representation – EDUC 342: Child Development & New Technologies https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu Thu, 04 Feb 2016 10:21:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.6.1 Reading Week 5 https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/reading-2/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/reading-2/#respond Thu, 04 Feb 2016 09:44:31 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1392  

Response:

The Williams et. al. reading really got me thinking about the video games I played when I was little. It notes how characters in video games are predominantly male and white. I personally never saw representation as a problem until I got to Stanford. A lot of the problems, I’ve learned, affect children. The reading specifically discusses how underrepresented children can be disenchanted and “may have less interest in technology and its opportunities for class advancement.” This caused me to explore why I, although being a minority, was not affected by this since I am still exploring a career in technology. One of my theories was that I played a lot of video games where the main characters were aliens and creatures that weren’t real. Another theory was that my family had a large influence in my affinity for technology. Overall, this reading made me appreciate the potential of video games more. They’re a fun activity, that if utilized correctly, can be really beneficial for underrepresented children.

 

 

]]> https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/reading-2/feed/ 0 Week 5 Discussion https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-5-discussion/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-5-discussion/#respond Thu, 04 Feb 2016 05:59:28 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1359 When playing video games, there appear to be two major pillars that foster cognitive engagement: representation and interactivity. In The virtual census, Williams et al mentioned that the “absence of portrayals should lead to a feeling of relative unimportance and powerlessness” (820). This comment was powerful. When discussing the sources of stereotype threat for minorities, we commonly think of the negative stereotypes perpetuated in media or the lack of positive role models in various industries. However, we rarely think of this deep psychological concept of “unimportance” and “powerlessness” that could be instantiated from a young age. This lack of representation can foster an unhealthy mentality for these children and a disassociation from the cognitive benefits of gaming. Granic reveals that “children develop beliefs about their intelligence and abilities, beliefs that underlie specific motivational styles and directly affect achievement” (71). Yet, minorities cannot equally develop such positive beliefs when they cannot visually associate themselves with such achievement. Evidently, we have created a environment where there is not only a concrete detriment to minority mindset but also a new achievement gap in the cognitive benefits of gaming.

 

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