Craig McKenney
Fall 07 / 5371 Foundations Portfolio

This site will serve as the online portfolio for my coursework in Doctor Baehr's 5371 course, Foundations of Technical Communication.

Biography

  ►I have been teaching for 12 years now.  I have taught everything from Freshman Composition to Media Studies, from Graphic Novels to Video Games.  I am in my third semester (although it feels like second year) of coursework in the TTU TCR PhD program.  I am beginning my 7th year at Highline Community College in Des Moines, Washington where I'm teaching a US History/ Freshman Composition combined study.  As part of that class, I am developing an Alternate Reality Game as a course supplement.  For more information on that, please visit http://thepeople07.blogspot.com/.

  ►For more information about me, please click here.

Assignments

  ►Technology Paper
This 1500-word paper will describe the uses of a specific technology tool within the field of technical communication.  Since I am interested in gaming, specifically educational and social justice applications of serious VGs, I will be examining the Game Maker 7.0 video game building tool.

In this assignment, I address the development of the serious game movement, the use of video games in educational and workplace settings for more than entertainment.  With this trend, more and more game design tools are available.  One of the most highly recommended within the serious game community is GameMaker 7.0.  While there are certainly some benefits to its use, it just might preclude some users utilizing the tool.

Click here for the PDF version or the Publisher version, both with active links.

  ►Literature Review
This literature review covers VG/ VG tools and their business applications (training, motivating, etc).  Findings show that the business sector is adjusting to
an influx of Generation Y/ millennials who are bringing a different set of skills to the workplace.  This review examines the pedagogy behind the use of
games and looks at specific corporate uses of video games for training purposes.

Click here for an RTF of the document, "From the Basement to the Office: Video Games as/ and Corporate Training."

  ►Presentation
Repurposed Tech Paper or Lit Review for an in-class, 15 minute presentation...the same, only better! 

Click here for the video in Shockwave form. 
Here is an accompanying Word document outline for the presentation.

Contact: craig.mckenney@ttu.edu