Learning Log 2: Games and Ethical Issues
Post an article or a video that discusses video game, virtual reality, or simulation ethics. What is your opinion of this article/video? What about this article intrigued you? Give your reaction to the article/video and address the ethical dilemmas presented in the article/video. Do you agree or disagree with the author/speaker? Why? What do you think the next steps are in making sure that the ethical issue(s) discussed are made safe for kids?
The video that I chose for this assignment was a TedTalk about Virtual Reality. I thought it was extremely moving the way that Milk talked about using virtual reality in a different way. A lot of times with think of media as just for entertainment, however media can serve endless purposes. In this week's discussion post we addressed how valuable a medium like games can be in the classroom. Gamification can harness the instructional power of teaching and deliver it in a way that is engaging for students (Gentile, 2011). For so long, opinions on gaming, and media in general, has been so negative and political. A direct quote from the assigned Brains on Video Games article says,
On which side of the debate an investigator falls seems, in my opinion, to depend on whether they care most about criminal level violence or low-level aggression (Gentile, 2011).
I think that instead of simply arguing about whether or not media is safe for our children we need to be actively finding the media that is going to help them. There needs to be more research done into the best ways to motivate students to learn when using online games. There needs to be more virtual field trips created so that classes can explore the world from their classroom. And there needs to be more attention given to all of the good that media is doing for our world.
Resources
Bavelier et al. (2011) Brains on video games. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 12 (12), pp. X763-768. Retrieved August 29, 2019, from https://www.drdouglas.org/drdpdfs/Nature_Reviews_Neuroscience_2011.pdf
Bresnahan, S., & Worley, W. (2016, January 06). When video games become an addiction. Retrieved August 29, 2019, from https://www.cnn.com/2016/01/06/health/video-games-addiction-gentile-feat/index.html
Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2012). Online gaming addiction in children and adolescents: A review of empirical research. Retrieved August 29, 2019, from https://akademiai.com/doi/pdf/10.1556/JBA.1.2012.1.1
Milk, C. (2015, April 22). How Virtual Reality Can Create the Ultimate Empathy Machine [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/iXHil1TPxvA
Bresnahan, S., & Worley, W. (2016, January 06). When video games become an addiction. Retrieved August 29, 2019, from https://www.cnn.com/2016/01/06/health/video-games-addiction-gentile-feat/index.html
Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2012). Online gaming addiction in children and adolescents: A review of empirical research. Retrieved August 29, 2019, from https://akademiai.com/doi/pdf/10.1556/JBA.1.2012.1.1
Milk, C. (2015, April 22). How Virtual Reality Can Create the Ultimate Empathy Machine [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/iXHil1TPxvA