Month: March 2021

Why I choose this topic: The reason why I choose this topic is that it’s a topic that everyone will have some connection to. As playing video games becomes more and more popular people should understand its effects on us. We should educate ourselves to understand the problems and the benefits that come with our decision.

Group Topic: The effects of screen time use on humans.

My Topic: The positive effects of playing video games on mental health.

Question: 

1. How have video games improved mental health for gamers?
2. How has playing video games had an impact on psychological development in children and teens? 
3. Do internet games and video games vary in the ability to improve the mental health of their players? 
4. Does the advancement in gaming change the effects gaming has on their mental health? [I’m not sure I understand what this question is asking. Maybe try to rephrase it.]

Source #1: 

Title: The benefits of playing Video Games

Granic, I., Lobel, A., & M. E. Engels, R. C. (2014). The Benefits of Playing Video Games. American Psychologist, 69(1), 66–78. https://doi-org.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/10.1037/a0034857

Summary:  

As video games become more popular in society today, there are many benefits associated with them. Playing video games has allowed benefits in four categories cognitive, motivational, emotional, and socially. The cognitive benefits of playing video games included the improvement of spatial skills, developing problem-solving skills, and increasing creativity. Gaming improves motivation by making children believe that intelligence can be obtained through hard work, and that failure is part of life and should be faced with optimism. Emotional benefits of gaming included allowing the gamer to experience positive feelings, and allow people to develop skills to help them adjust to changes around them and to negative emotions. The social benefits associated with gaming are they allow the individual to learn skills like cooperation, teamwork, leadership skills, and helping behavior. Video games have been found to be beneficial in mental health and education because video games create fun, making health treatments and learning fun.  [This is a clear and concise summary. Nice work.]

Reflection: 

This journal article gave an overview of how video games are beneficial to the mental health and psychological development of children and teens. Many of the benefits stated in the article are key skills people value in society to become successful. In this source, it does not have a lot of information about the mental health effects video games have on individuals. Since it focuses on the psychological effects it has on individuals playing games. There is a connection between psychological effects and mental health effects. Since psychological thought is the key component in understanding mental health in humans. The psychological effects allow individuals to develop skills that will affect the mental health of the person, which is one factor I needed to understand, in order, to understand the mental effects gaming has on us. [I think you could include a more specific example of this so that your readers understand exactly how the psychological effects are connected to mental health.] Also, as a project idea, we could see if we can use video games as a treatment to improve the mental health of individuals. 

Paraphrases/Quotes: “For example, in his qualitative research on children’s play conversations, Gottman (1986) showed how children use play for emotional mastery in their real lives. Whereas adolescents and adults often use self-disclosure and direct discussion with close friends to resolve emotional issues, children use play to work them out through pretend-based narratives enacted either alone or with others” (Granic et al, 2014, p 67). 

Paraphrases This Quote: Playing is important to children because it allows them to learn emotional and social skills. Adults and teens express their emotions through socialization and are more direct. [Great paraphrase!]

 Reason: The reason why I choose to paraphrase this section is because the authors brought up a very interesting point about playing. It allows for a better understanding of the topics and reasons brought up after this section. I found that playing is a key component in understanding the mental effects of gaming. Since essentially gaming is a form of playing. 

Quote: “For example, two large-scale survey studies have found that 3% of Dutch (van Rooij, Schoenmakers, Vermulst, van den Eijnden, & van de Mheen, 2011) and about 8% of U.S. youth (Gentile, 2009) who play video games exhibit pathological symptoms of addiction (i.e., damage to family, school, or psychological functioning)”(Granic et al, 2014, p.74). 

Reason: I quoted this section because it brought up the opposing end of the argument. It shows data on the negative effects of playing video games. This section can be used as statistical evidence to make my counterclaim strong.  

Source #2:

Title: Video gaming can benefit mental health, find Oxford academics

Alex Hern Technology editor. (November 16, 2020, Monday). Video gaming can benefit mental health, find Oxford academics. The Guardian (London). https://advance-lexis-com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:619H-27N1-DY4H-K1FW-00000-00&context=1516831.

Summary: 

In an Oxford study, it was found that playing video games was good for mental health. The study focuses on two games, Nintendo’s springtime craze Animal Crossing and Plant vs. Zombies: Battle of Neighborville. The Oxford study was one of the very few studies done on play-time data. The leading researcher Andrew Przybylski found that even the video game companies had very little data about their users. In his study, he found that if people play Animal Crossing, four hours a day will allow the player to be happier. [How did the researcher reach this conclusion?] Przybylski did mention that as the study continues they will find information about the negative side effects of games. Some limitations to this study included it only focused on two games that were suitable to all age groups, people’s views on gaming are different, and the intrinsic and extrinsic enjoyment. Researchers hope to bring more attention to this topic since there is not a lot of data on it, and it is a very common problem in society today. 

