These games really marked big social moments in my life. I am the youngest of 6 and my oldest brothers were out of the house by the time I was 6 years old and it may seem a little ridiculous, but of the things they liked, Super Tecmo Bowl was one of the few things I could do with them. Although video games didn’t play as much of a role for me in high school and I don’t think anyone would consider me a gamer, I still have a sympathetic view of the positive role a game can play in development.
On this idea of an education more accepting of students’ experiences, Buckingham writes, “it adopts a more student-centered perspective, which begins from young people’s existing knowledge and experience of media, rather than from the instructional imperatives of the teacher. It does not aim to shield young people from the influence of the media, and thereby to lead them on to ‘better things’, but to enable them to make informed decisions on their own behalf.”
I remember my teachers not being interested in what I liked, but instead trying very hard to get me interested in what they liked. Which is fine, but perhaps because of that experience I can be more open to what the students have to bring to the table and they may be more open to what I have as well. This is a form of teaching that I am trying to become more comfortable with. At times, I would prefer to type out my lecture and present it to the class without interruption, but having them bring texts to present to the class and to share their ideas with everyone creates the environment that we want and it also ensure that I am more fluent with the material and able to enhance the discussion instead of stopping it so that I can get back to my PowerPoint.
4 comments:
I absolutely adored Oregon Trail, and I would play it for hours if my teachers let me. I remember more about trekking across the country from that game (and Mormon history) than from any of my history classes.
This is something of concern for me: How do we establish "young people’s existing knowledge and experience of media" so that it is actually useful in our teaching? Darl had probed us a little to get an idea of our film background. Sharon and Amy gave us an assignment to do something media related regarding "getting to know you." Even from those introductions, I would never have expected in your intro that you were someone who played games all their lives. I could have assumed, but not necessarily known for sure. I don’t expect that any of us know for sure, but it is a puzzle for me that I hope those more involved in education have better ideas on because my assumption is you have to know (at least to some degree) what levels your students are at in your given subject. This would seem to me yet another aspect that needs determining in order to be effective with media in the classroom. Otherwise, I’m all for the more student-centered perspective. I don’t believe leaning only on the instructor’s background and agenda is effective teaching.
I usually died of dysentery by day two in Oregon Trail. I was more of a Number Cruncher gal.
I think that incorporating co-learning activities into the classroom is one of the most effective ways to teach media, because it doesn't necessarily require that you be familiar with everything that your students know. Collective intelligence is key here. In our cohort, we differing backgrounds and experiences, and that all contributes to a great learning environment.
It does not aim to shield young people from the influence of the media, and thereby to lead them on to ‘better things’, but to enable them to make informed decisions on their own behalf.”
I think this is an extremely important point but I think it's one of the one's I see as being extremely problematic in the real world. Of course it is valuable to teach students to think critically about the media they are consumers of but in order to do so you have to be able to show that media or even talk about it in a classroom and the fact is that public education frequently places impediments to these types of conversations. Books, movies, and internet sites are frequently banned or protested in schools in the name of protecting students.
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