Violence in Video Games When considering the types of games we might get our students to engage in it’s important to assess the level of violence that may be portrayed in the game and the appropriateness of that level of violence for the age of our students. I’m not so sure when assessing a video game’s level of violence for use with students that it’s solely about the level of violence. I seem to accept violence much better in a cartoon type environment that isn’t intensely graphic. An example of this would be Mario Brothers; when Mario dies he simply falls out of screen and there is sad music. I do not think the level of violence found in Grand Theft Auto is acceptable, however those types of games have age ratings and warnings and they should be heeded; although most parents, in my experience, don’t and go ahead and let their underage child play the game. The graphics of a game definitely have a significant impact on the level of violence as the more detailed the “dyeing” or “killing” is makes it more powerful and unacceptable for younger players. Gender Differences in Video Games Laddering onto the above discussion of violence in video games is the idea of gender roles in video games. According to Miller (2007), the characters in video games have the ability to form players’ perceptions of gender roles. If was found by Miller (2007) that more often than not male characters were portrayed as the heroes with huge muscular bodies and more powers than the females. Meanwhile Miller (2007) found the female characters were often secondary to the males and portrayed as sexy, attractive and innocent. This is definitely something to consider when introducing video games into teaching. Do we as teachers want to further aid in the misconception of these gender roles? I don’t. Presentation of Characters in Video Games When I look at games for use with my students I want to see characters that are dressed at least somewhat appropriately and respectfully. However, I understand that the majority of COTS are created to sell and make money and what sells better than “sex”? Therefore, I find and according to Miller (2007) as stated above, that a lot of the characters in video games, especially the women, are dressed provocatively and such would eliminate them from my list of games to use with my students. Addicted to Video Games With anything in life there is potential to become addicted to gaming. According to Rauh (2006), the most addictive games are the ones that have no end, which are often the games chosen to be used in an educational setting. A child being addicted to gaming, even if it’s an educational game, is unacceptable. Children especially, need to be involved in a wide variety of experiences and it saddens me to hear children say all they did on the weekend was play video games. I firmly believe parents need to control the amount of time their children spend in front of a screen, educational or not. They need to be physically active beings. If teachers are using gaming in their classroom I believe they should also have to discuss the possibility of being addicted and how that will affect their health, relationships and lifestyle. Just as teachers discuss online safety with students when using the Internet, they need to have open discussions about too much time in front of the screen gaming. Girls and Video Games After speaking with a small group of Grade 4/5 girls about MineCraft and what they would like to see in the game they spouted off that they would love to be able to turn items that they build into other colours that are more feminine, plant flower beds, have more food options to cook/bake in the kitchen and more decorative possibilities. They also told me the things they don’t like about MineCraft and those were the killing of animals, the scary monsters, and any type of violence. Despite these things they absolutely love the challenge of building and surviving that the game offers and continue to enjoy the game. I simply found the conversation interesting and they were more than excited to share their opinions about a game that they are often told is "just a game" and has no place at school. Resources Miller, Monica K. (2007) Gender Differences in Video Game Characters’ Roles, Appearances, and Attire as Portrayed in Video Game Magazines. Retrieved from: http://www.easternct.edu/~lugow/courses/videogames/gender_videogames.pdf Rauh, Sherry (2006). Video Game Addiction No Fun. WebMD. Retrieved from: http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/video-game-addiction-no-fun?page=3 Prior to the Collaborate session hosted by Greg Lewis discussing the topic of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) I was given five questions to ponder. I would like to share those questions with responses and further elaborate on them with my thoughts after the session. 1. What is BYOD and what would you like this to look like in your own teaching situation? BYOD stands for Bring Your Own Device, meaning students are encouraged to bring their own mobile device such as an iPod, iPhone, iPad etc. to school in order to use the devices capabilities to enhance and personalize their learning experience. As a teacher I would like all students that have access/own their own mobile device to bring it to class on a daily basis so that there are fewer students that require the school district’s mobile devices as they aren’t always readily available for use as they are shared among classes. Having greater access to mobile devices opens the door for exploration of a multitude of apps that better enhance their learning experience. One simple way I would use mobile devices in my class was to have a QR code posted by the classroom door with the day’s homework linked to it so students could scan the code as their “ticket out the door”. This allows the students to know they “have” their homework in a safe place and can access it when they are ready to. They could choose to access this information while on the bus ride home or as their bedtime reading or viewing. 