Video Games

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be writing about so I'm just going to write about what I've read so far.

So far I agree with most of Gee's claims-
1. Video games need to be challenging to keep players interested but not so hard that they can't understand it.
2. "Visual literacy" is important in understanding concepts where both pictures and words work together. (However, I don't think video games are the only source for this learning, in fact there are far superior ways of achieving this, but that's just my opinion).
3. Video games are confusing to older generations because the modern technology presents new challenges and ways of learning that were not accessible to them in their younger years.

However, I'm still not convinced that video games have much to teach kids, but I will give this book time as I'm only on chapter 2.

Learning Something New

Recently, I've started to learn how to mix my own drinks. It is much cheaper than going out to bars every time my friends want to get together and since I'm a college student, I am frequently low on cash. A few years ago, I started learning how to mix drinks when I was hired as a bartender at my friend's parents' 4th of July party. It was my first experience with making drinks, so I had to frequently look up requested drinks in a handbook my friend's parents gave me. More recently, my friend's excellent pina colodas inspired me to learn how to make them as well. I'm not very useful in the kitchen so this experience is actually making more interested in cooking and baking for myself as well.The pina coloda experience allowed me to become familiar with a blender, something I've never used in the past. Overall this learning experience has been helpful as it has saved me money, made me more interested in cooking, and I've learned how to make some delicious pina colodas.

Amber

is pretty awesome