Weekly Roundup: Blog Picks for September 19, 2008

Posted in The Gnovis Blog

The debate between technophiles and technophobes rages on this week. From the CCT blogosphere, read two positive
reports on the impact of gaming on children and education. Compare these with the The Chronicle Review’s latest report that on-line reading is of a
lesser kind.

  • CCT alumnus Jessica Vitak,
    also a former gnovis staffer, drew
    our attention
    to a new report from Pew Internet on Teens, Video Games,
    and Civics. Vitak says "Kids who game are not missing out on life,
    but are instead interacting with their peers, and in some cases, learning
    from their experiences and getting more involved with their
    community."
  • Like Vitak, Garrison
    celebrates the positive
    potential for gaming
    by introducing James Paul Gee’s research. “I’m
    hard-pressed to think of a scholar who is as accessible, as varied, and as
    provocative as James Paul Gee."
  • On the other side of the argument, Jakob Nielsen, In The Chronicle of Higher Education (Chronicle of Higher Ed, Sept 19) reports that online reading inhibits higher level learning. "We should accept that the Web is too
    fast-paced for big-picture learning. No problem; we have other media, and each
    has its strengths. At the same time, the Web is perfect for narrow,
    just-in-time learning of information nuggets — so long as the learner
    already has the conceptual framework in place to make sense of the facts."

I will admit that I prefer Vitak and
Garrison’s perspective but perhaps that is because I could not fully comprehend
Nielsen’s without killing trees. 😉

Elsewhere in the CCT Blogosphere

at gnovis

  • Margarita explored directionality in
    academic research
    . From the comments on her post: "Theory can
    be scary and overwhelming, but the more you immerse yourself in it, the
    clearer understanding you will have of why things happen the way they
    happen."
  • Jed Brubaker completed the four
    part series on a “Why we blog”
    by reflecting on the role of blogs in
    the Ivory Tower. To this, Geoff
    Livingston, blogger and author
    of Now Is Gone, commented “Making
    your blog a contribution to the larger community makes sense. It makes it
    valuable and worthwhile. Smart.”

around CCT

  • Gnovis Peer Review Manager, Ashley Bowen found herself
    in a difficult position
    in between Sara Palin and anonymous informants. “The problem with “Anonymous’ ” actions is
    that now everyone who doesn’t support Sarah Palin’s policies or governing style
    is now put in a position where they (I) have to defend her right to assume some
    degree of privacy”
  • On Sunday, Dr. Garcia discussed the ideology of objectivity. “Looking back from an historical
    perspective, I was struck by how the term
    value free science has become a very value ladened word.”