This graphic of the old
Donkey Kong game from the old Atari Gaming System (I think!) is about the
extent of my video game knowledge base.
I am definitely not a ‘gamer’, so this chapter opened my eyes to what
really goes on when you play a video game. I know a lot of people, mainly males, who play video games
regularly. They seem to take great
pleasure in winning the race, or defeating the opposing team, or killing the
bad guys. I could never understand
this fascination they have. But I
also didn’t realize how much thinking and decision-making was involved in these
types of games either.
Reading
this chapter, Pleasure, Learning, Video
Games, and Life: The Projective Stance
was very enlightening. The
projective stance people take when it comes to video games was really
surprising to me. I love how the
author describes it on page 107.
Gee compares the projective stance in the virtual world to the desire to
be a successful physicist in the real world. This really made everything become clear for me. In order to be a physicist, you have to
know how to problem solve and see as a physicist would. Your actions will help you meet the desires
and goals set for yourself.
Experience is the real key to success in these types of games. Just like in education, the more
experience you obtain, the more you immerse yourself in facts, information, and
rich activities the more you will learn and be prepared for any action. This is what we need to do in our
classrooms: immerse our students (and ourselves) in rich literature and strong
doctrine, provide smart tools for them to draw upon when they are needed, and
guide them on how to make good, rich choices when the time is needed. I want to be the kind of teacher that
has taught her students to believe in themselves. I want them to be capable of making smart decisions
and act on those decisions with confidence.
When
I first began reading this chapter, I didn’t know how it could possibly tie in
with education. This wasn’t the
first time I’ve been wrong. And
probably won’t be the last! :)
I am glad you enjoyed this chapter, because I did not. I think the author could have skipped to the last few paragraphs and made his point just the same. I agree that students of all ages (elementary-college level) should be given the chance to "experience" the subject matter/content instead of just reading about the doctrine and tested on it.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think that we need to find ways to make learning more authentic and provide students with opportunities to apply what they have learned (other than just on tests). Although I personally enjoyed the chapter, I think the authors were a bit unrealistic in their expectations. I can't really imagine that a game that reinforces math or science skills would have the same effect as the more popular games kids are playing today.
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