I have just finished reading the gaming lecture. It certainly hit close to home since I have two boys aged 11 and 14. They, and my husband are avid gamers. We own two computers, a WII and an X-Box 360.
My older son Dylan, has been critically thinking about video games for years. "A good game needs to be first and formost fun and as well as visualy stimulating. For a game to be truly great it must strike a balance between creating an atmosphere through a compelling narative, well produced effects and graphics, and a control scheme that is relatively easy to get a hang of but hard to master."
My younger son Eric, does not read novels. He reads graphic novels. However, most of his reading comes through gaming. There are menus of different attributes, battle locations, and strengths and weaknesses. Eric plays one game that has an on-line component to it. He chats with one friend in Spain, another in the U.S. and a third in France. Chatting with the friend in France means he is pulling out his English/French dictionary to translate.
My husband has been playing games since the early 1980's. In the past 18 years the only time we didn't have a computer with games, he played a game of baseball with playing cards. The need to stretch his mind with strategy and luck is there.
One thing I find about video games. There are no small pieces to get lost. Each game is one disk.
In playing these games, a lot goes on: role playing, problem solving, being rewarded for each achievement, the chance to retry a situation, the chance to be different characters,the chance play a sitation from both sides, consequences for making poor choices or not having the best skill, working co-operatively with others. These are classic game playing and role playing activities from any era. Gaming is a different venue for it, one that isn't limited by pieces that will fit in a box.
As for me, I also play games. I'm very selective about which ones I play, but the ones I like can absorb me for hours too.
As library staff, we need to know that this world is out there. It is a different kind of literacy, but then again, novels were once dismissed as being newfangled fluff.
Cheers!
Janer
Friday, July 25, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Sudbury and the paddling was windy
I've returned from the Sudbury Dragon Boat Festival with a bronze medal.
Cheers to the team who with their hard work managed to get not just third place (out of seven competitive teams) but progressively faster times during the day. Our fastest time for the 500 metre race was 2:02:83.
Thanks to our coaches Annie and Chris for helping us get to this point. In the second race we were hit by a big wake and we only lost one or two strokes before everyone was back to race form. Thanks also to our steersperson Scoop Adams for keeping us on course and not crashing into other boats.
I'm also thankful that the forcast of cloudy, rainy, and thunderstorms did not appear. We did get lots of cloud, and a short shower, but the thunderstorms moved out of the way. The temperature was also perfect.
It was windy, and some of the community teams crashed, and swamped. It just goes to show how important good steering is.
Now it's paddling for fun, until we gear up for the Great White North Competition in September.
Cheers!
Cheers to the team who with their hard work managed to get not just third place (out of seven competitive teams) but progressively faster times during the day. Our fastest time for the 500 metre race was 2:02:83.
Thanks to our coaches Annie and Chris for helping us get to this point. In the second race we were hit by a big wake and we only lost one or two strokes before everyone was back to race form. Thanks also to our steersperson Scoop Adams for keeping us on course and not crashing into other boats.
I'm also thankful that the forcast of cloudy, rainy, and thunderstorms did not appear. We did get lots of cloud, and a short shower, but the thunderstorms moved out of the way. The temperature was also perfect.
It was windy, and some of the community teams crashed, and swamped. It just goes to show how important good steering is.
Now it's paddling for fun, until we gear up for the Great White North Competition in September.
Cheers!
RSS
This week I watched the RSS lecture. RSS seems like a good idea for people who keep track of multiple accounts. I talked with my husband and he uses an RSS feed to link his blog and his facebook account. Whenever he writes a new entry on his blog a notice appears on his facebook account notifying people of the new entry.
On facebook I've been able to make "friends" with my cousins who I don't see very often. (The range includes Pickering Ontario, Florida, China, B.C., and Quebec for the moment.) I'm going to try to see if I can get their new entries to appear for me.
My only concern is that this form of technology needs to be used to make life simpler and not more complicated. Ulitmately I really want to be able to log onto as few places as possible and get the maximum amount of information. In some cases it may be simpler to have people use e-mail, or that old fashioned form of communication, the telephone, or meeting in person.
On facebook I've been able to make "friends" with my cousins who I don't see very often. (The range includes Pickering Ontario, Florida, China, B.C., and Quebec for the moment.) I'm going to try to see if I can get their new entries to appear for me.
My only concern is that this form of technology needs to be used to make life simpler and not more complicated. Ulitmately I really want to be able to log onto as few places as possible and get the maximum amount of information. In some cases it may be simpler to have people use e-mail, or that old fashioned form of communication, the telephone, or meeting in person.
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