the world. Play your way through EVOKE's quests to learn all about social entrepreneurship.
21:20:01 Bron: Kids read and write a LOT in most of the top games
21:20:05 PeggyG: did he say a bunch of brain things? :-)
21:20:37 PeggyG: global connection and communication! how powerful!
21:21:05 Rachel Smith: I'm Agent Ninmah on Evoke
21:21:05 SusanEttenheim: hi rjacobsen
21:21:10 PeggyG: how hard is it to earn points?
21:21:21 RJacobsen: What does that mean?
21:23:08 SusanEttenheim: hi jeffmason welcome!
21:23:11 Rachel Smith: it's not difficult to earn points -- if you participate, you get points for posting blog posts, photos, and videos
21:23:15 SusanEttenheim: where and what do you teach?
21:23:21 PeggyG: wow! there are 10,363 members!!
21:23:36 Rachel Smith: if you do something spectacular, you get extra points from the game moderators
21:24:16 jeffmason: pensacola FL tech coordinator for 3 elems
21:24:22 SusanEttenheim: welcome!
21:24:38 PeggyG: thank you Rachel!!
21:25:07 mslaneeus: Went to the site and found this under the 'about' tab. " EVOKE is for all ages, recommended for age 13 and up"
21:25:11 Rachel Smith: Each week, there is a new quest and a new mission, and you get points for completing those, too. The quest is always to answer questions about yourself.
21:25:45 Rachel Smith: The mission has 3 parts: learn, act, and imagine. The Learn part involves finding out about the issue of the week -- what Robin is describing now.
21:26:16 PeggyG: what a great combination!!
21:26:58 Rachel Smith: The Act part calls upon each player to do something real, and this is what usually pushes you past your comfort zone. Last week, for instance, the challenge was to come up with AND carry out a plan to increase one person's food security (this is having access to healthful foods).
21:27:08 PeggyG: do you have to go through all of the missions or is there some choice involved in selecting missions?
21:27:22 SusanEttenheim: welcome back roxanne
21:27:31 Rachel Smith: The Imagine part asks each player to envision something they will be doing 10 years from now, something specific, and describe it in words, photos, or video.
21:28:13 Rachel Smith: The missions are the same for everyone each week, Peggy, but you can choose to participate or not
21:29:04 PeggyG: so if we're just starting today do we go back to earlier missions or just start with the current week's mission?
21:29:22 Rachel Smith: Your choice -- they are all available
21:29:34 SusanEttenheim: I"m having my students catch up but not spend a long time on each one so we can catch up
21:30:02 carolteach4: Our 7th graders read Seed Folks ever year. It's a wonderful book about how a garden connects people of diverse ages and cultures. I understand that entire communities have participated in reading the book. I think the author is Paul Fleishman, but I need to look it up.
21:30:24 PeggyG: what is Robin's agent name?
21:30:36 SusanEttenheim: Agent Ninmah
21:30:42 carolteach4: Thanks so much for coming, Robin. You have helped me understand gaming's appeal a bit more.
21:30:44 PeggyG: thank you
21:30:55 PeggyG: I thought that was Rachel's agent name
21:31:03 carolteach4: @Paul -have you read Seed Folks
21:31:04 SusanEttenheim: search for robin..
21:31:39 PeggyG: good :-) thanks
21:32:22 PeggyG: there are a bunch of Robin's there :-)
21:33:25 PeggyG: Robin was so inspiring!! a great model for the game!
21:33:57 PeggyG: if they get involved with all of these real life projects they won't have time to keep up with the missions :-)
21:34:30 carolteach4: Would this be appropriate to introduce to my computer club? I don't see any of our teachers finding time to fit it into their curriculums -packed so tight!
21:34:59 PeggyG: sounds like once you introduce it the kids will become engaged on their own
21:35:25 PeggyG: do you ever finish a level?? seems very ongoing
21:35:27 SusanEttenheim: I should think it would be fun for a computer club
21:35:52 anachorete: i'm astonished that they read the whole profile of my email account #???
