Josh Joseph - MCTC Globaloria

Final Presentation Prep

2011-11-28T11:39:00.000-05:00

Today begins the "home stretch" in Gaming I for the Fall semester. Students are diligently working to finish up their flash presentations and are working hard on their game demos. I think this semesters presentations are going to be very informative and innovative. I have several students with some really unique ideas and everyone seems to be on track to have a completed presentation and some sort of a game demo. As I look out over the class I see students glaring into their computer screens with Flash and the wiki page open and they're plugging away. Can't wait to see the presentations.

Paper Prototyping

2011-10-26T08:54:00.000-04:00

Today during class we will be finishing up our Paper Prototyping section. Though, it's taken a little longer than originally planned I believe the students will be bringing a little more to the table given the extra time to complete it. After the recordings today we are kicking it into high gear and covering 2 topics a day to give the students ample time before the semester ends to complete the first semesters presentation.

First Post of the Fall Semester

2011-08-29T11:46:00.002-04:00

Gaming I Fall 2011 has begun and the students are rolling right along. This group of students are having very few issues with the start-up of the their wiki-accounts and blog creations. If we can keep up this kind of tempo we'll have an incredible semester.

Actionscript

2011-01-25T21:33:00.000-05:00

Ready to start doing some real actionscript coding tomorrow in Gaming II. I know things have seemed a little slow so hopefully tomorrow that feeling will change. Students will begin their Spring blogging assignments and will finish catching up on any of their wiki page edits that need to be made. The old and new teams are set and I believe everyone is ready to start some intense coding.

More will come tomorrow.

Starting Again

2011-01-21T10:02:00.002-05:00

Today ends the 2nd official week of school but, technically the way I do things here at MCTC it was kind of the end of our 1st week. The official 1st week is always shaky cause of registration and whatnot. Anyways, I used the Monday as a "catch-up", "clean-up" day. I had students review their work and make any adjustments and complete any missing assignments. That being said, I know some of my students are still missing bits and pieces but, again I am unable to ensure the 100% completion of assignments due to students just not completing them.

This semester and last semester I began making assignments like blogging worth more points so, if they were missing the grades would start to suffer. Even with the new grading in places several students still did not complete what was asked of them. So, given that, I have decided to make them worth even more of their letter grade. Hopefully, this will assure 100% completion.

Up to this point students have just completed the "Intro to Actionscript" portion of the Gaming II curriculum. So, on Monday they will tie-up any more lose ends and start on the next assignment. Also on Monday new and old teams will be constructed so, team pages will start to take better shape at that time.

FINAL DAY

2010-12-14T09:06:00.002-05:00

Today marks the last day of Final Presentations. It's been kind of a long semester but, there have been bright spots, lets just hope I have more students show up for today's final than I had show up for last weeks or there are going to be several students wondering why they failed the course. Oh well, I cannot hold everyone's hand to get them here. But, for the ones that have presented, I say good job and for those who are presenting today I say Good Luck!!

Final Presentations

2010-12-08T10:40:00.002-05:00

Today begins our 1st of 2 Final Presentation days. I'm sure everyone is nervous about presenting but, considering some of our past presentations I'm sure no one has anything to worry about. T-minus 20 minutes until we begin!!

Final Preparations

2010-11-29T09:33:00.002-05:00

As the semester is winding down so is the time left to finish our final presentations. Our goal this week is to have each teams final presentation files functioning properly and looking nice. This semester has went by fast and may have not been as smooth as I would have liked but, I am seeing some very positive things coming from most of the class. Presentations should be interesting to say the least.

Digging Deeper

2010-11-03T09:54:00.002-04:00

Monday's class began the topic of Adding Scenes. I believe most of the students were grasping this concept fairly easy. Today we will continue work on Adding Scenes and begin the Adding Animation topic which is about motion tweening and beginning actionscript. The students were glad to get to these topics because they are applying them directly to their game demos. We will continue to work feverishly on the rest of the topics and I am looking forward to final game presentations this winter.