Reflection: 

The researchers do bring up a good point, there really was not that much research that has gone into looking into video game effects on mental health. Since video games have been so popular in the past decade and there are still effects we don’t understand. The study provides a good source of scientific data to support my claim. The study can connect with the research found in “The benefits of playing video games,” they both agree that playing video games can bring happiness to the player creating a better mental state. It’s surprising that even game companies don’t have a lot of data on their users. Since many would believe game companies have a lot of data on their users because data from their users are a really good source of information to analyze their markets, to create new games, understand what trends there are, and many more things the data is useful for. [This is interesting, especially since gaming has been around since the 1970s. I wonder if companies/researchers are getting more data now that most games are online?]

Paraphrase/ Quotes:

Quote: “The study, which focused on players of Nintendo’s springtime craze Animal Crossing, as well as EA’s shooter Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, found that people who played more games tended to report greater “wellbeing”, casting further doubt on reports that video gaming can harm mental health”(Hern, November 2020).

Reason: The reason why I quote this section is because it states the outcome of the study done by Oxford. It also acknowledges the other side of the argument, which makes the statement it’s making stronger. 

Quote: 

“Crucially, the study was one of the first to be done using actual play-time data. Thanks to the internet-connected nature of the games, the Oxford University team was able to link up psychological questionnaires with true records of time spent playing games. Previous studies had tended to focus on self-reported time playing, which is, the study found, only weakly correlated with reality” (Hern, November 2020).

Paraphrase: The study uses play-time data because the games used were internet connectable games. The researchers used surveys to collect the actual time the individual played the game. Studies done before were using self-reported play times, which was not close to reality (Hern, November 2020).

Reason: The reason why I paraphrase this section is because this section describes the method the researcher used in this study. Including the methods of collecting, data makes the data and conclusion of the study more reliable and believable. I would include this with the previous section to make my point stronger and supported. [Great! It would be a good idea to also mention the methods/results in your summary or analysis too.]

It looks like you have found two sources that will help you with your topic. Both of them appear to address your first research question so it might be a good idea to focus on that and forget about the other questions for now. You don’t want to risk including topics that are only loosely related. Also, in your summaries, make sure you are explaining how the researchers are getting to their results. Did they observe gamers and then ask questions? Did they play games with a group of people and then have an interview? Explaining these details will give your readers a clear understanding of where these conclusions are coming from. 

Research Topic 

• I wanted to research something about video games as it is something I am really fond about. Usually the common stereotype is that people who play video games are typically really unhealthy and I wanna look into that. Why is this happening and maybe there will be a way to fix it.

 

Research Questions

• How has video games affected the physical health of video game addiction?

 

Entry 1

Zamani, E., Chashmi, M., & Hedayati, N. (2009). Effect of addiction to computer games on physical and mental health of female and male students of guidance school in city of isfahan. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3905489/

Summary

This was a study that sampled 564 students in Iran about how video games might correlate with abilities of a normal human being. They collected data based on their “physical health, anxiety and sleeplessness and impaired social functioning” using a questionnaire. They selected one random girl and boy from each school from 3 of the 5 districts within Isfahan Board of Education. The mean age of participants ended up to be 13. Through this they discovered that there was a positive correlation between student computer games and their “physical health, anxiety and sleeplessness”, while there was a negative correlation with “social functioning”. This study already enforces what is well known about the common world of gaming with the real world and tells us using statistics. Then they described how big video games were for the boys in Iran in their free time and how they do not notice their life passing. [This seems like a good source for your topic. You’ve also done a nice job summarizing the main ideas and adding some key details.]

Reflection

Even though this is a study within a different part of the world in the middle of Iran, I still think that this is useful to know. I chose this article because it showed statistics of correlations between some of the key points against playing video games. [Good reason to use this source] People who are addicted to video games usually end up being really socially awkward and physically unhealthy. I can relate to this as this has happened to me during my high school year and these statistics really show the correlation. Currently I am still struggling with sleeplessness as it is really common within people who play video games. They lose track of time and stay up longer than they think it is. The depression one is questionable but I still have seen examples of these from streamers who hate what they do streaming the same thing over and over again. [Is the depression questionable because you haven’t experienced it or because the research from your source didn’t do a good job of proving this correlation?] Like for example some numbers brought up is that the correlation is “level P ≤ 0.05” meaning the information is most accurate and making the relationship of the correlation more enforced. [Be careful presenting data out of context. What exactly does level P mean? Can you give a more detailed explanation about this data?]

