Saturday, April 24, 2010
Reflecting on the First Version
Well, I must say that I am quite excited about the possibilities that a Prezi provides. This statement coming from a gal that used to draw mind maps on her mirrors with dry erase markers so she could visualize her papers. The difficulties I encountered while making my prezi was the order in which to present ideas and how much to include in the presentation. In the end, I went with less information and focused more on the overall ideas of online activism. I am still trying to determine exactly how to word the questions that will develop into my final paper's thesis, but the paper is on its way for sure. The prezi was a great tool for visualizing a possible outline for a paper. Instead of the traditional word document outline, this allowed me to consider the different possibilities for presenting information. I consider myself a highly visual person so I really appreciated the Prezi's format and the opportunity of creating different "paths." I really want to use the Prezi more when I teach Rhetorical Methods next year instead of relying on just Powerpoint. I think the students would really gain something new or perhaps learn differently with this type of tool.
First Version-Let's try this agin
Here is my Prezi. I hope this link works. If you press the link "Twitter/Facebook Activism" at the bottom of this blog it will take you to full screen version.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Specific Reading: Week 11
I was particularly intrigued by Gee's presentation of gaming and its role in education. Not too long ago, I watched the PBS special "Digital Nation" which showcased schools that were adopting more of a gaming style of education. These schools, for example, were making any form of learning (math, science, english, etc) into a virtual reality experience. Students would learn how to interact with one another through the computer or they might play the educational games together in the classroom. Each game focused on the lesson they were expected to learn for that particular subject. It was the educators' beliefs that gaming had becoming such a central part of young people's experiences that the school system had to update its way of teaching in order to keep their students interested and engaged. Much debate has surrounded this perspective's consequences on students ablity to learn effectively, completely, and about social skills. To me, the debate is similar to the debate encompassing group work. Long before I was in school, educators disagreed about the role of group work in a classroom. Some individuals believed the educational system should exist only as a lecture style format: one teacher lecturing to a group of students. While other people believed that a more beneficial lesson would be to teach students how to interact with one another in a group, how to solve tasks in a group, and how to problem solve with other individuals who held different views. Nowadays, it seems that the new debate is the role of gaming in the educational system.
WHile I am not convinced that the entire educational system should be replaced by gaming, I do think that gamings inclusion into the learning process is an important point to consider. As Gee points out, good games are ones that allow the user to interact with others. WIthout this interaction, the game would hinder users from learning how to socialize with other humans-an important lesson that is often learned in school. Furthermore, games allow the user to become responsible for the outcome. They play more of an active role in the construction, mangagement, and communication of their reality. I believe this calls for a type of critical thinking which is too often absent in the traditional way of learning and the basic subjects. The user in this regard is responsible for his/her experience as well as the experiences of others. He/she becomes an agent in their reality and the social world in which they live. Thus, they are responsible for their learning.
Finally, gaming allows learning to become an individually centered experience. TOo often, the traditional form of education fails to take into account the different personalities that abound in the classroom, the disparate ways of learning, and the consequences of a generalized form of instruction. THerefore, inserting some gaming into the educational process would assist in making the curricula more specific to the user, meeting he individual needs of the student, and making it more relevant to their reality.
While there are consequences to changing a traditional form of education into a more modern experience, I firmly believe that the generations of today learn differently than the generations of the past. Furthermore, technology and gaming has become so central to their everyday experiences and the ways in which they understand what it means to be them that to ignore such a significant tool would be irresponsible of educators.
WHile I am not convinced that the entire educational system should be replaced by gaming, I do think that gamings inclusion into the learning process is an important point to consider. As Gee points out, good games are ones that allow the user to interact with others. WIthout this interaction, the game would hinder users from learning how to socialize with other humans-an important lesson that is often learned in school. Furthermore, games allow the user to become responsible for the outcome. They play more of an active role in the construction, mangagement, and communication of their reality. I believe this calls for a type of critical thinking which is too often absent in the traditional way of learning and the basic subjects. The user in this regard is responsible for his/her experience as well as the experiences of others. He/she becomes an agent in their reality and the social world in which they live. Thus, they are responsible for their learning.
Finally, gaming allows learning to become an individually centered experience. TOo often, the traditional form of education fails to take into account the different personalities that abound in the classroom, the disparate ways of learning, and the consequences of a generalized form of instruction. THerefore, inserting some gaming into the educational process would assist in making the curricula more specific to the user, meeting he individual needs of the student, and making it more relevant to their reality.
While there are consequences to changing a traditional form of education into a more modern experience, I firmly believe that the generations of today learn differently than the generations of the past. Furthermore, technology and gaming has become so central to their everyday experiences and the ways in which they understand what it means to be them that to ignore such a significant tool would be irresponsible of educators.
