Week-end wrap-up

NOTE: This entry has been revised to add permalinks.

Today's the end of the week for us--we're off tomorrow because we follow the federal government's schedule. So here's a Friday-like wrap-up of some items that caught my eye this week and that relate to ideas I've written about on this blog in the last couple of months.

On games and learning and augmented reality: I received a press release from a company that creates murder-mysteries and scavenger hunts to be used as learning activities. The offerings are marketed as boosting morale, teaching communication and listening skills, and creating a fun learning event. I can see more complex technology-based (but not computer-based) versions of these types of offerings being developed by a company in the future. In fact, I predicted mystery learning experiences in my April entry about an augmented-reality scavenger hunt that took place with some children at the Boston Museum of Science. Also see PacManhattan and Net Attack for where this could all be going. (Here's what I wrote about NetAttack in April and PacManhattan in May.)

On blogs as learning tools: I wrote about blogs and knowledge management in March. This short but very informative article by Maish Nichani of elearningpost, published on the Website of the Australian Flexible Learning Community, explains "How to Use Weblogs to Create Engaging Learning Experiences."

On computers and humans' emotional reactions to them: In May I wrote about how calming computer messages can ease people's frustrations with technology (like I'm having these days) and boost people's performance on problem-solving exercises. This article from the Washington Post discusses how and why psychologists, computer scientists, and marketers are examining the way humans and their emotions respond to technology. The Post article is very interesting--make sure you read to the page 2 discussion of teaching software that may be able to detect when a student loses interest.

And a fun fact from the Washington Post article to leave you with: Three-quarters of people in a British poll admitted to having hit their computers in frustration.

Have a good weekend, everyone.