David's+Journal

1) My experience with video games started at a young age, I can vaguely recall playing, and being quite terrible at Kings Quest when I was 6 or younger. Later in school I played a variety of educational games such as Oregon Trail, Odell Lake, Number munchers, Word Munchers, and of course Sim City. By far my favorite of those games was Sim City, being as it was much less linear, every time I played the game I could do something substantially different which fundamentally altered the direction the game took. I have continued playing video games for most of my life since, I tend to gravitate towards RTS, MMO's, and RPG's.

2) As to virtual identities I take on, I have recently played a human mage in the RPG Dragon Age Inquisition. Unlike some people I tend to play characters as if I lived in the world, rather than as if I was someone else. So my virtual identities might be closer to my real identity than might be the standard for many other gamers. As to real identities, I have number I take on, from a student, to a teacher, to someone who is moderately well versed in some fields, such as Political Science and History.

3) James Paul Gee's definition of literacy was interesting. We have discussed similiar notions in other classes while not necessarily having such specific terminology for the phenomenon. I tended to have a more narrow scope of thinking of literacy as the students ability to read and understand academic texts, in combination with their other skills that they might bring to our classes. His definition is certainly a more succinct and encompassing way of thinking about our students capabilities, and might aid in us designing a curriculum which accounts for the varying degrees of literacy which might be present in our classes.

4) As to recent experiences learning new semiotic domains, I am constantly attempting to learn new ones. For example at this moment I am typing up this response on an ipad, this is a new skill for me being as Ios is something that I am not as familiar with, so I am often experiencing difficulties trying to do things that come quite naturally to me in Windows and Android environments. Technology aside, I am learning to teach, which is a somewhat new domain for me. Research in the form which we are conducting it here is something that I am also not as familiar with. These are all semiotic domains which I have recently, or am currently struggling with.

5) I have been playing Dragon age Inquisition recently. Overall it is a decent game, but it is not quite as good as I had hoped it would be when I purchased it. One of the things that originally drew me to the Dragon Age series of RPG's was the stat system, as well as their advanced tactics system which allowed you to customize your parties behavior in combat. The stat system has been substantially modified and simplified for this game, while the tactics system exits but seems somewhat more limited than when I originally played the game. Part of this might be my memory being faulty, I might remember the first game as being better than it was. Another potential cause of my frustration might be that I am playing this new game on a Playstation, while the original was something I played on a PC, which is a system that allows greater control and faster responses in my opinion. My potential bias aside, I do think that there is a tendency for games to tend to simplify controls trying to appeal to a broader audience, this simplification really tends to make games less challenging, which often leads to them being significantly less enjoyable.

Reading Journal 2 1) Virtual and projective identities are interesting concepts, I think that conceptualizing students as having multiple identities can help me remember that they might have differing images of their capabilities in different areas, which may or may not reflect their true capabilities. By this I mean that a student might view themselves as uninterested, or not capable in subjects being as past experiences, or interactions with prior teachers might have helped create that identity. If we realize this, then we can help create a new identity, which might help engage them in enjoying, or at least becoming more capable in a given subject.

2) Unfortunately it seems that I have a number of students this semester who have damaged identities. One for example seems to refuse to do any writing thus far, claiming that he is extremely bad at English(it is his native tongue), and that school is much lower on his priority list. He is in a foster home, and has a number of personal issues going on in his life, which quite understandably distract him from school. I would like to get him to at least try taking notes, or engaging in the material in some fashion. But as of yet, I have had no luck(only 1 week of classes)

3) I often think of situated meaning in the form of a hook that might make a lesson interesting or engaging for students. For most of my lessons in our globalization lesson I am trying to find videos and readings that show how the topics we are covering are relevant to them, and are ongoing issues for all of us. An example of this would be finding a video on the possible consequences of global warming and associating that with globalization. Thus students are aware of a consequence that is directly related to them, and the concept that we are studying is thus relevant and applicable to their lives rather than a mere fact to learn for a class.

4) I am constantly using this principle, for example in teaching, I will try out a lesson, or a strategy, see how well it works, and potentially modify it. One example of this would be I had a lesson plan in which I had an activity for 5 groups, when implemented this resulted in groups of 5-7, which seemed much to large. From this I have learned that I need to design activities in a fashion to create smaller groups, hopefully of 3-4 people.

5) Of the games we played this weak I was the most enamored with the redistricting game. It was relatively easy to learn the basics of the game, but challenging to learn to use them well. The content the game was teaching was relevant to the real world, and it provided just enough information and details for the player to become engaged, something which many educational details fail at(they give too much information). I think this game could be used in a unit on civic's, or a variety of other Social Studies classes.

Reading Journal 3 1. Give an example of 'Just in Time' information presentation in a classroom activity. In a simulation ‘Just in Time’ information might be as simple as the teacher wandering around the classroom looking for students who are struggling, or about to struggle, and providing clarifying details. Or ‘Just in time’ information could be the teacher anticipating when questions would arrive in a lesson, or a simulation and having the answer prepared on the next slide of their lecture. 2. In a content area of your choice, how might you incorporate teaching in a 'subdomain' of the 'real' domain? In a social studies class an example of a subdomain might be teaching students how to research a topic. Alternatively another subdomain might be teaching students how to write a paper for your class, or how to analyze an important event. 3. Describe a technique that you might use to help students 'transfer' early learning to more complex problems. A simulation might be a good way to ‘transfer’ early learning to a more complex problem. For example in my globalization unit we taught the students what the WTO is, what transnational corporations are, as well as other relevant details. This knowledge was then applied to a more complex situation in the simulation where they have to apply their knowledge in order to succeed at the objective of the simulation. Thus, the simulation is a teaching technique that can be used to help students consolidate and apply the factual information that they have acquired in a unit. 4. Describe a learning experience you've had where one of your 'cultural models' was challenged. That is a challenging question. I think critical perspectives would possibly be an example of this. It often hammered in the idea of Positionality. I had been somewhat familiar with certain aspects of my Positionality prior to that class, but tended not to think of myself as White, or male to a lesser extent. Things that you realize about yourself, but that you often take as a given, without necessarily considering what advantages they confer, etc. 5. Reflections on any games you played or examined during the week. Educational games for the week include: //Villainy, Inc.//, //CSI: The Experience//, //Oncology//, and the //Sports Network 2//. I had not been too enthused with CSI: The Experience. Part of this might be that I am not necessarily that engaged with science. I think that another element of why I was not too engaged would be that the story and tutorial in that game were not structured in a fashion that really pulled me in. I much preferred the redistricting game that seemed relevant and engaging pretty much from the get go. It was much more intuitive for me then CI: The Experience.