Paraphrased section

“Most studies show that playing too many computer games cause physical damages and increase anxiety and depression in players. This goes to adults too, who usually have high heart beat and high blood pressure due to stress and excitement. The problem is that they forget time is passing and people forget to eat which causes a bad relationship within your body systems. There are various causes for the correlation between games and physical health. The first one is that addiction can cause disorder and increase anxiety and depression. Second is that a disorder might have caused the correlation. The third one is that they create each other, the addiction and the disorder.” [Is this the original or the paraphrase?]

I chose to paraphrase this section because it talks about where the possibility of gaming addictions come from. They also describe the effects of playing games and how it can affect a person.

Entry 2

Peter Grinspoon, M. (2020, December 22). The health effects of too much gaming. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-health-effects-of-too-much-gaming-2020122221645

Summary

This article tells us about the type of people playing video games and the effects. Contrary to popular beliefs, it isn’t just teens that play as only 21% of gamers are under 18. There are some good effects of gaming aside from being fun and entertaining. It can build a virtual community that helps each other and games can help people improve spatial reasoning. Not only that but it can help people with ADHD with thinking skills. But there can be side effects like inflammation of a nerve on the wrist as gamers use their wrist and arm a lot. Gaming usually also leads to obesity in both teens and adults which has multiple health conditions as people eat way more than they normally should. Another common issue is vision as you can get loads of screen time a day more than a regular person should be getting which can possibly lead to seizures. They have something called “internet gaming disorder (IGD)”, which is gaming addiction to a higher degree. This leads to a lot of social problems like education and job opportunity losses to even gaming withdrawal if they stop. They claim that gaming is associated with sleep deprivation, insomnia, anxiety, etc. They conclude by saying that “video games can be fun and a social activity when integrated into a healthy lifestyle”. [Generally, you should avoid using quotes in summary writing]

Reflection

I completely agree with this article. [Remember, we try to avoid “agree/disagree” when we are writing an analysis because our analysis should be objective] I chose this article because it had the name Harvard under it and Harvard is an extremely well known and powerful college. I found this article really interesting as it also mentions the benefits of gaming which is that it can build a community where you can help others. It also talks about negatives too and even brings up the issue of gaming addiction which is a really serious problem. There was also something called IGD which they bought up and the statistics is that 1-2% of all gamers are just addicted and this cause a lot of social problems within the person. Most of the time people who have video game addiction that are really competitive and play by themself usually end up becoming some of the most aggressive and egocentric people I meet. It also concluded with a really good message at the end saying that video games can be really useful if you integrate it within your lifestyle as it can help you be more fun and social. I agree with all of this as through my 8 years of playing games back to back and some years where I was addicted, I can relate to this article. 

Paraphrased section

Education can help to prevent injury and gamers need to know how to promote their thumbs, elbows and their body. Simply learning how to stretch eat healthier and rest better can address injuries early before they become serious. For the eyes, they can try the 20-20-20 rule where every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

I to paraphrase this as this is a really good piece of information to know. Learning to exercise can really help a person and the 20-20-20 rule is just really neat to learn too.

It looks like you are off to a good start. These two sources are clearly connected to your topic. Just make sure you start to think about how you are going to turn your topic into an argument-based essay. Are you going to take the stance that gaming does more harm than good? Or are you going to attempt to persuade your audience that there is much to be gain from playing games? We want to try to avoid an essay that simply presents two sides of the argument and/or your opinions about the issue.  

Annotated Bibliography-

My Topic

The topic I choose is how COVID affects the tourism industry. I choose this topic because I think it’s important to keep this industry moving on even though it’s hard to travel now. Traveling has been one of the most relaxing things for people to do. It is one of those large industries all over the world. I think it’s a good topic to focus on since our group is inventing an app about virtual traveling. 

Research Questions

1.What actions or changes does the tourism industry do in order to keep their business going during a pandemic?

2.What impact COVID-19 brought on the tourism industry? [This question can probably be combined with the first one]

3.How traveling, these types of relaxing activities, help our mood during pandemic?

4.Why is it important to keep this industry going?

 

Reference Entry #1

World tourism organization. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://www.unwto.org/tourism-and-covid-19-unprecedented-economic-impacts

Summary

Tourism is a large industry in this globalized world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it had challenged this industry in several aspects including the economic side and social side. Due to the pandemic, the revenue and GDP for the tourism industry had decreased. Tourism industry provided many job opportunities all over the world. As the research showed, 100 million tourism jobs are at risk now. Traveling got restricted. People who worked in this industry are now facing unemployment. Though it had negative impacts on our economy, it also brought us some positive impacts. The reduction in tourism actually helped protect our environment. The earth is becoming more healthy and green because there are less human activities involved. To maintain the movement of the economic flow, many people are trying different ways to restart tourism. One of the ideas is to move tourism into a digital format. This gave them a new choice to keep their industry moving. [This is a good source for general background information about your topic.]

