As I started reading the article of the benefits of video games, I took of moment to realize that if I were to list the benefits and hindrances of video games. I could list more hindrances than benefits (this is including the fact that I love technology). The availability bias of having more articles and the media stating video games’ negative effects has had a clear effect on me. It is nice to see that research is trying to show the great benefits (cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social) that video games can have on children.

Also, I like that as in many other areas, people are trying to show the importance of having a diverse representation of characters in video games. Publishing articles as “The virtual census: representations of gender, race, and age in video games” places pressure on designers and video game companies to create an inclusive gaming experience for all kids.

Colgan_Assignment 1

I explored Stardoll in our first day of class, but I was left with so many questions that I just had to go a bit deeper into this fascinating product. I’m not alone. According to the site’s homepage, 399,363,255 users make up “the largest online community for girls who love fashion.” Stardoll started in Sweden in 2002 as “Paperdoll Heaven” and is still based in Stockholm. Today, Stardoll is a global juggernaut, with gameplay available in 28 languages.

The first prompt on the website is to build your own Stardoll. Unfortunately, the issues start early. The start page shows dolls with a variety of different ethnic looks, giving a semblance of diversity. All of the doll options are thin and beautiful, with default “Barbie feet” ready for high heels. The doll is highly customizable, so it is possible to adjust the doll’s shape and weight, skin color, and gender, but these options are not made clear on the homepage.

Each Stardoll also comes with a room, a personal page, and “a welcome gift of 500 Starcoins.” Stardoll started as a virtual paper doll, so fashion is a major component of the game. Today, real world fashion brands like DKNY and Nelly.com feature their clothing on the site, available for virtual purchase using Starcoins.

Those Starcoins can be earned through gameplay, but they can also be purchased with actual money and then used in Starplaza, the in-game mall. The issue of using real money should be of interest to parents. Children need their parents’ credit card in order to buy individual items or a membership in this world. The account is free and it is possible to use the platform without spending money, but memberships—which turn the user into a “Superstar”—will cost an automatically reoccurring $6.95 a month.

Another area of parental concern is the “Chat and Friends” category which allows users the opportunity to chat with other Stardoll users and join clubs ranging from “ZacEfron” to “StopSealKilling”. As with all online games, users agree that they are at least 13 years of age or older to access the site. Of course, it’s very likely that there are users younger than 13 on the site.

Seemingly created for young children on the platform, a “KidSafe membership” allows access to all doll related activities and games, but blocks the message center, Guest Book, and other forums. It’s likely that this feature was developed based on parental feedback and issues related to cyberbullying. According to the website’s FAQ section, “We are always working hard to improve the safety and security at Stardoll.com. We continuously moderate the site and have several filters in place to avoid name-calling and bad language.” A violation of the code of behavior called the One Stop Rules will result in account termination.

Applying the “Criteria to Consider When Creating New Media Content for Children” to Stardoll is a difficult task. At almost every point, this tool reveals deeper issues within the game. The chat categories offer a community aspect to the game, where users can share the hard work they’ve done to create their dolls but can also speak more generally. Support might be found in clubs like “FamilyProblems,” but these open forums can be potentially dangerous places for unwanted sexual content or users pretending to be someone they’re not. Stardoll says it moderates these groups but with many millions of users, it seems very possible that troubling situations may slip through the cracks.

Unfortunately, I believe Stardoll helps children (though the site’s language frames the audience as girls) develop issues around body image and gender stereotypes that can cause difficulty throughout their lives. Rather than focusing on strong female characters, impossible beauty standards, makeup, and fashion are presented as the tools of the game.

Stardoll is a very fun and engaging site but in terms of value, it’s a capitalistic game. Stardoll is a money-making platform and its unlikely that the company is going to abandon its lucrative partnerships with real clothing brands. However there are possibilities for improvement.

In terms of artistry, Stardoll is actually an extremely well designed platform with beautiful graphics. The final dolls can be works of art and are exhibited as such in the Spotlight tab. As a former Barbie Fashion Design maven, I think fashion games can help children develop creative design skills. As it is now, the design category is limited to hair, fashion, interior and jewelry. This would be a great place for expanding the game.

The interior design interface offers a fairly robust option to design patterns, a process with mathematical applications. The design category could be much improved by including the option to create and build furniture. This could use 3D modeling to teach users geometry and spatial reasoning skills. Allowing users to move beyond fashion could open up additional graphic design, behavior design and engineering games within the platform.

