Part 1 and 2
Review and Response
I enjoyed reading this article even though it was lengthy and had a tendency to reiterate several points. At times, it seemed as if the article could possibly be written by representatives or lobbyists for the Internet gaming industry.
The article continued to point out that children today live in a “hypermediated environment” and if something isn’t done or a “paradigm shift” doesn’t occur in how we educate students, there will be an even greater economical and cultural divide than what appears to already exist in our society. Besides students meeting the educational standards that already exist, students must possess the ability to use the computer to gather information, collate what they find, hypothesize, organize, and then communicate what they have found to a particular audience.
The article explores the powerful role computer games can play in children’s ability to navigate the Internet. Multiple examples were given on how games provide problem-solving experiences and simulations as well as opportunities to collaborate with peers to create collective intelligences to solve complex problems.
I agree with the authors that simulation and problem-solving experiences can be effective for students. I believe all the positive examples were directed toward those who are less informed about the positives of computer games and tend to dwell on the negatives, such as computer games being violent. Likewise, many believe all communication between teens on the Internet is inappropriate, and that child molesters are waiting to prey on undiscriminating and uninformed victims. While this may be true in limited instances, we shouldn’t let such fear keep us from gaining all the educational benefits the Internet has to offer.
The article stresses that one of our main objectives as educators of technology should be to teach children to decipher information and be able to discriminate what is legitimate information or a scam. Students need to be aware of the hazards and consequences of certain types of information as well as the benefits. Students who do not have the ability to use transmedia navigation will be left behind.
Access to the Internet is so vast that we cannot be gatekeepers of all the possible sites students may use on the Internet. We can, however educate them in the ethics of being responsible users.
1 comment:
Wow! What a succinct summary of our 60 page article! I was impressed with how clearly and simply you wrote - well, especially after the verbosity pf the article! You also interwove your opinions in a easy-to-follow order.
I agree that teaching appropriate ethics is important. Just discussing ethical issues can be very helpful, because we begin to mull over our own opinions as we process others' comments. I often tell children that if we are not ethical, we are "only cheating ourselves". It's true! Also, character is exposed by what we do when no one is watching. My mother-in-law always asked her children, "What would the world be like if everyone followed your example?" Hey, that's the rubber hitting the road that you are hearing....
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