To contact us Click HERE
http://www2.wnct.com/news/2012/sep/08/25/trooper-stuck-car-killed-during-suspect-chase-ar-2589757/
State troopers were chasing a suspect in a high speed vehicle pursuit. In order to stop the suspect, they tried to deploy a stop stick to deflate the suspects vehicle tires. While the trooper was deploying the stop sticks the suspect ran over the officer and killed him.
Too often officers are killed while trying to deploy stop sticks. In my opinion the technology is not advanced enough to warrant continued use. Frequently officers are killed or injured while trying to deploy stop sticks.
Equipment that will stop a moving car is a badly needed technology. There needs to be a way to stop vehicles using equipment that does not endanger officers lives. Pursuits are dangerous enough without having to deploy stop sticks at the risk of your life. If stop sticks are to be deployed they have to be emplaced miles before the suspect will arrive. A suspect driving 100 miles per hour can travel a whole mile in about 90 seconds. Deploying stop sticks can easily take several minutes. Stopping pursuits is an important duty, but it needs to be done safely; that's what the SGT Says.
30 Eylül 2012 Pazar
Ethics
To contact us Click HERE
http://wreg.com/2012/09/17/mpd-officer-charged-with-sex-trafficking/
An officer on Memphis police department was arrested for taking women across state lines to use them as prostitutes. Police officers need to have a moral compass that his better than the average person. On duty they need to obey the law. Off duty they need to obey the law. They need to set the example for others, and not break even minor laws.
Police agencies that have on going problems with corruption have several options. The first thing is to make sure their actual standards are high so that they are not hiring people who may be or may become criminals. No drug use, good credit, no criminal history, good marriage or relationships with family, good work history.
The next thing agencies can do is conduct a background investigation of existing employees, starting with the chief and working their way down. The investigation should be done by an outside agency, county or state agency. Then, the agency needs to write an ethics policy with zero tolerance for criminal activity and have training, testing and make everyone sign it. Supervisors must be trained and held to a strict standard too, and they need to monitor their officers behavior all during the shift.
An officer on Memphis police department was arrested for taking women across state lines to use them as prostitutes. Police officers need to have a moral compass that his better than the average person. On duty they need to obey the law. Off duty they need to obey the law. They need to set the example for others, and not break even minor laws.
Police agencies that have on going problems with corruption have several options. The first thing is to make sure their actual standards are high so that they are not hiring people who may be or may become criminals. No drug use, good credit, no criminal history, good marriage or relationships with family, good work history.
The next thing agencies can do is conduct a background investigation of existing employees, starting with the chief and working their way down. The investigation should be done by an outside agency, county or state agency. Then, the agency needs to write an ethics policy with zero tolerance for criminal activity and have training, testing and make everyone sign it. Supervisors must be trained and held to a strict standard too, and they need to monitor their officers behavior all during the shift.
Mass Casualty Event
To contact us Click HERE
Since police are out in the field patrolling, we are usually the first ones on scene in a mass casualty event. It can be a bus crash, passenger train derailment, plane crash, active shooter, explosion, or any number of incidents. Your first problem is to determine scene safety. Is there fire, an active shooter on the loose, additional bombs likely to go off or toxic substances leaking into the air?
If it's an active shooter the first duty of law enforcement is to locate and stop the shooter. Leave other tasks for follow on officers. Wait until there are three or four officers to confront one active shooter. Bring rifles or shotguns if possible. Wear ballistic helmets and hard body armor if available. If the active shooter is no longer a threat, consider that many active shooters have also deployed bombs, with the intent of killing first responders.
When you are reasonably sure the scene is safe or if there are enough officers to handle the shooter, determine the approximate number of victims in need of care. EMS will need to know in order to respond enough paramedics, ambulances and air ambulances to evacuate the wounded. They will also have to notify local, even regional hospitals. At first, just get a gross count, even an estimate if there are hundreds or thousands of victims., that's what the SGT Says.
If it's an active shooter the first duty of law enforcement is to locate and stop the shooter. Leave other tasks for follow on officers. Wait until there are three or four officers to confront one active shooter. Bring rifles or shotguns if possible. Wear ballistic helmets and hard body armor if available. If the active shooter is no longer a threat, consider that many active shooters have also deployed bombs, with the intent of killing first responders.
When you are reasonably sure the scene is safe or if there are enough officers to handle the shooter, determine the approximate number of victims in need of care. EMS will need to know in order to respond enough paramedics, ambulances and air ambulances to evacuate the wounded. They will also have to notify local, even regional hospitals. At first, just get a gross count, even an estimate if there are hundreds or thousands of victims., that's what the SGT Says.
Command Post
To contact us Click HERE
In an active shooter or other mass casualty even, build a command center. While is it difficult to go past injured, even trapped persons, the overall mission takes precedence. Again, follow-on staff will have to handle that mission. Fire department and EMS should not enter the danger zone until the suspects are neutralized or at least, no longer threaten that area. If needed, police can escort fire into the area to provide protection.
A command center should be far enough away to be safe, but close enough to exercise control. It also needs to be large and secure. Mobile command posts can be as large as a bus and even an 18 wheeler and trailer. Large numbers of people, the press, ambulances, communications vehicles, politicians, and victims, witnesses and families may be at the command post.
