Playing Video Games

I always believe firmly that playing video games is a waste of time, which maybe is not supposed to be the idea of modern relatively young people, as it is the same as the grandfather in the article. However, I think in this way because of my nephew,who has been addicted to some shooting game called CS and at the same time, he is doing very poorly in his study, which is blamed on the game he is playing. I am going to translate this blog into Chinese and send it to my cousin and hopefully it can make him feel a little bit better and change his attitude to video games and his son

Several ideas have been picked up from the article, Semiotic Domains: Is Playing Video Games A "Waste of Time", that I personally think need to be highlighted as follows.

1. Video game is a new LITERACY.
The meaning of literacy has been changed greatly since there are more artifacts that can convey meanings nowadays apart from words. However, because of the traditional understanding of learning, people deny that texts fall into different genres including video games.

2. Passive, active and critical learning
Most of the knowledge that children have learned from school is considered from passive learning, as the main purpose of the study is for passing exams without knowing the real meaning or how to apply the knowledge learned. Active learning is learning to experience the world in a new way, to affiliate with people and prepare for future learning. While critical learning refers to "how to think about the domain at a meta level as a complex system of interrelated parts". That requires the learners to know how to locate meanings of multimodality in various domains and learn both internally and externally.

3. How to learn from video games?
Not all the video games are helpful to learning because it's determined by the internal design of the game and the people around the leaner. Not all video game playing is considered learning as we need to see if the learner is engaged actively and critically.

From the above summary, we may need to think as educators or parents what kind of attitude we should keep toward video games. Definitely we cannot shout the children away from the video games, which will rouse the negative mentality to your instructions.

The selection of video games is the first step, as the internal design of games matters a lot on learning. I was once recommended a computer game called "big fish eats small fish", but I just played it twice, because for the second time, I was able to pass all the levels. It was too easy. The game is to test how quick you click your mouse without any mental activities. So we should guide the children to play those games with potentials for active and critical learning. I have seen some good games which allow you to form a group, to choose weapons, to have different theurgies, to travel extensively with different vehicles, to fight with another party, to chat online with the team members on the strategies, etc. I once tried to learn it, in vain, but my nephew has mastered it quite well. It's really complicated. And I guess it is the sort of game that can help with critical leanings.

The guide to the children is vital too when they are playing games. Sometimes they keep on playing because they want to come to the next level, then they can possess a better gun or something. But in this process, they cannot realize what they can learn from it, like experiencing the world in a new way and collaborating with people. The adults should make it more explicit to make them realize that they are actually using very good strategies solving problems and how they could adapt the same way in studying.

Time limitation to the games is another important issue. Video games could be a way of learning but it's not enough. Thus children cannot spend too much time on it without enough time on school study.

This article provides another way for us to consider games, learning and to some other matters in daily life.

What’s So Good about the Digital Storytelling?

Picture 1 Picture 2 Picture 3

Digital Storytelling had gained more attention in recent years as people begin to realize its narrative power in visual effects. As stated in “Semiotic Domains: Is Playing Video Games a Waste of Time?” that “…words and images of various sorts are juxtaposed and integrated in a various ways” and “in the modern world, language is not the only important communicational system.” (J Gee, 13) That is to say, ideas and meanings are conveyed in various ways nowadays. And various multimodality can work together, thus sometimes the weakness of stories can be strengthened by technologies.

Introduction

I Think of You is told by a mother named Ann Guido, whose son enlisted himself in the army service. The URL is http://www.storycenter.org/stories/index.php?cat=4 . Through this 2’37’’ video clip, the mom expresses her missing of her son, by presenting only 17 pictures, which means every picture stays a relatively longer time. There is a soft song, serving as the background music and the mom talks from the beginning to the end, just like speaking to her son directly, to tell him how the family miss him. Among the 17 images, six were taken during his army service, eight were from his childhood and the other three are a picture of his sister, a handrail on the stairs and a piece of torn newspaper without repetition. No video clips, other sound effects or even written words are employed by Ann; however, she successfully integrates the music, her own voice and pictures to make them a touching story.

The theme of the video is quite simple, the relation of an oldest with his mom. However, it may easily rouse response to the other moms whose sons are away from home for various reasons and to the boys who miss their moms too. I am touched by Ann’s voice and some of the pictures she presents. She does not cry or even show a sweeping voice, but she just talks in a kindly and smooth fashion with the even pace. The images touch me because they show a strong contrast between the son as a kid and as a solder. He was a very cute boy, playing by himself with fun, and we can predict a happy childhood; however, he is such a grown up man with a huge gun on his shoulder and some dirt or mask on his face. I don’t think he is as happy as he was young and maybe his mom feels in the same way.

The best part of a digital storytelling is that through the images, words, sounds, videos, meanings are conveyed to achieve communication purposes. The modalities used should be served to help viewers better understand the story, to make up what traditional storytelling cannot do. This piece is a good example. Sometimes we may see some video clips for a couple of times without managing to get what it is about, like some commercial ads, even though the pictures and sound effects are very attracting. I am going to analyze the video in terms of how the semiotic patterns relate to each other and their functions; how the images help the narration to present a clearer meaning; and how the generic structure of Narrative are defined.

