January 2, 2007
IDT Certificate Clears Another Hurdle
The IDT certificate has been approved by the
graduate school. However, in the process, two
things happened. First, we had to turn it into
two certificates: The Instructional Design
and Technology Graduate Certificate in K-12 Technology
Integration, and The Instructional Design and
Technology Graduate Certificate in Corporate
Training & Performance. Second, because
of policies at UND for how certificates are
structured, we were forced to remove any flexibility
in course selection, which means that each
certificate HAD to be comprised of four (4)
courses only. Given that requirement, we had
to pick the two courses in each certificate
that cover the most core competencies in each
area. Both certificates require IDT 500 and
520. The K-12 one then requires IDT 510 and
540, and the corporate one requires IDT 530
and 570. Obviously, this will impact those
who were planning to take the certificates
but have not taken 510/540 or 530/570, expecting
to be able to count other courses for the certificate.
These changes still need to be approved at
the Senate, Provost, Chancellor, and State
Board levels, but they are expected to to do
so very soon.
Dr. Van Eck Elected to the North American
Simulation and Gaming Association Board
Late last year, Richard Van Eck was elected
to the North American Simulation and Gaming
board, where he will be helping to guide the
future direction of the organization. His goals
are to help NASAGA take a leadership role in
establishing and supporting a research agenda
for digital game-based learning (DGBL), expanding
the membership of NASAGA, and broadening the
conference scope to include more academic and
scholarship activities and presentations. "NASAGA
is one of the oldest and well-known organizations
for games and simulations in training, but
has always had a more corporate, soft-skills
approach to games rather than DGBL (computer
and video games for learning). This has been
changing, and it is our goal to bring more
academics into the mix so that the conference
and organization reach a broader market and therefore
have a larger impact." Dr. Van Eck will be
working this year to plan the convention in
Atlanta,
and will keep everyone apprised of significant
developments.
Dr. Van Eck a featured/Keynote Speaker
at Several Events
Richard Van Eck will be a featured or keynote
speaker at several conferences and events this
year. His work on digital game-based learning
has caught the attention of educational industries,
schools, and organizations. "Every time
Mark or I speak someplace or publish an article
or book chapter, we put the UND and IDT name
in front of key people in our industry, which
may help with recruiting students and faculty,
and securing grants for things like simulation
and games studies here."Among scheduled
events this year are:
