Today I set up my Forge of Empires account. I have had no prior experience working with this online game. The username I chose is “btaba” and I have named by city “Taba City”. I was not able to find the name of the world my account is in so I had a peer help me out. She pointed out where I can access my account information, edit my profile, and learn the name of my world. Thus, I have been placed in “Zorskog” world. I also noticed that my world’s name is different than my peers’. To be honest, I have not had such a good experience with the game so far. I am a bit confused on how to gain points and I do not understand the objective of the game — even though there was a “mentor” who guided me through the game’s basic procedures and features. I hope that with time and by interacting with the game more and more over the next few weeks I will begin to gain a better understand of how to play FoE. 🙂 

Neys and Jansz’s article focuses on internet games that address political issues and how these games have impacted users’ engagement with politics. They believe that movies, video games, and television enable people to “perform a political self” and communicate the developer’s opinions and ideas on important matters. Unlike literature, games encourage risk-taking and enable players to engage in points of views that are difficult to encounter in a real life scenario. Nowadays, media, which is a form of entertainment, is used to communicate serious messages. One game that the authors write about is a game that creates awareness on mass shootings in schools and explores the question of why the perpetuators did what they did. Results indicated that users gained 30 percent more knowledge on whatever issue that the game addressed and 25 percent of gamers changed their initial opinions on these issues. Additionally, more than half of participants said that they wanted to share their opinions with their friends and discuss these issues further; thus, the game worked as a social facilitator. Furthermore, Flanagan’s article conveys the message that both digital and analog games offer a space to explore creatively and gain knowledge on complex ideas, such as social issues. She writes about a specific multiplayer game called SOBA that is focused on learning about culture, food, and language; interacting and exchanging stories with community members is the goal of the project. Games function as a technology for creating social relations — allowing players to take on the roles and perspectives of other people or groups in a unique way. Similar to the previous article, Flanagan mentions that games should be used to develop empathy because it allows players to adopt a variety of perspectives. 

I am able to relate to Neys and Jansz’s article. Although I am not a gamer and do not play video games, I completed media-related projects that addressed serious issues in high-school. For example, after learning about genocide — including its definition and groups who have been effected by it — my classmates and I created an iMovie presentation. The final product of our iMovie was engaging, in the eyes of our peers, while communicating a serious message. After watching our short movie, our peers reported going home and looking up historical incidents of genocide. Thus, similar to the authors, I believe that in this day in age media is a great way to communicate important messages to citizens.

Questions:

1. What games have you played that addresses serious social issues? 
2. The articles argue that unlike literature, games allow its users to inhabit the role and perspectives of other people. Do you believe that one can develop empathy and work on building their empathetic skills outside of playing video games? Can’t empathy be developed even when reading a novel?

Authors Maguth, List, and Wunderle write about the ways to integrate video games in a classroom/school environment. They mention that today’s youth is fully immersed in technology — specifically engrossed in the video game culture. Consequently, educators can use video games to enhance students’ learning experience. In general, video games require its players to problem solve and to consent adapt to new environments. The article talks about social studies teachers who used the Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings game in a seventh-grade world history class, and noticed the game’s positive impact on students’ learning. They chose to incorporate this video game into the classroom because the game addresses phenomena such as geography, perspective taking, cultural difference, and economics. In the game, players learn to build kingdoms, create armies, and defeat enemies. Teachers then ask students to reflect on their gaming experience, and to compare and contrast their experience while playing to concepts taught in the classroom. This allows students to apply and evaluate content discussed in class. In addition, author Ladson-Bilings’s article focuses on addressing the needs on African American students because she believes that they have been poorly served by schools. The teachers who contributed to Ladson-Billing’s paper taught low-income African American students and their teaching philosophies were similar; teachers functioned as learners in the classroom and encouraged their students to act as teachers. Furthermore, Ladson-Balling writes about the importance of culturally relevant teaching and describes that culturally relevant pedagogy relies on three criteria: academic success, cultural competence, and critical consciousness. Students need academic skills in order to be active participants in a democracy. Moreover, African American students should be able to express themselves freely and comfortably; for example, one teacher allows her students to use their home language while they were acquiring standard English. Finally, students should be able to critically analyze society — to be able to point out its forthcomings and drawbacks; teachers can help students achieve this by providing multiple perspectives on a variety of social and historical issues. 

I appreciated reading Maguth, List, Wunderle’s article. During my K-12 education, my teachers never asked or encouraged students to play video games; in fact, teachers naturally assumed that playing video games was a hobby and gaming did not belong inside of the classroom. However, I definitely recognize video games’ positive effects on students’ learning and I firmly believe that teachers should not ignore the fact that nowadays students’ interests consists of using technology-based products. Furthermore, I think that video games could be used to compliment or reinforce the topic discussed during a lecture. For example, an teacher who discusses race and gender inequalities in the classroom, could assign his/her students to play a video game that addresses these same issues; the video game may portray the female characters as inferior to the males or less powerful than the males. Consequently, students will better understand how these crucial concepts play out in a day-to-day situation and I believe that they will naturally have the desire to participate in classroom discussions.

Questions:

1. Did anyone have teachers who assigned them to play video games? 
2. What video games do you think have educational potential/can be used to reinforce concepts taught in a K-12 classroom?

In the graphic novel “In Real Life”, Anda is the protagonist. Character Liza McCombs is a guest speaker at Anda’s school who tells students that she is seeking women gamers. Anda then decides to subscribe to an online game and she creates her own avatar. When Anda sets up her account the author shows the readers images of the online game — allowing readers to jump into this virtual world with Anda. Anda meets another gamer named Lucy who pays Anda for performing various missions such as killing gold farmers. One day however, Anda meets a Chinese gold farmer and factory worker named Raymond. Anda builds a close relationship with Raymond and helps him stand up for his basic rights, such as receiving health insurance coverage from work. Yet, characters Lucy and Liza wrongfully accuse Anda of being an online bully when, in reality, she helps the bullied players. At the end of the novel everyone begins to understand Anda’s true intent and they appreciate the work she has done. Raymond also tells Anda that online gaming is a form of communication and a form of reality. Furthermore, authors Kraehe and Brown’s argue that preservice teachers can learn about issues of social justice through artistic production. According to the article, by engaging in artistic techniques and processes, individuals’ understanding of the world and of themselves can alter. Aesthetic learning experiences allow students to engage in the pedagogic material of subjects that are not directly associated with the arts. A study was also conducted in order to show the effects of art-based inquiries on the development of sociocultural knowledge; students were asked to produce a collaborative video case project that represented race, gender, and class bodies. One student claimed that she gained a critical understanding of her own thinking about racial inequality through this art-based process. Since the video was about race, some students were afraid of appearing racist which intensified their experience of making the video; the task of visualizing a racial narrative made many students feel anxious, but conducting the assignment taught them about the importance of equity and social justice. Working with a variety of students from various racial background allowed students to comprehend racial otherness and understand the hardships that some groups face everyday. Completing this art-based activity also encouraged students to reflect back on what parts of the course content they do and do not know. 

By working collaboratively with fellow peers to create an art-based inquiry, I believe that students learn to think differently about their own and others’ perspectives of the world. In high school there were many instances in which I, alongside my classmates, produced a video — specifically an iMovie presentation — and submitted it in as an assignment. For example, after reading the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”, my teacher asked his students to analyze a specific scene in the book and to reproduce it. The book discusses issues centered around class, gender, and race. Working with a multiracial group of students on this project allowed me to understand the complex content of the novel ever further. Many students that I worked with made several personal connections to issues discussed in the book — making the content seem more authentic and real. Thus, this assignment provided me with the unique opportunity to voice and analyze complex sociocultural issues. 

Questions:

1. How would you feel as Anda’s mom? Would you support your daughter’s desire to join an online gaming site given her age?
2. The character Raymond states that online gaming is a form of communication. Do you agree? What if the majority of people begin to communicate solely through an online gaming system? Does take away from the importance of daily, face-to-face interactions and communications?
3. Before reading the article written by authors Kraehe and Brown, how many people thought or were taught to think that art-based inquiries can not be used to teach non-art based subjects (such as sociocultural knowledge)?
4. How can we compare Anda to the cultural expectations for feminine appearances?

The “Welcome to AIM” video describes that the AIM project — translated as the Arthur Interactive Media buddy project — is used as a medium to engage children in a classroom environment. Teachers state that this interactive media is used to decrease bullying and increase prosocial behavior. AIM promotes peer interaction through its cross-aged buddy program and develops vital day-to-day skills such as empathy, honesty, forgiveness, and generosity in its users. Using this interactive media, children have the option of exploring how the characters feel internally, which is one way the product teaches empathy. In addition, the program guides educators’ teaching by providing prep-sessions and wrap-up sessions too. The article titled “The Arthur Interactive Media Study” compliments the video. The authors talk about the benefits of cross-age peer dyads; they mention that the interactive nature of this media product facilitates behavioral development and moral development. Since the peers are not the same age, the older student can scaffold positive characteristics related to character development when working alongside the younger student. Moreover, the authors conducted a study to test the effectiveness of AIM. The results indicated that teachers reported feeling very satisfied with the program because their students were fully engaged throughout the media experience. Additionally, students were able to discuss the feelings and perspectives of Arthur with one another; they identified and labeled Arthur’s bad and good/right and wrong behaviors, which proves that these students are learning about character virtues and gaining prosocial skills. Interacting with the Arthur comic was also a unique and enjoyable experience for me. This comic (called “So Funny I forgot to laugh!”) is about Arthur mocking his friend and comparing her to a dog. Readers, like myself, go on a journey with Arthur and his friends throughout the course of the comic. This interactive media project revealed the inner thoughts of the characters which was my favorite part because it allows readers to really emphasize with the character. 