The title---I Think of You

I kept thinking why Ann did not title her story I Miss You but I Think of You. The purpose of the video is to express her missing and worrying of her son, so I Miss You would be considered as a much more proper title, however, after a second though, I guess I Think of You shows more meanings. Missing is an abstract emotional feeling but thinking of shows the mom cares his son regarding his life as a solder, which means she does think a lot about him and it’s much deeper.

The title (picture 1)stayed on the screen for five seconds with a black ground, which shows the mood when Ann thinks of her son, being worried and maybe gloomy. The title is placed at the bottom of the screen as the “thinking of” is from the base of her heart. The size of the words are not very big and not all the words are bold and capitalized like I THINK OF YOU, because moms always think it is natural to do so and there is not necessary to make it in this way as to manifest to the world that I think of my own son. If it is a story told by a girl about the relation with her boyfriend, I guess I MISS YOU will be used.

The orientation

According to Masamichi Washitake “Orientation in a narration serves to create a context for understanding what is to flow in the subsequent stages of the genre and orient the reader to what is to follow.” (2004:176) The orientation of this story is presented by the first picture and two sentences starting with: “I think of you”. The first image show three solders sitting on the ground and with the narration goes on, one of them (the son) is zoomed and the image becomes bigger. I have the feeling that the mom is talking to her son directly to say “I miss you and I cannot stand it”.

The complication

The mom tells the thoughts from the families like his sister, his father and from the mom herself. The images change when she refers to different people and that determines how long the picture stays. For the 12 seconds his sister picture is shown, the intimate relation between a brother and a sister is revealed. “Your sister can only sleep with you under her pillow. She begs for your protection and a little whispers, hopes that you bring no bones.” The smiling picture of his sister helps us to image how much the little girl relies on her elder brother.

Two images are used when his father is mentioned. One is from the barrack and the other of his childhood. We may predict that his father always worries of his life as a solder and that relates to the time when he was at home, especially when he was young. This is the first time that his childhood picture is shown, and he is smiling; on the other hand, on the previous pictures taken with military uniform and gun, he looks serious. Maybe that’s why his dad said “he invaded his blank sleep”.

When talking about his leaving, the mom employs a picture of steel handrail on the stairs to illustrate “how hard that might be”, because it’s hard for a mom to accept the fact that her boy is going to the army and she prefers to think he has gone for an entrance ceremony. So the picture had a double meaning, being hard to accept the truth as a mom and his hard life as a solder.

Two pictures of the mom and son together present their past happy life with another two solo pictures (Picture 2 & 3), one with a gun and the other with a mask. The eyes show his gallantry and also his wish to return home.

The torn newspaper is the other no hominine image. The newspaper is about the army for which he is serving. We may see that how unwilling his mom was when he left for the service. And she could have been the one who tear the papers.

The coda

The story ends with two childhood pictures which response to the lyrics: “I simply cannot get you out of my mind.” The little boy looks at the distance on the last image, while he may not predict that his future belongs to the brigade. Her mom relates this picture to his life in the marines as “the aims without wisdom; fairs without thinking”.

Conclusion

The pictures of a happy child may not go along well with the image of a solder, if no relevant information is provided. However, this story sounds so natural and the contrast of the images helps us to better understand the inner struggle of the author. If we simply listen to a narration without music and pictures, we may not get the deep meaning of it, and the narrator may need to explain something out of the story. While when we put the modalities together, we can understand more by presented images only or words only. That is the power of narration with image effects.

Another feature of this piece is that all the pictures are black and white, which may reflect the mood of the mom and the life as a solder, which are both grey. There are certain times the image of the solder son is enlarged and zoomed to the face. I guess that explains the mom really wants to see her son and talk to him face to face.

Limitations

The background music to me does not contribute more to the effect of the whole story, maybe because it is too weak and plain without many high tones. Actually the narration and images together are clear enough for meaning. Thus personally I think it would be better if the music can help more with the meaning convey.

Another thing is the pairing with the narration and pictures. Sometimes the pictures stay longer than necessary. For example, the story has already changed to his father’s side, while the sister’s picture still stays for another three more seconds. (33-36’’) That could be improved to be more precise.

Multiliteracy in the Classroom

I am a big fan of multiliteracy used in teaching, because I once taught classes which were suitable to employ multi-media. PowerPoint is just one of them.

In my listening classes, I used a very expensive system with numerous functions, which looks like the one above. All the computers are linked in the system and there is electronic blackboard, where both the teacher and students can type to communicate, and it is usually used for examinations; any type of listening materials can be shared among students; there could be group discussions of two or four divided by the teacher's computer and the teacher can spy and join any group; interpretation can be carried out; students can speak to the mic and record their answers during exam; the students can finish written test and the system can help to correct and get the score, etc. A lot of functions and the teacher's computer is a complicated one, filled with a lot of resources. So many activities can carry out and listening is never boring.