Reflection

I really like this source because this article provided me different aspects on the impact COVID-19 brought on tourism. They gave us both negative and positive sides. I’m shocked by the data they provided. Before reading the article, I knew that there would be harm to the tourism industry but I never knew that much money was lost during this short period of time. It showed how strong the connection between people and traveling is. Including the workers who work in this industry. Many female and young workers are affected by the pandemic. [This is very interesting and it might be something worth looking at even deeper. Why is it that many of the workers being affected are young females?] Besides the negative effects, I never think that it could help us rebuild our environment. It’s amazing but also sarcaming that our happiness is the painfulness of our environment. To further operate the tourism industry, they had come up with several ways to restart traveling. I’m very impressed that they could find out that many alternative ways. [Which examples were most impressive for you?] It’s a great idea to balance out their advantages and disadvantages.

Paraphrase

“Tourism supports one in 10 jobs and provides livelihoods for many millions more in both developing and developed economies.” [This is another interesting piece of information because it makes me wonder how developing countries have been impacted by the loss of tourism revenue streams.]

• Many people weighed their life and money by being part of the tourism industry. 
• I choose this quote because it feels a little bit confusing and not flowy. I think they need to clarify this statement so that people won’t get too confused. To paraphrase this quote, it gave me a clearer understanding about this statement.

Reference Entry #2

Virtual travel experiences to enjoy now. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.boatinternational.com/destinations/virtual-travel-tours-trips-vr-experiences–43207

Summary 

Due to the coronavirus, people can not travel as they want to as usual. To rebuild their economy back, the tourism industry needs to find ways to keep their business going. Since the technology developed, there are more options than before. One of the ideas they think of is to combine traveling and technology. The invention of VR(virtual reality) technology helped them achieve their goal during times like pandemic. They added many different scenarios and experiences for people to try at home. Including having a tour in a national park, having a sightseeing tour, taking lessons for scuba diving, experiencing a fancy hotel at home, having a museum tour, and watching theatre performancing. Every fun thing people do can now all do it at home. We can still enjoy ourselves and have fun in pandemic without exposing ourselves out in public. Even though the experience is still different from the real life experience, it’s a way for us to connect ourselves to the world during this pandemic.

Reflection

Since the product for our group is going to be virtual traveling, I think this article really provides us many things we can do through mobile and or technology devices. COVID-19 brought traumatic damages on the economic system and social events. [I wonder how virtual travel experiences can bring money back to the countries where COVID impacted their tourism industries. Will these countries recover or will virtual travel hurt them even more?] Many entertainments are forbidden during this time period. Such as some of the festivals we usually held and the breaks we had during winter and spring. To stop the spread of COVID, it’s better for us to stay at home. However, it’s still important for us to keep our emotions in place so that we could still be positive. In this article, they mention combining technology with traveling experience. Though it’s not real life, the idea is fresh and cool. They bring more possibilities and options for people to have during quarantine time. In other words, we can experience fun activities at home without going out. Virtual reality really brought us into a different world where reality and our dream can be an alliance.

Paraphrase

“One way of getting tourists to travel abroad from the comfort of their own homes is through virtual reality (VR) technology and 360-degree videography. We round up the best virtual travel tours and online travel experiences that can be enjoyed online right now.”

• Virtual reality, as known as VR technology, is a 360-degree videography. During times like the pandemic where people can’t not go out and travel freely like usual, it’s a win-win that people can stay home and travel at the same time. We collected many different programs where you can enjoy various activities online right now.
• I choose this paragraph to paraphrase because this is supposed to be the major “topic sentence” for this entire article. I think they can be more attractive and clearly stated their benefits so that people would be more interested in it.

You’re off to a good start with your sources. It seems to me like you are focusing on the impact that COVID has had on tourism economies and how certain companies have tried to adapt by using virtual reality. This definitely leaves you open to form a strong argument later, when we write the essay.

Why I Choose my Topic:

Because of how accessible technology is nowadays. 86% of American households have access to the internet. I decided to research how technology affects the way people socialize online and their ability to socialize.

Researching Questions: 

Main Questions: How does the internet affect our social abilities? [I think we need to take this a little deeper. Right now, this question is pretty easy to answer without doing much research. Are you thinking more about how our interactions online might affect the way we socialize with people offline?]

Sub – Questions: 

1. How does the internet let us connect with others? [I think this question is easily answered; and therefore, shouldn’t be something you focus for this project]
2. Is it easier to make new friends through the internet? [I also think this question is too subjective. Some people will say “yes” and others will say “no”. I don’t think there is a scientific way to prove one answer over the other.]
3. Does the internet strengthen our community as a whole?
   
