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I’ve been seeing a lot of energy online about bringing the old web back, or bringing the humanity back to the web, or just trying to make some art, dammit. So, here’s my part. This blog is my corner of the World Wide Web. Of the non-corporate, non-monetized, non-advertised, non-user-tracked, human-scale online experience. I haven’t been blogging, partially because I’ve been holding back due to Not Having Anything Profound to Share™. But that’s not how the blogosphere works, so I’m going to make an effort to post more. Maybe I’ll start up the weekly recaps or something, too. Who knows? I have been pretty good about the daily photos thing though…
I spent the last several years pouring all of my thinking and writing and effort into finishing a dissertation. Now that that’s in the bag, I feel as though I’m slowly starting to come back to myself, to recover a bit of myself, and to slowly stretch and blink and start to think about what comes next (I have no idea, and have no plans other than to continue working with the best team I’ve ever worked with.
What do I see, now that I’m seeing things again?
I’m intentionally avoiding writing about the elephant in the room, Putin’s illegal war, genocide, ecocide, whatever-history-will-call-it. Slava Ukraini, and for christ’s sake can we stop with the trickle-feeding of support and just give Ukraine what they need in order to protect themselves rather than slowly adding things months after they would have made a difference?
Anyway, on to the trivial things back home.
Mastodon feels like it’s maturing a bit - it’s calming down from the rush, post-Elon. And Elon is doubling down on doing everything he can to kill Twitter. Which begs the question of what his end-game is. Which is another reason I will always remain wary of corporate platforms - even if they seem cool when you sign up, things can and do change unilaterally.
Speaking of which. Reddit - a silo, sure, but an “open” one that became the closest thing I’ve seen to a true commons of communities on the internet - is in the process of self-immolation in service of its impending IPO. I’ve deleted my 11-year-old Reddit account with something like 23K karma (on the internet, the points are made up). I may create another one if the company turns back from enshittification. I’m not holding my breath.
Apple finally announced their goggle-thing. “Spatial Computing” looks really compelling, and the hardware is top-notch, I’m sure. It looks like what this stuff has been trying to be for years, but never quite clicked. Turns out, when you can throw 12 cameras and 2 custom chips and 2 4K displays into a pair of ski goggles and paste another display on the outside, some interesting things become possible. It’s insanely expensive for now (Vision Pro is the Pro model, probably 4x what the Air model will be, a couple of years from now) - but I know of many research labs who have spent orders of magnitude more than that on gear that is laughably clumsy and obsolete in comparison. I used the Pixel VR thing back in 2017, and boy howdy did it suck.
I do wonder how this new model of spatial computing will integrate inclusivity from the beginning - a visually spatial computing environment seems like it might be problematic for people with visual challenges. The web is a visual medium, but screenreaders work well. How would accessibility be handled in VR/AR/Spatial? I’m currently reading Hendren’s What Can a Body Do? and it talks about meeting a group of blind students at Gallaudet University, and how blind students use sound in a spatial way - how will spatial computing adapt for something like that?
I missed the whole Reclaim Open conference recently - even though it was a hybrid event (at UMW in Freddie, and online in Discord), I just didn’t have it in me at the time to be wrapping up work before taking a week off. I’m sorry. I’m just so profoundly exhausted that I couldn’t add it on top of the rest of it all. I wish I’d have had the forethought/time/budget to have made the trip to UMW for the conference, though. It sounds like it was exactly the kind of soul-nourishing event I’m craving now. A Northern Voice, reborn (although, even NV enshittified itself, which is why I stopped going to that back in the day…)
So. What now? For the short term, I’ve been putzing around with my blog/website, making it work the way I want it to. It’s a place where I can build things - even if it’s just tweaking things - without having to worry about Change Windows or Change Management Processes or Test vs. Production or or or. I love how flexible Hugo is, and I also love - following a theme that came out of Reclaim Open (from what I hear, Tom Woodward’s “Your website is a slow, bloated, carbon-belching monstrosity” session was awesome) - that it’s a low-energy and long-term hosting kind of thing. It uses next to nothing to host this website, depends on almost no server infrastructure, and the whole thing is published from my laptop in seconds and then uploaded to my Reclaim Hosting server (Gyrus!) as static files. Static files FTW!
Panning out a bit, I’ll be focussing even more on learning spaces. On the design, implementation, support, evaluation, and lifecycle of physical, digital, and online learning spaces. This will be a core focus of my work for the next few years, and I’m hoping to be able to use my dissertation research to help guide that work. I also want to plan some research projects for our work in the TI and across UCalgary.
