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Educational benefits of playing video games
Impact of mass media on culture
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Recommended: Educational benefits of playing video games
Media technology tends to make its greatest advances by fulfilling the changing needs of consumers, as illustrated in the exponential increase we see in computer processing power every year. Many have argued that one of the driving forces behind this has been video games; a medium that requires more processing in terms of graphics and computational power than many other applications. Despite their impact on computer technology, and the pervasiveness they have in our culture, video games share much of the same stigma as television.
Critics of video games often describe playing them as a waste of time. It is thought that video games, often being violent, will lead to violent behavior in those that play them. Also it is believed that playing video games (as well as watching television) can shorten ones attention span. # The average amount of time it takes to complete a game, however, is around ten to twelve hours. This number can increase up to thirty plus hours for sandbox or open world games. Just given these two facts, we have the phenomenon of kids engaging in a difficult and time-consuming activity. The link between video games and violent behavior stems from the notion that video games are somehow a more potent form of media. James Paul Gee states,
This is akin, I suppose, to the claim that because I have planted lots of corn in Harvest Moon I will run out and plant corn in my backyard – in reality we have as little real corn from Harvest Moon as we have real killings from Grand Theft Auto (which is not to rule out the rare case of either – given enough time, even low probability events occur – though, of course, by definition, rarely). # (Gee, James Paul, 2007 p. 12)
This is another example of a medi...
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...inars and resource materials to help guide their teachers, and subsequently their students, towards developing those skills that will be so essential in today, and tomorrow's society.
Works Cited
1 Kellner, Douglas, & Share Jeff (2007). Critical Media Literacy: crucial policy choices for a twenty-first-century democracy. Policy
Futures in Education, 5(1), 59-69.
2 Kellner, Douglas, & Share Jeff (2007). Critical Media Literacy: crucial policy choices for a twenty-first-century democracy. Policy
Futures in Education, 5(1), 63
3 Kellner, Douglas, & Share Jeff (2007). Critical Media Literacy: crucial policy choices for a twenty-first-century democracy. Policy
Futures in Education, 5(1), 67
4 Kellner, Douglas, & Share Jeff (2007). Critical Media Literacy: crucial policy choices for a twenty-first-century democracy. Policy
Futures in Education, 5(1), 65
In “The Closing of the American Book,” published in the New York Times Magazine, Andrew Solomon argues about how the decline of literary reading is a crisis in national health, politics, and education. Solomon relates the decline of reading with the rise of electronic media. He believes that watching television and sitting in front of a computer or a video screen instead of reading can cause the human brain to turn off, and lead to loneliness and depression. He also argues that with the decrease of reading rates, there will no longer be weapons against “absolutism” and “terrorism,” leading to the United States political failure in these battles. The last point Solomon makes is that there is no purpose behind America being one of the most literate societies in history if people eradicate this literacy, and so he encourages everyone to help the society by increasing reading rates and making it a “mainstay of community.” Solomon tries to show the importance of reading in brain development and he encourages people to read more by emphasizing the crisis and dangers behind the declination of reading.
“What counts as literacy, how literacy changes in response to the new media landscape, and what value we should ascribe to the new forms of communication that continue to emerge and evolve online? (Jenkins, 2009)"
One of the greatest exports of American culture is American media. American media is one of the most widely distributed and consumed cultural forms from the United States. This means that not only do Americans consume large quantities of their own media, but many other countries in the world consume American media, too. People in other countries will not interpret or understand the media in precisely the same ways that Americans will and do, nonetheless, many aspects of American culture and American reality are communicated to numerous viewers as part of the content in the media. The media is an important tool in the discussion of race, class, and gender in America. It takes a savvy viewer to discriminate between and understand what media accurately represents reality, what media does not, or which aspects of experience are fictionalized, and which elements ...
The use of media and popular culture is a sociological phenomenon wherein the structural changes to society, which accompany the emergence of new forms of communication and accessing information, can be examined. There are many differing views regarding whether media and popular culture are necessary to the functioning of a democratic and egalitarian society or whether they actually further social inequality and inhibit political discussion or involvement. Although both interpretations are arguably valid, it can be seen that it is not popular culture and the media in and of themselves but rather how they are consumed by the public that determine how these mediums influence individuals and by extension the wider society.
Ott, B. L, & Mack, R. L. (2010). Critical media studies: An introduction. Malden, MA: Wiley-
... small media reforms (like public journalism) will be enough to reduce the commercial and corporate imperatives driving our existing media systems (Hackett and Zhao, 1998, p. 235). Instead, a fundamental reform of the entire system is needed, together with a wider institutional reform of the very structures the media systems work within, our democracies. This will be a difficult task, due to powerful vested interests benefiting from the status quo, including media, political and economic elites. Reforms will need to be driven by campaigns mobilising public support across the political spectrum, to enable the citizens of the world to have a media system that works to strengthen democratic principles as opposed to undermining them. This task is challenging, but it will become easier once people begin to understand the media’s role in policymaking within our democracies.
