UNDERSTANDING THE EDUCATIONAL POTENTIAL

UNDERSTANDING THE EDUCATIONAL POTENTIAL

1. Apocalyptic or Integrated

   • Opinions voiced by the players about the video games are extremely varied, ranging from curiosity through amused indifference to fascination; although the general opinion is one of acceptance.
   • However, the players attitudes, based on their experiences as end-users and on the way the games help to constitute their everyday lives, contrast with those of politicians, educational leaders, and many media professionals and critics
   • Interestingly, during this debate several experts testified that there was a lack of scientific evidence proving any direct link between the use of video games and the negative effects imputed to them. Many experts have shown that it is impossible to attribute negative effects to video games, except in rare cases and under unusual circumstances
     • The data reflects a totally established reality, and one that is still growing. Video games constitute a powerful cultural industry that is constantly evolving technological applications; it is a symbolic universe frequented by millions of citizens, especially younger people
       • One of the foremost objectives of much research was the study of the effects of video games (aggressive behavior, addiction, isolation, school performance and the like), based on previous assumptions and research on television
   • These attitudes are undoubtedly a product of a ìmoral panicî typical of our age. For both the apocalyptic standpoint (outright rejection) and the integrated point of view (acceptance and fascination with video games and other forms of -electronic communication) are based on ideas and beliefs about the representation of childhood, youth, technology, and the games themselves
     • These beliefs are incorporated in turn into the stories and discourses that characterize today ís age of rapid and comprehensive change
   • But no matter how stereotyped this discourse may be, its implications, voiced in public and then elaborated at home, often make a significant distinction between video games played on a television screen and those that use a personal computer platform
     • In contrast, the latter, immersed in the discourse on new technologies, acquired positive connotations in the productive, useful, and modernizing sense