4. How does it vary based on heavy internet users and average users?

Article 1: Wellman, Berry, et al. Does the Internet Increase, Decrease or Supplement Social Capital. 

https://www.mysocialnetwork.net/downloads/offprint/Does%20the%20Internet%20Increase,%20Decrease,%20or%20Supplement%20Social%20Capital%202001.pdf  

Summary: The internet does serve as an alternative to both face-to-face and telephone communication enhancing relationships both online and offline. [How does it do this?] It also allows people with similar interests to communicate regardless of the distance and time. This allows a stronger community. The Internet also promotes democracy by providing an easier way to spread and voice out their beliefs. [This is true in some places but not everywhere] The internet enhances face-to-face interactions as members are more aware of the others’ needs and likes (music, picture, organizations, etc). [Do you mean it enhances face-to-face interactions among strangers? Or among friends, co-workers, family, etc?]

Paraphrase: To see the effect of the internet we need to first understand what it was like without the internet. With a spatially dispersed community the internet serves as an additional way to communicate besides face-to-face and telephone. And during the period of decline in organization participation we see the internet serve as a solution to increase involvement. [Is this the original passage or the paraphrased version?]

Analysis: This article helps answer the third question regarding how the internet strengthens the community. We see how the internet allows others to broadcast their views and form or join organizations that share the same opinion. [This analysis section is very short and does not give specific examples of how this source will help you connect your ideas and strengthen your argument.]

Article 2:Nancy K. Baym, Yan Bing Zhang, Mei-Chen Lin. Social Interaction across Media: interpersonal communication on the internet, face-to-face and the telephone. [What year was this written?]

Summary: Based on a study on college students and the three forms of communion: online interaction, face-to-face, and telephone. While it concluded that while the internet plays an important role in their social lives, face-to-face and telephone still serves as the main way of communicating. [Interesting. Are these people communicating on the phone without using the internet?]We also see internet users more likely than non-users to spend time with friends or clubs outside. There are often misconceptions that the internet affects the ability of young adults to communicate in person which is not true as on average consistent users, while enjoying online social communication, still prefer face-to-face interaction.

Paraphrase: When determining how the internet affects someone’s social ability we also need to take into account how often they spend on the internet. There are heavy users, average users, and light users. Heavy users often spend less time with their family and prefer online interactions without seeing the other person. Average users and light users prefer face-to-face interactions or telephone. 

Analysis: This article is important because while it provides evidence to my research topic it also provides counter arguments. It also splits the internet users into three categories and this is important because it does affect their preference. 

You sources seem to point towards the notion that people who interact in online communities will have an easier time socializing in face-to-face settings. Is this the direction you want to go with your essay? If so, I think it can be an interesting project. You do need to review the assignment page though. Your entries are missing important information and your analysis sections are much too vague for me to understand how these sources will help you with your research project and essay.

Topic: I am researching how social media affects people’s mental health. I think this topic is important because many people have many psychological problems because of the use of social media. I want others to know and understand it.

Research Questions: 

1. How common is nomophobia in college students?
2. How nomophobia affects people?
3. How to overcome nomophobia.

[We talked about this over email, but I think nomophobia and social media addiction are two different things. They may be connected, but that is something that you’ll have to research to find out.]

Entry 1

Reference Entry

Jilisha, G., Venkatachalam, J., Menon, V., & Olickal, J. J. (2019). Nomophobia: A MIXED-METHODS study On PREVALENCE, Associated factors, and perception among college students in PUDUCHERRY, INDIA. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 41(6), 541-548. doi:10.4103/ijpsym.ijpsym_130_19. 

Interesting Quotes and Paraphrases of Key Points

➢ According to Jilisha, Menon and Olickal (2019), “A sizable minority of the students had signs of severe nomophobia, distinct patterns of usage, and misperceptions regarding health and their usage pattern.”

• Reason for Selecting this Quote: This quote directly points out that nomophobia is common among college students and many of them did not understand it.

➢I want to paraphrase the next paragraph because it shows the result of experiment that how dependent the participants are on the smartphones. Thirty forms were found to be incomplete. Sociodemographic characteristics of the participants are depicted in [Table 1]. Duration of smartphone usage was found to be 3-6 hours in nearly half of the participants (52.1%), and 19% of the participants even reported using their smartphone for 7 hours and more per day. Nearly half of the participants (48.6%) checked their phones at least 4-6 times per hour. Social networking and music were found to be the most used utilities in smartphones, with an almost equal proportion of the participants reporting it as the purpose of maximum usage (20% and 22%, respectively). Smartphone use was found to be maximum during leisure time (46.6%), followed by the time before sleeping (31.7%). Around 65% of the students admitted that they sometimes check their smartphones without any particular reason. Half of the participants (51.5%) reported that others have told them that they were using their smartphones too much. Nearly 38% felt that their smartphone use was hampering their academic performance, and 55% said that they check their smartphones as soon as they get up in the morning. Out of 774 responses from participants, the highest proportion of perceived ill health effect due to smartphone use was reported for headache (23.6%), followed by eye strain (21.8%). No perceived ill health was reported by 106 respondents [Table 2].{Table 1}{Table 2} (Jilisha, Menon and Olickal (2019).