21:36:00 PeggyG: I can tell you can learn a LOT by participating!!
21:36:13 carolteach4: It's a very short novel all about people coming together through a community garden. It's a very quick read, and I highly recommend it.
21:36:18 PeggyG: yes over 10,000
21:36:27 SusanEttenheim: cool carol! thank you!
21:36:38 carolteach4: I was responding to Paul's comment about joining the community garden.
21:36:47 SusanEttenheim: yes!
21:37:01 PeggyG: I don't see email addresses in the profiles I have viewed
21:37:53 PeggyG: students really care about environmental issues and I can see why they would love this
21:38:05 SusanEttenheim: true
21:38:10 carolteach4: http://www.amazon.com/Seedfolks-Joanna-Colter-Books-Fleischman/dp/006447...
21:39:22 Bron: What's the best time to start and slot inot the play to maximise value
21:39:57 Rachel Smith: Anytime, Bron, since you pick what you want to achieve
21:40:01 PeggyG: great question Bron!
21:40:16 Rachel Smith: Sugata Mitra
21:40:18 Rachel Smith: Inda
21:40:21 Rachel Smith: India*
21:40:44 Bron: Is the Prof Mitra?
21:40:49 PeggyG: @Susan-that sounds like a nice blend of individual and group work
21:40:55 Bron: Yes he ROCKS!!!
21:41:16 carolteach4: I love the fact that Ted is available to all for free - will have to search on that - link?
21:41:23 PeggyG: http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves.html
21:41:52 carolteach4: @PeggyG thanks
21:41:55 Bron: Mitr's latset research is even more exciting
21:42:06 carolteach4: I just loaded it - will watch later.
21:42:08 Bron: He presented at WebHeads last year
21:42:22 Bron: It was India wasn;t it?
21:42:23 tunaguy: http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves.html
21:42:28 tunaguy: ahhh peggy's got it
21:42:33 carolteach4: What class have you integrated this into?
21:42:41 carolteach4: that was for susan
21:44:31 PeggyG: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugata_Mitra
21:45:29 PeggyG: http://blog.urgentevoke.net/
21:45:53 Bron: what checks does Evoke do to authorise an account
21:45:57 tunaguy: http://www.urgentevoke.com/forum/topics/calling-all-teachers
21:46:12 Bron: There is a delay after you apply - wondered if there was a process
21:46:23 Rachel Smith: http://urgentevoke.wikia.com
21:47:27 PeggyG: I joined at the beginning of this conversation and already received my welcome message via email
21:48:00 Bron: Ok - Ihad a one or two day delay - may depend on demand
21:48:09 SusanEttenheim: My students had a lot of fun seeing their points come up
21:48:11 PeggyG: http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/
21:48:35 Bron: Augmented rality
21:48:41 Bron: *reality
21:48:46 SusanEttenheim: :)
21:49:59 Bron: Can I give a plug for Quest Atlantis project (3D virtual world global game kids gr 3-8) http://www.QuestAtlantis.org
21:50:13 PeggyG: they are learning to be "leaders" playing these games!
21:50:34 Rachel Smith: QuestAtlantis is very cool
21:50:54 Bron: We are building as student congress where the kids are building the game, infrastructure, design and leadership
21:51:03 PeggyG: love that description--a "save the world" problem!! so authentic!
21:51:54 Bron: Yes - games that excite me are the ones where kids can take ownership and leadership
21:52:23 PeggyG: http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html
21:54:34 PeggyG: great point Rachel!! sometimes it's hard to figure out our mission in life!!
21:54:51 PeggyG: starts with passion :-)
21:55:12 carolteach4: Wow! It sounds as if you are on the path, Rachel.
21:56:12 carolteach4: A quote from The Princess Bride - anyone who says "as easy as taking candy from a baby has obviously never tried to take candy from a baby."
21:56:16 Rachel Smith: I hope so, Carol :-)
21:56:19 Rachel Smith: lol yes
21:56:25 PeggyG: very funny Carolyn!
