Let's Get it Started

I have set up an account(really easy) and am about to embark on my foray into the the world of MMO's (massive multiplayer online games). Due to my former career as a teacher, administrator, and dorm parent at a New England boarding school I have some knowledge about gamers and games. However, I must admit I really did not like console games in my dorm as I felt they undermined the social nature of dorm life. (online games were in their infancy...or I just was plan ignorant. Why stare blankly at a video screen when you could be outside playing a game of stick ball or actually engage in conversation face-to-face? Four years removed from that situation, I am beginning to realize that what I thought of as parallel play is a different form of social interaction that I grew up with. In my youth, we invented games, played games, or engaged in athletic games. Gaming, in the technological sense, embodies many of the same elements in a virtual world. There is competition, creativity, problem-solving, all of which creates, as Gee calls it, a semiotic domain; a domain of symbols, lexicon, and shared experiences. The only thing lacking, in my opinion, is the kinetic learning that comes as a result of playing games which are active in nature. Interestingly, the current generation of kids do not have as much physical freedom as previous generations. By that I mean, previous generation were given more autonomy about how they spent their unstructured time. Going out to play meant just that: go out find some friends and make up your own play. This generation is the generation of organized activities, play dates, and helicopter parents. Adults dictate and orchestrate the lives of their children like no other in the history of mankind. Interestingly, however, the world of video and online games seem to be the new "go outside and play" world, a world devoid of parents to a large extent. The concern for me as parent is how large and diverse this domain is. The notion of playing in your neighborhood is replaced by let's play literally anywhere, both real and virtual. The possibilities are exciting, but a bit scary at the same time.