I’m finally being responsible and setting up my own personal website like an adult. This site is going to be a collation of all my various internet works and some of my not-so-internet works. I’m...
The page where I shall try to pull the disparate parts of my work together into a cohesive whole.
Welcome
I’m finally being responsible and setting up my own personal website like an adult. This site is going to be a collation of all my various internet works and some of my not-so-internet works.
I’m going to be scrapping stuff from Podcast Lost In Space as well as an old blog or two, scattered youtube postings and maybe even some of the forum RPGs… but probably not those. It is intended to serve as a creative/personal portfolio and personal/creative blog both. I’m not a huge fan of building out separate identities for different pieces of work so a lot of different pieces of my work are going to collide here. Let’s see how that goes.
121st Mechanized Ranger Training Battalion – Japanese 101 Course
A Quest-Based Learning Course
Quest-Based Learning is style of course and curriculum development designed to tap into the engagement and reward tricks of game theory and game mechanics. As a pedagogical approach, QBL is intended to provide students with a greater degree of personal choice and individual engagement with curriculum by allowing them to specialize along specific quest-lines that their peers may not find or may avoid. Students earn ‘experience points’ (XP) instead of grades, inverting the traditional grading structure of starting at 100% and losing point.
QBL courses are strongest when designed like an adventure game, utilizing both narrative and ‘mechanical’ reward to keep ‘players’ (students) motivated and engaged. In this project, I created a QBL Japanese 101 course, utilizing webtools and a single subject matter expert.
Below the Video Showcase, I will highlight key artifacts from the course to demonstrate my process. The video below demonstrates it best though.
The Tools Used:
Rezzly/3D GameLab is a free-for-students web-based learning system. This entire class is backboned by this systems
Memrise is a free language learning app/website that this course uses primarily for the learning/memorization of Katakana and Hiragana
Minecraft forms the anchor of the web-based immersion learning tools.
Genki I: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese 2nd Edition
This formed the backbone of my language learning material but I plan to phase it out in the next iteration of this project
QBL Video Showcase:
“Physical” Showcase
The Course Map
As you can see, this Japanese 101 course is quite complicated in design. Deliberately designed in a manner similar to chose-your-own-adventure structures this course allows students a limited degree of autonomy while still requiring them to learn core concepts.
In blue and light green you can see the ‘critical path’, or the requiring quests that students will be expected to complete in order to advance. These are primarily Hiragana and Katakana checkpoints and vocabulary and speaking lessons that students must know before moving forward. This course, being a 101, is very heavy on the critical path quests but the plan would be as students advanced in level, the subsequent courses would leave the idea of a critical path largely behind.
Yellow Quests are largely non-education related projects, setting up requirements or basic tutorials on how to use tools.
In grey, dark green, pink and purple are the ‘side quests’, optional activities that students can undertake to earn awards, achievements and additional XP that will unlock more abilities. These quests are a mixture of fun — Let’s Watch Anime! –, ancillary knowledge — A Slightly Silly History of Japan –, and ‘serious’ work-ahead — Kanji Trainer –. The intention with these quests is to provide opportunities for students to remain engaged with class while not engaging in the ‘critical path’ quests. Students can remain active participants while enjoying a silly activity or work ahead, building skills that will be useful in future classes. These quests allow students with varying learning and gameplay preferences the ability to make positive progress in their own way.
This project gave use the limitations of planning for an activity that took no more than 3 hours to run, either in a block or in multiple smaller time chunks. We were supposed to develop a full Instructional Design Plan/Document including Needs Assessments and Evaluation Material.
Valrhona was founded in 1922 by Pastry Chef Albéric Guironnet in Tain L’Hermitage inz the Rhone Valley of France. Started by Pastry Chef Albéric Guironnet for pastry chefs, Valrhona has alwa…
The Iradathkin Imperium Navy Cruiser Charcoaled Sun pushed back into real space on the inner edge of Aligoya Poxei. Forty minutes later, a still slightly...
