My first minecraft experience was quite different than I expected it to be, and likely quite different than my future experiences with the game. I arrived at babysitting as usual, but when I approached the 2 9 year old boys and one 7 yr old boy in the basement, I was greeted by them shouting about minecraft. I explained our class assignment to the boys, and they were eager to help with my "homework" (Jonah--age 7--wanted to know what other colleges have a mincraft class but also a football team:-) and let me play with them on the Xbox......that is after they finished building their "parcore"---which I had never heard of and now understand to be some sort of structure you can build in creative mode of the game. I had to wait basically 2 hours for them to finish the parcore before they started a new world and handed me a controller (watching the game is dizzying!)

Once I finally began to get the hang of Minecraft, I was shocked by how demanding it really is!  The players on Youtube make the game seem incredibly easy, and I knew that young kids used the game in class, so I figured it couldn't be to hard.   But I was wrong.  I think it demands a lot of logic and lateral thinking from the player.  You need to manage time, use resources, and manipulate those resources in logical and practical ways.  

Prof. Lesnick, I know what you mean when you say, "when I "achieved" learning to make my first pickaxe in MC, I felt I'd accomplished something, learned how to do something." When I was able to make a "house" (i.e. shelter) for the first time and survive the night, I, too, felt like I had accomplished something and was proud of myself, even though I knew other players had achieved much more, and even though I knew it was "just" a game.  

Hi all! I'm wondering who has Reading is my Window and when I cane come get it from you. [: 

Thanks! 

“In many ways, literary conventions, as well as the conventions of literacy, militate against an understanding of traditional tribal materials. Western technological-industrialized minds cannot adequately interpret tribal materials because they are generally trained to perceive their entire world in ways that are alien to tribal understandings” (Allen 31). This quote is from a reading from another class outside the 360 but I could not help but feel it captured some of my difficultly in reading “I, Rigoberta Menchu.” Paula Gunn Allen (who I extracted the above quote from) wrote an essay asserting that the way white colonial understanding and retelling of Indigenous people’s culture and stories distorts their reality. Allen specifically believes that one of the most important aspects of this distortion is through the particular “plotting” of a retelling. In the English language, we are taught that a story should follow a predictable and linear trajectory. First there is the introduction of characters and a “reader-capturing” conflict that those characters will have to continually work towards absolving. The characters then go through a series of experiences that shape their identity and lead into the final climax of the story; the pivotal moment in which the characters are forced to reconcile with their conflict in an explosive way. After the climax the story winds downward into a satisfying, neat conclusion in which the reader can ultimately extract from a piece of meaning or theme that ties each event together.

I finished this just now after reflecting on my pre/post hurricane visit to my sit spot and seeing my family this weekend.

This summer
and these leaves
have kissed goodbye.

I observe two middle school technology classes at an all-girl's private school on the Main Line.  I've had three or four placements there so far, and I've been continually impressed by the teacher's patience as well as the inter-personal relationships between the girls themselves.  (From what I've seen, there aren't any "queen bees" or "mean girls"--they really all do act very sweetly with eachother, which has been so heartwarming to experience.)

While the students at my school are lucky enough to have a new, well-equipped technology suite, there are still a number of overarching questions to contend with.  For example, however beautiful their new machines are, it seems like every class begins with 50% of the girls not being able to log onto their accounts, the teacher calling the IT department, and the girls spinning around on the chairs as they wait for the IT department to log them in.  Furthermore, there are always little technology hiccups and confusions that interrupt the class, and the teacher has to spend her time dealing with little maintinace issues (i.e. email passwords, log-on issues, etc) rather than teaching to the "entire" class.  To top this all off, the students apparently aren't allowed to get homework for their computer class since the rest of their classes are so demanding.