Video Blog

2010-10-26T08:05:00.002-04:00

Yesterday almost every student was able to record their video blog answers that had to deal with the previous paper prototyping project. A few more students will record on Wednesday and then all of the videos will be uploaded to viddler so they can be linked into the wiki. Class is slowly chugging along, this is setting us back a day or so but, I think we'll be fine. Attendance is staying up and students are showing a little more interest with each project we do.

Time Flying By

2010-10-18T10:32:00.002-04:00

Today in class students will upload their previous paper prototyping videos to their wikis. Each student should be caught up with classwork up to this point and be ready to move forward. Before we can progress anymore we have a "new" assignment to complete concerning paper prototyping and the wiki teams. This will be further explained in class. I probably won't lecture long today do to me being sick. Have a great day!

Planning Your Game

2010-10-13T14:25:00.001-04:00

Well, paper prototyping is completed and videos will be uploaded shortly. We just moved on to the Planning Your Game topic and students are either flying solo or they are in groups of no more than 2. I tried the larger groups last semester and for whatever reason I just didn't like how everything turned out. So, for now I limited the students to a 2 person group at most and we are moving right along. Team pages are created and the students have already began filling them out. So, far other than some sickness going around class is going really well. Hopefully, at the end of the semester my students will have some awesome game demos!

Paper-Protyping Recording

2010-10-04T10:37:00.002-04:00

Today in class we are recording paper prototypes. So far we are pretty much on schedule this semester and hopefully we will continue to stay that way. After today we being working on team pages and continuing on into more flash programming. Should be an awesome month at MCTC!!

Paper Prototyping Day - 1

2010-09-20T09:50:00.003-04:00

Today is the first day of paper prototyping. I'm very curious as to what ideas my students have for their games. This is usually the biggest hump to get over in Gaming I. Kind of like writer's block but, something will eventually come along and bring with it some creative thoughts. Before the end of the class period students will blog and record the time in their learning logs on the wiki.

Welcome

2010-09-08T09:26:00.003-04:00

I'd like to take this time and first apologize for my lack of blogging. Up until this point I've been running around making sure everything is working properly for this class and others I am now teaching. Blogging is a very important part of this class. It not only is a part of your grade it is vital to see where you are schedule wise within the class itself. Do not take blogging lightly. Some students even take it to the next level and blog beyond the class, which is pretty cool. Plus, don't think of blogging as an online journal. It can be used to relay news or ideas as well. I read blogs all the time from IT sites that are more like news stories than anything. So, it's not some childish, diary or whatever it is you're thinking. Have fun with it and remember to at least do the required blogging as a part of this course. Don't test me on that, it is a grade, it's an easy grade to complete if you just take a few minutes and do it serious. So, welcome to Gaming I and have an awesome semester!

My Favorite Beatle

2010-07-08T07:45:00.002-04:00

This "in my head" debate has been going on for years. Even though I am only a mere 22 years of age I am an avid music lover and part-time musician. For these reasons I have even made the trip to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. The Beatles are a band that I thoroughly enjoy listening to. When deciding who exactly my favorite Beatle is I first started with who has lived the longest. That leaves us with Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. Being a drummer myself I could say Ringo, as was discussed at Outback Steakhouse over a Blooming Onion("I took the Bloom") Ringo was a better drummer than people gave him credit for. After a long night of debating I have decided that my favorite Beatle is Paul. What is there to say about Paul, I remember a few years back watching the Super Bowl after the whole "wardrobe malfunction," Paul performed at halftime and it was excellent in my opinion. He just looks so happy singing old Beatles and Wings songs, along with some from his solo career. After saying all of that I also must state that Ringo refusing to sign autographs for people now via Youtube video is kind of rude!

Catch-up

2010-04-19T14:57:00.002-04:00

Students have been working hard on their final game presentations and I have been trying to help them along the way. They are really impressing me with their abilities and work ethic. Though some games will not be completely finished they are working hard to create some awesome demos! I cannot wait to see them in there completed forms. Will be posting again soon!