21:59:00 carolteach4: We still have alot of that at our school, but we are moving in the right direction.
21:59:27 carolteach4: Lots more of my teachers are using Google Apps with their kids
22:00:14 SusanEttenheim: ah carol - once that takes off it takes on its own life..
22:00:17 PeggyG: such a great point! you take advice from people who have the information
22:00:41 SusanEttenheim: yes peggy and ones of my girls who is a real whiner has become a leader
22:00:49 PeggyG: fantastic Susan!
22:00:49 carolteach4: We don't have any gaming that I know of, however. Not formal, at least. The kids are playing with a app called Powder Toy where they experiment with mixing different elements and blowing things up. They love it.
22:00:52 SusanEttenheim: it's very funny people just want help and she helps
22:00:59 SusanEttenheim: it's actually very funny
22:01:13 SusanEttenheim: that's funny carol
22:02:05 PeggyG: thank you so much Rachel! (and the other guests in the call!) this has been so interesting and I can't wait to start exploring my first mission!
22:02:41 PeggyG: http://www.urgentevoke.com/forum/topics/calling-all-teachers
22:02:48 SusanEttenheim: thanks peggy!
22:03:11 Bron: thx peeps
22:03:22 PeggyG: I love being able to hear the student voice on your shows!
22:03:22 carolteach4: @Susan and Paul - you guys are great!
22:03:25 SusanEttenheim: come again everyone! every wed 9pm
22:04:25 Rachel Smith: If you guys get on Evoke, please friend me! Agent Ninmah
22:04:35 Bron: Could not live without Skype
22:04:42 PeggyG: you're my first friend request Rachel :-)
22:04:43 carolteach4: @Paul, it would be cool if you could keep in touch with her through a shared Google doc - maybe with some other students to keep her up to speed
22:05:44 Rachel Smith: Thanks, Peggy! I'll friend you back :-)
22:05:45 PeggyG: http://paulallison.tumblr.com/post/453578838/learn-about-the-power-of-ev...
22:05:47 Rachel Smith: Thanks everyone
22:05:48 SusanEttenheim: goodnight all!
22:05:50 Bron: many thx Rachel
22:05:59 PeggyG: http://teachersteachingteachers.org
22:06:00 Rachel Smith: Good night!
22:06:11 carolteach4: Night!
22:06:14 Bron: good afternoon from Oz
22:06:15 PeggyG: fantastic!! very excited about what I have learned tonight!
22:06:26 Rachel Smith: Good afternoon, Bron :-)
20:53:02 jenny brandon: Discussion about EVOKE tonight?
20:56:53 jenny brandon: EVOKE tonight?
20:57:03 Paul Allison: Yes.
20:57:08 Paul Allison: We will be starting soon
20:57:14 Paul Allison: Do you Evoke?
20:57:28 Paul Allison: http://www.urgentevoke.com/
20:57:34 SusanEttenheim: hi jenny
20:57:36 SusanEttenheim: welcome!
20:58:06 jenny brandon: hello!
20:58:15 jenny brandon: I Evoke as of this afternoon
20:58:18 SusanEttenheim: jenny can you hear us?
20:58:31 jenny brandon: I evoke as of this afternoon
20:58:58 jenny brandon: not yet
20:59:12 jenny brandon: my text is coming in very slowly too - odd
21:00:20 SusanEttenheim: edtechtalk A
21:00:26 SusanEttenheim: hi mslaneeus welcome!
21:00:41 SusanEttenheim: can you hear us?
21:00:59 mslaneeus: Hello and thank you.  Not yet but I'll hook in.
21:02:41 SusanEttenheim: hi ! can you hear us now?
21:03:32 mslaneeus: I can.
21:04:15 Rachel Smith: Hi everyone
21:04:23 tunaguy: Hi Rachel
21:05:21 jennybrandon: Hello all
21:05:29 PeggyG: Hi everyone!
21:05:34 jen: Hello
21:05:38 SusanEttenheim: hi peggy can you hear?
21:05:47 PeggyG: yes hearing great!
