I started a recent ICT lecture by showing a video clip of a man who has clearly had a bad day. Using an interactive voting system, I asked the students how many of them had ever hit a computer out of sheer frustration?
Of the 76 who responded, 41% said that they had never hit their computer! I didn't believe them, but perhaps I just have a shorter fuse than most people. However 26% admited that they had hit their computer often or fairly often - my kind of people!
The solution may be to play this game and take out aggressive tendencies vicariously. Unfortunately the instructions for the game are in a language that I don't understand, but if you click on the screen a few times, it becomes clear fairly quickly how it works. I would like to know however if there is an ultimate goal and if it is possible to win, so if any modern linguists are able to help out, I'd be very grateful.
Let me know if this saves your keyboard from further abuse!
Tags: game | technology
With my Babelfish firmly in one ear -- whoa, here comes my labyrinthitis again -- "Do click on the different parts of the computer, and observe the chestnuts (!?) that it delivers and the consequences. You bait yourself with him!"
ReplyDelete(Aren't on-line translators wonderful?)
Not sure about the relationship between "blows" and "total blows" once you're into the game, but I've got to hand it to you, David -- it is highly satisfying.
(The mouse is a tough little critter, isn't he?)
Thanks for this. The Babel translator probably falls somewhere between these two posts. It is wonderful that it can translate stuff for you, but more of a "not" when it comes up with things like "chestnuts"! I guess it's like that famous quote about performing poodles (which I will paraphrase since I can't be bothered looking it up): What's amazing is not how well they can walk on two legs, but that they can do it at all.
ReplyDeleteI found I could completely destroy the monitor and system unit, but the mouse and keyboard never seemed to die completely. Maybe I get bored to quickly even when destroying things. :-)
I love the computer destruction game. I have put it on my student blog and told them to have at it. It is the only allowed way that I will let them bang on it.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun!
Hello Vicki
ReplyDeleteI got a bit confused at first when I saw your comment because there is a girl in my church who has the same name and I was surprised that she had found my blog! :-) However, I suppose that it is even more surprising that a complete stranger finds my blog...
Anyway, thank you for your comments. I hope your students enjoy mindless destruction as much as mine do!