Week 7 Reading 6809

1. What surprised you, concerned you, or intrigued about students' engagement with gaming?

What surprised me was the stats the book listed about the percentage of American households that have game consoles (80 % in 1999) and the percentage of Americans that play games everyday (90 % in 2008).  I figured these numbers would be high, but I didn’t think they would be that high.  I would like to see the correlation to household income compared to these stats.  I would especially like to see the percentage of low-income families that have game consoles, smart phones, etc. 

2. What aspects of your own gaming experiences were reflected in the case studies?

I grew up in a family that only owned one game console—the Attari.  My mom didn’t like the idea of playing games all day so I rarely played games.  However, I remember playing the online game Slingo when my sister got a computer when she went to college in 1996.  The role I played in this game compared to the case study of Rachel Cody.  I played the game because I thought it was fun and I got to socialize with people from all around the world.  Now that I am older, I play a lot more games than I used to.  I own a Kindle so I find most of my time playing puzzle and I-Spy games.  As a teacher, I was interested in the case study about Tom.  I think there needs to be more educational games created. 

3. Read the last paragraph on page 240. Do you agree or disagree with the comparison between sports and gaming and the benefits they offer children in terms of learning.

I agree with the comparison made in the last paragraph.  There may be hidden benefits that children don’t see when they are playing sports or video games.  They are learning how to socialize and interact with each other as they learn to play the game.  I think this concept is important in the classroom.  The students can play educational video games and think they are having fun, but may not notice that they are learning at the same time.