Reading Week # 7

Reading Week 7: Gaming

1.             What surprised you, concerned you, or intrigued about students' engagement with gaming?

What intrigues me the most is the research showing that our youth are not turning into mindless blobs sitting in front of the TV or other gaming devices.  Because I don’t have children in this media age, I, like many of the senior population ( AARP says 55 and older) are swayed by the TV hype. Ever since the TV was invented it was used for killing time. Cartoons on Saturday mornings, ‘prime’ time sitcoms, brain numbing talk shows are just a few examples .I would take books and crossword puzzles to doctors’ offices, I’m sure if I had some sort of mobile device, I would be doing that and when GameBoy® came out, my kids played that .As stated in out text      “The dominant discourse of this form of gaming is about boredom and killing time. Digital games are used to pass the time when traveling on a bus car or in other situations when there is little else to do.” ( pg 203 paragraph 1) The mobile devices of today allow for killing time to be everywhere and since different people have down time at different places and time it looks like that is all that is going on. I found that to be enlightening and I will not judge people so harshly. Again, as said before, this is an age old problem is between parents and children and setting rules.

2.     What aspects of your own gaming experiences were reflected in the case studies? 

My gaming experiences revolve around bowling alleys and roller rinks where pinball machines existed this is where we socialized and made everlasting friendships My kids had the arcades where every conceivable arcade game existed. As in the case study ( Box.5.3 Learning and collaborating in Final Fantasy XI )  is about a social game, where friends gather and develop lasting relationships. All the malls and restaurants had arcades for the kids and adults, which I have noticed have gone the way of the dinosaur. But before home game modules, there were the public arcades. All the things that this case described are not really new, just a different venue.

3.   . Do you agree or disagree with the comparison between sports and gaming and the benefits they offer children in terms of learning.

 I agree with the fact that both teach rules, regulations and sportsmanship. Competition is also very prevalent. But what concerned me was the author stated “ ...  that the most important benefits of gaming---if they are to be had….” Don’t they believe that there are benefits?  I agree after reading these chapters that the benefits of gaming lie in the ecology of parents, siblings and peers.