Well, yes, I've written an article and spoken on the topic, and I'm on ALA's national expert panel. But here's the thing. I'm a big advocate for gaming because I appreciate the everyday results of the program in our library and I see the potential gaming can have...but no, I'm not a gamer. I remember we had an atari and I played Frogger and I would play Combat (the tank game with my Dad) and I was really good on the invisibility setting, I would get like right up next to my Dad's tank and blow him clear across to the other side of the screen but...I digress.
I never played super mario brothers, or even asked for one. I think, even at the tender age of 5th grade, that I knew if I got one I would:
a) play it all the time.
b) get frustrated and play it for a while and not play it
I lean towards option b. I am not known for my patience. I think video games do reward persistence and patience and problem solving but back then, I was interested in not getting frustrated. Maybe I'd be more patient today if I played more video games.
Even now, I bought the latest Simpsons game for PS2 because you know, I love the Simpsons, and I played it for like 45 minutes, got challenged, frustrated and then I haven't played it since.
I played Kingdom of Loathing on line for about a year. I got to the very last challenge, and even when I found the cheat it sounded too hard so I quit.
Yes, there is a pattern here, at least with videogames.
So no, beyond the odd game of bejeweled, I am not a big gamer. But like I said, I don't have to be to appreciate the variety of skills, opportunties and experiences gaming can offer.
So, I hope that reduces some of the contradiction...or maybe I'm just a little contrary.
2 comments:
You should play more games. They're good for you. Puts hair on your chest.
Jules,....I love that gaming is getting teens into the Libe,..and I applaud you for that,...but have you thought about the next logical step? What happens when what they need from from a library ceases to be merely gaming and enjoyment? Whose's doing that next step? Is that where we should work together in transition?
We have to prepare youth for academic research skills as well as gaming aptitude, beyond Google, and the Library Aqua-browser. I fear, what we're losing in this process is that students will no longer have the critical thinking skills to conduct real research. What happens when they get to college? And not everything is clickable (at least not yet).
In this age of "if Google doesn't tell me", or if I can't get the answer readily, in one fell swoop... then who's teaching those valuable sleuthing skills? If you've got a game that does that, then I'd be happy to know about it.
We need to chat about this. As I'm beginning a local history page,... I wanna offer primary resources for students,...but at the same time, I don't want to spoon feed youth, with a one-click answer. They need to develop critical thinking skills, in addition to hand-eye coordination.
Ah,...we should chat about all this.
Your friend and fellow librarian,
A.M.
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