(Google Docs + 21st Century Learners) X Collaboration = Yay

T'will be a shorter post than my usual marathons, so allow yourself a sigh of relief.

Recently I discussed how I agree with some forward thinkers that video games might be able to save the world. Okay, I at least believe that online games have a positive place in education. One of the gaming world's strongest assets is its supportive and collaborative environment. When gamers work together, they achieve some pretty amazing things.

Collaboration is where the 21st century is at, and some pretty amazing web tools are allowing for some pretty amazing collaborative environments.

One in particular that I have never much paid much attention to is Google Docs. I've used it for some basic functions - online word processing, saving work in the virtual cloud, etc. It's nice to have that seemingly limitless availability of storage space that can be accessed from any online connection. And, for the most part, we don't have to worry about computer crashes and lost work when it's saved on the cloud.

But Google Docs apparently allows for a lot more than word processing and peace-of-mind storage. Check out this video that a friend recently shared with me, highlighting some of the impressive products of Google Docs: Google Demo Slam: Epic Docs Animation.

Pretty freaking cool, RIGHT?

Making the future, one video-gamer at a time.

"I have seen am making the future." - Jane McGonical and the Institute for the Future.

I grew up thinking video games were bad. They were a fun way to waste time, but they ultimately caused children to go numb with stupidity and a lack of awareness for their surroundings. They could be played completely stationary, allowing a child to exert little-to-no energy, save for the twiddling of their thumbs. They could be played alone, isolating a child from friends and family. And...they seemed to be the number one way to procrastinate doing homework.

All things bad.

There was and still is a stigma tagged to video-game-playing-children (assigned mostly by the mothers of their non-video-game-playing friends) that seems to say you're not good at many things, are you? Not good at school, not good at sports, probably not very good at playing with other kids, either.

My older brother is a gamer. He has gamer friends. And, over the years, I've watched him become engrossed in one game and then another, coming down for dinner only after reaching the coveted "save point," doing homework assignments only during mandatory game breaks, and taking little interest in things like "books," unless they are filled with game strategies and cheats.

I'm not going to lie to you...I was unimpressed. I was the little sister, the one who always did well in school. The one who could be found studying or at an extra-curricular event, pulling all-nighters even in high school. The one who, save for a Super Mario game here and there, had little interest in (nor talent for) video games. So when Older Brother used to peep into my room to congratulate me for a good report card and express how he wished he could do as well as me in school, there was little sympathy on my end.

What does this nostalgic look at video games have to do with my journey into the world of library? Well...two things have recently forced me to take a different look at video games and the gamers who play them. Nay, conquer them.