As Hurricane Sandy was making her grand debut on the East Coast, I was similarly making an entrance in the Eastern arch of Pembroke, joining the ranks of those who intended to ride out our loss of power with a night of festivities. We played music in the common room, donned our bathing suits, and celebrated the class cancellations Sandy had initiated. In those instants, we were living in the comic mode, and were merely "riding out the storm"--with the simple intention of getting by without electricity. When I woke up the next morning, my facebook newfeed had been bombarded with images of debri and destruction that Sandy had left in her wake. The headlines read, "The Storm of the Century", "13 People Dead", "Hurricane Sandy Wreaks Havoc Across Northeast"; suddenly, the previous night's festivities seemed childish and unsympathetic juxtaposed against the morose news that had taken over the internet. Now, I saw Sandy through the tragic mode, and attempted to put myself in the shoes of those who were not as fortunate as those of us at Bryn Mawr. Although the Sandy party offered a nice, enjoyable break from reality, it was imperative that I made the switch from the comic mode into the tragic mode to realize the situation for what it was. As we discussed in class, it's important to approach issues from both the comic and tragic modes--a tragicomic experience if you will. As Hurricane Sandy was making her way along the East Coast, what were you doing, and would classify your experience as being in the tragic or comic mode? 

1. Who are we when we play a game? And what should people who want to teach other people things understand about this? McGonigal says we are purposeful, optimistic agents convinced of our capacity to make and impact and conjoin our activities with others to increase that impact.

In her book, "Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other ", Sherry Turkle begins by stating that "Technology proposes itself as the architect of our intimacies. These days, it suggests substitutions that put the real on the fun". After playing Minecraft for an hour (unfortunately, unable to get very far), I could see how easy it would be to get fully immersed in a gaming experience. And Minecraft is a game that simply requires the player to sit in front of the computer. With the emergence of what the Re:Humanities working group is calling "pervasive gaming" (the Silent History App as a prime example), I have very little doubt that gaming is/will become something that forces individuals to fully engage and immerse themselves into.

"City is part of the ecology. People build cities just like any other animals build their habitats." During class last Tuesday, Sarah's comment on city left me a deep impression. City is the most complex form of human habitat, yet the fact that this complicated structure is a habitat, which people build to shelter themselves, makes me think about the vulnerability of mankind. Hurricane Sandy came in time for this meditation of mine. Through media, I could see how nervous people were when faced with the unparallel natural force. Yes we were prepared, but no one was absolutely out of fear. This is real humanity. We are not the ruler of the planet. Intelligence is not yet enough for us to combat unforeseen destiny designated by _______ . I leave this blank. Human force is so dominant in changing the "chemistry" of the planet in recent years, as Thomas Berry pointed out. We are probably contributing to our own destiny. On the other hand, the planet itself keeps challenging us now and then. Whether human civilization is developed to become aggression or self-defense to the natural forces really puzzles me. Or there may not be a clear border at all. Last night our customs group sticked together in darkness. The hearsay that Erdman was on fire (<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Baldwin, actually) made us panic. At that point, I realized the need of reliance on each other individuals have. I could barely imagine me alone in such a dark windy cold night, uninformed and actionless.

“Wow, Time Square looks different from what I’ve seen on TV!” I overheard some familiar Chinese talking among crowds of tourists in Time Square as I was running to Penn station to catch a train. Finally, I found my seat. I wondered why that sentence was still stuck in my head. Right, I said exactly same thing three years ago when I finally arrived at that symbolic site.

In just four years, I am doing everything I could never think of before by myself, travelling, dealing with complicated visa issues, negotiating with different people and so on. All the excitement of discovering new things on this continent seems to decline over time because I just have tons of other things to deal with and worried about. I become indifferent for many things which sound so exciting and tempting before. During the time I spend here, I acquire all kinds of new skills not because I am smart but because I have to learn to survive.

So much has changed and so much is about to. I made the decision to come here purely to have opportunities to receive the best high education in the world. At least, that’s my initial attention at that time. The moment I stepped in this continent, the journey full of mixtures of conflicts between of two cultures and assimilations of the two has begun. Some of the conflicts were expected before while some just went beyond my imaginations. Going back and forth between here and home, I am constantly trying to find a spot where I belong.