Chris Ryan's Blog

  Before joining the class, it might be sad to say, but I feel as if I truly did not understand what literacy really was. Nevertheless, I can confidently say that I truly understand what literacy is just from comparing and contrasting traditional literacy and new literacies. I’ve learned in this class that there is no wrong or right way to teach literacy, because all students are different. Some students are going to learn better through traditional literacies like reading books, and displaying their knowledge through standardized assessments, and writing essays without technology. But, there are going to be students who learn better through digital literacies by researching on the internet, watching videos, or listening to podcasts, and displaying their knowledge through different modes (ex, blogging, video blogging, podcasts, etc.).   One topic that I specifically liked learning was teaching through video games. I found the TED Talk with Jane McGonigal specifically fasc...

After watching Jane McGonigal's TED talk, I have come to the decision that a game that I like to play, and that I think will benefit my students is Minecraft. Minecraft is sadly not an open source game, but there is a game called Minetest which is pretty much the same exact game as Minecraft except that it is open source. The article that I provide for this blog talks about the ways Minecraft can be used in the classroom. But, since Minetest is very similar to Minecraft, I believe that the article still applies. Minetest, just like minecraft, is considered a “sandbox game” where gamers can obtain their own objects and create whatever they want with them. A lot of gamers will just create their own town or city.   As previously stated, while I was watching Jane McGonigal’s TED talk, all I could think about was Minecraft. I was especially thinking this when Jane was talking about the four characteristics that make gamers Super Empowered Hopeful Individuals. The first characterist...