Student Selection: "Video Games, Mind, and Learning" by JP Gee

Gee, James Paul. "Video Games, Mind, and Learning" The Interactive Digital Media & Arts Association Journal, 2005 - academiccolab.org, 1-12. (http://www.academiccolab.org/resources/documents/IDMA_Paper.pdf).

This article mentioned that, "More recently, some cognitive scientists, inspired by distributed parallel-processing computers and complex adaptive networks, have argued that the mind works by storing records of actual experiences and constructing intricate patterns of connections among them," (Clark 1989; Gee 1992). Thus, this new technology enhances people's memory, and establishes connection to real-life experiences. This also allows to externalize some functions of the mind through the use of video games as a new tool for learning.

As of this moment, I am a novice of this technology. From time to time, I learn more and more, but also I evaluate what web 2.0 and other instructional technology tools that I could use in my home country. I am interested to use these tools because the attention span of the students is just so short. The challenge is on how to sustain it. This article argues that "video games usually involve a visual and auditory world in which the player manipulates a virtual character/s." I would say that it also influences the learning environment. Maximizing the use of this technology attracts colors, increases vocabulary, and gauges students' interest.

Sharing an experience (like storytelling) using the target language is one of the skills that students are challenged to learn. In using video games, I could ask students about the protagonist/s and antagonist/s, the setting, the plot (conflict, climax, etc.) and theme (purpose or moral of the game). However, there is a twist. I also came across with this article of William Vitka's "Once Upon A Time Will Video Games Ever Have Their 'Moby Dick' or 'Citizen Kane'?" which he wrote on March 24, 2006. He said, "For all their advantages, video games don't allow for stories to be told in the traditional manner. The player is, by definition, not the same as the reader of a story. The player is the catalyst for the events in the game. He is not passive." If students will make their own characters like Arcanum as cited by Gee in the textbook, they are making their own story where students are not passive. They are not only reading but also involve themselves in the story reflected by the characters and events they made in their game. For me, this is a good idea of making students engaged to the experience. It would be interesting to know how they make their own characters, setting, plot and theme. This will be a good challenge for me and the students.