I really enjoyed watching the “Welcome to AIM!” video and reading about its effects. I think that nowadays our K-12 education system is fixed on creating lesson plans and assignments that solely address academic subjects. What educators may fail to recognize is that children’s social and emotional well-being is vital as well. Our society struggles with addressing the issue of bullying at schools and I believe that interactive programs such as AIM can fix this issue. Bullying is definitely a complex issue and a great way to teach about this issue is by using a medium that today’s children love to use — technology/digital media. I think that this program was implemented really well because children do not only engage with the digital media, but they engage in conversations with each other as well. 

Questions:

1. What if children don’t like the character Arthur? What if we used the same interactive media/product, but catered it to the child’s T.V. character preference? 
2. Do you think that we would see the same positive effects on character development if students worked on AIM with a teacher (rather than a peer)?
3. Food for thought: It would be interesting to note whether or not the students’ actual behaviors (outside of the classroom) have changed or been positively impacted by the AIM program.

In Yang’s TEDx, he talks about the educational potential of comics and the importance of getting comics back into American classrooms. As an educator, Yang has witnessed the incredible educational benefits that comics can have on students in a classroom environment. He argues that students are growing up in a visual culture and comics use visuals. He also suggests that when a student works with comics, the rate of information flow is in the hands of that student. Similarly, in Yang’s graphic novel, “Secret Coders”, characters Hopper and Eni work together to crack odd mysteries about Stately Academy, a mysterious-looking school. They encounter many strange characters and Eni teaches Hopper that the bird and turtle they encounter are actually robots. Soon after breaking into the janitor’s supply closet, Eni finds a written program and the turtle begins following the instructions of the program. The comic book ends with an unsolved puzzle; the bizarre janitor puts Eni, Hopper, and their friend Josh to the test by asking them to come up with a new program. Furthermore, authors Collins and Halverson discuss the pros and cons of what they refer to as the “new technological revolution” and suggest that educators must learn how to appropriately integrate technologies into their classrooms. For example, one pro they mention is that technology fosters a “learning by doing” view of education, while traditional schooling requires students to simply absorb knowledge. Additionally, they acknowledge that with the rise of technology, education has begun to appear in more adaptive venues like web communities or home schooling. Lastly, in Hall and Lucal’s article talks about the advantages of using comic books in sociology courses. This is because comic books present various social phenomena such as race and gender. Thus, comic books may be used to compliment class discussions on how culture depicts images of men and women. According to the authors, every time the comic book is implemented in a sociology classroom, students are engaged and make insightful remarks regarding gender inequality or social inequality (since the comic characters are predominantly white). 

I was able to make many personal connections to Collins and Halverson’s article. When the authors wrote about how technology nowadays caters to every possible interest a person may have and specifically to the rise of web communities, I immediately thought about Instagram. Instagram is a social networking service that I am an active member of. Instagram gives its user the ability to “follow” pages of their interests. Therefore, I follow many food pages in order to learn how to cook fast and healthy meals, and to connect with other followers on the page who share my similar interests. 

Questions:

1. Question posed to the class: How many of you were required to use a laptop or desktop in high school in order to complete your assignments? 
2. Beginning at what age should educators implement the use of technologies in their curriculum and in their classrooms?
3. Why do you think Yang and Holmes only used two colors in their graphic novel? Why do you think they chose the colors blue and green? Is there a meaning behind this?
4. “Secret Coders” revealed the inner thoughts of Hopper at the bottom of some comics; did you like that the authors chose to do this?