Blogging Failure...Again

2010-04-05T10:19:00.002-04:00

Yet again I seem to have lacked on my blogging and thus, my students have lacked as well. Seeing as this is becoming the "final" push to end the semester well, it's back to the old grindstone and with my new job and responsibilities I am working even harder with trying to stay on top of everything. But, I will prevail as I always do and so will my students. Though sometimes it doesn't show on their wikis or blogs they come to class everyday and participate with every topic I go over. This is class is a pleasant one to say the least. They have shown me that even after a "near-disaster" last semester, that things can turn out okay and I am slowing seeing that. These students have really worked hard and I cannot wait for their final projects. Hopefully, I will blog more frequently within this month and I have to just keep telling myself that I graduate May 8th and there will be no more 18-19hr class semesters.

Josh=Horrible Blogger!

2010-03-11T17:14:00.003-05:00

Almost been a month since I last posted... So much for this semester being easier than last concerning my classes anyways. I believe that this semesters Globaloria class is going much smoother than last semester. The students seem really interested when I'm going over the topics for Gaming I, which is awesome! I am really trying to have a good time this semester when showing my students things in Flash and when they are working on their games. Though stressful at times I am trying to get more into the groove with how things are going in Globaloria. I really enjoy learning more and more with Flash and editing on the wikis. Hopefully my next blog won't be a month away.

Paper Prototyping

2010-02-15T12:23:00.002-05:00

This week we will be starting the Paper Prototyping topic in Gaming I. Hopefully the weather will not affect attendance this week. Today I will explain and show examples from past students and then I will let the artist abilities of my students flow as they begin to put there ideas on paper. This can be one of the more stressful topics in Gaming I just for the pure fact that some students are afraid to express their ideas by drawing/sketching them out. I am not going to let this affect anything this semester as I have various examples from students with the same issues to show them. So, no one will have any excuses as to why they are not working on this topic.
So far so good this semester with how the class is going. I feel a lot better about how things are going this semester than last. I have less school stress and work stress on me as well, so that probably is helping.

Speaking of Games

2010-02-01T14:00:00.002-05:00

After looking and updating the course schedule for Gaming I just a few minutes ago I decided to have some fun with my class today. We were orignally going to start the "Mini-Game Topic" today but, I decided that Monday may not be the best day to through Flash in their faces so instead we will be blogging. The catch...it's about their favorite game of all time. Having done this blogging topic before it seems to start up some really good conversations and also gets the wheels turning on gaming ideas. So Wednesday they will begin Flash and from there on out it's just "Hold on tight!!" Oh yea, we are also beginning our learning log updates this week as well. Here's to hoping for an awesome week! =)

Struggles with Student Motivation

2010-01-16T08:45:00.002-05:00

As I embark on my second semester as a lead educator in Globaloria I reflect on this past semester and the motivation of students or the lack thereof. When starting the fall class the motivation of the students was great. They were very interested in digging into the program and anxious to see good results. Then as the semester wore on the motivation started to disappear. The twinkle in their eyes was gone and it was back to be just like any college course, "let's just get through this so I can get my grade and move on." I noticed this around Mid-October, so roughly halfway through the semester. This means it was right around the time of paper-prototyping or a little after. Bad timing huh... Well this semester is going to be different. I plan on doing more with how things are going outside of class just to get a little out of the routine and to keep them interested. I've already started this semester out a little different. I emphasized more on quality than on quantity. Don't just do this assignment because you have to, do it because you want to learn more about the tools used to create Flash based games. I mean, they sign up for the class as an Intro to Gaming, so take the tools given to you and create something. Ultimately the students want that feeling of having accomplished something not many students have. So with that in mind I'm hoping to use those as some motivating ideas in my Globaloria class this semester.

Blogging Failure

2009-12-13T20:38:00.002-05:00

Well, it seems as if I let the semester get to me. I am a complete blogging failure. I have let the whole semester go without me posting since September. I have not set a good example for my students to follow by doing this and have also let my mentor down as well. As the semester is finally coming to an end I have come to realize that I possibly over-exerted myself these past 16 weeks. I took on the task of teaching Gaming I, along with 18 hours of classes at the university. I started out okay but as the semester wore on I wore out. I let my classes get the best of me and even waited to the end of the semester to try and complete an online course that had 15 weeks worth of work in it. These I should not let be an excuse. I now know how much extra time and effort I need to continue to teach Gaming at MCTC. Next semester will be a breath of fresh air as I will graduate in the spring and will no longer have 18+hours of classes to deal with. I hope everyone else managed their time better as I did not. Hope everyone's presentations go well.