Armored vehicles can be used to pull wounded from dangerous areas. Sometimes you can obtain a civilian armored car from a money transport company. Sometimes armored shields and body armor can be placed on a regular car to provide limited protection. If no armor is available, then a wall of gunfire can be used to provide cover while causalities are evacuated; that's what the SGT Says.
A command center should be far enough away to be safe, but close enough to exercise control. It also needs to be large and secure. Mobile command posts can be as large as a bus and even an 18 wheeler and trailer. Large numbers of people, the press, ambulances, communications vehicles, politicians, and victims, witnesses and families may be at the command post.
Armored vehicles can be used to pull wounded from dangerous areas. Sometimes you can obtain a civilian armored car from a money transport company. Sometimes armored shields and body armor can be placed on a regular car to provide limited protection. If no armor is available, then a wall of gunfire can be used to provide cover while causalities are evacuated; that's what the SGT Says.
Don't Sue
To contact us Click HERE
Deputy Cleared in Fatal Shooting of Marine Sgt. Manny Loggins - Fountain Valley, CA Patch A man with his two children in the car crashed through a large metal gate, a deputy heard the crash and responded to the location. He called for backup as the man ran off into the darkness. The deputy checked the car and saw the kids were okay. Two more deputies arrived and soon the man returned. The man refused orders to stop, had something in his hands and seemed angry. As he tried to leave with the kids in the car he was shot three times, and died. The district attorney has cleared the officers of criminal wrongdoing. Naturally, the family is suing. If someone is acting in the commission of a crime and is injured or killed, he or his survivors should not be permitted to sue. If he was not doing his criminal acts, he would not have been killed, it's that simple, he was the cause of the whole incident and he could have changed the outcome at any time during the incident. The officers could have done better. Every officer in the field should have a Taser or similar device to use on suspects so they don't have to shoot so rapidly. Officers need more training in their batons so they are more willing to go with the baton. Since the officers were concerned about the safety of the kids, they should have been placed inside a patrol car, and perhaps even driven from the scene, or at least a safe distance. Always look for options; that's what the SGT Says.
29 Eylül 2012 Cumartesi
Myth #3: I Need A Game That Teaches... (The 5 Myths Of Game-based Learning)
To contact us Click HERE
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Myth #1: Game-based Learning Is New
Part 3: Myth #2: Games Work Because They Capture Attention
"I'd love to use game-based learning in my classes but I need a game that teaches..." organic chemistry, quantum physics, SIGINT, whatever.
I hear this quite often and it is a legitimate concern. So many things to teach and so few game designers and publishers willing to take them on. Before I answer why this is, let's assume, for the sake of the argument, that all of the administrative and regulatory hassles involved in designing a game that teaches could be overcome (These are not trivial. On the contrary, I suspect that these kinds of issues are a big part of the reason that game-based learning strategies have not been more widely tested and applied). Let's also assume that there is a business model that makes these kinds of games profitable to produce and distribute (another non-trivial assumption).
What's left? Just building a great game and, at the same time, making sure the course content is integrated into it. If this sounds really hard, it is.
And its just the beginning.
Because the reality is that you don't need a single great game that teaches these concepts, you really need multiple games that teach. It turns out that game-based learning is plural.
If, to be successful, game-based learning needs to be, at least to some extent, voluntary (and particularly if you accept the premise, as I do, that the more voluntary the game play is, the more learning will occur), then it makes sense that you will need more than one game covering the same topic to fully engage a diverse classroom full of learners.
To explain this as simply as I can, I often ask people to imagine a typical elementary classroom. If I only have one great game, let's call it "Barbie Math", I suspect that I may only engage approximately one-half of the students. I probably need another great game, let's call it "GI Joe Math", to get the other half. This grade school example is about as simple as I can make the problem but it is potentially much, much worse because of "fun".
Most game designers I know hate the word "fun". They hate this word because it is so indistinct and overused that it has virtually lost its meaning. To say a game is fun (or not fun) is, in short, not very useful criticism. There are lots of ways games can succeed or fail to produce fun generally and, more relevant to games that teach, specifically for individual students.
The best place to start to get a sense of this problem from a game design perspective is Raph Koster's A Theory of Fun. Koster lays out the problem pretty clearly and his book is widely used as a text and cited by professionals. 
To get an even more practical view of the problem, I like Pierre-Alexandrre Garneau's 14 Forms Of Fun article for the online magazine, Gamasutra. Here Garneau outlines 14 different ways that a game can be fun along with a number of examples of how each element worked in a game (see list to right). This list has not been scientifically validated and I am sure that, if we got 10 game designers or gamers in a room, there would be lots of disagreements about this list.
I like it, however, because it makes a good case for thinking about fun, and, by extension, about what makes a great game more broadly. If I think about what I like in a game, I can better see it in this list. I don't just like the game Portal 2 because it is fun, I like it because it is a witty, immersive game that focuses on intellectual problem solving, advancement and completion (If you are not familiar with the Portal franchise, watch the video below. It doesn't give much sense of the gameplay but it does give a good sense of the humor in the series). Moreover, once I know why I like what I like, I can use this system, in much the same way the Music Genome Project worked for music, to help me think about other games I might like to play.
My preferences might not be my students' preferences, however. It is easy to imagine a student or students that prefer the exact opposite -- I may like cooperative games; they prefer competitive games. I may like beautiful, discovery games like Myst but they like beautiful, thrill of danger games like Batman: Arkham City.