2. What do you consider the main issues to be around BYOD policy? I find one of the biggest issues teachers have around BYOD is not having enough devices to share among students. This actually has been found not to be anywhere near the biggest issues when implementing BYOD as research indicates, “90% of students under the age of 18 have access to mobile technology” (Class Link) I believe the biggest issue is bandwidth and Wi-Fi reliability. Without these two things operating at a reasonable rate it is next to impossible for large amounts of students to be working on their mobile devices at school. 3. Do you have any models or solutions that might address these issues? Prior to the class session I had written, “THIS ONE STUMPS ME!!!” Honestly it still stumps me. I feel like a little fish in a big pond of mess that is school districts and their lack of equipment to implement today’s technology into teaching and learning. I believe the answer to these very big issues have to come from the top down and all teachers can do is advocate relentlessly for better services! 4. In order to successfully implement BYOD policy in BC, what sorts of government/district supports need to be in place to make this happen? In order for the implementation of BYOD to be successful educators and administrators must be willing to embrace the change and find ways to successfully apply the technology. Building on the previous question and response I reiterate that implementation of this BYOD policy will only be successful if the school district’s acknowledge that there need to be changes in their bandwidth and Wi-Fi infrastructures in schools. The implementation of BYOD will occur in classrooms, but the supports need to come from government and school districts. This site discusses a plan for implementing BYOD and some possible challenges. 5. Is it better to wait for “across the board equity” or is it necessary to forge ahead and institute mLearning via BTOD in order to benefit most students and students overall? What is the role or focus of public education? It is imperative that we forge ahead as there may never be a day that every student can BYOD. There may never be a day, or it may be so far in the future, that the current students will never get a chance to expand their technology skills if we don’t work with what we have today and do our best to teach them the skills they need for their future. Our students are forcing us to implement BOYD as they are already bringing their mobile devices to school – educators simply need to learn how these devices can enhance their teaching and their student’s learning. Forging ahead without all the necessary means however, doesn’t mean that educators and administrators shouldn’t be making it known to school districts and government that they do not have the proper tools to fully embrace this technology. Blank App Evaluation:_________________________________________________________________________Six App Evaluations + Justification for Evaluation Categories After reading “mLearning Devices Performance To Go” by Clark N. Quinn I started to realize that when we ask our students to participate in a learning activity on mobile devices we are asking them to “mLearn”; what a great term! The majority of high school students own some type of smart phone/device that either has a data plan and/or wifi capability. Why not, as teachers, take advantage of this and get our students mLearning? When reading “Mobile Learning” by Jisc infoNet I was reminded that these types of changes can be difficult for some to implement, but “[i]t takes initiative for leaders to create a vision to sustain that change and, finally, mobile learning requires adaptability by members of staff to carry out the change.” While the idea of mLearning sounds incredibly useful and intriguing not only for students, but also educators there are struggles to overcome. There are the very glaring issues of supplying those students with a smart device that do not own one – where will the funding come for that? There are school wifi connectivity issues, there are those educators/administrators that have not, and possibly will not, buy into mLearning – I am aware of one principal (elementary) that gives out “think sheets” if a student is caught using their smart device at school, for learning purposes or not. There are hurdles that need to be overcome and in time, I believe as more people become aware of the educational tools available via mLearning it will become much more popular in the education realm. Switching gears slightly I have to confess that when students would share with me their achievements in “Mine Craft” which I always thought they were calling “Mind Craft” I had no idea what they were talking about and assumed it must be another one of these “shoot ‘em up” Xbox games that these youngsters had no business playing as it was probably rated beyond their years. After doing some research and finding out that we will be learning how to use it as an educational tool I now hang my head in shame. I am all for finding ways to use technology in my teaching and love being teacher that finds ways to make learning seem like it’s not learning at all, but rather way cooler and fun! I dare that teacher that is glaring at me because my students are “playing” on the iPad again to come and ask me what they are learning! And this “Mine Craft” could be just what I need to hook my “gamer” students that don’t often excel at traditional school assignments. I look forward to exploring “gaming” in education. Let the mind-blowing commence! Since I have become aware of “Mine Craft” I went to my expert gamer brother, Scott for advice and he pointed me in the direction of Twitch to watch how skilled, professional “Mine Craft” gamers play the game. Check it out at Twitch. I have also found a beginner guide video on how to play “MineCraft” that I found to be very helpful! Check it out! |
AuthorTracy is a teacher in School District 79 (Cowichan Valley) on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She graduated from Vancouver Island University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education and English as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Education. She is currently completing an Online Learning and Teaching Diploma and a Masters in Leadership. Archives
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Here you will find a blog of my learning that is happening in the OLTD program at VIU.
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