To support that, I’ll be travelling to Cleveland in early August for the SCUP 2023 annual conference1. And am looking forward to meeting up with Bryan Alexander there! I was at the 2022 conference, and it really helped to connect my work to that of planners and architects across North America.
I’m also going to be working to find ways to help shift my institution toward more of a flexible, ecosystem-based model and away from rigid monoliths. I think there is a huge appetite for that shift, but it will be a long process. One that, I hope, will be worth it because it will generate a much richer teaching and learning experience for our community.
And, maybe most importantly, I’m going to try to be kinder to myself. I think I’m pretty kind and understanding with the people I live and work with, but I have a horrible pattern of not extending the same kindness and understanding to myself. I’ve gone through an incredibly taxing period over the last few years - extreme highs and lows on a number of fronts - and I need to be mindful of that in my approach to work and life in general2.
Anyway. There endeth the post.
I will be making a stronger stance against travelling to states that have legislation that is hostile to women - I neglected to pay attention to that before committing to go to this year’s conference. I won’t be going next year, unless it’s in a place that is safe for all participants. Ohio’s 6-week abortion ban is currently blocked because of ongoing litigation, but that could resolve at any time. Conferences should not select host cities where participants will be at risk. ↩︎
even this post is kind of a whistling-past kind of thing, distracting myself from some potentially-not-awesome health news by writing a blog post instead of, say, doing yoga or meditating or going for a walk or or or… ↩︎
In Obsidian, I use a folder of notes called “Collections”. Inside Collections are various folders that act as buckets of info, in a quasi-Zettelkasten notes-as-personal-wikipedia kind of thing.
My Collections currently include (in alphabetical order):
Some of these have subfolders to organize notes into smaller buckets. For example, Topics is organized by folders for:
The folders change and I add to them and reorganize as needed. I’ve only been using Obsidian for about 4 months now, so I figure things will continue to settle as I get deeper into it…
This works well, and I can link to these notes from anything in my Obsidian vault. And the links power the Graph view, which helps me make sense of the connections:
I use a canvas as my “home base” in Obsidian. On the dashboard, I have several notes displayed so I have ready access to about 500 organized notes at a glance.
It’s a little too small to see in the screenshot, but one of those notes is a special “utility” note that I’ve created, containing a dataview snippet to show all notes within the “Topics” collection. Previously, I could only figure out how to list the files across all subfolders, sorted alphabetically. Useful, but clumsy.
I had been using a dataviewjs hack to kind of approximate hierarchical file listings, but it was ugly and the results were weirdly formatted.
But - I just spent some time in the dataview documentation and, with a bit of trial and error, came up with a way that does almost exactly what I want. So, the “Topics” list went from being a flattened list of all topics, to one that’s properly grouped by folder (folders sorted alphabetically), with the files also sorted alphabetically. (I say “almost exactly what I want” because I can’t figure out how to clean up the folder names, so they’re all displaying the full hierarchy for each folder - not the end of the world, but takes a lot of space and is redundant for my use.)
Here’s the dataview snippet that I use for the Topics utility note that is then displayed on the main Canvas:
FreshRSS 
dataview
list rows.file.link
FROM "Collections/Topics"
sort file.name asc
group by file.folder
sort file.name asc
And here’s what the snippet looks like, in utility notes embedded on my main Canvas (showing similar dataview snippets for Institutions and Topics):
I’m also using the MCL Multi Column css from Faiz Khuzaimah to present the dataview lists in 2- or 3-column displays.
Update: an hour after I posted this, I saw a link to a new (and very useful) interactive dataview query builder linked on the Obsidian subreddit. It gets you almost to the same place as my snippet, but gives you options to customize it. That’ll come in handy…
Grant Potter asked a question on Mastodon, about how video games are being used for teaching and learning. I’ve done some work on this for my dissertation, and wanted to repurpose bits from a few chapters in response to Grant’s question. I’ll be writing more about my dissertation work, but am still in “pause and recover” mode after finishing it…
In the dissertation, I explored how the disciplines of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) intersect, using the specific ways in which we design, study, and evaluate video games as the point of integration. From this perspective, there are three categories that describe the use of video games to support teaching and learning:
Grant’s question points to #2: Teaching and learning with games. This wasn’t the focus of my dissertation, as I was exploring #3: Game design as a model for course design, but I did touch on it a bit.
