The 21st century is a technologically driven springboard of new entities. Every day countless new “digital” babies are born into this world, whether it be in the form of an awe-inspiring videogame, smartphone application, social website, and/or media forum. Human parents often embrace and adopt these digital offsprings into their lives rather casually because we correlate their existence with entertainment, comfort, and convenience. However, the significance of these digital entities goes far beyond the contentment and relief that is garnered from accessibility. Although we are constantly engulfed in a digital world, we may not instantaneously connect it to our education and the education of our students, even though it may be inevitable.
Today’s educational content is no longer confined to the margins of a piece of paper or the borders of a blackboard. In the CCCC Position Statement on Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Writing in Digital Environments it states, “The focus of writing is expanding: the curriculum of composition is widening to include not one but two literacies: a literacy of print and a literacy of the screen. In addition, work in one is used to enhance learning in the other” (1). In order to use digital media effectively, the students must be engaged in critical evaluations of information and also be prepared to be reflective practitioners (CCCC 1). James Gee and James P. Purdy, discuss the importance of using digital media to enhance student learning in their respective literary works: “Ch. 2: Semiotic Domains” from What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy and “Wikipedia is Good For You!?” from Writing Spaces.
In “What Video Games Have to Teach Us…,” James Gee offers an alternative perspective on learning and knowing by analyzing the educational validity of children engaging in video games. He believes that many people consider playing video games to be a “waste of time” (Gee 22) because society has constricted ideologies of what is deemed educationally significant. “Important knowledge (now usually gained in school) is content in the sense of information related to intellectual domains or academic disciplines like physics, history, art, or literature. Activities that are entertaining, but that themselves do not involve such learning are just ‘meaningless play’” (Gee 22). To counteract this argument, Gee goes on to explain the true definition of literacy. Literacy goes far beyond being able to decipher the mere meaning of words and images. In order for someone to be truly literate, they must understand the dynamics that are created by multimodal texts, texts that mix words and images. These multimodal texts may also include other components of one’s environment, such as sounds, music movements, and bodily sensations (Gee 17). With Gee’s literacy definition, he recognizes that “language is not the only important communication” (17). Understanding the way language works in semiotic domains, where words, images, and movement are brought to life in ways that are dependent on a group’s particular value system is deemed true literacy (Gee 19).
Upon first glance, it may appear to be a far distinction between video games and understanding the dynamics that exist in the many semiotic domains that encompass reality. However, Gee’s analysis of these semiotic domains is what we as educators categorize as authentic critical thinking. As our students play videogames, they are ultimately learning about “design spaces that manipulate us in certain ways and that we can manipulate in certain ways” (Gee 36). In many of these video games, just as in life, the individual has to learn the social constructs of a world that he or she did not create as well as the rules and regulations that sustain that world. You must analyze, synthesize, and interpret information within the fictional semiotic domain, in order to either get to the next level or prevent facing your own mortality. Of course, with a video game, you may receive an opportunity to start over and your mistakes may not be finalized; however, Gee goes beyond the simplicity of the game and is able to relate it to the critical analysis skills that one will need to survive in life. As educators, we are supposed to encourage our students to analyze the semiotic domains of various systems, including government, financial structures, group cultures and organizations. The fictional realm of the videogame may give students the opportunity to practice using these skills in various forums, where the stakes are not as high or detrimental.
Due to the saturation of digital media, it is no longer a simple choice whether or not an educator should embrace digital media. If we do not teach students how to filter between the positive and negative aspects of digital media, it will be detrimental to their development. The true question should be how do we as educators teach students the advantages of utilizing digital media to enhance their knowledge, as opposed to stand by and watch them be swallowed up in the pitfalls of nonsensical information. In James P. Purdy’s “Wikipedia is Good for You!?,” he states that students are “going to use Wikipedia as a source for writing assignments regardless of cautions against it, so it is more helpful to address ways to use it effectively than to ignore it” (205). Just as James Gee understands the reality of video games in the lives of students and the dangers in simply dismissing digital media, so does Purdy. The exclamation point and the question mark in the title of his essay (“Wikipedia is Good for You!?) eludes to the positive aspects as well as the questionability of digital media, such as Wikipedia.
Yes, Wikipedia may lack reliability because anyone can contribute to the site, regardless of their background or qualifications and the variabilities in the work offer many inconsistencies (Purdy 207-8). However, Purdy argues that students can be taught how to use the website as a source for ideas and links to texts that may be useful to one’s own research, as opposed to being cited directly (209). Purdy encourages educators to treat the digital media as a tool, as opposed to a setback. Analyzing the distinct qualities of the digital world will help students understand how to make the necessary distinctions in the validity of sources. If we do not help our students to develop this skill, they will remain lost and unable to successfully navigate a technologically-driven world. The digital entities never remain in the infantile stages of development, therefore, neither should our students.
*James Gee and James Purdy offer many valid ideas on the power of changing one’s perception about the platform that is used to present knowledge.
Further questions that can be explored are:
1. Should the use of digital entities, such as video games and Wikipedia, be considered educational tools as opposed to educational setbacks, due to the major influence that they have on our students’ worlds? Explain.
2. How would you utilize digital media within your own classroom, so that the educational validity is clearly evident to your colleagues and supervisors? Explain.
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