Intellectual production: Responding to game reviews

Laura's video review (found here: https://sites.google.com/site/baciblog589/)-Some of the themes you describe in your book about the changes needed to update education fit in really well with those found in the book I chose. Jenkins et al. discuss participatory culture and developing media literacies in youth, ideally in after-school programs and informal learning communities. While Gee and Hayes don’t talk about these exact concepts, they very much discuss how education has to shift away from simply drilling in facts to teaching about problem-solving and creativity. Participatory culture, along with its features such as small, supportive groups are an intrinsic part of many of the examples Gee and Hayes use in the book I chose. For example, the Sims online communities were looked at along with after-school programs that taught through using the Sims. The success of many of the individuals profiled came from the support systems they had online and in person. Other players so liked their work that they sent them positive feedback, encouraging them to keep going. These are good examples of the participatory culture Jenkins and his colleagues are discussing in this book. Unfortunately, it is not the kind of environment that we usually find in classrooms. Generally, students do not give feedback to one another, nor is the work they are given the kind that allows for flexibility and interactivity.

I think Laura’s video is a great introduction to a lot of the ideas of how technology is being underutilized or even used incorrectly in education. Her critique about a lack of good supporting information, or reliance on the author’s own research is one I also found in my own book. I am not sure if this is coincidental, or simply a byproduct of the fact that this is very new research and thus there is little external information or research to rely on. Regardless, both books identify problems with education that are probably obvious to anyone knowledgeable about today's media-driven world.

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