Class To Date

2009-09-28T10:20:00.003-04:00

Finally!! Today we will begin the "Imaging Your Game" topic in Gaming I. We have been talking about this topic for a few days and I believe most of the students already have their game in mind. This is the part of semester where I feel the students really begin the creative process. Some will put a lot of time and thoughts into this topic others will not. Either way this is the first major step in creating their game.
I'm also glad to report that the Gaming I students are starting to make their blogs more interesting and attractive, now if they'll do more with their wikis I'll be really satisfied. Some students might want to check out Benjamin King's blog for some good info on the new Halo game. This game has been brought up several times during class by myself and other students. Though not necessarily educational it makes for some time-consuming fun. =)

2009-09-15T09:45:00.002-04:00

Today is the due date for our Globaloria Project Reports. For the first time doing it I felt overwhelmed at first but, now that I have it under my belt I know the next ones will be very manageable. Yesterday Patrick finished up leading the students through the Mini-Game Project. Being as he is very strong in getting newbies to understand the basics I decided to have him lead them through this first big step of Flash. I was there as technical support for students who were having coding issues among other things.
Things are finally starting to wind down around here at MCTC. My IT Support job is not affecting my schoolwork or my teaching as much now. So I'm a lot less stressed out now and feel that this is going to turn into a great semester. Thanks to the training sessions over the summer I am officially bored in my web programming class...for now. Already know this basic HTML and CSS stuff.

Mini-Game Project

2009-09-09T10:23:00.003-04:00

Today is the start of week 3 here at MCTC. Having Monday off was more of a burden than a blessing. We will hopefully get through the mini-game topic today. I have high hopes that the knowledge my students have will be able to push through this topic with ease. But, if not we'll take what is given to us and run with it. I have lots of things going on right now so my blog updates have been slim but will soon pick up.
I thought to myself last night why I'm doing all of this again. 18 hours of classes at Marshall University+20 hours(usually more) of IT work a week at MCTC+prepping for and teaching Gaming I 2 days out of the week. I know a lot of people do this sort of thing all the time but man, it's tough. Trying to take in all of this knowledge in between working and then passing out knowledge too.
Thursday at 5 having to attend the WebEx meeting is going to be interesting. Hopefully, I won't be so tired from the day that I start to fall asleep...just kidding! I think that the session will be very informative and helpful with my teaching.
Well, I better get back to listening to my professor lecture....not kidding at all.

Choosing a Topic

2009-09-02T10:23:00.003-04:00

Today I plan on going over the "Choosing a Topic" lesson. I will be explaining to the students what each of the topics mean and how best to decide on one over the other. We will discuss this and make sure that everyone gets caught up on their wikis and their blogs. Now that school is settling in I will be making updates more frequent and with more information.

Gaming 1 - Day 1

2009-08-24T10:34:00.003-04:00

Welcome students to your first day of classes at MCTC. This is my blog that will follow our class throughout the semester. I will explain a lot more of this to you in class today so pay attention. This is going to be an exciting journey for you and I so let's make the next 16 weeks as fun and enjoyable as we can.

UH OH!

2009-08-12T14:39:00.001-04:00

This could be bad. I guess we can just hope for a fast solution. Microsoft better get this fixed, like now! With everyone starting school soon this could be very bad for us all.

Hillbilly Ninjas Presentation

2009-08-11T19:19:00.002-04:00

After much concern and worry The Ninjas just completed their presentation for the game "Mountain Toppler". As I sit here breathing a huge sigh of relief I would like to truly thank Matt for his coding awesomeness and Monica for her great flash slide show. Every group today in my opinion did an excellent job even if some of them including our group pushed until the last minute to complete things. After today I feel very confident when dealing with wiki's now and I know I'll be able to pass that information on to my students this fall.

Wiki!

2009-08-11T00:36:00.002-04:00

Been trying to change some things on The Hillbilly Ninjas wiki to make it a little more impressive. I seem to be failing at it though. Globaloria Training Session 2 starts tomorrow...wait actually it starts later today. Better get some sleep.

