Nintendo...my one true lovemark

I remember, as a child, going into an arcade in the 1970’s and seeing nothing but pinball machines. Being part of the generation that saw the dawn of the video game, I spent most my childhood in the arcade. So to say that I’m a gamer would be an understatement. The one thing that solidified my status as a gamer was a company that not only pioneered the arcade market, but took the home gaming experience to a whole new level…Nintendo.

Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel.

Nintendo developed into a video game company, becoming one of the most influential in the industry, and Japan's third most valuable listed company, with a market value of over 85 billion dollars.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo


Not to sound melodramatic, but this company has had a major impact on my life. The memories I have of playing Nintendo games take me back to the best times of my life. I’ve spent countless hours slaying monsters, laying waste to bad guys, and taking down bosses…all due to Nintendo. So when gaming companies announce their next generation console, whatever Nintendo releases is always the first that I purchase.

I know that I have an emotional attachment to Nintendo and its games. Like I said before, Nintendo takes me back to the best times of my life. I know my emotions affect my judgment in purchasing Nintendo’s merchandise over other consoles (Playstation, Xbox, etc…). However, Nintendo is a solid company and its products are worth buying. It never fails to please and because this, I can overlook my emotions getting in the way…at least when it comes to games.

Pop culture as a teaching tool

  “Can popular culture be used in schools to enhance education?” This question is one that evokes a multitude of feelings in those who hear it. In some, it proposes the concept that anything can be used as a teaching tool and is gladly embraced. In others, it conjures up visions of children watching videos of Lady Gaga and texting friends rather than learning.

  Contrary to the opinions of many in our world, there is more to pop culture than music videos and cell phones. However, even they can be used as a teaching tool.

According to the Teresa Kruizenga at the University of Minnesota,

 “If my students, future teachers, get an opportunity to experience firsthand using pop culture they will be more likely to embrace popular culture as a tool to use within their classrooms as well.”

She goes on to extol the use of video clips in class by saying, “Video clips interspersed within lecture, whole group discussion as well as small group discussion can help get direct discussions to the heart of the issue as well as help to make connections to valuable concepts.”

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/kruiz002/kyle/2008/07/using_pop_culture_in_the_class.html

An example of using video in the classroom is depicted in the following clip by Lisa Friedrich-Harris, the director of college writing at Baker College:

Despite the fact that we live in the 21^st century, many in our world still have an aversion to using pop culture as a teaching tool. Maybe it’s because they are unaware of how it can be used in the classroom. All someone has to do is look at the history of this planet. Throughout history, societies as a whole have used some form of their pop culture as a teaching tool. One example of this would be in prehistoric societies where cave paintings were used by the old to teach the young about the world they live in.

Pop culture won’t cure cancer or manufacture automobiles, but to dismiss it as pure nonsense without studying its benefits will leave our worlds teachers with one less instrument to educate students with.