We are still just scratching the surface. What about genres of games? Some will only like sports games while others will prefer action titles. What about themes? Some like high fantasy (like Lord of the Rings Online) while some prefer space based games (Like Eve Online). And what about students who cannot define what they like ("I hate math and statistics and besides I have to spend this entire weekend preparing for my fantasy football draft...")?
These differences have focused on gaming style but even more important are teaching concerns. Different students are known to learn differently -- sometimes dramatically. Text based games, for example, no matter how compelling, may be inaccessible to dyslexic students.
I know it may sound like I am trying to paint a picture that game-based learning is a herculean, almost impossible task. That is just because I am a lawyer and creating a "parade of horribles" is what we do. Many of these distinctions probably matter far less than the discussion so far might lead you to believe. Some might not matter at all. Gamers tend to have broader rather than narrower tastes in games. For every student who only plays sports games, for example, there are likely many more who play both sports games and high fantasy games. Likewise there are a number of strategies for overcoming almost all learning differences and many could likely be applied to games.
I recognize and accept these objections. My goal here is simply to paint a more nuanced picture of the challenges teachers and game designers face when they try to take games into the classroom. There is a naivete in the statement "I need a game that teaches..." that nothing in my experience justifies.
I hope my observations will resonate with the comments made by James Shelton at the Games For Change conference last year (see the video in Part 1 of this series): In order for game-based learning to go mainstream, it has to scale. It can't just work with a self-selected population; it has to work across demographic lines and socioeconomic lines and learning differences lines. This likely means that whatever course or subject you are teaching, you will need multiple games to fully engage your entire class. A single game is unlikely to do it all.
Next: Myth 3a: I Want To Make A Game That Teaches...
Reader Recommended: Intelligence And Art
To contact us Click HERE
(Having survived both a surgery scare and the move to our new digs on the hill this summer (see pic for the view out my window...), I am playing catchup. Rather than continue to post nothing at all, I thought I would go back and re-publish some articles that received good -- or, at least, interesting -- feedback from readers. Enjoy! - K.)
Wired magazine recently highlighted Kryptos, the James Sanborn sculpture sitting in the middle of the CIA (see the image on the right). While most intel professionals are very familiar with the story behind Kryptos, the article got me thinking again about intelligence and art.
I don't mean to suggest anything as highbrow as "intelligence art" and certainly am not talking about the largely meaningless discussions that tend to revolve around the question "Is intelligence an art or a science?"
I mean the resonance I feel with a certain piece of art when I look at it and contemplate the profession I study.
Probably the most direct example of this is the work of Mark Lombardi. Lombardi is famous for his hand-drawn link diagrams of real events and supposed connections (see the image on the left). It is hard to look at his pieces and not sense that, at least for a while, you have been walking the same path together.
He reportedly committed suicide due to the depression and anger he felt after one of his creations was destroyed when the sprinkler system unexpectedly went off in his apartment (a sentiment shared by any Mercyhurst students who have ever lost their link diagram to a bad flash drive or a computer crash...).
Similar in some ways to the work of Lombardi are the intricate and wholly abstract three dimensional artworks of Janice Caswell. I love the way her work flows across walls and corners. It is almost as if she has developed an intricate analysis of all of the connections represented by some real world event and then removed the names of all of the actors and actions.
Her work (see an example on the right) goes directly to a point I try to teach my students, though. We tend to hyperfocus on the facts and assumptions and logic -- the hard data -- inherent in whatever we are attempting to analyze.
Whenever we try to visualize that information and analysis, however, we are also tapping into the nonlinear and largely inarticulate parts of our brains. Why did you put that in the center of your diagram? Why is his picture so large? Most of the connections seem to go around the sides of your nodes. Is that significant? Caswell validates, for me, the potential importance of listening to that subconscious voice, to try to hear what the quiet parts of my brain are trying to tell me.
(By the way, if you like Caswell's art as much as I do, you should check out the 57 other artists featured at VisualComplexity.com).
Another artist whose sculptural art echoes some of my own emotions when working on intelligence products are the paper-cut models of Jen Stark. These are really quite amazing constructions using nothing more than colored paper, patience and enormous creativity. I think I find them appealing because of the intricate layering and the odd angles and turns her works take (see an example to the left).
The relationship of the last two artists, Paula Scher and Timothy Hutchings, to intel is easy to see -- its geographic. Scher, who I first saw at The Serious Play Conference last year, does these magnificent renderings of geography that are both very close and very distant to what it is that I study. To get a sense of this tension, I suggest
that you take a look at some of the closeups of her work (see the map of South America on the right).
Hutchings, on the other hand, does many different things with all sorts of materials (much of it abstract). The parts of his work that draw me closest, however, are the very familiar terrain tables (see an example below) he builds. It is
hard to imagine, for most old Army guys like me, that the humble terrain table can be a work of art but Hutchings, in my mind, has done just that.
How about you? Is there anything or anyone's art you look at and think, "That feels like my job?" If so, post it to the comments...
Originally published May 8, 2009.
 |
| Look carefully and you can see the lake in the distance. |
Wired magazine recently highlighted Kryptos, the James Sanborn sculpture sitting in the middle of the CIA (see the image on the right). While most intel professionals are very familiar with the story behind Kryptos, the article got me thinking again about intelligence and art.
