Author: John Ayers

#Kids play 10,000 hours of #video #games. A look at Pro social games and why #parents should know about them.

/ John Ayers / Leave a comment
There are (at times) videos such as those found at TED talks that inspire me, concern me, motivate me and I will share them.

This video (not from TED) came in to my in-box this morning and I had to share it. 

fora.tv – (the world is thinking) offers up a discussion that has been bouncing around for years… what is the effect of video games on our children’s development?  First person shooters have been one of the focuses… if a child plays violent games for 10,000 hours there is reasonable concern this may have a negative impact on the child’s behavior. 

Researchers are flipping this upside down and asking … Can games be positive to your child? Can games have a social impact to benefit your child’s behavior? If so, what games, how, how much, how often, to what degree?

I suggest, that if you are a young gamer, have kids that are playing, you should be informed. This talk will help you start at the tip of the ice berg on this discussion.   http://www.youtube.com/v/TXMLzlwnfAs&hl=en&fs=1

These are just a few of the many, many articles, studies and finding on this subject.
What is a ProSocial Video Game? Learn here. or see complete research pdf
This is a great article worth reading; PsycologyToday
Amazing research if you have interest can be found here. 
And have a look at this from Education.com

#Kids play 10,000 hours of #video #games. A look at Pro social games and why #parents should know about them.

/ John Ayers / Leave a comment

There are (at times) videos such as those found at TED talks that inspire me, concern me, motivate me and I will share them.

This video (not from TED) came in to my in-box this morning and I had to share it. 

fora.tv – (the world is thinking) offers up a discussion that has been bouncing around for years… what is the effect of video games on our children’s development?  First person shooters have been one of the focuses… if a child plays violent games for 10,000 hours there is reasonable concern this may have a negative impact on the child’s behavior. 

Researchers are flipping this upside down and asking … Can games be positive to your child? Can games have a social impact to benefit your child’s behavior? If so, what games, how, how much, how often, to what degree?

I suggest, that if you are a young gamer, have kids that are playing, you should be informed. This talk will help you start at the tip of the ice berg on this discussion.   

These are just a few of the many, many articles, studies and finding on this subject.
What is a ProSocial Video Game? Learn here. or see complete research pdf
This is a great article worth reading; PsycologyToday
Amazing research if you have interest can be found here. 
And have a look at this from Education.com

Why you should #Unsubscribe. Make your 2011 on-line connections more about quality not quantity.

/ John Ayers / Leave a comment

The fact of the matter is years ago, it was tough to have too much information, we had to seek it out. But then, eventually it migrated to us and many would eventually over-subscribe to publications getting several magazines, newspapers, and dozens of junk mail items because we were on a ‘list’. This behavior is one that we have all grown up with for the past several years, well, nearly a half a century if you really think about it.

A few newspapers turned into dozens per city, with smaller publications for communities, newsletters for this or for that. And then a few major magazines several decades ago grew into an incredible volume of niche publications for everything from monthly magazines on ‘growing yellow daisies’ to ‘cooking with olive oil’. 

We have seen over this past decade that we are a society that is moving or has already moved to the digital/mobile space and if you are anything like me, you have subscribed and oversubscribed to blogs, emails, digital publications, follow Twitter accounts you’re not sure why, friend people on Facebook who aren’t really friends, and have accepted Foursquare requests from people you don’t know and the list goes on. You wake up with 143 emails in the morning and 135 of them aren’t important.

Lets see what WIKI has to say about UNSUBSCRIBE… which is often called ‘opt-out’ .

As the year comes to an end… and we step into a new decade, I am suggesting that this is a great time to consider the quality of your on-line relationships. Your Facebook friends, your Twitter account(s), your digital  ‘subscriptions’, the blogs your read, the social networks you’re in or on. Be careful of the unsubscribe ‘bait n switch’ where you click to unsubscribe only to find you have just subscribed to something else because you didn’t uncheck a box.  Rather than quantity, consider the quality, go for the content that is really helpful and meaningful to you. 

You will enter the new year with a cleaner slate of valuable information, quality friend connections and relevant content that you can manage, rather than the content managing you. A little insider speak, but marketers (in all honesty) love you for this. It is often referred to as permissive marketing. Which is a fancy way for us to see that you really want the information to come to you. You are permitting someone to tell you something, and that is golden to an advertiser.

I apologize in advance if I purge you from my list, but no hard feelings. :•)
Here’s to 2011 and a simpler, more meaningful on-line experience.
John