Reflection #1 - Why I don't like chocolate covered broccoli

As an art teacher, finding that balance between content relevance and engagement is a high-wire act often without a net. I have it better than classroom teachers, but I have my own issues to contend with and creative my way around, not the least of which is integrating things into my content that are decidedly NOT my content, i.e. why I don't like chocolate covered broccoli. One of the things most intriguing within this course content is how to use gaming to integrate or transform one of the more difficult parts of teaching any subject, student buy-in. I am looking forward to learning much more about this and how to tie it in to what I do currently.

This month has been hectic for many reasons, not the least of which is playing games and logging a journal about them. As a gamer, so far, the readings in the course have not really changed the ways I've thought about games, merely validated what I've thought all these years, RPG's, videogames, and board/card games are wonderful ways to engage anyone in learning. There has been more flares of irritation at the public school system for not getting with the times and ditching outdated factory/corporate influenced notions of what people need to live and thrive as they get older. There is still a stigma on gaming in general that I still face when I say I like role-playing games. As the Cheng article I reviewed stated, I tend to say I like interactive storytelling. 

My preconceptions about games, play, and learning have not really changed due to the course activities thus far, with the exception of affinity spaces. As an introvert, I have not really done much more than lurking or the occasional participatory question or answer in the past. This course has really pushed me to be much more interactive with the community of the games I play. It has been uncomfortable as well as informative and fun. In addition, I've made more connections to my Behavioral Science background in Cycle 3 than I have before, especially between gamification and operant conditioning. Maybe this is why I've been reluctant to really incorporate it into my own classroom other than community and table points?

A question I have for myself about play and learning is exactly how important is it to have an affinity space within which to interact? I am still answering this, but I have learned a few things thus far. One, participating in an affinity space within a game instead of merely lurking provides an opportunity for a much deeper understanding of the game being played. For example, I formed a co-op (like a guild) in a resource gathering game I play online on my phone. I didn't anticipate I'd have more than a few people to join; however, as I started finding answers for questions asked by the two people that did join in the beginning, I started to get more requests referred by those that I had helped. I found I could be a more quiet leader, which was a novel concept for me. 

Networking has been the real challenge for me this course. Again - introvert. I had not used Twitter, so I had to learn about using it. I'm still not completely comfortable and the small amount of characters available for use annoys me. I think this is really grooming people to be too short in their thoughts and less thoughtful of what they put out there for public consumption. I'm still used to following when people tweet and have to rely on my email to notify me. 

I have gone off in a deeper direction with the affinity space project. I am forming my own group for a few months of interactive storytelling. I am still hesitant to post it on my professional site due to the flack generated by playing RPG's as an educator, but I am working on that. I will be trying out several new things as I create a totally interactive affinity space for the group from the ground up, including a website, emails, messenger, and a combo of real-time and virtual meetups. I am hoping to really see what it takes to get an affinity group going and keep it going for an extended period of time. This is also the subject of my ongoing curiosity. I'd really like to see how, eventually, I can design a space for students as well. Pursuit of these interests will be through said affinity space/gaming site. More updates to come on this.