How Do I Love Thee: Playing

Image from: http://littleoslo.com/img/feature/09/blogpoly.png

Social Media Game: Playing the Digital Neighborhood Game

Game-Based Curriculum through Social Media 


My understanding of the cognitive tool playing. The very first thing that comes into my mind when I think of playing is engaging.  Keeping a learner engaged in a learning activity through playing promotes experiential learning.  Sometimes, some people may misunderstood playing as wasting of time but if it is used to foster creative learning concepts, then it is a cognitive tool.  Playing is a cognitive tool that can be integrated in both disciplinary and cross-disciplinary areas because it can take many forms like dramatic play, interactive video games, board-games, puppet shows, etc.

How this understanding impacts my topic. Social media games have been sprouting because it is so appealing to people with common interests, it is more engaging and effective for learning, and it is simply  fun!  Play-based curriculum can bring about interactive and instructional tools that assist in presenting the benefits of social networking for adult learning.  How? Through role playing, game boards just like Blogpoly, and interactive social games that can let the adult learners reflect on how their participation in these activities can build more learning connections.

How and why I chose these representations.  The top image shows a very familiar board game, Monopoly, but it was transformed to depict the social media’s well-known elements and applications.  This game encourages players to role play different scenarios which generate strategic planning and problem solving in order to win the game.

The middle representation is a video that shows an example of how a social media game can help adult learners produce ideas and strategies in formulating policies and solutions through the use of digital media.  Groups of adults are introduced to a scenario – that is, being in a multi-cultural community with challenges such as large young multicultural population, little intercultural communication, lots of problems with youngsters in the streets, because of tensions in the area lot of negative press coverage, hostile attitude towards the mainstream journalists and camera crews, high unemployment rate, low positive identification with the neighborhood. The complete details about this game are explained further in the Social Reporter site.

The bottom video is a short clip that encourages teachers to use playing in their classrooms.  By incorporating playing in a curriculum, teachers are helping students identify their learning and endlessly build their imagination.  I believe that playing develops and enhances student creativity which completes the learning process. 

Now. let's go play!