Video Games are a huge part of my content area and they are indeed a literacy! It is not so much that I would utilize the daily playing of video games in my classroom but just because it is not in my classroom does not mean it's not a literacy connected to my content area. I realize that the majority of children have some gaming system at home whether it be the Play State, Wii, or Leap Frog. Children do not even have clean socks but they sure do have the newest and most expensive video system - probably hence the dirty socks!
I would have never considered video games, computer games, televisions, etc to be "literacies," let alone educational prior to taking this course. Vide games teaching children? Are you serious? I am an open video game hater and always have been. I have managed to maintain the belief that video games are brain killers from the beginning of time. I am definitely part of that gender gap in the video game world that Gee attempted to prove wrong when he successfully proved that middle aged women were heavy hitters in terms of late night solitare on the computer. I hate them so much and always promised myself that I would never invest any money in such a waste or contribute the video game world in any way. Simply beacause I always thought they were bad for kids. Since I was probably never directly taught to hate video games by my parents since my brothers had every and any video gaming system, and since I probably didn't assume hatred from my brothers since they used to play them laborously, I think I was subject by the media and believed that they were harming the minds of young children. Which is not totally untrue.
The reason I have decided to focus so much on video games is because they are my greatest ally, in conjunction with technology as a whole, when it comes to teaching children. Why? Because what child does not enjoy playing the Wii? As Norton-Meier notes, "the video game has the potential to push an individual to learn and think cognitively, socially, and morally" (2005, p. 430). This is indeed true as video games do have a way of teching children. I must admit, this hurts a wee bit because now I have to admit I was wrong and likley owe my brother an apology for all those harsh things I said about his excessive video game playing. Video games are my ally because they get young people thinking and doing so reflectively. When video games are used effectively (which is not automatic) they reap many positive benefits. Through video game playing students learn about complex systems, problem solving, strategies, they are able to think about the ways we interact and the consequences of those actions with others. Aren't those skills needed in the "real-world?" Don't we want students leaving school knowing how to interact with others, thinking reflectively, problem solve effectively? Those are the skills that students need and those are the skills that are not going to go away as time goes on. They are universal skills that probably will never fade. You may not have to know all 52 states and their capitals- that can easily be looked up online, but you are going to have to know how to think critically, interact with others and problem solve. Therefore, we need to use video games and be their friends so that they help us teach students the skills they need. And if you really want to get serious, it wouldn't hurt to take a more close look at video games as a whole and figure out why children gravitate towards them. Why are those kids succeeding at this game and not remembering how to spell those 15 spelling words when the game they are succeeding at is more difficult? What is it about the games that makes students want to play them? How is that different from my classroom? What is it about that game that is making that studnet think critically?
I willingly admit that I have never played a video game. Now that I think of them differently, I want to get to know them a little bit better so that I know how to incorporate them into the classroom. It would probably be in my best interest to examine what the game developers know about motivating students and compare it to what I know and use.
Why is it that a child deemed ADD/ADHD can be increasingly hyperactive in shcool and struggle to sit still for five minutes, yet sit still and play a video game for 20 minutes?
As Norton-Meier suggests, "video games have the power to blur the line between learning and playing while building in content, reflective thinking, and discussions about decisions and consequences" (2005, p. 449).
Video games are a huge "out-of-school" literacy and once I can bridge that gap and bring a little of that into the classroom, I am golden :-). But, students also need to be taught how to critique all aspects of the game, which is were critical literacy comes into play. Video games are not just this magical wand that will fix every classroom problem. But that isn't the point anyways. It is about using what studnets know and like to teach them skills they need.
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