Gee, Chapters 1 & 2: Something I discovered about video games

At first, some terminologies are new to me - semiotic, multimodal, and metalevel. Also, the games mentioned like Pikmin, The Sims, and Frogger, are jargons. I only knew Tomb Raider from the movie of Angelina Jolie, Time Machine from Back to the Future and Winnie the Pooh from Disney. I like Gee's book though because he gives definitions that make my life easier. He also describes the games that I never encountered in my whole life. I believe that games and simulations are important tools for learning but video games......... As a person who is against playing video games (influenced from the complaints of my parents), I am now curious on how do really video games enhance learning. I am also guilty because I have not really tried this myself yet. This is probably why I am led to this course.

Gee stated that "Semiotic domains are human cultural and historical creations that are designed to engage and manipulate people in certain ways. They attempt through their content and social practices to recruit people to think, act, interact, value, and feel in certain specific ways." In my own understanding, semiotic domain shows how a group of people define things. For instance, as a language teacher, I discovered that Americans use different expressions than we have in the Philippines. For example, when answering a telephone Americans say hold on, for a moment, and for a sec, while Filipinos answer is for a while. I never realized that for a while is already a long time for the Americans. Another example is in the restaurants or fastfoods. Americans would say for here or to go while Filipinos would ask dine in or take out. When I came in the U.S. last August 2008, I was so cautious with my expressions. I was afraid that Americans might not understand what I am saying. This shows that register matters on how a group of people define their own language. Thus, as an ESL teacher I am challenged not to stick on the traditional ways of teaching the language but also to be updated with the new trends like integrating educational games and simulations in classroom learning.

"Content Fetish" - Honestly, I love memorizing. However, I am poor with analyzing. When I was in elementary, we memorized poems, vocabulary, parts of the microscope, and notes in playing a piano. However, I never used a microscope not until college. In my music class, I memorized the notes in playing a piano by having a drawing on a cardboard. I'm glad that schools nowadays in my country mostly have these facilities. That is probably why I am not good in logic. Now that I am teaching, I do not want my students to be like me. I want them to experience the real world and not only on rote memorization. As of this moment, I am struggling in terms of using the technology because our classrooms have limited facilities. In fact, I bring my laptop in my classroom to make it as LCD projector at the same time. Only one sentence per slide so that my 45 students can still see it at the back. On the other hand, with my subject on Teaching With Technology last Fall, I just realized that there are free software that I can even use in my country like making a Photo Story and web tools that are accessible for classroom teaching. These are all blessings because the school does not need a big amount of money for these tools.

Active, Critical Learning Principle - Instead of memorizing subject-verb agreement, students are to listen to native American speakers in You Tube, video or movie clips, and songs. They will explain how subject-verb agreement is important in communicating a clearer message to the receiver.

Design Principle - I would like to consider Gee's questions from his book Situated Language and Learning: A Critique of Traditional Schooling- A Final Word: The Content Fetish, page 118 in designing a learning environment: "What experiences do I want the learners to have? What simulations do I want them to able to build in their heads? What do I want them to do? What information, tools, and technologies do they need? What games do I want these learners to be able to play?" I discovered that video games could be used as a pragmatic way of learning things if students will be guided accordingly like discussing in the classroom what they learn and reflect on the game. For instance, learning prepositions through giving directions. I have read this article entitled Video Games - What are they good for? by Kandie Demarest (http://www.lessontutor.com/kd3.html). She said that one of the therapeutic benefits that her son has gotten from his use of video games following and giving directions (understanding prepositions, etc.) This would be a good idea!