Thursday, November 12, 2009

Maybe a good research topic

Would OREGON TRAIL (my childhood favorite)be a good example of a PROSOCIAL MEDIA GAME? It was played in schools in the 1980s, but I can't remember ever winning the game because everyone on the trip alway died from disease or hunger.

When conducting scholarly searches of negative effects of mass media, more than 15,000 articles were revealed. And more specifically the literature details the negative effect of mass media on children, including aggression, violence and anxiety. However, in contrast there is little research documenting the positive or prosocial effects of mass media on children. When conducting a similar search of prosocial effects and mass media, only a handful of articles were found in the research databases. There is little research and emphasis placed on prosocial media, and what is available mostly focuses on television and movies. Furthermore, research needs to be conducted with video games that include characters that help and support each other in nonviolent ways.

1 comment:

Autumn said...

I am leaving this comment for our podcasting class. I remember that program. WOW... take me back!!! ;o) Great blog btw.
Autumn