Friday, March 12, 2010
Proposal for my paper
For my paper I plan on writing about video games, the negative image they have, and how they can improve education. I plan on reading James Paul Gee’s “What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy” as source material. I plan on arguing that we are missing out on using video games as educational tools in schools because of outdated thinking on what can be educational and the reluctance of educators to try new ways of reaching kids. The reason I want to pursue this topic is because of the negative press video games and gamers often get. I think video games, like music and movies in the past, get blamed when a kid acts out. I also think there is a tendency to overlook the educational potential gaming provides because it is entertainment.
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I agree with what your paper is demonstrating and you will probably have a bunch to go off of especially if you view your mid as a basis for material if you did use that as one of your 3.
ReplyDeleteI think that video games have the potential to make a dire impact if they transpire from purely entertainment to holding a higher role for education (where the highest I can think of are brain age and Professor Layton and the Curious Village for DS) for your essay you could also bring in how kids games are an example of educational gaming that could give some articles on that.
I personally believe they do have an impact but if you look at the sheer numbers, it's a rare animal that cracks after playing hours and hours of a game. Maybe,it's not so much nurture, but nature. If that gamer had been digging ditches for a sprinkler system, would he (she?) have cracked and gone postal? It's also interesting that in the news media, the (insert activity here) gone berserk always has an activity associated. Usually, they are photographers....uh oh!
ReplyDeleteI like your idea. The one thing I would say is that if it turns out that it is hard to write 2400-3000 words about this topic then maybe also incorporate other types of multimedia learning in the classroom such as video. Also it is not clear to me what two topics you are addressing as it is required in the final project to cover two of the general topics. I am not sure that education alone qualifies as a general topic but as to whether it is I guess would be up to Julie. Personally I chose to incorporate education partly by addressing the digital divide.
ReplyDeleteWhat you have here sounds like a recapitulation of what we have already read in class, not an argument of your own. Not that you can't get to one with this subject, but I don't see where you're close to one with what you have written here. If blog post #9 is rich with details, then I will have the opportunity to help you with my comments at that time.
ReplyDeleteFrom the final project assignment sheet:
* The specific rule of most importance is that you must make an original argument with your work. You must have a thesis that includes with it the “so what” or “who cares” aspect of your argument, and that “so what” or “who cares” part of the analysis must be clear throughout your essay.
Your proposal should have included what you plan to do (including which general topics from the course that you are going to link together) — this means details and some depth — what you plan to argue (this could include the argument or the research question in advance of the argument, with an hypothesis of the argument you potentially foresee), and how you plan to support the argument (which theories do you see yourself using on either side of your argument, etc).
All of those elements should be present in blog #9, yet with even more depth than I expected for blog #8, since you will have annotated sources and know how you will be using them in your argument.
Seize one very specific thing, link it to something else, and argue for the validity of the observation you are making.