One article points out that video games have a big impact on children’s lives and that many of the games played are violent. Researchers have found that “nearly all children spend time playing video games” and studies have found that “8th graders spent an average of 17 hours per week playing video games” (Tamborini 336). Moreover, 68% of the most popular video games contain violence (Tamborini 336). So it is clear that many children have access to violent video games and they have a big impact on their lives simply because of the amount of time spent playing them.
Baran, Stanley & Davis, Dennis. (2009) Introduction to Mass Communication Theory: Critical Theory . Massachusetts: Cengage Learning
..., DF (2010). Generation M2: Media in the lives of 8-18 year olds. Merlo Park CA: Henry J Kaiser Foundation
In simple terms, Media Literacy can be defined as how we consume and understand the media around us. That is a simple definition as there are more factors and qualifications to call yourself media literate. Media Literacy is not only how we understand our media on the surface but also how we understand it inside and out. It’s not only knowing the “Who?” but the “Why?” and “How?”. Once you have a high standard of media literacy, you will understand the media that surrounds you everyday.
How media literacy is defined is important for it exerts influence on the framing of the debate, the research agenda and policy initiatives (Livingstone, 2004). However, its concept has always been controversial (Luke, 1989). The definition of media literacy first appear in the 1992 National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy, which described it as: “The ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages” (Rubin, 1998, p.3). Based on this definition, many researchers are putting efforts to redefine it from different aspects. Some definitions of the last decade involved the understanding of how media functioned in society (Messaris, 1998). Others pointed out that media literacy instead depended on the understanding of the technological, political, economic constraints affecting the transmission of mediated messages (Lewis and Jhally, 1998). According to Tyner (1998, p17), definitions range from the tautological (computer literacy is the ability to use computers) to the hugely idealistic: “The term literacy is shorthand for cultural ideals as eclectic as economic development, personal fulfillment, and individual moral fortitude”. One of the definition that is more related to daily practice puts emphasis on critical thinking and the ability to distinguish media content form social reality, as Potter (2001, pp4-5) put it: “Media literacy is a perspective that we actively use when exposing ourselves to the media in order to interpret the meaning of the messages we encounter.” While popular US textbooks on media literacy have an interesting description, which says, “we build our perspectives from knowledge structures; to build our knowledge structures, we need tools and raw materials-the...
Media Literacy is an ability to recognize, interpret, and analyze media messages, to determine the motivation of those responsible for messages, and to assess the impact of messages on individuals and society (Teaching Media Literacy). Media Literacy can pass on the message, whether is on hard news or soft news. Hard news is News that deals with serious topics or events, such as political issues, or breaking news while soft News does not deal with serious topics or events, they are more friendly, more entertainment. Soft news stories sell far better than hard news stories, and social media play a big part of that today. Social Media make it easy to pass on soft news. With hard news it different, I wonder if it’s reliable, most of the time I don’t even stop to verify it. Media Literacy is everywhere, whether is on T.V, Social media, and/or Radio, in the schools, home or on the road, we need to be able to understand what been stated.
worry about what is media and culture. The question of literacy in the face of such
If one asked “What is media literacy?” a majority of people would be puzzled. Some would say that it is the ‘written’ part of media that is not usually seen or a written layout of how media should be produced. The bulk of people would say they have no idea what media literacy is. People in today’s society should be informed about media literacy. Society should be informed of what media literacy exactly is and how it applies to the field of communications.
Media literacy gives us the ability to understand the information and process the underlying meanings within. According to the video “Media Literacy in the 21st Century Classroom” (2009), media literacy is defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media in all its forms. The video “Media Literacy in the 21st Century Classroom” (2009) refers to media literacy as a skill that allows people to be critical thinkers, which makes it more difficult for others to influence a person’s thoughts and ideas. With the massive amounts of media available, we need to be able to decipher the meanings beneath the messages. Media literacy is more important than ever in today’s society because of the advancements in technology and the increase of all forms of media. In today’s society, we should make an effort to change our ways and use a culturalist approach to media literacy. “A culturalist approach to media literacy education views mass media as an integral part of the cultural lives of youth, not an outside force to be resisted or overcome” (Mittell 391). With the amount of media we are all exposed to, we need to give our younger generation the appropriate education on how to analyze and evaluate the media that they will be bombarded with. With the evolution of technology and media, it is absolutely crucial that we include media literacy in the education process for the sake of the younger