Prometheus Pod Control

I spent about 30 minutes playing with the Pods. I did manage to lose one, so I thought, but then I selected the Rez command and my Pod came back. The pictures below are from Prometheus. I was not on the Pod and couldn't seem to control the Pod from inside, so I really don't know where the Pod went and I do not have pictures from along the way.

Entering the DropPods

Standing in Front of Pod 1

Close Pod door

Select the green button to access controls

Control panel

Open Bay Doors

Send Pod to Ground

Rez Pod and close bay doors. Mission complete.

Seduction of Video Games

Millions of people all over the world are enticed by video games. I was one of those people that felt video games were a waste of time. I never consider the psychology behind them. Video games are addictive, but maybe not so much in a bad way. So why are games so appealing?

According to the article, “The Seduction Secrets of Video Games,” Keith Stuart points out that there are several facets of video games that are compelling to us. We like things that give us a chance to experience failure without being judged. Raph Koster says, “An effective learning environment, and for that matter an effective creative environment, is one in which failure is OK – it's even welcomed.” This makes sense. Many times we won’t try something because of the fear of failure, we don’t want to look like a fool. Koster also verifies that, “People need to feel free to try things and to learn without being judged or penalised." With games we know we can try again and again and again without being judged. How many times have you not done something because you didn’t want to look like a fool? We’ve all hidden that side of ourselves.

Games are also rewarding. They appeal to our brain and produce similar endorphin rushes that success in real life cause. They are motivating. Ben Weedon feels that, “In a game, you're essentially pressing the same buttons and doing the same things over and over again, so you need those elements of the unexpected to stay compelled." He is relating this to the theory of the boss who buys his staff an iPod for meeting a certain goal. Motivating right?

Can we use games to our advantage in the classroom? Absolutely! "Games allow us to create these little systems where learning is controlled and taken advantage of really brilliantly," says Margaret Robertson. We just need to learn to apply the games in a meaningful and educational way. For me, this comes down to time. I am not afraid to try new things in my room, but I need to have the time to research how to apply this game or that game to my English Language Arts classroom. Games can be a powerful tool if applied correctly.

The Seduction Secrets of Video Game Designers

Games Can Make the World Better

Jane McGonigal: Games Can Make a Better World

Jane's four points of gaming:

• Urgent Optimism-extreme self motivation being able to motivate yourself to tackle any task that comes your way 
• Social Fabric-gamers have better people skills, research shows that we like people better after we have played a game with them 
• Blissful Productivity- we think of ourselves as happy and working hard rather then relaxing 
• Epic Meaning-gaming gives players a feeling of deep epic meaning to something they are working hard for and it encourages them to keep trying until they succeed 

As I have never been a natural gamer, I can understand Jane's points on Social Fabric. I am also not a social person so if I can hide behind a game, I like people much better. Urgent Optimism is also a point I can understand because I do tend to drive myself until I complete a task and therefore leading me to the Epic Meaning she is referring to. I can take on a challenge and will be determined to complete it. It is easy to see these points with most of my students as well.

Gamifying Education

Some of the most important things we need to remember about Gamifying Education are: we are there to enable or facilitate the learning, we need to give students choice based on their interests, and we need to stick with the theories behind tangential learning. Tangential learning is what you learn just by being exposed to something you are interested in, it is not about what is being taught. This reminds me of the video by Constance Steinkuhler: Interest-Driven Learning Using Video Games Constance set up an after school game class. All of her attendees were bored. When she tried to structure the class her way, they shut down. The second they were able to start gaming, they became engaged again. Her biggest findings were focused around the literacy discrepancy in boys. She found if she let them read what they were interested in, the boys didn’t have the same reading problems. The boys expressed interests and the resources magically appeared. She had them hooked using the same tangential learning as in Daniel Floyd’s Video, Brain Training.

This:

en.wikipedia.org

or this:

Dell Competiton @ Alienware Gaming Night 8

Defining Games and Play

When someone walks into my room and asks what the students are doing, I should be able to say playing. However, admin probably won’t like that answer. The real answer needs to include problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. They are relying on their own problem solving capabilities as well as leaning on their peers. In my game design class kids are constantly saying they are stuck so we default to the students that were most successful at that level. With help they now feel empowered and the student that was helping feels even more reward. Peter Gray said, “It is through social play that children learn, on their own, with no lectures, how to meet their own needs while, at the same time, satisfying the needs of others.” I love my kids and the community we have created in our classroom. They are not afraid to say they are stuck, they are not afraid to ask for help from their peers, and some are not afraid to assist others.

Play and games go hand in hand in my book. Game is a noun, a thing which includes play. Play is a verb, the action taking place within a game. To me play is doing something you enjoy, which in turn makes it a game. “Research studies have shown that adults who have a great deal of freedom as to how and when to do their work often experience that work as play.....” (Peter Gray, Psychology Today: Value of Play). This parallels Daniel Pink’s ideas from his book Drive. 

I can apply this to myself with my job as well as with cooking. When I have time, I love to cook. I get great satisfaction knowing I created a wonderful meal for my family. Under these circumstances, cooking is a game I am choosing to play. 

However, during the week when time is an issue, cooking dinner becomes a chore I grudgingly have to do. It is no longer a game. When it comes to my job, I feel the same satisfaction. Teaching is a passion to me and I love to “play” in my class everyday. The only time teaching becomes a job is when I am required to be at a Professional Development I did not choose. Usually this is just to satisfy someone else.