General Readings Blog: Week 11
Flanagan discusses the two chief arguments of gaming in order to shed light on the intricate nature of this particular culture. She explains that one perspective sees gaming as exempliying the existing social structure, a activity of leisure, and a tool for socialization. On the other hand, some individuals view gaming as ritualistic and illustrative of communicative behavior. Despite the perspective, it is evident that gaming teaches players about social norms as well as the self. Particularly interesting in Flanagan's account of gaming are the three prior habits of play that often becomes transposed into vitual gaming: reskinning, unplaying, and rewriting. All three habits transfers responsibility from the video to the player, making the player an agent in constructing the reality he/she desires. An intriguing consequence is the notion that social norms could become created and acted upon within the digital sphere before being physically translated outside the gaming universe. What consequences, then, would result?
Castronova in a similar vein as Flanagan analyzes the continually disappearing boundary between real life and game play as well as the blurring boundaries influence on everyday life. As Castronova notes, activities that are prevalent in "real life" are also being performed within the virtual world: conflict, drama, relationships, commerce, etc. Thus, "reality" is no longer viewed as separate from online activity, but is instead perceived as encompassing it. The "synthetic worlds" as deemed by Catronova have significant consequences on the way in which humans view their reality and the social world in which they exist. For example, virtual gaming has and will continue to hamper an individual's perception of how to handle conflict. Can, then, the synthetic worlds be effective tools of education or its players or is it instead hindering our own perception of what reality is and should be?
Ryan writes about the specific narratives that are told within the digital sphere. It is concluded that many digital media focuses on metaphor and myth to communicate these narratives. For example, digital media designers often utilize metaphors to glamorize and sensitize the computer so that it becomes a necessary addition to a person's life instead of a needless machine. In this way, the computer becomes the storyteller and the user its listener. Furthermore, the computer or the digital sphere is created in a manner that resembles that of a dramatic plot or performance. There exists a stage to showcase the performance (the screen), key players (The computer, the user, and others that might be invovled in the interaction online or offline), a plot (the purpose of using the computer that is continually evolving), and eventually a conclusion. When thinking about the computer and our interactions with virtual reality in this fashion, it is easy to see the extent to which the digital sphere becomes connected to the public sphere.
Gee focuses his attention on video gaming as an educational tool. He asserts that "good video games incorporate good learning principles, principles supported by current research in cognitive science." To play a game, one must first learn how to play a game. This learning process is indeed often the attractiveness of the game. IT is a challenge to overcome that is viewed as entertaining rather than simply educational. While some individuals argue that to learn a game is simply to learn the ins and outs of that particlar game, Gee says that, in fact, gamers learn other skills as well. His article focuses on how education can benefit from translating traditional classroom style into game speak or the ways in which people learn how to play a game.
Castronova in a similar vein as Flanagan analyzes the continually disappearing boundary between real life and game play as well as the blurring boundaries influence on everyday life. As Castronova notes, activities that are prevalent in "real life" are also being performed within the virtual world: conflict, drama, relationships, commerce, etc. Thus, "reality" is no longer viewed as separate from online activity, but is instead perceived as encompassing it. The "synthetic worlds" as deemed by Catronova have significant consequences on the way in which humans view their reality and the social world in which they exist. For example, virtual gaming has and will continue to hamper an individual's perception of how to handle conflict. Can, then, the synthetic worlds be effective tools of education or its players or is it instead hindering our own perception of what reality is and should be?
Ryan writes about the specific narratives that are told within the digital sphere. It is concluded that many digital media focuses on metaphor and myth to communicate these narratives. For example, digital media designers often utilize metaphors to glamorize and sensitize the computer so that it becomes a necessary addition to a person's life instead of a needless machine. In this way, the computer becomes the storyteller and the user its listener. Furthermore, the computer or the digital sphere is created in a manner that resembles that of a dramatic plot or performance. There exists a stage to showcase the performance (the screen), key players (The computer, the user, and others that might be invovled in the interaction online or offline), a plot (the purpose of using the computer that is continually evolving), and eventually a conclusion. When thinking about the computer and our interactions with virtual reality in this fashion, it is easy to see the extent to which the digital sphere becomes connected to the public sphere.
Gee focuses his attention on video gaming as an educational tool. He asserts that "good video games incorporate good learning principles, principles supported by current research in cognitive science." To play a game, one must first learn how to play a game. This learning process is indeed often the attractiveness of the game. IT is a challenge to overcome that is viewed as entertaining rather than simply educational. While some individuals argue that to learn a game is simply to learn the ins and outs of that particlar game, Gee says that, in fact, gamers learn other skills as well. His article focuses on how education can benefit from translating traditional classroom style into game speak or the ways in which people learn how to play a game.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Summary Reflection: Week 9
This week's set of readings concentrated on democracy's role, or the lack thereof, in digital space. The works of Raley, Hariman, Desola Pool, and Galloway call forth a self-awareness as to the reader's definition of democracy and perhaps a reconsideration is influenced as well. The following is a brief synopsis of each individual work:
Hariman: Hariman writes, "Allegorical coding may operate not only as a background condition of contemporary life, but also as a rhetoric for managing a paradoxical condition that characterizes postmodern societies: the paradox of culture without hiearchy" (p. 287). Thus, Hariman sees a democratic society free of an all-enclusive standard of morals, beliefs, ideals, etc. Instead, democracy allows for "political equality and individual self-determination" (p. 288). While the idea of society being void of any hiearchy is prepostorous, individuals can fight for and make sense of cultural pluralism. To Harriman, the employment of allegories within new media is the choice that many individuals should be make to ensure that cultural pluralism, community, and meaning continue to flourish without become vicitim to a detrimental, oppresive order.