21:05:48 jen: No audio on my end
21:06:07 PeggyG: @jen-click on the icon under EdTechTalk A
21:06:18 Rachel Smith: audio will be back in a minute :-)
21:06:26 PeggyG: the first icon opens in iTunes for me
21:06:27 jennybrandon: I get a few sentences and then its back to rebuffering  argh
21:06:32 Paul Allison: We're about to begin.
21:06:37 Paul Allison: http://paulallison.tumblr.com/post/453578838/learn-about-the-power-of-ev...
21:06:40 PeggyG: so sorry jennybrandon--so far so good for me
21:06:53 ChrisW: hello. i look forward to the conversation
21:06:58 Paul Allison: We just went out... but we'll be back in seconds.
21:07:15 jennybrandon: I'm sure it's my end - my test is delayed tonight too - weird
21:07:33 PeggyG: no audio right now but they'll be back soon
21:07:36 jennybrandon: text is delayed
21:07:47 PeggyG: there is a short lag between the chat and the audio--about 30 secs
21:08:39 PeggyG: I'm hearing the audio now-sounds good
21:08:45 SusanEttenheim: hi everyone welcome
21:08:49 SusanEttenheim: we just restarted the call
21:08:53 SusanEttenheim: can you hear ok now?
21:08:55 tkraz: Who should I be hearing?
21:08:58 PeggyG: yes Susan
21:09:21 PeggyG: I'm excited to be hearing from Rachel!!
21:09:33 anachorete: @peggy is there another event @ your calendar for tonight? ;-)
21:09:35 Rachel Smith: Thanks, Peggy :-)
21:09:49 PeggyG: @anachorete-no, this is the last one for the night :-)
21:10:07 SusanEttenheim: ahh peggy!
21:10:09 PeggyG: http://paulallison.tumblr.com/post/453578838/learn-about-the-power-of-ev...
21:10:11 SusanEttenheim: hi carol welcome!
21:10:14 Kimberly Herbert: is there supposed t be video?
21:10:15 SusanEttenheim: hi cogdog
21:10:17 SusanEttenheim: welcome
21:10:22 cogdog: hi
21:10:33 SusanEttenheim: ok everyone... would you please introduce yourself? Where and what do you teach?
21:10:37 SusanEttenheim: Hi Bron welcome!
21:10:55 PeggyG: a humble big gamer :-)
21:11:02 Bron: thx for the welcome
21:11:03 carolteach4: hi, computer technology integration teacher at middle school in CT
21:11:12 SusanEttenheim: hi roxanne welcome!
21:11:12 jen: Jen, grade 7-12, english, social studies, multimedia, art, photography
21:11:13 Kimberly Herbert: Kimberly 4th grade Writing/Science/Math and Tech contact Deaf Smith Richmond Texas
21:11:19 PeggyG: I'm a retired elementary principal and university preservice instructor in Phoenix AZ
21:11:19 SusanEttenheim: where and what do you teach?
21:11:24 SusanEttenheim: welcome kimberly!
21:11:31 Bron: I teach teachers
21:11:45 anachorete: luxembourg (europe) #culture & #technology
21:11:49 mslaneeus: Siobhan Lane a.k.a. mslaneeus. Grade 6 teacher in Kamloops, British Columbia.
21:11:55 PeggyG: http://www.nmc.org/
21:12:20 cogdog: Not a teacher in formal sense- try to teach people not to fear tech, work for NMC, logging in from Strawberry, AZ
21:12:23 PeggyG: hooray!! lead writer for the Horizon Report! :-)
21:12:45 PeggyG: really looking forward to the K12 edition of the report!
21:12:46 [Action] cogdog: waves across the Ocean to Bron
21:12:52 Paul Allison: http://ninmah.be/about/
21:13:00 Bron: Hiya cogdog
21:13:40 PeggyG: http://ninmah.be/2010/03/05/urgent-evoke-agent/
21:13:51 SusanEttenheim: welcome everyone! who is playing Urgent Evoke?
21:14:07 SusanEttenheim: register now as you listen!
