Media Classmates Presentation Reflection

Several of my classmates have used various media forms in popular culture that can be incorporated in a classroom setting. One presentation had the idea of using certain video games in the classroom, and another touched on the use of comic books as a form of literature. I especially loved this last idea. I actually used two popular manga/anime's to teach two of the students I was tutoring about character analysis and how to identify protagonists, antagonists, and various themes found in literature. I personally don't play video games; but my husband is a gamer; I consider it his second full time job. I am familiar with Portal, Portal 2, Bioshock, God of War, and many other games just because I hang out with him while he's playing. I learn about these games through osmosis. That said, I knew that they were great for strategy building, but I never thought of Portal as a game involving psychics or math. That may be because I'm not great at math, and my brain just doesn't process information that way. Something to work on in the future, I'm sure. But using God of War to teach mythology seems like it could work. I'd have to be careful of the portrayal of various Gods, though. And the stories that are told.

Media Presentation Reflection: My groups

I am a terrible, terrible person when it comes with being up to date with technology. Part of that reason is because I cannot really afford half the tech that comes out. And the other reason is that, for the most part, technology that keeps me in one tiny spot causes my claustrophobia to flare up; I can't stand laptops for this reason. Even my phone starts to bug me if I'm talking too long on it, so I tend to try and use my head set. I can come up with countless reasons to explain why I can't seem to keep up with the latest trends and what not, but these are all excuses. Anyway, while my group and I were discussing what to talk to the class about, it occurred to me that many businesses and software companies that come up with new ways to increase productivity inevitably trickle down to the masses. As a kid, I was enrolled in classes to increase my typing capabilities but I didn't own a computer until I was 15 years old, and even then it was a very old fashioned mac, where the CPU was attached to the monitor. Then, when I entered college, all my papers needed to be typed out on a Word document. Then we had to make Power Point presentations, much like a person would in the corporate world. Now we have communication software like Skype, that enables you to have face to face (sort of) conversations with people all over the world. You can conduct classes, lead presentations; it seems almost limitless at this point. Which means that I really can't afford to be ignorant of the things that are happening around me. I worry about the repercussions, though. Kids are stuck on videogames, their phones...I must be too old fashioned still.