I don't mean to suggest anything as highbrow as "intelligence art" and certainly am not talking about the largely meaningless discussions that tend to revolve around the question "Is intelligence an art or a science?"
I mean the resonance I feel with a certain piece of art when I look at it and contemplate the profession I study.
Probably the most direct example of this is the work of Mark Lombardi. Lombardi is famous for his hand-drawn link diagrams of real events and supposed connections (see the image on the left). It is hard to look at his pieces and not sense that, at least for a while, you have been walking the same path together.
He reportedly committed suicide due to the depression and anger he felt after one of his creations was destroyed when the sprinkler system unexpectedly went off in his apartment (a sentiment shared by any Mercyhurst students who have ever lost their link diagram to a bad flash drive or a computer crash...).
Similar in some ways to the work of Lombardi are the intricate and wholly abstract three dimensional artworks of Janice Caswell. I love the way her work flows across walls and corners. It is almost as if she has developed an intricate analysis of all of the connections represented by some real world event and then removed the names of all of the actors and actions.
Her work (see an example on the right) goes directly to a point I try to teach my students, though. We tend to hyperfocus on the facts and assumptions and logic -- the hard data -- inherent in whatever we are attempting to analyze.
Whenever we try to visualize that information and analysis, however, we are also tapping into the nonlinear and largely inarticulate parts of our brains. Why did you put that in the center of your diagram? Why is his picture so large? Most of the connections seem to go around the sides of your nodes. Is that significant? Caswell validates, for me, the potential importance of listening to that subconscious voice, to try to hear what the quiet parts of my brain are trying to tell me.
(By the way, if you like Caswell's art as much as I do, you should check out the 57 other artists featured at VisualComplexity.com).
Another artist whose sculptural art echoes some of my own emotions when working on intelligence products are the paper-cut models of Jen Stark. These are really quite amazing constructions using nothing more than colored paper, patience and enormous creativity. I think I find them appealing because of the intricate layering and the odd angles and turns her works take (see an example to the left).The relationship of the last two artists, Paula Scher and Timothy Hutchings, to intel is easy to see -- its geographic. Scher, who I first saw at The Serious Play Conference last year, does these magnificent renderings of geography that are both very close and very distant to what it is that I study. To get a sense of this tension, I suggest
that you take a look at some of the closeups of her work (see the map of South America on the right).Hutchings, on the other hand, does many different things with all sorts of materials (much of it abstract). The parts of his work that draw me closest, however, are the very familiar terrain tables (see an example below) he builds. It is
hard to imagine, for most old Army guys like me, that the humble terrain table can be a work of art but Hutchings, in my mind, has done just that.How about you? Is there anything or anyone's art you look at and think, "That feels like my job?" If so, post it to the comments...
Originally published May 8, 2009.
Myth #3a: I Want To Make A Game That Teaches... (The 5 Myths Of Game-based Learning)
To contact us Click HERE
Even if you can design a great game that teaches, if it is a video game, you will have to work pretty hard to keep the game looking fresh and up to date.
Strike Three (A): A single video game will typically not have enough content to fill a course. Two of my favorite games of the last year were Portal 2 and Kingdoms of Amalur. I play both of these games through Steam (for those of you not familiar with Steam, it is like an iTunes for games. Just like iTunes, it lets you download content directly to your PC and just like iTunes it keeps track of your statistics for you -- how long you play, what you play, how much you like a game, etc). Steam says I logged 17 hours playing Portal 2 and 101 hours playing Kingdoms of Amalur.
Both games (which I purchased on sale) provided excellent value for money in my opinion. Portal 2 is one of the highest ranked games ever and was immensely fun. Kingdoms of Amalur was designed to be a much lengthier game and was equally fun to play (though many reviewers did not think so...). With an average university course requiring approximately 45 classroom hours and, depending on who you talk to, 2:1 to 4:1 hours outside studying to inside of class, it is arguable (in a rough order of magnitude sort of way) that only video games on the scale of Kingdoms of Amalur could hope to fully replace even a single university course.
Strike 3 (B): Even if the content is there, relatively few players actually finish video games. Consider the two games I mentioned above. Portal 2 is one of the highest rated games of all time. Players and reviewers loved it. Heck, I loved it. I played every level and received every "Achievement" - little electronic tokens of accomplishment that players collect throughout the game. Steam, of course, keeps track of "Achievements". Typically, there is at least one achievement associated with completing the main part of the game. In the case of Portal 2, that achievement is called "Lunacy" (play the game and you will understand why). I have received this achievement and truly enjoyed the process of getting there.
What is really interesting, though, is that Steam allows me to compare my achievements with the millions of other players who have also played the game. Only about 56.4% of those who have played the game through Steam have received the Lunacy Achievement. That is actually a pretty stunning statistic when you consider this is one of the best rated games ever, players presumably volunteered/wanted to play the game and they had to pay between $30 and $60 for the privilege. It is even harder to imagine a successful class where only 56% of those who start it, finish it. Kingdoms of Amalur is in an even worse position. Here only 18.1% of those who started the game played through to the final achievement, "Destiny Defiant".