21:14:08 PeggyG: I'm just learning about Urgent EVOKE!! :-)
21:14:22 Paul Allison: Sign up as we talk. http://www.urgentevoke.com
21:14:40 Bron: I have an approved account but have not started playing yet - here to get motivated :-)
21:14:51 SusanEttenheim: bron where and what do you teach?
21:15:02 SusanEttenheim: welcome!
21:15:29 Bron: I teach teachers globally about social media - including Quest Atlantis
21:15:37 Bron: I teach online
21:15:40 Bron: mostly
21:15:46 Rachel Smith: hi there Cogdog! (Cogdog works with me at NMC)
21:16:04 SusanEttenheim: welcome cogdog!
21:16:06 [Action] cogdog: waves to agent ninmah
21:16:17 SusanEttenheim: bron you teach through what organization online?
21:16:42 Bron: Indiana University or CPsquare
21:16:58 SusanEttenheim: ahhh just started teaching with VHS - Virtual High School
21:17:14 Bron: kewl
21:17:22 Bron: R u enjoying that?
21:17:27 SusanEttenheim: welcome anachorete
21:17:32 SusanEttenheim: very much!
21:17:48 SusanEttenheim: ohhh have to enter my grades tonight and not forget!
21:17:56 PeggyG: what a great description and definitely makes us want to try it!
21:18:08 SusanEttenheim: have you started peggy?
21:18:13 PeggyG: just signed up!
21:18:27 Bron: Author Alchemy Dakar, Senegal Urgent Evoke Evoke is a crash course in changing the world. Play your way through EVOKE's quests to learn all about social entrepreneurship.
21:20:01 Bron: Kids read and write a LOT in most of the top games
21:20:05 PeggyG: did he say a bunch of brain things? :-)
21:20:37 PeggyG: global connection and communication! how powerful!
21:21:05 Rachel Smith: I'm Agent Ninmah on Evoke
21:21:05 SusanEttenheim: hi rjacobsen
21:21:10 PeggyG: how hard is it to earn points?
21:21:21 RJacobsen: What does that mean?
21:23:08 SusanEttenheim: hi jeffmason welcome!
21:23:11 Rachel Smith: it's not difficult to earn points -- if you participate, you get points for posting blog posts, photos, and videos
21:23:15 SusanEttenheim: where and what do you teach?
21:23:21 PeggyG: wow! there are 10,363 members!!
21:23:36 Rachel Smith: if you do something spectacular, you get extra points from the game moderators
21:24:16 jeffmason: pensacola FL tech coordinator for 3 elems
21:24:22 SusanEttenheim: welcome!
21:24:38 PeggyG: thank you Rachel!!
21:25:07 mslaneeus: Went to the site and found this under the 'about' tab. " EVOKE is for all ages, recommended for age 13 and up"
21:25:11 Rachel Smith: Each week, there is a new quest and a new mission, and you get points for completing those, too. The quest is always to answer questions about yourself.
21:25:45 Rachel Smith: The mission has 3 parts: learn, act, and imagine. The Learn part involves finding out about the issue of the week -- what Robin is describing now.
21:26:16 PeggyG: what a great combination!!
21:26:58 Rachel Smith: The Act part calls upon each player to do something real, and this is what usually pushes you past your comfort zone. Last week, for instance, the challenge was to come up with AND carry out a plan to increase one person's food security (this is having access to healthful foods).
21:27:08 PeggyG: do you have to go through all of the missions or is there some choice involved in selecting missions?
21:27:22 SusanEttenheim: welcome back roxanne
21:27:31 Rachel Smith: The Imagine part asks each player to envision something they will be doing 10 years from now, something specific, and describe it in words, photos, or video.
21:28:13 Rachel Smith: The missions are the same for everyone each week, Peggy, but you can choose to participate or not
21:29:04 PeggyG: so if we're just starting today do we go back to earlier missions or just start with the current week's mission?
