Critique Week 1-1
Critique: Video Games, Learning, and Literacy by James Paul Gee
In this week’s critique I will be using three assessment/evaluation traits from Jason Ohler’s assessment traits. The three traits I have chosen for this digital story are as listed:
Story
Originality, Voice, and Creativity
Sense of Audience
Story: 10/10
James Paul Gee is always wonderful to listen to and his story was clear and engaging. James Paul Gee engages his audience to rethink how games teach, how students learn, and how educational systems operate. My favorite quote from this segment is “games are just sets of problems you must solve to win.”
Originality, Voice, and Creativity: 9/10
In this area I give this story a 9/10, the content and presentation was refreshing and gave a new insight on learning. The voice was clear, understandable, and gave examples of his personal experience for the audience to relate to. However, I would have thought adding in a visual example of how powerful games and gaming communities can be would have really brought the most out of the presentation.
Sense of Audience: 9/10
The presentation was engaging to its audience as it brought out great visuals, audio, and commentary. I believe James really engaged his audiences by having the audience rethink how educational systems should operate. However, I think there was a lack of example for the audience to truly connect what James was talking about. The video really just consisted of James talking through nice scenery and it would have been nice to see examples.
What these traits fail to capture about this story and what other characteristics are noteworthy?
What is failed to be captured in this story is the complexity behind games and learning. In this story, James Paul Gee gives a snippet on how games can be used in educational settings and how games are designed for the players to learn. The story is great as an introductory, but audiences should seek out more information on the topic if they wish to learn more.
How could this digital story be improved?
This digital story could be improved by adding visual examples of how games can be used in learning. James Paul Gee mentions many different games, but for someone who is not a gamer they may not fully understand the context. With the video primarily consisting of him talking, it would have been nice to give visual examples.
