Myspace, Facebook, Twitter!

I've had these thoughts and mixed feelings about social networks on my mind for about a week now.  I've heard so many different points of view about whether or not social networks are good for you, or bad for you.  On the good side it is said that social networks help teens to build, perform, articulate, and develop friendships.  This is said to be what social networks provide for young adults.  I believe this is what they were created to do, but they fail.  In my opinion social networks are completely unnecessary.  I believe they tarnish children's self esteem and promote a need to be liked or accepted.

 

Popularity!  The image shows a picture from my daybook of notes I took while reading about social networks.  The word that stood out to me was popularity!  Social networks create the need for kids to feel and be popular.  They create a false image of what's cool and what's not.  Personally, I believe social networks impact a child's social development negatively by creating false images of what acceptable, and teaching kids how to be someone they're not, thus leading to low self esteem.  What do y'all think?!

Are they ALL beneficial?!

Okay, I really want to talk more on the subject of the "games" we all brought into class to share.  I was really fascinated by the variety of games people brought.  I saw everything from simple word games to games that required creative experience.  This was interesting because we all saw them to be beneficial to learning no matter how simple or complex they were.  By reading Gee's passage we automatically think now that every single video game ever created is beneficial to our learning.  However, I don't believe that this is the case.  Although, I do agree with Gee in him saying that GOOD video games can yield GOOD learning.  There is still a such thing as a bad video game, or one that does not help our growth and developement, or does not challenge our problem solving or thinking skills.

For example, I do not believe this video game challenges anyone who is able to play it in any beneficial way.

http://www.agame.com/game/bubble-shooter.html

This games only tests your ability to aim the arrow in the perfect direction, and at the perfect angle to eliminate the bubbles.  What kind of development can you gain from this?  Seriously......  What videos games are truly good learning tools, and which ones are just simply pointless?

Good Video Games, Good Learning.

I want to talk more here about the "Good Video Games,  Good Learning" passage.  This passage really interested my because it focused a lot on the connections between a good, "educational" video game, and actual growth and development of a child.  James Paul Gee gives us a list of insightful things that a good video game can provide to a child.  This words on this list are all collectively critical in the social development of a child.  This passage interested me because it tells us that these traits don't only have to acquired formally, but they can be learned from a video game.  This wold almost certainly cause kids to play more video games, but also help them to grow and develop.