 

• Paraphrase of this Quote: Based on the experiment, more than half of the participants in the experiment spend a lot of time using smartphones every day. Most of them use mobile phones during leisure time and while sleeping. Nearly 40% of the participants said that using smartphones hindered learning. More than half of the participants said that they would check their smartphones immediately after waking up in the morning. At the same time, nearly half of the participants said that using smartphones has an impact on their health (Jilisha, Menon and Olickal, 2019).

 

Summary

Jilisha, Menon, and Olickal (2019) illustrate the key point that young people have nomophobia. They proved this point through experiments. According to the experiment, more than 20% of the participants [Who were the participants?] have severe nomophobia. More than half of the participants in the experiment spend a lot of time using smartphones every day. Most of them use mobile phones during leisure time and while sleeping. [Do you mean while they should be sleeping?] Nearly 40% of the participants said that using smartphones hindered learning. More than half of the participants said that they would check their smartphones immediately after waking up in the morning. At the same time, nearly half of the participants said that using smartphones has an impact on their health. (Jilisha, Menon and Olickal, 2019) Finally, Jilisha, Menon and Olickal (2019) use the research in these research reports as a conclusion, It shows that it is increasingly difficult for young people to distinguish the boundary between normal smartphone use and addiction. Relevant institutions need to take measures to educate about nomophobia. [Did the researchers mention social media, specifically in this article?]

Response/Analysis

From my perspective, it is quite reasonable that nomophobia is very common among the college students. Over time, more and more people can use smartphones, and more and more people suffer from nomophobia. As the experiment shows, there are many college students who use smartphones for a long time every day. I believe that many college students rely on smartphones to varying degrees. They use smartphones to do many things. At first, they may use smartphones only to send messages to their parents or friends. Then, they use smartphones to do something else like play games and watch video. And this is why they slowly began to change from normal use of smartphones to gradually becoming addicted to smartphones, and finally get nomophobia. Some of them will feel uncomfortable without using a smartphone. This can be said to be a phenomenon of nomophobia. What makes matters worse is that the young people like college students often ignore the severity of the effects of nomophobia. Thus, causing serious harm to their body and mind. [I suggest explaining what nomophobia means because not all of your readers will know]

Entry 2

Reference Entry

Cole, L. (2020, August 28). What is nomophobia? Am I addicted to My Phone?: Mentalup. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.mentalup.co/blog/phone-addiction

Interesting Quotes and Paraphrases of Key Points

➢ According to Cole (2020, August 28), “Nomophobia symptoms can include anxiety, respiratory alterations, trembling, perspiration, agitation, disorientation and tachycardia.”

•         Reason for Selecting this Quote: I think this sentence directly indicates the symptoms of phobia. This is exactly what I was looking for. [I think you can paraphrase this. We typically don’t use quotes of exact words unless we can’t use our own words to have the same impact]

➢I want to paraphrase the next paragraph because it shows the effect of child and teenagers as they addicted to smartphone.

Kids and teenagers addicted to phones can experience:

•         Learning difficulties
•         Lack of concentration and focus
•         Behavioral problems
•         Personality problems
•         Eating disorders
•         Sleeping disorders
•         Socializing problems

Along with other mental and physical problems. As always, one addiction can lead to another. Kids addicted to phones can, later on, pick up a gaming disorder or other addictions as well. Keeping an eye out for teenage cell phone addiction symptoms and interfering when needed has extreme importance to prevent your child from developing nomophobia or phone addiction (Cole (2020, August 28).

Paraphrase of this Quote: Indulging in smartphones can have many effects on children and young people, including physical and psychological aspects. Addiction to smartphones can also make them addicted to other things. It is very important to pay attention to children and teenagers. When they become addicted to smartphones, they should be intervened in time (Cole (2020, August 28).

Summary

Cole (2020, August 28) explained in her article the impact of being addicted to smartphones as a product of mobile technology. The author first defines what is nomophobia, the symptoms of nomophobia, and the definition of mobile phone addiction. Then, the author enumerated the phenomenon and impact of mobile phone addiction. One of the most important is the physical and psychological effects of mobile phone addiction on children and adolescents, such as learning difficulties, lack of concentration and focus, behavioral problems, personality problems and eating disorders. The author says that one type of addiction leads to another type of addiction. If people do not intervene in time, children and teenagers who are addicted to mobile phones are likely to suffer from other addictions. Pay close attention and timely intervention are very important. Cole (2020, August 28) Finally, Cole (2020, August 28) introduces some methods to stop phone addiction to end the article.

