In the article, Wearing, Thinking, and Moving: Testing the Feasibility of Fitness Tracking with Urban Youth, it focuses mainly on how underfunded/under resourced communities are the ones who face and experience the most health problems. The reason being that these urban communities lack resources and funding. The researchers provided Fitbit bracelets to underprivileged students to track their movement. The study showed that these children had little to no movement and also did not have any interest in basic physical activity. The researchers were not surprised by this outcome. Individuals in low income areas such as this one are limited to basic everyday outdoor movement such as walking to school, walking around the block, walking to parks etc. because they are fearful of their personal safety. In the Ted Talk, “The Game That Can Give You 10 Extra Years of Life” by Jane McGonigal, she goes into depth about how big of a positive influence playing video games can have on an individual. She says that games can build positivity and motivation within oneself. This leads to living an overall longer life. Lastly, in the other article “Moral Development Through Social Narratives and Game Design” by Vikaros and Degand, both authors talk about the power that lies within social narratives one creates for themselves. Social narrative helps one develop awareness, moral reasoning, and autonomy. This can all happen through fantasy play, through the game and the player. Just like the Arthur game, video game players encounter social interactions which may lead them to solving a problem; something they can use in their everyday life. It is important that when a game designer is in the process of designing their game, they take into consideration life lessons and life tools to add into the game so video game users benefit from them, while having fun at the same time.
After the readings this week, I cannot deny the fact that video games indeed have more positive aspects to them than I could have ever imagined! It makes me wonder how and why people think so negatively of them. More people need to do their research before creating a negative bias toward a said topic. I do believe they should be used more in classrooms because it can make learning fun for all ages, which I believe SHOULD be a huge part of any type of learning.
In what ways do you guys think video games could have a positive impact in the classroom?
Natalie's Blog 
I’m glad that you have a positive opinion on video games. It is understandable that there are people that have a negative viewpoint of videogames, as they are seen as a form of entertainment, but that doesn’t mean that they are limited to that. You mention in your question whether video games can have a positive impacts in the classroom, and I think they can. I remember when I was in elementary and middle school some of my classrooms had “learning games” installed on the computers. There were some that were for practicing algebra, and another that was meant to help the students learn grammar. Though I don’t remember the specifics of the games, I remember enjoying them and I would compete with the other students to try and get the opportunity to play these games. Now if a game for a classroom were made now, there are a lot of options with devices, graphics, and gameplay they can use as the technology has changed so rapidly. I think it can work as a fantastic tool for students to refine their abilities in certain topics, but still with the inclusion of typical lesson learning with a teacher.
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