**********
OK, so its not as bad as I make it look. I will readily acknowledge that many of the arguments I make are not as strong as they appear to be. Indie game designers are bringing extraordinary labors of love to the attention of the masses every day. The overwhelming success of video games like Minecraft, Braid and Bastion are testaments to what creative people can do on a shoestring. Likewise, even if one of today's games can't fill a course or routinely get played to completion, you, Kris Wheaton, are the one who said we would have to have multiple games for our courses anyway. Besides, just because the games aren't here today, does not mean that we shouldn't keep trying.
Exactly. My point is not to deter game-based learning approaches -- I believe in them wholeheartedly! My goal is to let teachers know that the process is not as easy and straightforward as it appears. This is truly a "hard problem" and hard in two fields, game design and education.
I believe the problem will be solved but what are we to do in the meantime? I recommend two strategies for teachers. First (and this is the one I use in my Strategic Intelligence class), look for great games that already exist that can teach, reinforce or supplement one or more of your learning objectives. Second, if you must design your own game, make it a board or card game. These cost significantly less to design and produce and require much less equipment to play. They are easier to fit into the constraints associated with a normal 1-2 hour class and, for intelligence professionals, at least, are simply easier to get into the building!
Next: Myth #4: The Learning Objectives Come First
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Myth #1: Game-based Learning Is New
Part 3: Myth #2: Games Work Because They Capture Attention
Part 4: Myth #3: I Need A Game That Teaches...
(Needless to say, it has been a strange August. Thanks for the well wishes and notes of concern. Hopefully, I am back at it...)
You have a PhD (or you have just been teaching a subject for quite some time) and you like games. If no one has bothered to make a game that happens to teach anything remotely related to your subject matter, why not just make your own game?
I have already made the point that good game design is hard (if you want to get an idea of how hard, check out Ian Schreiber's excellent 20 part series: Game Design Concepts). Teaching is also hard which makes designing a game that teaches a real...well, you get the point.
None of that is going to deter some of you, though. If you are still bound and determined to design a game that teaches, whatever you do, don't try to make it a video game. I have nothing against video games, but they have three strikes against them when it comes to teaching.
Strike One: Even inexpensive video games cost a ton to make. According to the Casual Games Association, the least expensive games to develop (such as the ones on Facebook) still cost between $50,000 and $400,000. Large scale games (such as Call of Duty or Mass Effect) can exceed $30 million. No educator has that kind of money laying around for course development.
Strike Two: Video games have a very short shelf life. The technology is advancing so quickly that very few video games hold up well over time. Most start to look their age within a year or two and many feel old and clunky within 3-4 years. To get a sense of this drop off, take a look at the steep discounting that typically takes place on video games within the first few years of life:
 |
| http://blog.pricecharting.com/2012/03/lifecycle-of-video-games-price-30-years.html |
Strike Three (A): A single video game will typically not have enough content to fill a course. Two of my favorite games of the last year were Portal 2 and Kingdoms of Amalur. I play both of these games through Steam (for those of you not familiar with Steam, it is like an iTunes for games. Just like iTunes, it lets you download content directly to your PC and just like iTunes it keeps track of your statistics for you -- how long you play, what you play, how much you like a game, etc). Steam says I logged 17 hours playing Portal 2 and 101 hours playing Kingdoms of Amalur.
Both games (which I purchased on sale) provided excellent value for money in my opinion. Portal 2 is one of the highest ranked games ever and was immensely fun. Kingdoms of Amalur was designed to be a much lengthier game and was equally fun to play (though many reviewers did not think so...). With an average university course requiring approximately 45 classroom hours and, depending on who you talk to, 2:1 to 4:1 hours outside studying to inside of class, it is arguable (in a rough order of magnitude sort of way) that only video games on the scale of Kingdoms of Amalur could hope to fully replace even a single university course.
Strike 3 (B): Even if the content is there, relatively few players actually finish video games. Consider the two games I mentioned above. Portal 2 is one of the highest rated games of all time. Players and reviewers loved it. Heck, I loved it. I played every level and received every "Achievement" - little electronic tokens of accomplishment that players collect throughout the game. Steam, of course, keeps track of "Achievements". Typically, there is at least one achievement associated with completing the main part of the game. In the case of Portal 2, that achievement is called "Lunacy" (play the game and you will understand why). I have received this achievement and truly enjoyed the process of getting there.
What is really interesting, though, is that Steam allows me to compare my achievements with the millions of other players who have also played the game. Only about 56.4% of those who have played the game through Steam have received the Lunacy Achievement. That is actually a pretty stunning statistic when you consider this is one of the best rated games ever, players presumably volunteered/wanted to play the game and they had to pay between $30 and $60 for the privilege. It is even harder to imagine a successful class where only 56% of those who start it, finish it. Kingdoms of Amalur is in an even worse position. Here only 18.1% of those who started the game played through to the final achievement, "Destiny Defiant".
**********
OK, so its not as bad as I make it look. I will readily acknowledge that many of the arguments I make are not as strong as they appear to be. Indie game designers are bringing extraordinary labors of love to the attention of the masses every day. The overwhelming success of video games like Minecraft, Braid and Bastion are testaments to what creative people can do on a shoestring. Likewise, even if one of today's games can't fill a course or routinely get played to completion, you, Kris Wheaton, are the one who said we would have to have multiple games for our courses anyway. Besides, just because the games aren't here today, does not mean that we shouldn't keep trying.