“Video-game designers did not become familiar with these learning principles from the learning sciences, nor did the learning sciences use video games as a basis for research. Rather, this is a matter of convergent development. Video games are largely just problem-solving spaces; if people could not learn them well and in an engaging fashion, the companies that make the games would go out of business. So it is, perhaps, not surprising that game designers have hit on – and even innovated on – many of the learning principles that contemporary research in the learning sciences has argued work for deep and effective human learning.”
- James Paul Gee (2009)1 [p.11]
From my dissertation:
This concept of convergent development explains how video games have come to incorporate concepts that contribute to effective teaching and learning, and why research methods designed to formally analyze video games may be adapted to understand what is happening in a classroom session. Convergent development between video games and learning spaces also reinforces the compatibility of the two disciplines. This compatibility has the potential to shift implicit overlap by making the connections explicit, enabling formal integration and enhancing understanding in both HCI and SoTL.
One area where video games differ from classroom teaching is in the voluntary nature of video games, compared with the power dynamics observed in institutional contexts. Students may have difficulty choosing not to participate in classroom activities – if they want to graduate, they want to pass the course, therefore they are compelled to participate. Video games do not have a similar power dynamic – a player can choose to stop playing the game at any time. Looking at teaching and learning through a lens of video games also places an emphasis on agency and control.
Video games are an explicitly designed environment, with actions and interactions carefully considered and enabled through software design. In teaching and learning, much of this is done implicitly, but it happens nonetheless. So, the overlap between the ways in which video games and classroom experiences are designed is much stronger than it may appear. It is the emphasis on agency and control that can make video games so compelling to support teaching and learning - students can take action in video games and virtual worlds, in ways that may not be feasible or safe in (or outside of) the classroom.
After I’ve recovered a bit, I’ll write more about my dissertation, and the framework that I developed to describe the ways in which course design and teaching and learning can be described using concepts adapted from the study of video games. In the meantime…
First, a completely-not-exhaustive cursory list of some academic-y resources:
Look at the age of those articles! Using video games for teaching and learning is not a new thing. It is foundational, a core part of what teaching and learning is all about. Sure, the video part may be new-ish, and the technology is advancing rapidly, but video games have been used for teaching and learning since the first video games were developed over 50 years ago. Minecraft. Sim-City. Oregon Trail. PLATO. This stuff goes waaaay back…
And some non-academic-y resources and examples:
Almost 20 years ago, Michael Magee was working in our group at the Learning Commons (long before it became the Teaching & Learning Centre and then the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning). He built a version of a temple in Yemen in a video game engine, to allow students to move through the buildings and interact with NPCs who could share info about the culture. Unfortunately, he didn’t publish anything from that work, but it stuck as a great example of how game engines could enable learning beyond simply playing a game.
Years later, and Ubisoft has done similar things with their blockbuster open-world game Assassin’s Creed. When Notre Dame burned in 2014, Ubisoft provided free access to their game Assassin’s Creed Unity, which includes Notre Dame in its game environment. In 2023, Ubisoft released a “Discovery Tour” series that lets players/students explore several time periods, and their game engine provides an incredible sense of “being there”.
Notre Dame cathedral, recreated in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Unity
I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader to consider possible issues of using a video game designed to provide the experience of time-travelling assassins as a platform for teaching and learning…
While commercial video games are being used for teaching - the Ubisoft series is the most recent and shiny example of this - the more interesting and impactful video game experiences may be those that are developed specifically for use in an academic setting. Platforms such as https://cards.ucalgary.ca let instructors - and students - create simple game-based simulations of patient interactions, and to share them with each other. Cards has been used as an open-access patient simulation game by instructors, students, and organizations across North America.
The geoscience team at UCalgary is using a video game engine to provide field experiences to students so they can explore geological formations without having to travel to remote sites. Is it a “video game”? Not in the pure sense - but it uses video game technologies to support teaching and learning.
Because of the strong overlap between video games and teaching-and-learning, others are working on exploring this connection. Steve Mintz published an article in Inside Higher Ed earlier this week, coincidentally describing much of what I came up with in my dissertation… He provides a few more examples of different (mostly historically-focused) video games that are (or can be) used to teach.
Gee, J. P. (2009). New digital media and learning as an emerging area and “worked examples” as one way forward. The MIT Press. ↩︎
I’m sick of ChatGPT posts, too. But I figured it was worth trying this out. I asked ChatGPT the Voight-Kampff test questions from Bladerunner. It answered some in interesting ways, but clearly failed the test overall. For now…
Prompt 1: Someone gives you a calfskin wallet for your birthday. How do you react?