21:29:22 Rachel Smith: Your choice -- they are all available
21:29:34 SusanEttenheim: I"m having my students catch up but not spend a long time on each one so we can catch up
21:30:02 carolteach4: Our 7th graders read Seed Folks ever year. It's a wonderful book about how a garden connects people of diverse ages and cultures. I understand that entire communities have participated in reading the book. I think the author is Paul Fleishman, but I need to look it up.
21:30:24 PeggyG: what is Robin's agent name?
21:30:36 SusanEttenheim: Agent Ninmah
21:30:42 carolteach4: Thanks so much for coming, Robin. You have helped me understand gaming's appeal a bit more.
21:30:44 PeggyG: thank you
21:30:55 PeggyG: I thought that was Rachel's agent name
21:31:03 carolteach4: @Paul -have you read Seed Folks
21:31:04 SusanEttenheim: search for robin..
21:31:39 PeggyG: good :-) thanks
21:32:22 PeggyG: there are a bunch of Robin's there :-)
21:33:25 PeggyG: Robin was so inspiring!! a great model for the game!
21:33:57 PeggyG: if they get involved with all of these real life projects they won't have time to keep up with the missions :-)
21:34:30 carolteach4: Would this be appropriate to introduce to my computer club? I don't see any of our teachers finding time to fit it into their curriculums -packed so tight!
21:34:59 PeggyG: sounds like once you introduce it the kids will become engaged on their own
21:35:25 PeggyG: do you ever finish a level?? seems very ongoing
21:35:27 SusanEttenheim: I should think it would be fun for a computer club
21:35:52 anachorete: i'm astonished that they read the whole profile of my email account #???
21:36:00 PeggyG: I can tell you can learn a LOT by participating!!
21:36:13 carolteach4: It's a very short novel all about people coming together through a community garden. It's a very quick read, and I highly recommend it.
21:36:18 PeggyG: yes over 10,000
21:36:27 SusanEttenheim: cool carol! thank you!
21:36:38 carolteach4: I was responding to Paul's comment about joining the community garden.
21:36:47 SusanEttenheim: yes!
21:37:01 PeggyG: I don't see email addresses in the profiles I have viewed
21:37:53 PeggyG: students really care about environmental issues and I can see why they would love this
21:38:05 SusanEttenheim: true
21:38:10 carolteach4: http://www.amazon.com/Seedfolks-Joanna-Colter-Books-Fleischman/dp/006447...
21:39:22 Bron: What's the best time to start and slot inot the play to maximise value
21:39:57 Rachel Smith: Anytime, Bron, since you pick what you want to achieve
21:40:01 PeggyG: great question Bron!
21:40:16 Rachel Smith: Sugata Mitra
21:40:18 Rachel Smith: Inda
21:40:21 Rachel Smith: India*
21:40:44 Bron: Is the Prof Mitra?
21:40:49 PeggyG: @Susan-that sounds like a nice blend of individual and group work
21:40:55 Bron: Yes he ROCKS!!!
21:41:16 carolteach4: I love the fact that Ted is available to all for free - will have to search on that - link?
21:41:23 PeggyG: http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves.html
21:41:52 carolteach4: @PeggyG thanks
21:41:55 Bron: Mitr's latset research is even more exciting
21:42:06 carolteach4: I just loaded it - will watch later.
21:42:08 Bron: He presented at WebHeads last year
21:42:22 Bron: It was India wasn;t it?
21:42:23 tunaguy: http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves.html
21:42:28 tunaguy: ahhh peggy's got it
21:42:33 carolteach4: What class have you integrated this into?