Exactly. My point is not to deter game-based learning approaches -- I believe in them wholeheartedly! My goal is to let teachers know that the process is not as easy and straightforward as it appears. This is truly a "hard problem" and hard in two fields, game design and education.
I believe the problem will be solved but what are we to do in the meantime? I recommend two strategies for teachers. First (and this is the one I use in my Strategic Intelligence class), look for great games that already exist that can teach, reinforce or supplement one or more of your learning objectives. Second, if you must design your own game, make it a board or card game. These cost significantly less to design and produce and require much less equipment to play. They are easier to fit into the constraints associated with a normal 1-2 hour class and, for intelligence professionals, at least, are simply easier to get into the building!
Next: Myth #4: The Learning Objectives Come First
Strategic Minerals, Collaboration, Intelligence And...Oh, Yeah...Twitter!
To contact us Click HERE
I am currently team teaching a class called Collaborative Intelligence with one of our adjuncts, Cathy Pedler. I like to say that the purpose of the class is to explore "how to work in groups and how groups work."
Specifically, we are tapping into our own research and experience working with small groups of analysts (as well as the research of others) to teach students how to optimize group work processes with particular emphasis on group work in virtual or distributed environments. In addition, we are also teaching them how to collect useful information and produce analysis using a variety of online and social media tools. For this part of the class, we are emphasizing social network analysis as a core methodology.
In order to give the class some focus, Cathy and I decided to have the students take a hard look at strategic minerals (such as the "rare earth elements"). In order to share the results of our efforts, we also created a class blog, Strategic Minerals, where students could post both some of their collected information and some of their analysis for others to examine and comment upon.
On the blog you will find a couple of different kinds of exercises. First, there are INTSUM-like entries that summarize recent news articles but add snippets of commentary or analysis (Note: For those who have not tried it, blogging software is a nearly perfect way to replace traditional INTSUMs. You get all of the benefit and none of the costs of creating them the old-fashioned way).
Second, there are classroom exercises, like our recent effort to build a down-and-dirty model of the non-chemical relationships between the various strategic minerals using social network analysis. Third, and most recently, we have been posting some of our (very preliminary) analysis of the impact of trends in these minerals on national security, law enforcement and business interests in the US.
While none of our current analytic efforts are very sophisticated (Don't worry: We will get better), how we are producing these results is likely to be as (or more) interesting to many of you as our analysis. For example, the most recent assignments required the students to produce their analysis without any face-to-face interaction. Instead, they had to use nothing but the suite of collaborative tools we had been discussing (and using) in class. If you take a look at the "Methods and processes" section of these most recent reports, you can see how well this worked, what problems they had to overcome, and how they went about making the reports happen.
In the coming weeks we will be diving much deeper into social network analysis, talking a lot more about group dynamics, learning how to use Twitter, Pintrest, Facebook and other social media as collection tools, and producing increasingly complex reports involving larger and larger groups of analysts.
It promises to be an interesting term. We hope to learn something about strategic minerals but more importantly, we hope to learn how to work in groups and how groups work.
Follow along at Strategic Minerals!
 |
| http://strategicminerals.blogspot.com/ |
Specifically, we are tapping into our own research and experience working with small groups of analysts (as well as the research of others) to teach students how to optimize group work processes with particular emphasis on group work in virtual or distributed environments. In addition, we are also teaching them how to collect useful information and produce analysis using a variety of online and social media tools. For this part of the class, we are emphasizing social network analysis as a core methodology.
In order to give the class some focus, Cathy and I decided to have the students take a hard look at strategic minerals (such as the "rare earth elements"). In order to share the results of our efforts, we also created a class blog, Strategic Minerals, where students could post both some of their collected information and some of their analysis for others to examine and comment upon.
On the blog you will find a couple of different kinds of exercises. First, there are INTSUM-like entries that summarize recent news articles but add snippets of commentary or analysis (Note: For those who have not tried it, blogging software is a nearly perfect way to replace traditional INTSUMs. You get all of the benefit and none of the costs of creating them the old-fashioned way).
Second, there are classroom exercises, like our recent effort to build a down-and-dirty model of the non-chemical relationships between the various strategic minerals using social network analysis. Third, and most recently, we have been posting some of our (very preliminary) analysis of the impact of trends in these minerals on national security, law enforcement and business interests in the US.
While none of our current analytic efforts are very sophisticated (Don't worry: We will get better), how we are producing these results is likely to be as (or more) interesting to many of you as our analysis. For example, the most recent assignments required the students to produce their analysis without any face-to-face interaction. Instead, they had to use nothing but the suite of collaborative tools we had been discussing (and using) in class. If you take a look at the "Methods and processes" section of these most recent reports, you can see how well this worked, what problems they had to overcome, and how they went about making the reports happen.
In the coming weeks we will be diving much deeper into social network analysis, talking a lot more about group dynamics, learning how to use Twitter, Pintrest, Facebook and other social media as collection tools, and producing increasingly complex reports involving larger and larger groups of analysts.
It promises to be an interesting term. We hope to learn something about strategic minerals but more importantly, we hope to learn how to work in groups and how groups work.
Follow along at Strategic Minerals!
Top 5 Books Every Intel Professional Should Read (But Have Probably Never Heard Of)
To contact us Click HERE
There are tons of great reading lists for intelligence professionals. The CIA has a list, The National Intelligence University has a list, The Marine Corps and other military institutions have lists; even intelligence professionals in the business community have lists.
