"These Games are Why Kids Wake Up in the Morning"

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As I am grading the Horizon project, I just had to share this quote written from the heart of a teenager. He was discussing Massively Multiplayer Gaming as it relates to governments and says:

“The Governments need to realize that while these games seem like just games to all the politicians, to kids and teenagers and some adults these games are why they wake up in the morning. Identity theft, kids thinking that the games are real, and sexual harassment are the three biggest threats when logging on to any one of these virtual online games. our governments need to find a way to regulate these games because the truth of the matter is that these games are the future and we need a safe future. This is the truth and if we sit back and do nothing about it our future will be dark indeed…”

While this wiki isn't perhaps one of our highest scoring ones, there are nuggets like this throughout that give us a glimpse into the passion of students and their desire to have safety in all areas where they live.

I think as adults we must:

1) Accept the world has changed

Stop trying to fight it, blame it, hate it, and ignore it. We are in the midst of a fundamental cultural change.

2) Model reasoned, educated action

We must be models of reason — people who don't jump to conclusions blindly but show students that we can learn new things, and make intelligent decisions about how to civilize and utilize new tools as they come along.

tag: education, hz07, MMPEG, educational gaming, multiplayer gaming, horizon project

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Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis is a full-time classroom teacher and IT Director in Georgia, USA. She is Mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world. She hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast which interviews teachers around the world about remarkable classroom practices to inspire and help teachers. Vicki focuses on what unites us -- a quest for truly remarkable life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers that are grounded in the truth and shared with love. Vicki has been teaching since 2002 and blogging since 2005. Vicki has spoken around the world to inspire and help teachers reach their students. She is passionate about helping every child find purpose, passion, and meaning in life with a lifelong commitment to the joy and responsibility of learning. If you talk to Vicki for very long, she will encourage you to "Relate to Educate" or "innovate like a turtle" or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves to talk to teachers who love their students and are trying to do their best. Twitter is her favorite place to share and she loves to make homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and enjoys running half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

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2 comments

Kelly Christopherson May 24, 2007 - 3:34 am

Yes, there are nuggets throughout all those MMEG wikis. I wish that more teachers could have had the experience that I had working with these students. Thank you, Vicki, for the opportunity to help the students. At times, I wasn’t sure if I was doing enough for them – compared to the other wikis the ones on MMEG didn’t seem to be developing as quickly! I learned so much about so many things just because I had to do a bunch of research myself and go beyond being just a player. I haven’t been able to be get back too much – things are crazy as the year end grow near. So, again, thank you. It was my pleasure to work with all the MMEG students. Pretty cool kids!

Durff May 27, 2007 - 7:57 pm

Mr. Christopherson’s video is great!

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