Connected Writing

Hi,
Today, I would like to share an insight I have gained from two links and a reading from my Ph.D course.

The first link shared by Dr. Zuiker to help me in my research is

http://www.firehosegames.com/2009/03/gdc-slides-available/eitanglinertgdc09talkfinal2/.

In this link, Mr Eitan M. Glinert, a MIT masters graduate shared his findings on "The Human Controller : Usability and Accessiblity in Video Game Interfaces" in GDC2009 Serious Game Summmit. Essentially, the take away is that if both usability and accessibility are considered from the onset, it would not only allow disabled and abled people to play but also become a best seller. The rationale is that usability and accessibility are related. Taking care of accessibility will take into account usability also. Moreover, usability and audience are strongly correlated as wide audience prefer simplicity as exemplified by Nintendo WII simple and intuitive interface whose consoles sold like "hot cakes".

This brings to mind, the first two class reading of the SE810 course based on Crotty(1988) and Guba & Lincoln(2005) of the research process and competing paradigms. Glinert has pointed out by implication that people are inherently constructivist in that they would like to have simplicity in usability and thus accessibility of games and would pay for it. My research also concurs with the ontology of relativism where constructed realities depend on person constructing the knowledge and epistemology of interactionism where constructing of knowledge is via interaction with the environment. Autistic people would thus find the Nintendo WII interface highly usable and accessible and thus intuitive to learn to use as they promote the theoretical framework of social constructivism.

The second link is Dr Chee's website http://yamsanchee.myplace.nie.edu.sg/, where in my opinion, embodies his life work as an academician, computer scientist, and advocator of futuristic social constructivist education in teaching and technological artifact applications. From this website, I have been inspired on the possibility of pursing a social constructivist theoretical framework for the learning of my adolescent autistic children where existing formal education would exclude them. Essentially, the existing Nintendo Wii and Nintendo games that I have selected based on my personal evaluation do meet Dr. Chee's recommendation of using Dr. Roger Shank's(2002) F(Failure expectation),R(Reasoning), E(Emotionality),E(Exploration),D(Doing), O(Observation) and M(Motivation) criteria of effective e-Learning course.

Dr. Chee's life work of research findings in my opinion also supports the theoretical framework of social constructivism as expounded by Crotty(1988) and Guba & Lincoln(2005) of the research process and competing paradigms. The angle is more of the possibility in terms of education and technological application in education.

My understanding of both links and the highlighted papers, shapes my understanding and belief of the promise of authentic and meaningful education, that is interesting, engaging with situated cognition development for autistic people, who are misfits for existing archaic formalised form of education.

My view, Norman