I have noticed, however, that, oftentimes, these lists contain many, if not all, the same books. Everyone recommends Heuer, everyone recommends Sun Tzu, everyone recommends something of regional or topical interest and for good reason -- these are great books.
Over the last several years, though, I have identified a number of books that I think every intelligence professional ought to read ... but aren't yet on anyone's list. Typically these are not books about intelligence, or, at least, were not intended primarily for the intelligence audience but still have deep meaning for intelligence professionals in all of the various sub-disciplines.
Without further ado (and in reverse order):
#5 The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science In The Twentieth Century. If you are like me, you probably did not much care for statistics in college. That is probably because you did not have this book to read. It is an absolutely fascinating book that tells the story of modern (frequentist) statistics. Nothing I have read helps put the numbers in context -- what you can get from traditional stats and what you can't -- better.
#4 The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes’ Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines and Emerged Triumphant From Two Centuries of Controversy. Just the title ought to catch the eye of most intel professionals. Bayes, for those of you unfamiliar with the theory, is the other side of the statistical coin - a different way of doing and thinking about stats that is probably more useful for intelligence than traditional, frequentist, approaches. This very readable book is a great introductory volume for those who know nothing about Bayes. 
#3 How To Measure Anything: Finding The Value Of Intangibles In Business. While this is pitched primarily at the business audience, it really isn't a business book. It is really a book about how to think about problems creatively. While there are many tangible strategies discussed in Hubbard's fine volume, it is the attitude that Hubbard has as he approaches seemingly intractable problems that I find most compelling here. It is a nearly perfect approach for intel professionals confronted with wicked problems.
#2 Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know? What is the correlation between forecasting accuracy and years of experience? .00. Between forecasting accuracy and education? .02. Between forecasting accuracy and access to classified information? .02 In other words, almost none. Philip Tetlock's 2005 bombshell of a book is still not as widely read as it needs to be by intel professionals. Whether you ultimately agree or disagree with his findings, it is a must read.
#1 Collaborative Intelligence: Using Teams To Solve Hard Problems (Lessons From And For Intelligence Professionals). Hackman, like Tetlock, has spent the better part of a decade researching his subject (in this case small teams of intel analysts). His findings and recommendations about how to structure and manage intel professionals charged with solving difficult analytic problems in challenging environments where collaboration is required are essential reading. In a world that constantly talks about collaboration, Hackman has done the hard work to lay out a roadmap about how it can and should be done most effectively.
How about you? Do you have a favorite book that you think ought to be read by intel professionals but no one ever talks about? Leave it in the comments!
28 Eylül 2012 Cuma
Charlottesville Insurance Agent Charged with Fraud
To contact us Click HERE
GrahamMesser Facing 13 Charges
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—A local insuranceagent is facing a handful of federal charges related to fraud following theunsealing of an indictment returned by a federal grand jury two weeks ago inthe United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia inCharlottesville.
Graham Hutson Messer, 32, of BremoBluff, Virginia, was charged in a sealed indictment returned September 12,2012, and unsealed last week following the defendant’s arrest. Messer has beencharged with 13 counts of mail fraud.
According to the indictment, Messeroperated as an independent agent offering insurance and insurance products forsale to clients in Virginia. Messer purported to sell insurance offered by anumber of different insurance companies, including, but not limited to: theFarmers Insurance group of companies, Chartis Inc., Nautilus Insurance Group,Granite State Insurance Company, and Main Street America Group.
It is alleged in the indictment thatMesser would instruct his clients to send payments for insurance premiumsdirectly to him. The defendant told his clients that he would then remit thepayments to the insurance companies. However, according to the indictment,Messer embezzled those funds for his own, personal use, never sending them tothe insurance company, while also deceiving his clients into believing they hadinsurance coverage.
If convicted, the defendant faces amaximum possible penalty of up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to$250,000 for each mail fraud charge.
The investigation of the case wasconducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Albemarle County PoliceDepartment, the Virginia Bureau of Insurance, and the Charlottesville CityPolice Department. Special Assistant United States Attorney Elliott Casey willprosecute the case for the United States.
GrahamMesser Facing 13 Charges
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—A local insuranceagent is facing a handful of federal charges related to fraud following theunsealing of an indictment returned by a federal grand jury two weeks ago inthe United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia inCharlottesville.
Graham Hutson Messer, 32, of BremoBluff, Virginia, was charged in a sealed indictment returned September 12,2012, and unsealed last week following the defendant’s arrest. Messer has beencharged with 13 counts of mail fraud.
According to the indictment, Messeroperated as an independent agent offering insurance and insurance products forsale to clients in Virginia. Messer purported to sell insurance offered by anumber of different insurance companies, including, but not limited to: theFarmers Insurance group of companies, Chartis Inc., Nautilus Insurance Group,Granite State Insurance Company, and Main Street America Group.
It is alleged in the indictment thatMesser would instruct his clients to send payments for insurance premiumsdirectly to him. The defendant told his clients that he would then remit thepayments to the insurance companies. However, according to the indictment,Messer embezzled those funds for his own, personal use, never sending them tothe insurance company, while also deceiving his clients into believing they hadinsurance coverage.
If convicted, the defendant faces amaximum possible penalty of up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to$250,000 for each mail fraud charge.
