1. MC502 – MEDIA FUTURES
‘Perception of the negative effects of games,
their use in education and considerations for
the future of learning within the medium of
games.’

2. INTRODUCTION
 Theme –
 What is my theme?
 How does it tie in with my chosen journal entries?
 How do my experiences aid my discussion?
 How does all this explain my question?
 Current technologies and social/cultural
perspectives.
 Possible theoretical futures.

3. MY THEME IS IDENTITY + EFFECTS +
EDUCATION.

4. IDENTITY
 Identity within games and virtual worlds is very
important!
 What is identity?
 How many sides to your identity are there?
 There are positives and negatives to identity within
these mediums!

5. EFFECTS
 Gaming effects –
 Gaming is an active medium.
 Gaming can have an effect on differentiating between
reality and game world.
 Education effects –
 Educational virtual spaces are international
environments for learning.
 Educational spaces on Second Life (Sanders, 2013) are
distracting e.g. Flying and exploring more of the
internet.
 What does the future hold for gaming or
educational effects?

6. EDUCATION
‘In Buckingham’s Extract ‘Beyond Technology:
Children's Learning in the Age of Digital Culture’
(Buckingham, 2007) it is stated that children of the new
digital age are adapting a more autonomous ability to
communicate with others and even making
communities. Buckingham’s Extract argues that
technology is far from corrupting children it is making
them more open, democratic, creative, and even
innovative than their parent’s generation. (Buckingham,
2007, p. 2)’ (Pandolfo , 2013).

7. CURRENT TECHNOLOGY AND
SOCIAL/CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
 "It's natural in society that if you put a professor in front
of a group of students you will always get a degree of
reticence, whereas if the professor is an avatar, it is
simply not the same,’ says Gilly Salmon … ‘While
learning about the ancient culture of the Sami, the
indigenous people that live in the area we call Lapland,
the students used Second Life to meet in a virtual
representation of one of the tents that the ancient
nomads would have used for worship. "Instead of the
students looking at a diagram in the classroom
discussing what it would have been like, they were able
to go into the tent and experience it and take part as if
they were members of the society," says Salmon’
(Dodson, 2013).

8. POSSIBLE THEORETICAL FUTURES?
 Futuristic worlds
1. Educators and students become independent
bodies, avatars and all education is done through
technology and mediums depending on where
technology takes us.
2. Games and learning environments become a 3D
virtual experience, much like using the Wii every
movement contributes to your 3D experience.

9. CONCLUDE
 I have discussed –
 My theme
 My experiences
 Supporting material
 My question
 Current technology and social/cultural perspectives.
 Possible theoretical futures.
Hopefully I have given you food for thought!

10. LEAVING STATEMENT
 Stephen Hoare writes ‘Technology has dramatically
changed the way students experience university
life, and not just in terms of the number of gadgets
they own. It has affected where and how they study,
helped them collaborate with each other and
broken down barriers between students and
teachers, social life and study. It has also given
students a greater voice in the way they learn.’
(Hoare, 2013)

11. REFERENCES – ALPHABETICAL ORDER!
 Technorati (2013) How do you define your online identity? Available at :
http://technorati.com/social-media/article/how-do-you-define-your-online/ (Accessed: 14 May
2013)
 Revoseek (2012) The Influence of Video Games in the Human Brain [Infographic] Available at:
http://revoseek.com/entertainment/influence-video-games-human-brain-infographic/ (Accessed:
14 May 2013)
 Open Culture (2013) 700 Free Online Courses from Top Universities Available
at:http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses (Accessed: 14 May 2013)
 Davidwarlick (2013) Elivate, Empower and Energize Available at:
http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?tag=education (Accessed: 14 May 2013)
 Buckingham (2007) Beyond Technology: Children's Learning in the Age of Digital Culture.
Cambridge: Polity Press.
 British Council (2010) ‘British Council Isle’ MC502 Media Features [online] Available at: Second
Life: British Council Isle, BritishCouncil Isle – General (Accessed: 07 May 2013)
 Sanders, R (2013) ‘Second Life’ MC502 Media Features [online] Available at: Newman
University College, Shared Educators Island - Moderate (Accessed: 07 May 2013)
 Pandolfo, D (2013) Journal Entry 4 (Accessed: 14 May 2013)
 Dodson, S (2013) ‘Is there a Second Life for teaching?’ The guardian 14 May [online] Available
at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/digitalstudent/second-life (Accessed: 14 May 2013).
 Hoare, S (2013) ‘Academia tackles the future’ The guardian 14 May [online] Available at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/digitalstudent/academia (Accessed: 14 May 2013).
 Beyond Current Horizons (2009) ‘Scenarios context’ VLE, 1 (1), p. 1-37.