21:42:41 carolteach4: that was for susan
21:44:31 PeggyG: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugata_Mitra
21:45:29 PeggyG: http://blog.urgentevoke.net/
21:45:53 Bron: what checks does Evoke do to authorise an account
21:45:57 tunaguy: http://www.urgentevoke.com/forum/topics/calling-all-teachers
21:46:12 Bron: There is a delay after you apply - wondered if there was a process
21:46:23 Rachel Smith: http://urgentevoke.wikia.com
21:47:27 PeggyG: I joined at the beginning of this conversation and already received my welcome message via email
21:48:00 Bron: Ok - Ihad a one or two day delay - may depend on demand
21:48:09 SusanEttenheim: My students had a lot of fun seeing their points come up
21:48:11 PeggyG: http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/
21:48:35 Bron: Augmented rality
21:48:41 Bron: *reality
21:48:46 SusanEttenheim: :)
21:49:59 Bron: Can I give a plug for Quest Atlantis project (3D virtual world global game kids gr 3-8) http://www.QuestAtlantis.org
21:50:13 PeggyG: they are learning to be "leaders" playing these games!
21:50:34 Rachel Smith: QuestAtlantis is very cool
21:50:54 Bron: We are building as student congress where the kids are building the game, infrastructure, design and leadership
21:51:03 PeggyG: love that description--a "save the world" problem!! so authentic!
21:51:54 Bron: Yes - games that excite me are the ones where kids can take ownership and leadership
21:52:23 PeggyG: http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html
21:54:34 PeggyG: great point Rachel!! sometimes it's hard to figure out our mission in life!!
21:54:51 PeggyG: starts with passion :-)
21:55:12 carolteach4: Wow! It sounds as if you are on the path, Rachel.
21:56:12 carolteach4: A quote from The Princess Bride - anyone who says "as easy as taking candy from a baby has obviously never tried to take candy from a baby."
21:56:16 Rachel Smith: I hope so, Carol :-)
21:56:19 Rachel Smith: lol yes
21:56:25 PeggyG: very funny Carolyn!
21:59:00 carolteach4: We still have alot of that at our school, but we are moving in the right direction.
21:59:27 carolteach4: Lots more of my teachers are using Google Apps with their kids
22:00:14 SusanEttenheim: ah carol - once that takes off it takes on its own life..
22:00:17 PeggyG: such a great point! you take advice from people who have the information
22:00:41 SusanEttenheim: yes peggy and ones of my girls who is a real whiner has become a leader
22:00:49 PeggyG: fantastic Susan!
22:00:49 carolteach4: We don't have any gaming that I know of, however. Not formal, at least. The kids are playing with a app called Powder Toy where they experiment with mixing different elements and blowing things up. They love it.
22:00:52 SusanEttenheim: it's very funny people just want help and she helps
22:00:59 SusanEttenheim: it's actually very funny
22:01:13 SusanEttenheim: that's funny carol
22:02:05 PeggyG: thank you so much Rachel! (and the other guests in the call!) this has been so interesting and I can't wait to start exploring my first mission!
22:02:41 PeggyG: http://www.urgentevoke.com/forum/topics/calling-all-teachers
22:02:48 SusanEttenheim: thanks peggy!
22:03:11 Bron: thx peeps
22:03:22 PeggyG: I love being able to hear the student voice on your shows!
22:03:22 carolteach4: @Susan and Paul - you guys are great!
22:03:25 SusanEttenheim: come again everyone! every wed 9pm
22:04:25 Rachel Smith: If you guys get on Evoke, please friend me! Agent Ninmah
22:04:35 Bron: Could not live without Skype
22:04:42 PeggyG: you're my first friend request Rachel :-)
22:04:43 carolteach4: @Paul, it would be cool if you could keep in touch with her through a shared Google doc - maybe with some other students to keep her up to speed
22:05:44 Rachel Smith: Thanks, Peggy! I'll friend you back :-)
22:05:45 PeggyG: http://paulallison.tumblr.com/post/453578838/learn-about-the-power-of-ev...
22:05:47 Rachel Smith: Thanks everyone
22:05:48 SusanEttenheim: goodnight all!
22:05:50 Bron: many thx Rachel
22:05:59 PeggyG: http://teachersteachingteachers.org
22:06:00 Rachel Smith: Good night!
22:06:11 carolteach4: Night!
22:06:14 Bron: good afternoon from Oz
22:06:15 PeggyG: fantastic!! very excited about what I have learned tonight!
22:06:26 Rachel Smith: Good afternoon, Bron :-)