Comments on: Question 22 of 365: Farmville practices Ghetto Testing, why aren’t we?

By: Gamedevtraining

Gamedevtraining — Sat, 28 May 2011 08:16:00 +0000

At our place, we began with offering one course which we knew was popular (courtesy of google) and at the end of the course, we asked students (via a feedback form) which courses they would be interested in next (with an option of specifying their own as well). If enough students opt for a particular course, we teach that next.

By: Groundhog Day, or, the Problem with A/B Testing | I love airchina

Groundhog Day, or, the Problem with A/B Testing | I love airchina — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 01:31:50 +0000

[...] the problem with A/B testing. It’s empty. It has no feeling, no empathy, and at worst, it’s dishonest. As my friend Nathan Bowers [...]

By: Travel in the sky › Groundhog Day, or, the Problem with A/B Testing

Travel in the sky › Groundhog Day, or, the Problem with A/B Testing — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:10:03 +0000

[...] the problem with A/B testing. It’s empty. It has no feeling, no empathy, and at worst, it’s dishonest. As my friend Nathan Bowers said: A/B testing is like sandpaper. You can use it to smooth out [...]

By: Groundhog Day, or, the Problem with A/B Testing | Securing your world

Groundhog Day, or, the Problem with A/B Testing | Securing your world — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 00:11:53 +0000

By: Groundhog Day, or, the Problem with A/B Testing | Securing your world

Groundhog Day, or, the Problem with A/B Testing | Securing your world — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 00:11:53 +0000

By: Are We Actually Creating Startups Through Business Plan Competitions? « Robert Shedd

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:33:13 +0000

[...] do this successfully (I bet you that most don’t know where to turn with their ideas). Explain ghetto testing, MVP, and (please! get these students out talking with customers!) customer [...]

By: Ben Wilkoff

Ben Wilkoff — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:23:00 +0000

I don’t think that if #1 was employed it would mean that kids would bernunprepared. They might not know the “facts” or the “allusions” or the “typernof discourse” required for a given situation, but because they have createdrntheir own learning path, they would know how to access that information. Itrnwould also create a mentorship model that could be applied long-term. Thernfirst model would allow kids to continue to come back to you even afterrnschool ended and learn from you, or they could learn from one another. Irndon’t think it was expressed specifically, but the projects that they wouldrnbe working on would probably have a much better chance of “accidentally”rnrunning into issues of discourse and diction than having to do a researchrnpaper on a given subject when they will likely never have to do a researchrnpaper outside of their academic life.rnrnI want to start thinking of situations that would allow for the most kids torngrab on tight to something big enough and see it through. As I have saidrnbefore, I want kids to start businesses. I want kids to write books. I wantrnkids to design experiments. I want kids to write software. I want kids torntell stories. I want kids to want these things and have a space to do it. Irndon’t want these projects to be “something extra”. I want them to be thernthing.rnrnSorry for so many quotations marks that aren’t required. I’m not exactlyrnsure what the APA style is for a blog comment, do you?

By: Ben Wilkoff

Ben Wilkoff — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:23:00 +0000

I don't think that if #1 was employed it would mean that kids would be
unprepared. They might not know the "facts" or the "allusions" or the "type
of discourse" required for a given situation, but because they have created
their own learning path, they would know how to access that information. It
would also create a mentorship model that could be applied long-term. The
first model would allow kids to continue to come back to you even after
school ended and learn from you, or they could learn from one another. I
don't think it was expressed specifically, but the projects that they would
be working on would probably have a much better chance of "accidentally"
running into issues of discourse and diction than having to do a research
paper on a given subject when they will likely never have to do a research
paper outside of their academic life.

I want to start thinking of situations that would allow for the most kids to
grab on tight to something big enough and see it through. As I have said
before, I want kids to start businesses. I want kids to write books. I want
kids to design experiments. I want kids to write software. I want kids to
tell stories. I want kids to want these things and have a space to do it. I
don't want these projects to be "something extra". I want them to be the
thing.

Sorry for so many quotations marks that aren't required. I'm not exactly
sure what the APA style is for a blog comment, do you?

By: Zac Chase

Zac Chase — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:01:57 +0000

Awesome. Not sure I dig the terminology given the etymological implications, but I'll roll with it.
To the extent that I can, I end each unit or project with reflection from my students both on their work and my implementation of that work as well. I try to word the questions in such a way that I get feedback for the same unit or project next year and so that I know what to try / not try in the following units or projects.
I'm about to stand behind two opposing ideas.
1) I've always wanted to hold school in a kind of drop-in way. The library we visited is the kind of space I've always seen this happening in. What if English was offered in sessions? Students needed a certain number of English units in a month, quarter, semester, etc. The faculty then designed curriculum. This could be one-off lectures, week- or month-long projects or term-long classes. Students then made their choice and participated. These would be the study rooms in the library. Other times, they would be in the common space, maybe meeting for group work, and dropping in on other disciplines' session in the same manner. In my mind, it would push the faculty to always bring their A-game and provide a source of data that could help with community planning in a way we don't do particularly well right now.

2) Students don't know what they don't know. They may here about a subject area and tune out to it because of association or because of a lack of association. Applying the approach above could mean students enter into a situation years down the road for which they are unprepared. I'm not going all E.D. Hirsch here. I'm just saying choice can lead to bad choices as easily as good ones.

That said, the adventurer in me wants to try #1.

By: bhwilkoff

bhwilkoff — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:07:08 +0000

I'm glad that you found this post useful. I think that there is a lot that
the Lean Startup community has to teach us about iterating upon what has
come before in a rapid and feedback-centric format.