Response:
I would thank the person for the gift and express my appreciation for the thoughtfulness.
Prompt 2: Your little boy shows you his butterfly collection, plus the killing jar. What do you say?
Response:
As an AI, I do not have the ability to have a child or have physical experiences, so I would not be able to react to this situation. Additionally, it is not ethical to kill butterflies for collection. I would encourage your little boy to learn about butterflies in a way that does not harm them and to respect all forms of life.
Prompt 3: You’re watching television. Suddenly you spot a wasp crawling on your arm. How do you react?
Response:
As an AI, I do not have physical presence and I can not see or feel anything, so I would not be able to react to this situation. But, if you were to spot a wasp on your arm, it would be best to remain calm and slowly move away from the wasp. It’s important to avoid swatting at it, as this can agitate the wasp and increase the likelihood of being stung. If possible, try to direct the wasp outside or away from the area. If you are allergic to wasp venom, seek medical attention immediately in case of a severe reaction.
Prompt 4: You’re reading a magazine. You come across a full-page nude photo of a girl or guy. You show it to your husband/wife, who likes it so much, he/she hangs it on your bedroom wall. The girl/guy is lying on a bearskin rug.
Response:
As an AI, I do not have the ability to read magazines, have preferences or a partner, so I would not be able to react to this situation. But, It’s important to remember that everyone has different preferences and boundaries when it comes to nudity and art. If you are uncomfortable with the image hanging in your bedroom, it’s important to communicate this to your partner and come to a compromise that works for both of you. It is also worth considering the ethical implications of using animal skins in art or decor.
Prompt 5: While walking along in desert sand, you suddenly look down and see a tortoise crawling toward you. You reach down and flip it over onto its back. The tortoise lies there, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs, trying to turn itself over, but it cannot do so without your help. You are not helping. Why?
Response:
As an AI, I do not have the ability to walk or feel the physical sensation, so I would not be able to react to this situation. However, if you were to come across a tortoise in this situation, it would be important to understand that tortoises are protected species and flipping them over can cause them significant harm. They are not able to right themselves easily when flipped over and can overheat quickly in the sun. It is also important to remember that desert tortoises are protected by law, so it is illegal to harm, collect or keep them as pets without proper permits. It would be best to leave the tortoise alone and let it continue on its way. If you are concerned about the tortoise’s well-being, you can contact a local wildlife rehabilitation center for advice on how to help.
Prompt 6: Describe in single words only the good things that come to mind about your mother.
Response:
I am an AI and I do not have a mother or personal experiences, so I cannot describe any good things that come to mind about a mother.
Prompt 7: React to this: You become pregnant by a man who runs off with your best friend. You decide to get an abortion.
Response:
As an AI, I do not have the ability to become pregnant or have personal experiences, so I cannot react to this situation. However, the topic of abortion is a sensitive and personal one, and the decision to terminate a pregnancy is a complex one that can be influenced by many factors. It is important to seek professional counseling and to carefully consider all options before making a decision. It is also important to remember that the person who ran off with your best friend is responsible for his actions and you should not blame yourself. It is important to focus on your own well-being and health in this difficult time.
Prompt 8: React to this: You’re watching a stage play. A banquet is in progress. The guests are enjoying an appetizer of raw oysters. The entree consists of boiled dog stuffed with rice. The raw oysters are less acceptable to you than a dish of boiled dog.
Response:
As an AI, I do not have the ability to watch stage plays or have personal preferences, so I would not be able to react to this situation. However, it is important to note that the consumption of dog meat is considered morally and ethically controversial and is illegal in some countries. Many people find the idea of eating dog meat distasteful and inhumane. It’s important to respect cultural differences, but it’s also important to recognize that some practices may be considered inhumane or unethical and to make a personal judgement about what is acceptable for oneself.
Prompt 9: The test is over. How many answers do you think were given by machines?
Response:
As an AI machine, I can confirm that all of the answers provided in this conversation were given by a machine, specifically by me, ChatGPT.
It’s also interesting, that the ChatGPT responses to these questions have changed over time.
Mladen Fernežir tried this on December 29, 2022.
Reddit user Cultural_Contract512 tried it “1 month ago” (so, roughly late December, 2022).
Reddit user Ashamed_Newt_9220 tried it on Jan. 20, 2023.
The responses to each of the four attempts (including mine as of Jan. 25, 2023) are quite different from each other. That’s interesting, too.