Response/Analysis

         This article will focus on the impact of mobile phone addiction to people. I believe that many people are addicted to mobile phones to varying degrees. [Remember, in analysis writing we try to avoid agree/disagree statements so that we can be objective] And this makes people suffer from the effects of addiction to mobile phones. Whether it is children, young people, or adults, they are all affected by mobile phone addiction or nomophobia. I firmly agree with the following point: Excessive use of mobile phones will lead to negative effects. I believe that anyone who is addicted to mobile phones or has nomophobia will have different effects. We have to closely observe the relatives or friends around us. It is very important to find out their symptoms in time. Once we find that they have signs of addiction to mobile phones or nomophobia, we should pay close attention to them. Let them know how addiction to mobile phones or nomophobia will affect themselves. And help them get rid of mobile phone addiction or nomophobia.

It looks like you are off to a good start with the sources you have chose. You should be able to construct a solid argument for your essay. 

Here is a sample bibliography entry. Remember, you’ll need to include 2 entries for this draft.

Topic: I am researching the differences between Chinese and Western parenting styles. This topic is interesting to me because I’ve spent half of my life in China and the other half in the US. I can see a difference between my parents’ style and my American friends’ parents.

Research Question: How do cultural beliefs affect parenting styles?

Reference Entry #1
Chua, A. (2011). Why Chinese mothers are superior. Wall Street Journal, 8.

Interesting Quotes and Paraphrases of Key Points
According to Chua (2011), “the Chinese parent believes that their child will be strong enough to take the shaming and to improve from it” (p. 2).

Reason for Selecting this Quote: I am surprised that the author defends shaming children, so I took this quote out of the reading to allow me to show to the reader that the author did make this surprising claim that children should be shamed. After showing in my writing that Chua did make this surprising statement, I will then proceed to provide evidence against shaming.

I want to paraphrase the following paragraph because it captures a critical distinction between Chinese and Western parenting:

Western parents try to respect their children’s individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they’re capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away (Chua, 2011, p. 4).

Paraphrase of this Quote: While Western parents value and nurture individuality, passions, and choices, Chinese parents focus on instilling useful skills, hard work, and unshakable confidence in their children (Chua, 2011, p. 4).

Summary of Main Ideas
Chua (2011) highlights the difference between Chinese and Western parenting, focusing on the characteristics of Chinese parenting. She argues that children build confidence when they excel at such a skill as playing a musical instrument after rigorous practice. Also, she calls for shaming and punishing children when they are not respectful or fail to receive an A in school. In fact, she states that:

Western parents try to respect their children’s individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they’re capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away (Chua, 2011, p. 4).

In addition, the author maintains that Chinese children must spend their lives repaying their parents and making them proud. In order to illustrate the positive influence of coercion, the article describes in rich detail how she resisted her husband to successfully coerce her daughter Lulu into playing a piano piece. Finally, Chua (2011) explains that, whereas all parents want what is best for their children, Chinese parents have a unique way to go about it. For example, while Western parents value and nurture individuality, passions, and choices, Chinese parents focus on instilling useful skills, hard work, and unshakable confidence in their children (Chua, 2011, p. 4). In summary, Chinese parenting is unique, relying on skill-building, shaming and coercion to raise strong and hard-working children.

Response/Analysis
I believe that Chua (2011) makes a strong case in support of remaining firm when children are about to give up. However, in my view, the author’s argument lacks evidence of the consequences of her parenting style on children’s long-term mental health. My proposed compromise is not to shame children, while remaining firm when motivating them.

Why I choose my topic: I would like to choose this topic because I am interested in how virtually traveling experiences may be different from traditional traveling. I want to explore how people interact with each other online even though we have different backgrounds and languages. I would like to find similarities and differences among cultures and promote cultures to others who might be interested.

Research questions: 

1) How does traveling help people to discover new lifestyles and development of personal characteristics?
2) What is the connections between traveling and interactions among people? [I think this question might be a little too big for this essay. Some people travel without interacting with others.]
3) How does internet help and change the way we travel to a place?
4) How does virtual traveling experience ( Gamification) help people managing through COVID?

Topic: How does virtual learning ( gamification ) and online traveling experiences impact behaviors of people to learn different cultures without physical contacts? [This seems like another research question to me. It is very similar to the first question you listed above. It might be a good idea to focus on this question only because there should be a lot of great ideas and resources regarding this topic.]

