Want to get some software for your child to help with their reading skills? Here is review from techLearning to assist in making an informed choice.
This is a web site targetted more towards educators, by educators. Worth a look.
They also offer reviews from past issues.
Posted: January 29th, 2005 under Uncategorized.
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In my previous post, I highlighted an article about the Missouri Governer pulling video games from prisons because he believes those violent games have a great potential for shaping the minds and attitudes of prisoners (in a very negative way).
Then there are those that feel that video games offer great value in education. That kids can learn a lot about physics by playing racing car games, assuming that they are specifically designed for learning and not for entertainment. NESTA Futurelab is one such company. (BBC Article)
Remember though, even though you’re introducing something that might show potential benefits, you have to consider what value is lost in displacing other activities. Will these games supplement, or replace text books and real life, hands on physics labs?
I’ve seen tech zealots who refer to text books as being expensive and boring, and think that games could do better because they are more engaging and interactive. I’m not one of them. I don’t think we have any computer-based learning that can replace a textbook and a hands on lesson.
But I do believe that computer technology, done right and used in moderation, can certainly enhance the learning experiences we have. I’m looking forward to see where Futurelab is going to take this.
Required reading: Failure to Connect and the reports at Alliance for Childhood
Posted: January 26th, 2005 under Uncategorized.
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In Missouri,
Governor Matt Blunt banned video games from the state’s prisons Monday, a month after a newspaper reported some of Missouri’s most violent inmates were allowed to play games simulating murders, carjackings and the killings of police officers.
I wonder if the convicts threw a temper tantrum like my son has, when I’ve pulled the plug on his game playing after he’s gotten carried away with playing it for too long. :-)
But here is the quote that I thought was the most relevent:
In prison, inmates should “pick up skills and abilities that will allow them to go back out into society and be productive citizens,” Blunt said. “Playing video games doesn’t have anything to do with either of those objectives.”
Not much different than the goals we set for our kids, and kids minds are even more impressionable. They are forming their values at this point in their lives and some of them are immersing themselves in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
If we can agree with Gov. Blunt, then we have to also agree that there should be serious concern over the heavy use of video games by our kids, especially the violent, immersive ones. Right?
Posted: January 25th, 2005 under Uncategorized.
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#1 selling game: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, with over 5.1 million copies since October 2004.
#2 selling game: Halo 2, which sold more than 4.2 million copies since November 2004.
Sales of games for consoles and portable devices was $6.2 billion.
Sales of games for personal computers were $700 million from January through November.
Posted: January 19th, 2005 under Uncategorized.
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[The pun in that title probably dates me]
Anyway, an amusing article, Real World Doesn’t Use a Joystick, over at Wired Magazine, about people who become so immersed in games that when they are back in the real world, part of their mind still thinks they are in the game. Interesting and entertaining article.
Thanks to jasra over at Glimpse of a Grrl for the pointer.
Posted: January 16th, 2005 under Uncategorized.
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The gist of the article:
Company executives insist that “exergaming” or “exertainment” — the marriage of physical exercise and video gaming — is becoming a hot new niche, and the most bullish aficionados say it might even help reduce the nation’s obesity epidemic.
The full article at the LA Times (May require registration).
This is like adding vitamins to junk food rather than just elimating junk food from the diet.
Next they’ll be adding antioxidants to tobacco products.
But I digress. I think what is needed is to plug the TV and video games into a generator that must be peddled by the user in order for them to have power. When the peddling stops, off goes the video. There must be an inventive parent that has already implemented this one.
Posted: January 10th, 2005 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 7
I’ve found that life at home is a lot more tranquil at times when you can shut off the TV, computer, radio, vacuum cleaners, and all of those other devices that contribute to noise pollution in the house. In recent years, I’ve rediscovered the pleasure of reading and try to put some time aside to do it.
Try sitting down to relax and read a magazine or book while one kid is watching Spongebob, the other is playing a game on the computer and your spouse is raging around the house with the Hoover. When it’s like this, I feel like I’m being pushed to the edge of insanity.
Sometimes, I will gather up the kids and tell them it’s time to shut it all off, grab a book and sit down to read. Sometimes, I’m lucky enough to have the house to myself for a while. I grab my book and we’ll relax. The sound of rain or a crackling fire seems to add to enjoyment of this quiet time, but that noise isn’t always available.
This past Christmas, I was given an XM Satellite Radio, and at first wasn’t sure if I really wanted another electronic device in my life, which already seems inundated with gadgets that distract and clutter up our lives.
But I like having the XM Radio. It does something that the regular FM radio doesn’t do. It plays whatever kind of music I want, when I want it, and is generally commercial free.
Where I live, the FM selection is terrible. It’s usually impossible to find music suitable for relaxing in the early evening hours. Local, listener supported stations might have about 4 hours a week of jazz and it’s not on when I would like to hear it. Instead when I tune in the station, it’s polka time, or death metal hour, or it’s news or commentary programs.
XM gives me well over 100 channels. About 5-6 channels with various styles of jazz, a similar number of classical channels, a few good channels providing an eclectic mix of music, and all sorts of other channels providing something for just about anybody or any mood… Most of it commercial free.
I put this on quietly during our reading hour, and for that matter, while I’m cooking, straightening up. I feel it’s a positive life enhancer, unlike the FM stations that are playing more commercials than music, hyped up DJs, and nothing but the worn-out hits on a heavy rotation.
If you don’t want to invest in the satellite radio, but have a computer in the living area of your home, you can get the same effect with some Internet radio stations. I’m partial to www.radioparadise.com, but others may prefer something like www.smoothjazz.com. I’m sure there are many others out there. In fact, you can even subscribe to XM’s channels over the Internet.
Posted: January 10th, 2005 under Uncategorized.
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A roundup of new products that allow parents to track their teens when they are out driving, and receive alerts via cell phone, email, pager, or fax when the kids drive recklessly or go outside of their designated perimeter.
“Parents are scared to death,” said Selditz, father of a teenage driver. “There are so many parents who want something like this to give them a little piece of mind.”
Hmmm. Personally, I wonder if this would be giving me peace of mind, or if it would just be fueling my fears. I can imagine myself out to dinner with friends and getting a text message on my cell phone that sets me into worried state and ruins my evening. Instead of enjoying the time out, I will be running all the things I’m going to say to my son when I get home.
“I’m real old-fashioned and I just don’t know if these (devices) are a good idea,” said Mike Reilly, who has four children of driving age. “It’s a privacy issue. I don’t like our personal information being recorded and sent up to a satellite. I don’t like the idea of being monitored.”
A good point… These devices probably capture a lot of detailed information that would be admissible in a court of law. It could be more than just the parents that are watching you.
Read all about it in this article from the Modesto Bee.
Posted: January 4th, 2005 under Uncategorized.
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