While in some other classes, it may not be a good idea to use the system. Multiliteracy is used to carry meanings and contents to learners effectively. So the core is that learners can really benefit. There is no harm to make students learn knowledge and touch new technology at the same time.

As stated by the New London Group, our working lives, public lives and private lives are changing by technology everyday, so is pedagogy. But the more multiliteracies you use in classroom, the more cautious you will be, because you will know where and when to use it and how to make it beneficial.

Several words on E-learning

It's the first time that I have experienced the E-learning and I did not know how it went like. I wondered if we were supposed to sit in front of the computers, discussing online or something.

No matter what the format is, the learning goal has been achieved. Since there is a task assigned, I assume everyone of us read the articles seriously or more seriously than usual, or we will not be able to finish the job successfully. So with the aim, we read, got the meanings and applied them in the task. That is learning.

Well, the Wiki is used probably for communicating as we could not see each other, however, as a first time user, I was the first one to create a new page, being afraid of destroying others' work.

Anyway, I like it.

How the Web Can Be Used as a Tool in Language Teaching and Learning?

This is a question raised by Dr. Towndrow in his book and a question every educator needs to explore in the modern society.

In order to answer this question, we should know clearly what the Web is to learners, which is to say, what the Web means to individuals. Is it a pond of resources that we just simply jump into and grab anyone without a second thought or a shop of inspiring learning materials that learners should make efforts to use wisely?

With the correct attitude to the Web, learners need to follow the steps to search and use learning materials. We have focused on locating digital information online in week 3, when searching engines and choosing key words were introduced. However, evaluation of a website seems more complicated. Having experienced evaluating three websites using the framework, I deeply feel the responsibilities of being an educator for the first time. Before I would just tell my students to source online by themselves, assuming that as adult learners, they should be capable to do so, without realizing that they lack of evaluation strategies, which are actually what I myself need to learn.

Evaluating the website is the process to choose a tool for our language learning. Just as when you want to do some woodwork, there are many tools available, hammer, chisel, axe, spanner and stabber, etc. however, there will be one which suits a certain job most. In front of numerous websites, learners should choose those could be tools to help get the learning job done efficiently.

Whether the Web could be a tool in language learning depends on the users,who should have the sense and ability to make it a tool.

How True Is It?

The first idea came to my mind after watching the short show was that:"Can they speak for all the children or most of the children at least?"

Frankly speaking, it's quite a shock when we look at the faces of the children. They seem very disappointed, sad, and desperate to the current education. They keep saying:"Engage me; Create; To think & apply and We are digital learners." On the first sight, you may feel very frustrated as educators, who seem not providing qualified education in the digital era. While on the second thought, I personally doubt if the situation is that bad as shown on the video. How many kids are aware that they are DN and do they really know what they can do with digital technologies besides games? Maybe because it's based on American context, the kids there are really advanced with the demands of digital learning.

With the doubt, what we need to do is to evaluate the real situation and know exactly what our students need most. We cannot make everything in digital and present every class in digital means just because students want it in this way. Just as PowerPoint, which is a digital means of teaching but we cannot use it anytime anywhere. There is no doubt that with the development of technologies and the society, education should be improved accordingly. But still, technology is just a format or tool, the content is always most important. No matter what method you use, make yourselves understood and students benefit. At the same time, use digital technologies provided it's suitable to use them.

Digital Iliteracy Applied in Singapore

Frankly speaking, I now have problems thinking of the technologies being used and can be used in Singapore based on my short period of living here. However, I can feel strongly how people rely on technologies here and how much people love them. Most importantly, I can clearly feel the convience that technologies provide in Singapore when I went back to China. The items I can figure out are as follows: i-phone (being widely used currently), figure print IC (maybe possible in future).

I still remember how Cellphone changed people's lives when it first became popular and there was a movie in 2003 named Cellphone in China, which tells the real stories that how cellphone changed people's lives in a humorous way. And that movie became my favourite and made me think a lot. In the movie, marriage broke up, because the wife could get the long calling list of her husband and find out who he is always speaking to. A famous Host of a TV show loses his job as his girl out of marriage takes a picture of them and bribes him. People in the countryside would feel they are superior only because they own cellphones. And everything happens in the movie is because of cellphone. Well now people will not think too much of it as it's been a part of people's life. And to me, i-phone is a developed version of common cellphone. I can see people reading emails, listening to music, watching TV, playing games and chatting with friends using an i-phone everywhere, however, I don't see these many i-phone users in China, which may explain the fast-paced living style of Singapore and also the high price of an i-phone counts here too.

I don't know if it makes any sense to call it fingerprint IC. What I mean is that someday our fingerprint will be stored in a system and it's the IC of us. We don't need to carry the real plastic IC everyday, and whenever our identity is upon request, just get our thumb scanned, thus the EZ-link card can be replaced too. It's actually not a new idea, but I think it's more practical in Singapore rather than in a bigger country.

Well my short list is obviously too short, however, I would like get better ideas of our local friends.