To+Space+&+Back+in+an+Hour

 Computer Class: To Space & Back in an Hour
 Third grade in my elementary school was the year it all happened: computer class. It was a big deal (just as gym and music were) because it was one hour less you had to spend sitting in the classroom reciting multiplication tables or writing new spelling words on the board. Everyone looked forward to Wednesday afternoons at 1 p.m. when education took the form of technology. Having computer class added to our schedule meant that we were old enough to accept the responsibilities of using a computer, yet were allowed to play games during school.

There were twenty students in my class and thirty computers. There was never a struggle for a personal computer, but there were two games every week that each student vied for, //Math Blaster // and //Oregon Trail // (only the smartest kids in the class played //Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?). // Fights erupted every class between students for those sacred floppy discs, arguing about whose turn it was to play which game. If Dan played //Oregon Trail // last week and was aiming to finish his journey this week, Mrs. Schwalm was surely going to hear about the unethical tactics he was using to reach the glory land.

Sonia Livingstone writes, “the potentially most radical change of all is the shift from one-way, mass communication towards interactive communication between medium and user. While the argument for the active audience of traditional media has probably been taken as far as it can go, interactive technologies now coming on to the market increasingly put such interpretative activities at the very centre of both media design and media use.” (Livingstone, 2002, 20) My ideal computer class was spending an hour playing //Math Blaster //. I never excelled in mathematics; in fact, I was absolutely terrible with numbers so much to the point that my mother to this day will randomly slip a times table question into an everyday conversation. With //Math Blaster // there was something about that game that got me excited. The genuine joy the “Blasternaut” and his little robot dog showed when I correctly answered my multiplication tables was unlike anything else. When I correctly solved Math problems at home or in class all I got was “Right” and occasionally a “Good Job.” However when I knew that three times eleven was thirty-three in computer class, not only was the “Blasternaut” congratulating me, he was sending me to the next level in space! From a third graders point of view that was amazing. My mom was never in space, my teacher was never in space, but if you asked me I spent an hour every week in space blasting trash and saving the world.

Not once as a child did I ever believe that computer games were educating me. However when I look back now I realize //Math Blaster // truly did have a monumental impact on my education. Computer class made learning multiplication tables or traveling to Oregon in a wagon not just bearable, but also exciting. For a student who despised Math, I looked forward to playing that game every week, and became more confident in the regular classroom when it was, “Time to take out our Math books.” When I received the game for Christmas that year I remember thinking “My brothers’ got some lame //<span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Nintendo //<span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> games and I got //<span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Math Blaster //<span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">? Mom and Dad definitely like me best.” I was proud to tell my friends about my Christmas gift, and they were jealous to hear it.

I agree with Professor Livingstone that the interactive relationship between media and children is one of the most radical changes, which is difficult for older adults to understand. The clip we watched in class displayed a young boy who played video games for at least four hours everyday. While I believe that is an unhealthy amount of time, I consider myself to be living proof of a child who successfully maintained a balance between myself and media technology.

<span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Memoir Written by: Valerie Laranko Edited By: Austin Monheit Written For: <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Professor Hobbs <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> BTMM 4497: Mass Media & Children <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;"> References: Livingstone, Sonia. (2002). Young People and new media. London: Sage Publications Ltd. <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">