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By srasporich, Calgary Arts Academy      Wednesday March 28, 2007

“Imagine running your own local TV station where you decide the daily programming, and even create your own mini-pilot. News, weather, soap operas, sports – you may decide to run an all-day football network. Each time you take a turn, the formula of the interactive spreadsheet uses demographic information to let you know whether or not you have a hit season on your hands. Have fun as you build your network from a local station to a national and international phenomenon.”

The most interesting part of this game is the 'pilot sandbox', where the user can create a thumbnail pilot of a program they will submit to a panel. To avoid big video files, the thumbnail has a limit of five image frames, a voice-over track, and a music soundtrack. There is a ready-made gallery of images, voice-overs, and songs that can be dragged in by the user. More importantly, the user can add their own original parts to this gallery. It reminds me of going to the Hockey Hall of Fame and having my voice over recorded while the image of a Stanley-cup winning goal was played – very exciting! Other fun elements, like being able to put your face in place of famous players/actors could be engaging.

The purpose of this game is to empower the youth as producers of media to believe that their voices can be heard. There is no better way to hold a government accountable than independent media. Also, as the locally-made soap operas of the Population Media Centre have shown, social change can be effected through value-driven storytelling.

This game offers a great deal in terms of the digital literacy that is required for the 21st century citizen. Ease and fluency with a variety of media, with a critical awareness of the hidden intentions of all media.

Comments

Thu, 2007-03-29 09:48 — Amil Husain, UN Millennium Campaign

Thinking about limitations

I think we need to keep in mind some of limitations of the $100 laptop and the audience it is going to.

The machines themselves are amazing, however they do have certain drawbacks. There is only a 500mb flash drive, most units will not have direct internet access, and the processioning power is not like we are accustomed to in rich countries.

The children playing the games will also not be very familiar with technology for the most part. For some it may be their first experience ever using a computer. Many of these children will have low to no literacy skills as well.

There are still terrific opportunities with the games on the laptops but we all need to think about some of the limitations as well

amil

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