DeSola Pool: This piece focuses exclusively on the everchanging amount of control a user has within digital space. DeSola Pool states "communications in the future may be unnecessarily regulated under the unfree tradition of law that has been applied so far to the electronic media” (p. 23). Therefore, the critical issue at present is the violation of free speech within the digital sphere. Similar to our past predecessors that fought for free speech orally and written, the generations of today will have to fight for freedom of electronic communication. With any new technology, any threat to the seemingly assumed social order, and any degree of uncertainty comes the controlling hand of the government. Laws, restrictions, constraints, limitations and the like are employed to "assist" in the cautionary guardianship over users of the new domain. This issue will be one of the central concerns that encompass our society as we known it within the new future.
Galloway: Galloway concentrates on the role of protocol in guiding a society or controlling the realities of that society. He writes, " Facilitated by protocol the Internet is the mostly highly controlled mass media hitherto known" (p.243). In other words, the digital space of society is guarded and led by a protcol outside of institutional or governmental control. Instead, the Internet's protocol is headed by its users-by the mass society. As Galloway discusses, any protcol is subject to change; therefore, users must recognize the Internet's fluidity, its inherent uncertainty, and the threat that it could pose to a democractic society.
Raley: Finally, Raley discusses tactical media's role as symbolic performances of the issues that are plaguing the "democractic" society of the United States. Recounting a story about a game creator who was deported to Mexico because of his apparent threat to the "democractic" ideals of the U.S., Raley illustrates how tactial media- such as a game-can carry with it a profound sense of power. She makes the conclusion that the lines between the private and public sector are becoming blurred as technological advances continue to pose a threat to the dominant ideologies of the American society. The Internet, for example, continues to be viewed as a controlled chaos-full of uncertainty and risk. I wonder, then, if what was once considered "private space" -the Internet- will become governed as "public space" in the near future?
Hariman: Hariman writes, "Allegorical coding may operate not only as a background condition of contemporary life, but also as a rhetoric for managing a paradoxical condition that characterizes postmodern societies: the paradox of culture without hiearchy" (p. 287). Thus, Hariman sees a democratic society free of an all-enclusive standard of morals, beliefs, ideals, etc. Instead, democracy allows for "political equality and individual self-determination" (p. 288). While the idea of society being void of any hiearchy is prepostorous, individuals can fight for and make sense of cultural pluralism. To Harriman, the employment of allegories within new media is the choice that many individuals should be make to ensure that cultural pluralism, community, and meaning continue to flourish without become vicitim to a detrimental, oppresive order.
DeSola Pool: This piece focuses exclusively on the everchanging amount of control a user has within digital space. DeSola Pool states "communications in the future may be unnecessarily regulated under the unfree tradition of law that has been applied so far to the electronic media” (p. 23). Therefore, the critical issue at present is the violation of free speech within the digital sphere. Similar to our past predecessors that fought for free speech orally and written, the generations of today will have to fight for freedom of electronic communication. With any new technology, any threat to the seemingly assumed social order, and any degree of uncertainty comes the controlling hand of the government. Laws, restrictions, constraints, limitations and the like are employed to "assist" in the cautionary guardianship over users of the new domain. This issue will be one of the central concerns that encompass our society as we known it within the new future.
Galloway: Galloway concentrates on the role of protocol in guiding a society or controlling the realities of that society. He writes, " Facilitated by protocol the Internet is the mostly highly controlled mass media hitherto known" (p.243). In other words, the digital space of society is guarded and led by a protcol outside of institutional or governmental control. Instead, the Internet's protocol is headed by its users-by the mass society. As Galloway discusses, any protcol is subject to change; therefore, users must recognize the Internet's fluidity, its inherent uncertainty, and the threat that it could pose to a democractic society.
Raley: Finally, Raley discusses tactical media's role as symbolic performances of the issues that are plaguing the "democractic" society of the United States. Recounting a story about a game creator who was deported to Mexico because of his apparent threat to the "democractic" ideals of the U.S., Raley illustrates how tactial media- such as a game-can carry with it a profound sense of power. She makes the conclusion that the lines between the private and public sector are becoming blurred as technological advances continue to pose a threat to the dominant ideologies of the American society. The Internet, for example, continues to be viewed as a controlled chaos-full of uncertainty and risk. I wonder, then, if what was once considered "private space" -the Internet- will become governed as "public space" in the near future?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
