Videogames in the library? What is the World Coming to? - "Reseña Critica"

It isn’t old news that video games are appearing in libraries. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that I did research on the subject and was surprised at the findings. That is why I chose to review this article for this assignment. The article was published by School Libraries Worldwide in its volume 14, issue num. 2 of July 2008, by Kathy Sanford.

Videogames, like libraries, have undergone a massive revolution and have changed from entertainment to something rather complex yet, more accessible to the public. Many different types of new game genres have surfaced, which are readily available and easily utilized for different purposes.

While in this article the author, Kathy Sanford, views it as a new trend and describes it as a new platform for libraries to take advantage of, it also easily discusses many of the advantages of having this technology readily available.

Having studied education, I can relate to this entirely. For starters, I agree with the author when she says that this generation is quite different from other ones, at least regarding its view on libraries and information in general. Children today acquire information and entertain themselves quite differently than previous generations (Sanford, 2008, p.83), which in turn provides a different perspective and expectancy of a library.

Some libraries have adapted themselves to this new technology, making some rather impressive findings. For example, according to Sanford, one of the new trends include free access to MMORPGS (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games), like Guild Wars or the extremely popular World of Warcraft, believing that they promote team play, friendly competition, problem solving skills and even concepts like leadership and collaboration (Sanford, 2008 p. 85). Personally, being a player myself and having been brought into it by my past students, I subscribe to this idea and believe it to be true. Many of my students learned many concepts relating to many subjects at school, including math and literature, because of games they played. Another trend is offering a rental service for off-line games on different platforms, such as X-Box 360 or Playstation 3. Of course, not all of these games offer an educational content, but even so, they have the additional purpose of attracting people to the library.

The fact that libraries have begun to accept games as a form of information and a way of learning, makes me proud, not only as an educator and future librarian, but also as a fellow gamer. I don’t agree that any game should have a green light into a library, but I do see what many of these modern libraries are trying to do. Children are learning in different ways and libraries are taking that in into account, trying to please the necessities of their public. Personally, I think that as long that is kept under control and people are properly trained, it is an innovative way to face a new generation head-on.

Works Cited:

Sanford, K. (2008, July). Videogames in the Library? What is the World Coming to?
School Libraries Worlwide, p. 83-88.

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Music... welcome to web 2.0

He aquí mi entrada al blog de la clase, una reseña crítica en inglés de uno de mis websites y software favoritos, Last.fm. La página principal es www.last.fm y el enlace a mi profile es www.last.fm/user/blackpollito . Espero que el site sea de su agrado y que alguno de ustedes se una.

Last.fm- Music meets web 2.0

If you have seen me at any point in my life without earphones, I either lost them or am working or taking class. My life runs through music, so it is fitting that my cyber life functions accordingly. Last.fm is a music community and social networking site rolled into one. Users can sign up for free and download software that “scrobbles” music they listen to. What is scrobbling you might ask? Scrobbling is basically uploading the information from tracks played in your computer or portable device. With support for most players and devices, it could work as a reference source or an archive for every piece of digital music ever created.

Once the music is uploaded, the site creates charts for the users as well as global charts. It automatically organizes them in several different categories, including most played for artist, albums or tracks and those can be further divided by time frames. It serves as a music log, which allows people to track down their own musical history, not to mention that of the entire world.

Like any other networking site, users can befriend other users, leave comments, join communities and post in forums. The site also provides a music compatibility chart, which measures how much similar music users share and the ability to create blogs. Every artist uploaded gets its own webpage, complete with a wiki, pictures, bulletin board, video links, track charts, , the number of played tracks and links to tagged blogs.

Last.fm features streaming radio, downloadable songs and sample tracks. It also allows independent labels and bands to promote and upload their music through their service. The users in several ways control the radio stations. Firstly, the information gathered through the audioscrobbler enables it to function as a music recommender. Secondly, the site features a tagging system for tracks, which create radio stations. Users can create and customize their own personal stations.

It is no doubt a haven for any music snob. The only major problem I perceive is that music recommendations in languages that are not English work poorly, as artist tend to be lumped together. This is supposed to improve with time as more people use the service. There are also users trying to cheat the system by spamming scrobbled tracks, which detracts from the intended accuracy of the global charts. If used properly, this could serve as a vehicle to track down what people’s listening habits and a great opportunity for people all over the world to bond. This could also search as a powerful research tool for music researchers and a powerful tool for discovering new music.

If you love music and social networking, you should definitely give Last.fm a shot.

Omnipresencia de las TIC y su impacto en diversos ámbitos de la sociedad contemporánea

Hoy iniciamos la primera unidad del curso: Tecnologías y Sociedad de la Información. Por un lado, partimos del reconocimiento de la influencia que tienen las TIC en nuestra vida personal, profesional y colectiva. Cada vez más constatamos que nuestra vida cotidiana no sería la misma sin las variadas tecnologías y el ciberespacio que usamos para informarnos, educarnos, entretenernos y comunicarnos. El impacto de las TIC y la red global se ha dejado sentir en todos los ámbitos --la economía, la educación, la cultura, la salud, el entretenimiento y la política. En definitiva, los avances de la tecnología están marcando el ritmo acelerado de la sociedad de información y conocimiento.

Los comentarios que han hecho ustedes en la entrada anterior son fiel reflejo de cómo las nuevas generaciones están altamente compenetradas con las TIC de una manera natural y transparente. Cada uno/a de ustedes ha compartido abiertamente y con perspectiva crítica sus propias experiencias como usuarios de tecnología. De la reflexión de Valerie me llamó la atención su interés y experiencia con los videojuegos de carácter educativo. Ricardo, por otro lado, nos comparte la constante y variada utilización que hace de las TIC y el valor que han tenido para su desarrollo académico y profesional. El planteamiento crítico de Desimarie sobre los efectos nocivos que algunas tecnologías pudieran tener sobre sus usuarios es ciertamente válido y constituye una preocupación de algunos investigadores. Gerardo reconoce que no todos tienen acceso a las TIC, lo que afortunadamente no ha sido su caso por el uso amplio y diverso que como profesional hace de las mismas. Me pareció interesante el planteamiento de Alessandra al argumentar que podría ser impreciso indicar su nivel de dominio de las TIC cuando éstas se encuentran en constante evolución, por lo que tiene que actualizarse continuamente. Yariliz nos cuenta cómo inició su mayor involucración con las tecnologías en el contexto universitario. Carmen nos reitera la importancia vital de las TIC para los profesionales de la información. Y Omar nos narra con lujo de detalle su interesante experiencia formativa con las TIC desde muy joven. Todos los testimonios representan la diversidad de perspectivas y experiencias tecnológicas que tienen los estudiantes universitarios de hoy día. sus valiosos comentarios constatan la amplia difusión y utilización intensa de las TIC entre las nuevas generaciones.

Me entusiasma que estén colaborando dinámicamente con sus buenas ideas en este blog educativo. En el transcurso del semestre cada uno/a de ustedes publicará su propia entrada, ya sea una reseña crítica de algún artículo o noticia, de una nueva aplicación tecnológica o software libre, o el resumen de alguna entrevista. Dada la solicitud de alguno/as de ustedes, aceptamos sus aportaciones en el idioma de su preferencia. Celebremos, pues, la multiculturalidad que nos define como Caribeños y que nos enriquece en este mundo global y tecnológico.