Poet Ponders the Digital

Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley March 2008 Issue February 10, 2008 Virtual Sports, Real Fitness Middle schools are using the video game Dance Dance Revolution as part of gym class. Senior citizens are forming bowling leagues that compete using Nintendo Wii Bowling. Virtual activities that once exercised nothing more than thumbs are turning into real workouts and real fitness. Reports of teens shedding pounds playing video games have appeared in several newspapers, as well as being featured on CNN. The University of Tennessee is even studying the effectiveness of using Dance Dance Revolution to help motivate severely obese adolescents. I admit that I won’t be using “DDR” until there is a “Classic Rock” edition, but some of the other virtual activities I have seen recently have me intrigued. In fact, I’m starting to think there are some benefits to the virtual world. Recently, I wandered into one of those stores that specialize in expensive toys for adults. Normally, I sit in ...

As some of us mourn (complain) the state of the Internet, I wonder how we can teach students to write and think in ways that rise above the [choose your own description | rancor ] they read on DailyKos, Free Republic, Town Hall, MoveOn... et al. Agree or disagree, the Web is home to a lot of angry tirades that would fail a basic debate course. Though I consider myself “moderate” and want more fun and less politics in my life, I understand that many of my colleagues cannot resist being political in their courses. What they don’t admit is that they might be tolerating weaker logic from those students expressing views that are aligned with the instructor. The students might be learning that weak, but passionate, arguments are acceptable if they support the dominant positions within their classroom communities. I worry that we might be little more than an echo chamber, suggesting to students that virtual shouting matches are acceptable. A post on the DailyKos did summarize my feeling...