Moocology: August 2020

Monday, August 3, 2020

Time defines genre

Sid Meier spoke at GDC 2012 and said something interesting about how time defines genre [YouTube @ 42m]. It's obvious I suppose, but I hadn't seen it until he said it. A shooter only gives you a split second in which to reach your "interesting decision". A strategy game gives you more information, and more time. Compare Ping Pong and Chess.

MOOCology

MOOCology is the study of MOOCs, and its main method is participant observation. You sign up for and participate in Massive Open Online Courses not so much to study the subject, as to study the method. Along the way you get to meet a superabundance of interesting people and you get to learn a lot of fascinating stuff. But the real value for me is in observing the way the new metier seems to question, transcend, bypass, nullify, disarm and maybe eventually even destroy the institution. Are we seeing a paradigm shift, or simply another technology-driven fad? Interesting - I wrote this in 2012. Now in 2020 I'd say paradigm shift, but it's a very slow burn.