The investigation of the case wasconducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Albemarle County PoliceDepartment, the Virginia Bureau of Insurance, and the Charlottesville CityPolice Department. Special Assistant United States Attorney Elliott Casey willprosecute the case for the United States.
Individual Charged with Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property
To contact us Click HERE
Yijia Zhang, formerly of King ofPrussia, was charged in an indictment that was unsealed today with computerdamage and interstate transportation of stolen property, announced UnitedStates Attorney Zane David Memeger. Zhang is charged with stealing sensitivedocuments from his employer and with disabling a company server that he used totransfer the documents to cover his actions.
If convicted, Zhang faces a maximumpenalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and a $500,000 fine. The case wasinvestigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted byAssistant United States Attorney Michael L. Levy.
An indictment or information is anaccusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
InformationRegarding DefendantName: Yijia ZhangAge: 36Address: South San Francisco, California
Yijia Zhang, formerly of King ofPrussia, was charged in an indictment that was unsealed today with computerdamage and interstate transportation of stolen property, announced UnitedStates Attorney Zane David Memeger. Zhang is charged with stealing sensitivedocuments from his employer and with disabling a company server that he used totransfer the documents to cover his actions.
If convicted, Zhang faces a maximumpenalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and a $500,000 fine. The case wasinvestigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted byAssistant United States Attorney Michael L. Levy.
An indictment or information is anaccusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
InformationRegarding DefendantName: Yijia ZhangAge: 36Address: South San Francisco, California
Former Waianae Couple Pleads Guilty to Operating Gambling Business and Structuring Over $100,000
To contact us Click HERE
HONOLULU—Lloyd Robert Marshall, age 67,and Nitta Mitsuko Marshall, age 65, former Waianae residents, today pled guiltybefore United States Magistrate Judge Barry M. Kurren to conspiracy to conduct,operate, finance, supervise, and direct an illegal gambling business involvingcockfighting, dice tables, and card games at their Puuhulu Road property inWaianae. The Marshalls also entered guilty pleas to 13 counts of structuringover $132,000 in proceeds during a one-year period from the illegal gamblingbusiness to evade certain regulations relating to currency transactions. Underfederal law, a Currency Transaction Report must be filed by a financialinstitution with the Internal Revenue Service in regard to any currencytransaction over $10,000. It is illegal to structure transactions withfinancial institutions in order to avoid this filing requirement.
Florence T. Nakakuni, United StatesAttorney for the District of Hawaii, said that the Marshalls also agreed toforfeit $170,578.75 in cash, representing gambling proceeds which were seizedon July 2, 2011, during a search warrant executed on their property, and theirinterest in real property used as the venue for the illegal gamblingactivities. According to documents filed in connection with the case, fromapproximately 2009 to July 2011, the Marshalls agreed to use their property asa site of illegal cockfighting contests and dice and card games. Policeobserved from 100 to 600 people at these “derbies.” People attending the gamespaid parking and entrance fees.
The defendants face maximum penalties offive years’ imprisonment for the gambling charges and 10 years’ imprisonmentfor each of the structuring counts, along with fines totaling up to $250,000and $500,000 respectively, when they are sentenced on January 28, 2013, beforeChief United States District Judge Susan Oki Mollway.
The case was investigated by the FederalBureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation,U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland SecurityInvestigations, and the Honolulu Police Department. Assistant United StatesAttorney Beverly Wee Sameshima is handling the prosecution.
HONOLULU—Lloyd Robert Marshall, age 67,and Nitta Mitsuko Marshall, age 65, former Waianae residents, today pled guiltybefore United States Magistrate Judge Barry M. Kurren to conspiracy to conduct,operate, finance, supervise, and direct an illegal gambling business involvingcockfighting, dice tables, and card games at their Puuhulu Road property inWaianae. The Marshalls also entered guilty pleas to 13 counts of structuringover $132,000 in proceeds during a one-year period from the illegal gamblingbusiness to evade certain regulations relating to currency transactions. Underfederal law, a Currency Transaction Report must be filed by a financialinstitution with the Internal Revenue Service in regard to any currencytransaction over $10,000. It is illegal to structure transactions withfinancial institutions in order to avoid this filing requirement.
Florence T. Nakakuni, United StatesAttorney for the District of Hawaii, said that the Marshalls also agreed toforfeit $170,578.75 in cash, representing gambling proceeds which were seizedon July 2, 2011, during a search warrant executed on their property, and theirinterest in real property used as the venue for the illegal gamblingactivities. According to documents filed in connection with the case, fromapproximately 2009 to July 2011, the Marshalls agreed to use their property asa site of illegal cockfighting contests and dice and card games. Policeobserved from 100 to 600 people at these “derbies.” People attending the gamespaid parking and entrance fees.
The defendants face maximum penalties offive years’ imprisonment for the gambling charges and 10 years’ imprisonmentfor each of the structuring counts, along with fines totaling up to $250,000and $500,000 respectively, when they are sentenced on January 28, 2013, beforeChief United States District Judge Susan Oki Mollway.
The case was investigated by the FederalBureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation,U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland SecurityInvestigations, and the Honolulu Police Department. Assistant United StatesAttorney Beverly Wee Sameshima is handling the prosecution.
Kaydol:
Kayıtlar (Atom)