Summer

2009-07-14T22:21:00.002-04:00

Wow! Summer for a college student is supposed to be a break from school and for a lot of people work. Not for me. I haven't stopped since school let out May 8th. In fact I do believe I have more to do now than when I'm taking classes, teaching classes, and working as IT support. Times are tough at MCTC right now for me. After a few years of waiting and no planning we are almost 100% separated from Marshall University. Good thing or bad thing, you be the judge. No matter the choice it is happening. Installation of new computers and the implementation of a new VLAN are just a few of the things we are working on. Now it's time to get back with the Hillbilly Ninjas and plan our meeting next week and hopefully get more of our project completed. Can't wait for August to roll around back to Charleston, WV for some more training.

The Hillbilly Ninjas

2009-06-26T15:26:00.002-04:00

The Hillbilly Ninjas are coming to your town. The Ninjas are Monica, Matt, Wes and Josh. They are ready and willing to overcome whatever obstacles come in their way. (Speaking about Flash, DUH!)
Our game is yet untitled but is covering Environmental issues and Health issues. That's right, two of the three topics of choice! Our game is based around mountaintop removal. Choose your side in this ongoing historical debate. The significance of this topic in West Virginia is at the top of the list.

Overnight Blogging Assignment 2

2009-06-25T19:47:00.002-04:00

A powerful learning experience from my past... Well, I'm only 21 and I'm having a hard time trying to remember a powerful experience. Hmm...let's see. I would have to say that the most powerful learning experience I had was in 2005. I was a Senior at Rock Hill Senior High School taking "cake" classes just to fill in spaces and I decided to take a new class about the Holocaust. I am a huge history buff so I thought what the heck. Well, during the span of that class which was roughly 18 weeks my whole outlook on World War II changed. I mean I knew about the Holocaust and believed that it happened and knew it was terrible but I didn't expect to find out so much about it from that one high school class. We participated by doing research projects and watching famous films. I read several books throughout the class and at the end of the semester we took a field trip to Cincinnati, Ohio to Hebrew Union College were we met a Holocaust survivor and explored the colleges famous Holocaust museum. That experience really changed my outlook on life and how the world could let something like that happen again. Really, in my opinion this is happening in Africa right now. But, that discussion will be another day on another blog.

Flash!

2009-06-25T14:41:00.002-04:00

As I am sitting here with the other New Educators listening to Patrick explain the basics of Adobe Flash I felt the need to blog. I assisted Patrick a little bit in the Spring semester at MCTC. I picked up several of these skills during that time but decided I needed to sit it on this rather than go with the Returning Educators. I was amazed at how much I picked up and remembered during the spring. I haven't touched Flash since probably around the end of March. This just gave me a huge confidence boost! Maybe I can handle this Flash stuff, I mean at least for now... Anyways, I was able to work ahead of what Patrick was doing and figured out some things I didn't know before. Figuring out how to troubleshoot your action script errors is the hardest thing to do and I feel that I have figured out where to look to accomplish this. I am still new to this whole "Globaloria World" but after today I know I am going to make it through ok.

Globaloria Training-Day 2

2009-06-25T08:59:00.002-04:00

Today should be interesting starting Adobe Flash training this morning. When I helped Patrick with his Gaming I class this Spring I picked up a lot of the basics of flash but, a little refresher training is probably necessary. So I think today will be interesting and fun.

Overnight Blogging Assignment

2009-06-24T19:54:00.002-04:00

I actually have already started a blog roll and am following all of the other educators along with a few blogs of interest. The first blog of interest http://radub-tweaker.blogspot.com/ has some interesting articles on music and some technology. I am very interested in both so this blog should be fun to follow. The second blog http://www.blogs.com/technology/gadgets/ is awesome cause I love gadgets and everything that has to do with them. So I guess this is all the that I need to have. Check out those blogs though they're pretty cool.

Training Day 1

2009-06-24T13:15:00.000-04:00

Today was the first day of Globaloria Academy Summer 2009. I am new to the Globaloria organization and so far it has been a very fun and enjoyable experience. Hopefully I will have more to say in future posts.