Kodu--Microsoft Gets it Wrong Again

I'm an educator, and like many others, was drawn to Moodle because it is such a valuable tool for schools, most of which don't have the money to deploy commercial, enterprise systems to meet many of their needs. Moodle is done exceptionally well and has provided incredible benefits to education.

Microsoft apparently has still not figured this out. I was excited when a colleague recently called my attention to Kodu, Microsoft's new platform to allow non-programmers to develop games for the Xbox. It really looks interesting and useful for getting people involved in game development.

At my institution, we've used a similar application, Alice from Carnegie Mellon University, to introduce students to programming. Alice is a GUI that allows students to construct 3d animations using drag and drop. Whether the student knows it or not, he or she is learning the basics of programming in the process. This has been very successful for us. This summer we are using the software with high school students, and they are having a blast while learning some things that will make it much easier to become proficient programmers later. Alice is well supported and easy to use. It is another extremely useful educational tool like Moodle.

Microsoft, however, doesn't seem to be able to achieve what volunteers seem to be able to do regularly. Kodu looks great, but there are just enough annoying hitches to keep it from being really useful.

First, the announcement claims that Kodu will run on either the Xbox or a pc, but I can't find a pc download anywhere. The Xbox version is available, but since my labs--like almost all school labs--are full of computers, not Xboxes, this isn't very helpful.

Secondly, Microsoft charges $5 for the software. Yep, that's five dollars. The company that has produced so much wealth for so many apparently needs $5 for a program amateurs will use to mess around with game development.

I find it even more annoying that as a subscriber to MSDNAA, a Microsoft subscription program that discounts applications for schools, I can't download the application for use in my labs from the MSDNAA site.

Moodle, Alice, and a host of other open source and free applications have contributed so much to education because they got it right. Make good software, provide a community where users can support each other, and educators will enthusiastically adopt your applications.

Microsoft, on the other hand, still doesn't get it. Place just enough obstacles in front of us, and we'll ignore the application. In the end, this doesn't do anyone any good.

It doesn't make sense--Microsoft doesn't stand to make any, or at least much, money on Kodu. If they are trying to, doesn't it make more sense to adopt a model like the Apple iPhone Store where the technology for development is free, but the applications that are produced are charged? Microsoft could provide an Xbox store where Kodu developers could post games and keep a percentage of sales for providing the service. I'm not a corporate accountant, but this model seems to be working for Apple.

Kodu could be a valuable tool for introducing students to game design and then teaching them more sophisticated technologies like Microsoft's game development platform, but that is unlikely to happen until Microsoft finally gets it right.

The Perfect Server--Moodle

If you're new to installing Moodle on Linux, Falko has long maintained a great howto on setting up Ubuntu as a LAMP server at http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-ubuntu8.04-lts. I've used this for several production Moodle servers with success. Just don't do the parts you don't need. I'd recommend steps 1-11 except for 9 for everyone. Then, php, mysql, ftp, and whatever else you'd like.

Alternatively, just do a basic Ubuntu install and let the installer create the LAMP stack. I just like to know what've I've actually done so I can retrace things later if problems occur.

Once your LAMP server is working, do a default install of Moodle.

Falko updates this for new Ubuntu releases but I tend to want stability over the latest and greatest, so this is a good place to start if you're not yet a Linux enthusiast.

Desktop Sharing in DimDim

A final DimDim post. A brief demonstration of sharing the presenter's desktop in DimDim.

I never did get the grass cut and it's getting dark. Oh well. . .

Keep moodling!

Whiteboard in DimDim

Another DimDim screencast. This time, sharing the whiteboard with meeting participants.

Co-browsing in DimDim

Here's another DimDim screencast. It's a brief demo of the co-browsing feature that allows the presenter to share out a website to the participants.

I need to quit this and cut the grass.

Keep moodling!

Share a Document in DimDim

DimDim is a web conferencing tool that offers open source, free hosted, and paid versions. The folks at DimDim were nice enough to integrate DimDim with Moodle to provide a live classroom capability for Moodle.

One of the features of DimDim is that it allows a presenter to share PowerPoint or .pdf documents with participants. I've produced a quick screencast that demonstrates the document sharing tool in DimDim.

Create a DimDim Meeting in Moodle

Some time spent floating around the lake has kept me from the blog, but done much to renew mind and spirit.

So, on my return, I'm getting back into the swing of things by producing some screencasts about using DimDim with Moodle. I've posted the first one, and I'll be creating others.

Keep moodling!