In an ideal world, Stardoll would sever ties with fashion brands, build stronger characters for the much more diverse set of dolls, and explore the rich potential of arts-based learning games. While the new and improved educational Stardoll seems very unlikely, small changes could build on the existing artistic tools of the game to improve its learning potential. Stardoll has recently released its own line of mobile games. These games may offer more possibilities for creating more educational material that will depart from the issues of the main site. Stardoll isn’t going anywhere soon, so hopefully she can diversify her portfolio beyond fashion and makeup.

Website: ladypopular.com

Focus: Virtual world

Age: Teens

Description: Browser-based fashion game set in a virtual fashion world. As a user, you set up a personalized avatar and explore the fashion career path through various quests.

Megan Faulk – Assignment 1

I chose to redesign My Password Journal by Mattel. This product offers a small note pad encased within a pink and purple plastic electronic case that locks upon closure. It’s aimed at girls ages 6-12. It can only be opened by the owner’s voice and chosen password. The journal will record the voice of anyone who tries to break in, or “intrude,” upon your journal, at which point a loud alarm sounds. There are 25 thought provoking prompts for writing that come pre-programed into the diary, such as, “write about something silly” or “write about a dream!” with an option to create up to ten more prompts of your own. The final twist is a black light and invisible ink pen to write secret notes on the journal inside, as well as a secret stash compartment behind the journal.

After reviewing the Wartella and Jennings New Media Content Criteria prompt sheet, I would say this product has low marks overall for new media. The diversity is low, as all marketing I’ve found directs this product towards girls of a particular age (6-12) and cultural group. It only exists in English, and the adult woman who speaks appears to have a slight British accent which could alienate some learners who aren’t attuned to that accent. There are no alternative language models available. The pink and purple flowered design makes it difficult for boys or children who don’t identify with stereotypical representations of femininity to adopt the toy. The one redeeming quality in regards to diversity is that it essentially advocates girls’ rights to privacy and property. There is an empowering message at play there.

In terms of accessibility, I would say this toy is also low. The hand tools, notebook, and buttons are small. The voice control asks you state your password in the same tone as when it was set, which could be hard for some kids to do. There are lots of small snags in this toy that could easily prevent a child with certain sensory, motor, or learning disabilities to engage or enjoy the toy.

The interactivity of this toy is average. From the Amazon reviews (see below), it appears that children love playing with this toy, and siblings live to torture each other with it. With a bigger notebook and some pages that were unlined, there is wide potential for far more interaction with the toy in terms of its pretend purpose of writing. While it does not engage a community of young people or give them access to information, ideas, or people, it might allow children greater access to their own thoughts and ideas. The secrecy and protection of the journal gives the children theirown opportunity to create and control something, which is great. With an increased focus on writing, I believe children could gather together and engage over writing inspired by the toy.

In terms of education, this toy again clocks in at a low rating. In the free writing and reflection sense, it enables kids to think and get some thoughts to paper. The prompts are unthoughtful and could engage kids with more meaningful content.

The value of this toy is average. It’s clearly fun, but the journal is too small. The artistry is low and the design quality is poor, however, there are design elements that support the play value (like the invisible ink and secret stash compartment). Finally, in terms of safety, there is no violent or sexual content referenced in the small bit of content in this toy.

In the Hirsh and Pasek (et al.) four pillars and app pedigree table, we can look to see if it is active, engaging, meaningful, and social. I would it accomplishes all of those pillars except social. It could equate with deeper learning if it was brought into the school environment and engaged with using learning content. Students studying a new language could use the journal to keep track of new words and phrases in a surreptitious way that protects their self-esteem while being fun. Likewise, it could just be a great way for kids to feel more safe in the school setting through offering thema space that only they have access to. If a student had a writing disability, or issue with comprehension of text, this toy could also be helpful if it offered voice recording techniques to help students generate writing ideas or collect scattered thoughts. If the journals could speak to each other, elements of interactive storytelling could come into play between peers, siblings, or parent and child that could be very rich and fun for developing writers of any age.

Lisa Simpson seems particularly poignant as a character that informed my identity in my early life. Like the Simpsons, my family had three children, an older brother, middle child named Lisa, and a younger baby sister. I related to Lisa because we had the same names and were both full of anxiety directed towards our family culture and achievement. Different from Lisa, my older brother was naturally much smarter than me, and this became a paradigm of early childhood. We still enacted the Bart and Lisa roles from time to time, and he would also sing the “Lisa, it’s Your Birthday Song” to me on my birthday.

Runner Ups: The women of Friends, Bell from Beauty and the Beast, Ariel from the Little Mermaid, cast of Saved by the Bell.

There are two characters that I remember having a parasocial relationship when I was 5 years old. One was Oliver from a soccer themed cartoon and the other one was the blue power ranger (I have a scar on my chin thanks to this).