The good news is that games, so often maligned, have much to offer ourcomplex world. And not just so-called “serious games” with explicit edu-cational goals, but any game.
This is where I get hung up on the idea of gaming literacy. I've read so many books and articles that point to video games as being so incredibly addictive and detrimental to social development and mental health. Do we just ignore this? How do we balance these seemingly opposing viewpoints?
being lit-erate in play means being playful—having a ludic attitude that sees theworld’s structures as opportunities for playful engagement.
I think this is true of innovators. From what I've read and seen about innovative thinkers, they seem to approach life with a playful curiosity. They wonder how they can engage with things (language, teaching, programming, platforms, medicine, etc.) in a new way. It seems they often start on their path to innovation by "playing around" with an idea or concept.
Systems only become meaningfulas they are inhabited, explored, and manipulated by people.
Yes! Meaning-making occurs as we allow students to explore and manipulate the world around them. This is such an important piece of education!
Morethan other kinds of culture and media which have been the focus of lit-eracy in the past, then, games are uniquely well-suited to teach systemsliteracy
This helps me make sense of what we're talking about when we're referring to systems and how gaming literacy can help students understand this as well. Knowing the "rules of the game", or the system, helps us understand how a system works and can help us see its weaknesses as well.
Who is creating itand with what agenda?
This is such an important question to ask in our world where anyone can create just about anything on the internet. Especially as we consume more information than ever, it is vital that we are aware of where the information we consume is coming from and the motivations and biases inherent in that information, and our own biases that we bring to that information as well.
This may include identifying its purposes, interpreting the perspectives and inten-tions of those whose interests it serves, and situating these in context.
This is such an important skill. I was reading an article on media literacy just yesterday that talked specifically about analyzing "news" that we are presented with and how when we identify the purpose, perspectives, and intentions of a news article it can help us identify fact vs. opinion, manipulation, etc. In today's world where anyone can publish just about anything on one platform or another, this is an essential and powerful skill.
learners incorporate new experiences through processes of assimilation, and accommodate these experiences by framing them into mental representa-tions
In some research I did for a project in my last class, a constructivist approach was encouraged as a way to improve reading comprehension. Using technological tools to allow students to create an "artifact" of the connections made or to demonstrate what they have learned was far superior to an informist approach. The researchers also emphasized learning with rather than from technology.
The rewards of school success were then in the scores and the rankings achieved, extrinsic rewards less than intrinsic pleasures of coming- to- know
This is the kind of "learning" that I want to avoid in the classroom and for myself as a student. They type that you work and work for a grade on a test or on a project only to immediately forget or dismiss the information because you've received the grade or survived the course and haven't really focused on learning for the sake of learning.
Meaning is made in ways that are increasingly multimodal— in which written- linguistic modes of meaning interface with oral, visual, audio, gestural, tactile, and spatial patterns of meaning. This means that we need to extend the range of literacy pedagogy so that it does not unduly privilege alphabetical representations
While I agree with the statement that "meaning is made in ways that are increasingly multimodal", I'm wondering about how we measure learning without alphabetical representation. Just trying to wrap my mind around what this looks like in practical application. (Specifically, I'm thinking about what students are asked to do at the high school and college levels to show proficiency and understanding of a subject. Do we see SAT tests and dissertations changing or going away?)
Gaming Literacy
I had no idea that "gaming literacy" was even a thing! Thinking about the games that my kids play, it makes sense. I've just never thought of gaming in this way. This challenges a lot of my assumptions about gaming.
Fan Fiction
My kids have been writing fan fiction for years! They love stepping into an author's world and expanding on a story that they love. I'm excited to learn more about this from an educator's perspective.
valuate digital tools and applications.
I'm very excited to learn about this! So many digital tools and apps are offered, it's difficult to know how to evaluate them. I want to be sure that any digital tool that I'm asking my students to use is effectively helping them learn, not hindering their learning.