About
Jeff Watson is an artist, designer, and Assistant Professor of Interactive Media and Games at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
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Category Archives: Blog
FPOU: a comic provocation about the future of postsecondary education
This faux infomercial, currently airing without disclaimer at 4am on US cable network Adult Swim, takes some smart and merciless shots at MOOCs, gamification, and, of course, for-profit online “universities”. The level of detail here is impressive: pausing reveals hilariously … Continue reading
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Gamification: Don’t say it, don’t do it, just stop
This post originally appeared on MediaCommons, as part of a series on gamification. I think it’s time we had a frank talk about what gamification is, and why we should stop doing it — or at least, why we should … Continue reading
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Tagged achievements, bad ideas, badges, education, gamification, mediacommons
6 Comments
The Institute Screening: Thursday, September 12th, 2013 at OCADU
OCADU Digital Futures is running a special free advance screening of The Institute this Thursday, September 12th, 2013, at OCAD University. We will be hosting a Q&A following the screening with at least one special mystery guest. Details below… Where: … Continue reading
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Tagged arg, digital futures, jeff hull, jejune institute, nonchalance, ocadu, sara thacher, screenings, spencer mccall
3 Comments
DiGRA 2013 Talks
I’m presenting a paper and a workshop at this year’s Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) Conference in Atlanta. The paper, “A Reality Game to Cross Disciplines: Fostering Networks and Collaboration,” co-written with Benjamin Stokes, Tracy Fullerton, and Simon Wiscombe, “introduces … Continue reading
Pronunciation Book
“Empathy is the key to science. You don’t know that when you begin.” Tumble into the rabbit hole that is the Pronunciation Book YouTube channel, which has been counting down to…something…for the past 47 days. You may have stumbled across … Continue reading
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Tagged arg, countdowns, pronunciation book, sarah brin
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SXSW PanelPicker: Reality Games to Unleash DIY and Maker Cultures
Want to learn more about Reality? Want another good reason to go to Austin for SXSW 2014? If so, please head on over to the SXSW PanelPicker and vote for our Interactive Panel, “Reality Games to Unleash DIY and Maker … Continue reading
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Tagged austin, donald brinkman, jason pace, panels, reality, sxsw, tracy fullerton
2 Comments
The Nordic Larp Discourse
“The Nordic Larp Discourse” is a fascinating and inspiring collection of videos, essays, manifestos, and resources about Nordic live action role-playing. These games/experiences provoke a bevy of intriguing ideas about experience design, transmedia storytelling, immersive theatre, and environmental game design. … Continue reading
AUTHENTIC IN ALL CAPS: A web audio adventure
AUTHENTIC IN ALL CAPS, a “web audio adventure” by Christy Dena, Craig Peebles, Trevor Dikes and Simon Howe, is the kind of project I’d love to see more of on the web. Described as “a unique audio experience that combines … Continue reading
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Tagged audio, AUTHENTIC IN ALL CAPS, christy dena, electronic literature, radio drama, web
10 Comments
Essential Reading: The Work of Art in the Age of Mediated Participation
Anyone interested in “the practice of using the Internet as a participatory platform to directly engage the public in the creation of visual, musical, literary, or dramatic [artworks]” should not miss Ioana Literat‘s fantastic paper, The Work of Art in … Continue reading
A Cartography of the Anthropocene
A Cartography of the Anthropocene from global citizenship organization Globaia presents a collection of evocative maps of energy use, transportation networks, population, airline routes, atmospheric CO2 concentration, and more:
Posted in Blog
Tagged anthropocene, cartography, data visualization, environmentalism, globaia, maps
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