Media Ecology and Learning Case rough draft

Media Ecology and Learning Case

Matthew (Young Athlete) second interview

The young person I interviewed for my case study is an eighteen year old male. His name is Matthew, he is Puerto Rican born in the US and lives in a rural town in Taylor County, West Virginia.  He has one older brother and a younger sister and is from a middle class family. Matthews’s parents are working professionals.  Matthew is an average student and is always pushing for improvement academically.  At home he has unlimited access to technology.  The family has a shared computer in their living room but for the most part they all have their own computers or tablets.

In my interview with Matthew he shared with me that he has an iPod, laptop that turns into a tablet and a smart phone (IPhone).  There are some restrictions on his computer usage; he is allowed access to the internet any time before 10:00 p.m. during a school week and on weekends he can use internet before 12:00 a.m. he must be responsible with what he searches and how he uses language online. Generally, Matthew uses his smart phone the most; to text, and interact with his peers through Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat, YouTube, Vine, Safari, email, ITunes and Instagram.

At school, his technology access is a little more restricted.  The school has a computer lab used only for school assignments only half the time he said the computer don’t work. Matthew, a writer for the school newspaper focuses more on using his technology for recording interviews at school as part of his assignments. This requires him to use his own devices Smart Phone.

In my second interview with Matthew he said,

Now that Matthew is going to be attending Millikin University he has access to a new online tool box of resources shared with students at the University. Some of the tools are MU Online, Moodle, Net storage, and Blue Tube. Matthew said he is excited to get started and can’t wait to see what awaits him in his new adventure with college. I asked him if he thought there would be restrictions on Wi-Fi and internet use. He replied I don’t really think so, the University has several cyber cafés and every floor in our dorm has access to computer labs.

  Hanging Out

Matthew said, being an athlete I depends on my smartphone for communication with my parents, coaches, peers, and to check in with my social media. Sometimes when coming home from an away game I call my parents to let them know I am on my way home or to find out what’s for dinner. I also use my phone or keep up with live grades for school assignments and homework updates and remind 101. His favorite thing to do with his laptop is to watch videos and download music. I try to find a balance between doing it all so when I get to college I can manage my time wisely. Already thinking about his college career.

As an incoming freshman to Millikin University, I already started communicating with my coaches for soccer and track. The school has so much to offer and there is Wi-Fi all over the campus not like high school at all. Since I have to be on campus August 11 I am already a student. I already have access to a new email, book store app, and online access to everything on campus. The coaches have already sent me a full summer work out by email so I can get started on my work out for summer conditioning. Matthew also added that on his visit to the University he got an opportunity to meet some of the team players and that they have already connected through snap chat and Instagram.     

  

Messing Around

Matthew is not much of a game player on the computer but likes to plays games on his PS3, Game Cube, Gameboy and PSP. Matthew plays online with out of state friends, his new game is Destiny. Matthew explained that although he likes to play games he would rather go to the Mall shopping, movies, and out to eat with friends and family. Playing video games is more for in the evening and for when friends come over to just hangout. Matthew added that the soccer team is really into playing FEFA and that the players and the teams they create are very competitive.

I asked Matt if playing FEFA helped him play soccer. He said yes, it helps me see my position on the field from a different perspective and gives me a visual of the other players who are coming at me during the game.  James Paul Gee (2005) argues that what gamers learn is embodied empathy for a complex system. Video games players develop a feel or intuition of how systems work. (Squire, 2011, p. 5).

During our second interview Matthew was kind enough to give me some insight on his visit to Millikin University, Matthew told me that so far, so good, he already has a group of friends that will be housed in the same dorm and all of them like to play destiny. He added that they already exchanged character information and combat ideas on Skype. I am looking forward to connecting with my new team mates, teachers, and making new friends.

Geeking Out

Matthew said “my goal is achieve the highest status in Destiny”  This new game has so much animation great graphics and I like the stories. I really like creating my character and all the weapons, I especially like playing live online with other players. In the game there are three classes of characters a Warlock, Titan, and Hunter. I am a male hunter. I asked Matthew about how many hours he spent playing in a day. He said that he averages about three to four hours playing when he has nothing to do and because it’s a new game. Another game he still likes to play is Call of Duty, very popular among his friends.

Video games now include a diverse range of experiences, from music simulation to multiplayer role-playing games with new models of distributed leadership (Steinkuehler, 2006).

There is no curfew in college like at home, I am going to play destiny, Mario and Call of Duty

with a lot of beginners, intermediate and advance players I can’t wait. Well as long as all my

school work is done and I have time. I still have to keep up with my sport schedule and I am thinking about maybe getting a job on campus. One of the things I like about Millikin is that I will be able to do study stables at night and have access to all the information on app in my Moodle account that I already downloaded onto my IPhone and computer. So, I think I will be using the internet for school stuff a lot more than before for sure.

Schooling

Matthew uses his own laptop at school for taking notes in AP Government, newspaper class, and for uploading music at lunch time. I like using my laptop he said because it has all the updated software like Microsoft Word 2013, windows 8.1 and all the new media options which is important for me. I also have a book window for Comics which allows me to click into it and open all kinds of comic books. I asked Matthew if he was into poetry or any kind of specific type of literature and he said “not really”.

(thomas, 2011, p. 100) The different literate worlds that young people move between, online and offline relating to different ways of getting access to and interpreting information  (reading)and producing content in different modalities (writing), informs us about how we need to reorient what we mean by being literate in our culture.

Education must continue to catch up to meet Digital Literacy in the 21^st Century if educators are

to generate communication among digital natives.

How much experience would you say you have had to prepare you for Millikin Matthew? Well I

don’t know how to answer that because I don’t know what I am going to be required to know

and what kind of technology tools I will have to use for homework yet. I do know how to use

Word, spellcheck and YouTube. I hope now that I am going to college I can learn how to use

more programs like PowerPoint, Prezi and publisher. In high school I really did not get an

opportunity to really work with those programs.