Sometimes it is not needed to say much. This book I recommend it OPENLY to anyone who is in his/hers PhD research path:
Without a doubt it helps to put concepts, information and ideas together.
While trying to create a couple of game workshops for the following fall, one for kids and the other one for seniors’ club. Looking for quality in them and a nice product at the end supported with what it has been read until now, meaning looking for a framework, etc. Surprisingly, the bigger challenge right now it is into the kids design versus the seniors.
Strange, at first point of view, for myself, mainly because I have several years of experience working with little ones (2-10 years old) quiet smoothly. But then I realized in here I am thinking on 12+, which means: teenagers! and the story changes with this fact 😉 that is a tricky one!.
Because when thinking of them, they present an ocean of possibilities for themselves and for the world itself, but how to stimulate properly their “virgin†creativity, to trigger the motion that allows them to move by themselves in an enjoyable way, that is already a challenge itself. Now, focusing on my topic of games, they are already “playing†digital games, and they are merged into this Information Society, as some authors call it, maybe since they had born, at least some of this modern kids, which implies they have higher expectations into the topic already. On the other hand there are some no-IT-knowledge that should be impulse as well. Plus their skills are developing, which implies be careful with their ZPD is key. This list can continue with SEVERAL points.
In here, one quote of Mihaly Csikszentimihalyi enclose all this quiet well: “The more complex any system, the more room it leaves open for alternatives, and the more things can go wrong with it.
This can apply for EVERYTHING. In this case, he correlates it with the evolution of the mind: “as it has increased its power to handle information, the potential for inner conflict has increased as well. When there are too many demands, options, challenges, we become anxious; when too few, we get bored”.
And believed it or not, for those who have teenagers, or are close with teenagers, might agree with me that they are really explosive complex systems to work with. Oh well!!!, part of the challenge 😉 and looking for a successful output of this game.
Simple is beautiful, a gold rule. But how to get the proper merge or balance of this simplicity embedded into this complexity, that is one of my constant questions.
How shall I describe what is happening in my/our Mexican elections of the 2nd of July.
After all Mexicans had their change to participate in the game (voting),
now we observe more drama than in any soap opera, (just follow any Mexican newspaper)
it exists more suspense as in any gambling game,
and there are high hopes that your team will win when this match is over.
What a game!
Today I should reduce 73 pictures of size. Each one over 70% of its size. If someone has done that type of work, will agree with me that it is not fun, and really time consuming.
How ever, I know that Automator exits, and I have never use it until now. And in here, in public I want to say, THANKS MAC for Automator. It took me around 5 minutes to understand how does it work, and after try my first workflow, it worked, changing all those pictures in less than a minute. WOWOW!!!
Also for the hardcord programmers, I must say, that this is the first time that I see a programming tool that manage Objetcs in such intuitive way, against fools to reach a goal, and at the same time really powerful. Worth to see! And better to use it!
By coincidence, right now it is playing a new advertisement WIN vs MAC which is worth to see 😉
If you liked it, and want to watch more, select from the new ads from mac website, really good ones!
On April 17th, I mentioned that some of my priorities into my “to do” list are reading and improved my writing skills. However after exactly 2 months from that post I came to be aware of some obvious things, which actually I should have learned since elementary school:
– create a senseful strategy for reading, (into wide and deepness)
– understand what the author wants to say
– think and digest this information / knowledge,
– think again before writing,
– write thoughtful (and remember simple + short, it is beautiful!!!).
In addition, to develop our own thinking is challenging. As any other Art, I would attempt to say, because it requires discipline and to be constant in its practice. All these is harder than what I thought! Or it seems in the hurry to discover the world and its possibilities, or to survive in it, I had really forgotten some of the valuable basics.
On the other hand, I am quiet surprised to realized this too. Because being someone that had spent so many years in a diversity of educational systems, and that enjoys to learn, it has taking me over two decades to get at this point, which might only mean I am a good survivor into school systems (no sure if my ex-teachers would like to hear this). Or as any human being, we have different stages, plus there are so many things to learn and digest in our life, besides school, that we are only able to really understand any subject when we are ready for that (as in a ZPD ). In the mid time keep on being open and practice your skills. As in any game, be ready for your next turn.