Jared+Wilcox+Journal

Journal 1 I have played video games for years. I have three older brothers and we played video games ever since I can remember. We had video game consoles, particularly the Nintendo systems growing up. I especially remember having a Super Nintendo and a Nintendo 64. We also were into computer games. We played a large variety of games from first-person shooters, to strategy and role playing games to sports games. After I graduated high school I played World of Warcraft with my brothers for a number of years. I have been into MMO games and recently have started playing Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (moba) games such as League of Legends and DOTA 2. I don’t know if I take on virtual identities in an all-encompassing way. I have noticed that as I have begun student teaching, however, that I take on a real-world identity to be a laid-back, but positive and motivational teacher. I force myself to come out of my shell to engage with students who I would not have previously connected with. I also have taken on the more serious identity of being a motivator, especially when they are goofing off or being lazy, I try to motivate them, even though I know that is exactly how I was when I was in school. I have heard other similar theories to broadening our definition of literacy as well as text in other classes at the university. I think that it is important to broaden and change traditional views. Limiting our views to the traditional sense also limits the way that we can connect with students and how our students are allowed to learn. There are many different ways for students to learn content and the broader our definitions are, the more students we are able to connect with. This is an interesting question and one I discuss with my friends a lot. Because I grew up gaming, I assumed that my understanding of a wide variety of games, would translate to every game. This is generally true. However, when I first started playing a MOBA, I recognized that almost none of my known skills in other games translating to being “good” at a MOBA. This was because even though I was literate in other games types’ semiotic domains, a MOBA was a new semiotic domain that I did not know or understand. Even though the game did have many similarities, such as leveling up, gaining income and spending that income, it was not familiar or similar to many other games, such as MMOs. Once I began to understand the MOBA’s semiotic domain, I was finally able to start becoming successful at it. I played Ludwig for a while. The game was similar to many MMOs that I have played in the past. It seemed very similar, but less fun and more educational than other MMOs. It also looked like a game for a much younger player than most MMOs are suited for. The tutorial was very slow, particularly for someone who has lots of experience with that type of game.
 * Describe your background and history with video and computer games.**
 * What are some of the real and/or virtual ‘identities’ you take on?**
 * What impact might James Paul Gee’s definition of ‘literacy’ have on your teaching?**
 * What experiences have you had learning in new ‘semiotic domains’?**
 * Reflections on any games you played or examined during the week. Educational games for the week include: Resilient Planet, Evolver, Dragon Box Algebra, Fair Play, and Ludwig.**