Monday, 23 March I was downloading a program iTunes last night which is a digital zoetrope beautifully done and there it got into the Apple editor's pick so I was a bit cross about that at the time because I feel that this is what I had in mind but on looking at it a little bit further what I am doing is more of a display of images this zoetrope on iTunes on the iPhone is much more of a toy and I'm hoping that what I can produce is more of a tool more of the game so that got me thinking about the nature of game and toy the balance between something that is just a curiosity a pub game something that makes you smile for a second or two that is really are quite boring after that or something that you want to come back to again and again because it interests you and captures your imagination and that is the tool that I would be looking for one that I could really use with students in school and a tool that would capture their imagination and it is after all the capturing of the imagination which is what I am after as a teacher that's what I'm doing in my classroom I don't think I'm teaching skills they learn those I am out to capture their imagination get them fired up so what is it about the nature of games and gaming not that it goes to far to take up too much time it needs to be simple and easy beautiful and fun amusing titillating somewhere between game and toy toy and game it is the do with visual illusions so it is in the realm of the wonder err a must stop doing errs because my voice recognition software isn't too good with err though maybe this time I would have trained it enough that that is all beside the nature of games and gaming and how much time people are prepared to spend I found with photoshoppingpong earlier in the year that it took me a while to get into it took me a while to get going and then I was addicted and I was always looking forward to the next volley but I have had a lot of difficulty getting students involved to this extent it is much easier to get them involved within the structure of a lesson and much much more difficult to get them involved and working outside of lesson time until I have got them going far enough that they are doing it for themselves rather than for me I have not ever been particularly interested in games playing as games playing has developed over the last 30 years I'm of a generation that missed out on this but there are things that interest me about media it is much easier just to sit down passively in front of the television and watch whatever is in front of the eyes without having to even bother with making a choice as to what to view I have a library of interesting programs interesting films that would be much more edifying than the slush that is normally broadcast and yet it is an effort to to set them up to watch I have to watch them where as in front of the television with my laptop on my lap idly surfing the Internet while half watching a crass quiz I can successfully waste a lot of time the second gate

Tags: zoetrope,games,pingpong,television,addiction,play