ETEC 544 IP1

 <Cats and portals: Video games, learning, and play>

Good videogames provides players accessibility and problem solving opportunities - Portal is a good example. Videogames encourages players to mobilize sensory system to discover in the playing process, like how cats explore and probe the world. The article promotes players to use smart tools to become pro-ams.

The author argue that good video games can be good ways to foster problem solving and deep learning skills yet it is not contradictory for school education. Students learn the sense of discovery and the ability to surmise new possibilities in new worlds by play and author appreciate the increasing number of good portal guns under today's new tech backdrop. 

The article didn't really elaborate the connection of how what kids learn in virtual world can be utilized in classroom training, making play a pure play and segregate from learning.

<Games as Distributed Teaching and Learning Systems>

The article use videogames as examples of how real and virtual experiences are mediated in similar ways by good tools and social interactions. It analyze how games as DTAL system create a new learning ecology and create a new communication tool with virtual world and real world out of school. The article deepens our understanding of videogames as new learning conversation tool to better understand the world.

The author focuses on using theoretical framework to understand and identify videogames role in DTLS which help human abilities to improve from experiences and established the link between videogames, virtual world experience and real world learning experiences. This is a breakthrough of previous analysis which studied videogames and virtual worlds separately. 

It would be more meaningful if author could elaborate more on how videogames could help daily teaching in a more practical way with supported data if available.

Both articles use Portal as example but different perspectives. 2nd article posts self reflection on only focusing gaming as learning tool rather value "play" itself from 1st article anaylsis.

By reading these two pieces of articles, it is interesting to further think about how to balance the effectiveness of gaming as learning tool vs. reserve the fun part of gaming for different levels of self discipline, ages and family backgrounds etc.