Video Games, Literacy and . . . The Teaching Profession
Video Below
James Paul Gee, who received his Ph.D. in linguistics from Stanford, is author of extensive writings and books on video games and learning, and is currently Professor at Arizona State University. Gee shares some profound thoughts about video games which are real eye-openers. The video interview via Edutopia, moves along quickly, in spite of the 11 minute clock time.
You may be surprised by Gee's assertions about:
- video games as assessment;
- textbooks as reference only;
- words as tools for problem solving;
- how kids want to produce, not just consume;
- how kids see media as cross platform, not in individual silos;
- how digital has not prevented kids from writing or reading;
- and in the final few minutes, how "we have de-professionalized teachers" and
- how we can "make teaching a much more sexy job".
So the next time you fret that your child is on a mindless video game (of course, depending which one), take a chill pill. It may not be as bad as you think. Video below:
Originally published by The Daily Riff January 2010
Love the way Gee uses games as a great way of illustrating how people work on their own and then come together as a group, with "the group smarter than the smartest person in the group". I sometime get negative reactions to the the idea of collaboration as if every element "is done together" when in fact it's the coming together which Gee describes so well.
This is my first time seeing this video. Thanks for re-sharing this gem. My favorite line: "In the modern world you produce collaboratively."
- Oliver