I have a Patreon! As part of my grand experiments in writing, I’ve decided to try and publish a short story a month. As part of that, if you like my writing and want to support me, I’ve thrown together a Patreon to let you help. The real idea is I’d rather try and make money doing writing than babysitting. Check it out and maybe support me!
Oh Well, Red Bird
A Millennial Podcast
A podcast run by myself and a friend. Just a pair of Millennials talking about our favorite things about trying to learn how to be adults. A spiritual successor to Podcast Lost in Space. Check it out here.
Public Writing Streams
Archived Version of My Weekly Saturday Writing Stream
WattPad
The novel I’m building in the Writing Streams is saved in its rough former over on WattPad for viewers to catch up on. Check it out
The Grey Caverns
A Chose Your Own Adventure App
This App was Developed using MIT App Inventor for a class. It is a chose your own adventure app built in the classic branching narrative structure. It was a lot of fun to make and work with the structure of a CYOA story. It’s built with the implication of expansions and story continuations. The QR Code below should link to a google drive APK download that will allow one to install the game.
Ballroom Dance
I do Ballroom and want to show off some of it!
Christmas Showcase 2019
Christmas Showcase 2018
Spring Showcase 2016
Published Writing (Self-Published)
As part of the grand experiment of my writing, I self-published a pair of shorts on Amazon. Check them out!
Short 1: A Jirvaerka Anniversary
A brief look into Aroven Jirvaerka life on the night of his wedding Anniversary:
[This story no longer fits within the modern canon, although some version of this story will be] A sigh rose from the depths of the mountain of papers and pillars of books, blending with the …
The Iradathkin Imperium Navy Cruiser Charcoaled Sun pushed back into real space on the inner edge of Aligoya Poxei. Forty minutes later, a still slightly bleary-eyed Lieutenant Kaewer Jirvaerka, 278th Kidorlus found herself sitting in …
?? Plavurimtsu (2), 4269, 10. —— The fresh fallen snow tried its hardest to crunch beneath Kaewer’s armoured feet as she slid through the frigid alien night but her own magic smothered the sound almost …
Bang, bang, bang. Kaewer kicked the door of the luxury apartment hard enough to get Relia’s attention but soft enough to, hopefully, not leave a mark. The door opened with a soft woosh as it …
This is reminiscent of some of my other blog posts on an ancient blog from high school. I know it’s melodramatic but I hit a real rough moment and needed to process it. Writing has …
This blog is dead and has been for years but I need somewhere to store my thoughts on this fucking shit show of an election so here it is. I just finished watching my country …
In my final quarter of university, I had to take a ‘portfolio’ class. The idea behind the class was to help students tie all of their humanities learning together into something they could talk …
Hey Everyone, Alexander here. I’m swinging in for a last minute clutch post because the first post of the month is always the hardest for us to organize. Since our writing section is more than …
By Alexander Pereira Television, books, video games and Taylor Swift’s first album lied about Romance and dating to all of us. We were promised and taught to expect a certain type of future that …
Welcome to Earth. Time period: Now. Population: Approximately 7 billion H umans and 20 million Zygons, plus sundry and assorted other aliens. Universe: Doctor Who. Hey Everyone! It’s finally time [no pun intended]. PLIS is finally …
About
Greetings! My name is Alexander Pereira.
My day job involves me getting paid to play video games with hospitalized children. No seriously. I know, it’s pretty awesome. I get to be part of a growing field that I can help shape. In my ‘free’ time, I play video games, game master and play TTRPGS, watch anime and am generally a geek. I’m also a science-fiction/fantasy author, a ballroom dancer and a Roman Living Historian.
I am a big believer in the power of storytelling and seek to use it in all corners of my life. Because I’m me, I also have about a thousand things I want to be learning, mastering and doing all at the same time.
One of those crazy projects is my Patreon! Most of the blog posts from Novemeber of 2019 onward are going to be tied to that. Check it out and if you like my writing, think about supporting me!