I really enjoyed watching the one video and reading the two sources we were assigned to review. In his TEDx, comic artist Scott McCloud talks about how comic books have evolved overtime and he describes the types of media that comics have been presented on. He states that comics use visual space to represent time and to shape narrative. Finally, McCloud provides ideas on how to present comics in the digital age; he suggests thinking of the computer’s monitor as a window or an infinite canvas, rather than a page. Furthermore, author Sarah McNicol writes about comics as well, mentioning that they are controversial and vulnerable to censorship. Comics, according to this article, are characterized by the presence of multiple messages; therefore, there is no single correct or absolute meaning that a reader may abstract from reading a comic book. McNicol writes about a specific comic book, “Persepolis”, which was banned from the 7th grade classrooms in Chicago’s public schools for using complex and distressing themes such as torture and addressing issues such as questioning authority. Instead of removing “Persepolis” from classrooms, educators should teach students the visual and textual literacy skills required to read comics without presenting a single political viewpoint. By offering a balance of different viewpoints, students can understand the variety of ways in which the story might be understood. The author agrees that providing professional development guidelines for teachers may be beneficial to support the teaching of the text, but she does not believe that it justifies the removal of a text from schools. Author Neil Gaiman would agree with McNicol because throughout his article he describes that intelligence comes from reading, being read to, and using your imagination. He glorifies the notion of libraries and explains that reading books is an obligation for all citizens because it teaches individuals how to navigate their everyday lives. He writes about the benefits of reading fiction novels, such as developing empathetic skills. Gaiman also addresses comic books by stating that comics have wrongfully been decried as fostering literacy. He believes that there is no such thing as a bad book or a bad author; therefore, it is imperative that adults give children access to books they find enjoyable and pleasurable. 

Although I do not read comic books, I was able to connect my own experiences to the content covered in the two articles and the TEDx — especially Gaiman’s articles. As a child, I had an apparent love of reading; I would constantly ask my parents to drive me to the local public library on weekends. As I got older and entered middle school, I was given a list of required books to read during the summer and school year. Truthfully, I did not like reading those books, but I did not have much choice. Reading for school took up so much of my time that I was no longer able to read books on my own — ones that I intrinsically enjoyed reading. As Gaiman put it, “well-meaning adults can easily destroy a child’s love of reading” by giving them “worthy-but-dull books”. By assigning a multitude of school-related books, my middle school unintentionally decreased my initial love of reading. As a solution, teachers could have asked students to read a book of their own choosing in addition to reading the books that the teacher himself/herself assigns. 

Questions:

1. Question for the class: What are your thoughts on prohibiting children from reading books that they may find interesting, but are inappropriate? Do you think that reduces their intrinsic motivation to read books in the future? 
2. Question for the class: I had some difficulty interpreting Scott McCloud’s TEDx; how would you interpret the main point of his talk?

The two articles we were assigned to read and the one TEDx Talk we were asked to watch all address the point that educators and educational institutions must open up spaces for digital invention; the short video and readings emphasize that media literacy is a key 21st century skill. Authors Mirra, Morrell, and Filipiak believe that 21st century youth must move beyond being passive consumers of digital technologies and towards digital innovation, distribution, and production. The authors state that in order to become proficient inventors, educators should seek out the pedagogic use of digital media and teach their students that different forms of media can be used to communicate a message. Similarly, Professor Degand’s article stresses the importance of encouraging critical thinking in digital media art production spaces. Degand proposes that media arts programs should actively teach students to critique the societal stereotypes they encounter in media artwork. He hopes for educators to establish egalitarian production spaces in which their students can create prosocial media products that aim to achieve collectivist goals. Finally, in her TEDx, Erica Halverson argues that in today’s society it is imperative to teach creativity and innovation to young people, and this is done through art. She mentions that nowadays art plays a large role in identity development and literacy learning. According to Halverson, literacy should be seen as “productive-oriented activity” in which people make meaning and freely express themselves using the tools they have access to. 

While reading the two articles and watching the TEDx, I immediately thought about my personal K-12 experience. I recall my sixth-grade teacher stating that he wanted to “change things up” for this one assignment; instead of asking us to complete a traditional writing assignment, after reading the book “The Giver”, he assigned us a creativity task with hopes that students will retain a higher percentage of the book’s educational content. He asked us to use any form of digital media that appealed to us, in order to depict a specific scene in the book. I remember being fascinated by Apple’s application, iMovie. Thus, I gathered a bunch of my classmates together and we acted out a scene from the book. We recorded ourselves using the built-in camera on the Mac laptop and complied/edited the video together using iMovie’s features. As a result of conducting this activity, my classmates and I developed imperative day-to-day skills such as working together; we learned how to collaborate with one another and to cohesively integrate our ideas in order to create a successful end product. 

Questions: 

1. Evidently, low-income students and less likely than more affluent students to create texts using technology. How can this issue be addressed? 
2. How much time should schools designate to developing digital media skills in their students?
3. Out of curiosity, how many students in our class had a digital media program integrated in their K-12 education?

My name is Brigitte. First, I would like to thank you all for joining my blog. In this blog you will join me on my journey in learning about the latest fashion trends.

Here is a little bit about myself:

My favorite form of media is social media — I especially love Instagram and Snapchat.

The latest book I read is An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison.

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening” – Coco Chanel