Activity 1, Task 1:

Question 6 - Reflect on a time at school when you may have experienced challenges reading a text on a new topic. Were there lots of new words, technical language or acronyms? How did it make you feel when you were reading them? What might have helped you understand the text?

Suggested Answer:

I find it really hard when we read about new Science topics. There might be a lot of new technical words that I have never seen or heard before. It can be really frustrating as I have to stop and start my reading, try to work out the word or look it up using Google, and then I forget what I was reading in the first place. A lot of the time I just give up and stop reading. It would help if I could hear the words, or if my teacher talked about the content, before we started reading, then I could have some idea of what the new topic is about. It would be even better if the teacher did the reading with us and explained things as we went through the text.

Activity 2, Task 1:

Question 3 - Did any of this data surprise you? What did you think the average age of players might be?

Give reasons for your answer.

Suggested Answer:

I thought the average age of players would be younger people, like teenagers, mostly because I play a lot of games and my family don’t. My friends all play games but not many of their parents do, so I assumed that made teenagers and maybe early 20’s the main players.

Activity 2, Task 1:

Question 5 - Over the next ten years what would you expect might happen to the average age of game players?

Justify your response.

Suggested Answer:

From 2011- 2021 the average age only increased by 3 years. By 2031 I would expect a similar change, from 35 to 38. There will be new younger players but also new older players, especially if Cloud and virtual games start to develop. I don’t think the 35 year olds playing now will stop, but there will be a lot more younger people playing so maybe it might be even less, and only grow 1-2 years.

Activity 2, Task 2:

Question 2 - Can you identify any stereotypes in this image?

Give reasons for your answer.

Suggested Answer:

The sprite has been characterised to look ‘girly’ – she is wearing a pink hat and shirt, a skirt, and has her hair in pig tails.

Activity 2, Task 2:

Question 3 - How might this image challenge stereotypes?

Suggested Answer:

The character appears to be an older adult, over 50, as suggested by the grey hair. We would not normally expect someone in this age group to think gaming is good. However, by assuming this we are also making a stereotypical judgement.

Activity 2, Task 2:

Question 6 - Does it surprise you that more females are playing games compared to 15 years ago?

Justify your answer.

Suggested Answer:

I assumed that a much larger majority of males would play games. The media often portrays gamers as young boys/men, usually from their teenage years to their 20’s. It surprises me that so many females are playing games. And if the average age is 35 then a lot of female players must also be older than teens. Maybe games for mobile phones are more accessible?

Activity 3, Task 1:

Question 1 - Why do you think the video begins by outlining negative attitudes towards gaming?

Suggested Answer:

This video starts by acknowledging the negatives first and agreeing that too much of anything is bad. This is a good strategy – address the potential arguments, show you have thought about them and provide direction to another video on this topic. This will appeal to any parents watching the video who have felt that video gaming is bad for their kids. It suggests that the creators of this video are unbiased, that they are considering all perspectives. This may also mean the viewer is more likely to then believe the positive examples that are provided throughout the video.

Activity 3, Task 1:

Question 7 - Remember that tricky colour game, and how hard it was to recognise the colour when the word said something different? How might you use this screen shot to explain how playing action video games can improve attention?

Suggested Answer:

Playing Action video games for 5-10 hours per week can improve the brain’s attention to detail, and problem solving skills.

Activity 3, Task 1:

Question 10 - ‘It turns out, the average person can track about 3-4 objects, while a practiced action gamer can track around 6-7.’

What does this evidence suggest about gamers?

Suggested Answer:

This suggests that experienced gamers, who practice a lot, have better than average attention skills. Gaming makes you twice as good as anyone else.

Activity 3, Task 1:

Question 11 - What do these images suggest about gamers? How is the graphic designer positioning us to think video gaming is good?

Hint: who would you prefer to conduct your operation?

Suggested Answer:

These images suggests that the skills required for an operation, such as fine motor skills and eye hand coordination are developed through video games. By having the video game controller at the front of the image it looks like the video gamer is actually controlling the robot doing the operation. The formula at the top of the page also reinforces this idea, that more video gaming reduces the number of errors in surgery. It makes us think that we want a gamer to do the surgery.

Activity 3, Task 1:

Question 12 - A pun is used at the conclusion of the video. ‘That’s how you’ll win at the game of life.’

What two meanings do you think this pun has?

Suggested Answer:

‘Win’ is used as a pun, or play on words. You can ‘win’ on a video game, but you can also ‘win’ at living by choosing a balanced lifestyle.

E.g. By being active, healthy and improving a lot of skills through gaming.