Annotated Bibliography:

                                                                  Entry 1 

Reference:  

Sigala, M. (2015). The application and impact of Gamification funware on trip planning and EXPERIENCES: The case OF tripadvisor’s funware. Electronic Markets, 25(3), 189-209. doi:10.1007/s12525-014-0179-1

Summary: 

                 This journal article reveals how gamification plays important role in attracting people’s attention to travel around the world. One example that Sigala (2015) showes is TripAdvisor’s funware, which allows people to plan and change their traveling processes and destinations. [I’m not sure I understand how this is an example of gamification. Lots of apps let you change your plans. You might need to give one or two examples]. Gamification has great potential in marketing because it is simple and gives customers sufficient web experiences. Gamification also values faithfulness and satisfaction of customers. This paper focuses on investigating how gamification may affect user’s virtual experiences and behaviors by collecting datas from users’ online experiences. It explains how funware encourages users to interact with each other and form games mechanics such as user profile and activity feed. [Similar to my previous comment: I think providing an example would help your readers understand this better] These gameful experiences improve travelers’ egos and self- esteem when they complete certain tasks.This paper also conducted research  on how the funware designs impact TripAdvisor by motivating the travelers to engage in the website and how it impacts the travelers’ decision-making by looking at the reviews. Moreover, the gamification application is enabled by Facebook, which means users can logging into the TripAdvisor’s website with their Facebook account to chat with friends and match the game mechanics with their own values. 

Reflection: 

                  This paper supports my topic because it is similar to the product we make. The main focus of this paper is to attract customers’ attention by giving out interesting game mechanics and motivate people to use the product. It is not just a game, it gives the opportunities to create your own planning process and encourage you to chat online and make friends with others. It collects satisfactions of customers and improves based on customer reviews. Games have been involved since the birth of humans. There are different games such as board games and card games. People then have games on their electronic devices since technology is gradually becoming something that people rely on. People interact with each other through phones. It fits my topic to encourage people to learn different cultures while avoiding physical contacts. [I think you’ll need to provide some specific examples of how these virtual interactions encourage people to learn more about different cultures.] People can build their own profiles and read friends’ activities. Our customers can use the product to gain their rewards and achieve some goals each time they learn some knowledges about a country. 

Paraphrasing: 

            TripAdvisor’s game mechanics help to form interesting experiences of the places customers visit because TripAdvisor would recommend the most popular places and engage users to stay and avoid tourist traps from reviews from other users. ( Sigala, 2015, p.2)

Analysis: 

           I choose paraphrase the paragraph because it tells me how TripAdvisor can help people travel and gives best suggestions on where to spend time and time spent at destination. In our product, we will also give best advice to inform our customers the most popular places to visit and eat. With the game mechanics and funware, people can perceive their trip experience and make them feel they are like in the real place instead of virtual traveling .

                                                                 Entry 2

Reference:

Rosenbloom, S. (2013, May 31). Let’s play: Making travel a game. Retrieved March 04, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/travel/lets-play-making-travel-a-game.html?searchResultPosition=3

Summary:  

                This news [article] demonstrates how a couple uses a game app called Stray Boots to establish a virtual city tour. The app would ask questions like “ what color is the wall painted?” When the user answers the question correctly, they gain points and win prizes. [I’m a little confused about this example. Why is it asking about the color of this wall? How is this an example of cultural exchange?] The app also has its GPS feature to discover sites. In addition, this news [article] also includes how this game assists people to engage and solve puzzles. It leads to a change of behaviors of customers in psychological aspects. The more challenging a problem is, the more time customers would spend in order to get the rewards. [Are customers playing with other people online or are they playing alone?] The elements of game mechanics allow users to know how many countries they have visited and create special memories. It also helps companies to achieve some business goals and earn profits. Companies will create more and more creative designs and  programs in order to engage customers. If companies introduce the same concepts, users would have aesthetic fatigue and not be willing to download the app. Promotions and surprises are necessary in order to attract users. 

Reflection:

                   This news [article] presents a similar idea as our product of creating fun experience to customers in an app and explore world. Users can save a lot of money in the game instead of going somewhere they don’t know. They can also plan to go to the place they are interested in after knowing the basic knowledge so that they can avoid some problems when traveling. It is easy and quick to create an account. Companies try to create more emotional elements such as choosing own avatars. People can share their comments under arts works that are shown. One big concern would be that gamification may fail to earn profits for travel industries because customers already knew what the places have. These gamification company owners can cooperate with travel industries. For example, gamification companies can give higher level players certain coupons and discounts when they travel to other countries. [I think you need to provide a stronger connection between this article and the idea of learning about different cultures through virtual travel. For example, how is this game different from simply researching these sites on your own?]

Quote: 

          “ A map of the world shows players where their avatar is on its journey, and an Indiana Jones-style graphic line between cities enables users to track their progress. There is also a weekly sweepstakes, where five players are randomly selected to earn 100,000 points.” ( Rosenbloom, 2013, p.4)

Reason to choose the quote: 

         I choose this quote because it gives an example of how users can keep an eye on their accomplishments and the visual pictures of the cities. It also gives a sense of excitement when people can be picked as the “ lucky people” to win points and treats.

Both of these sources make sense considering your topic. I think you’ll need to provide some specific examples or analysis of how these apps/games encourage users to learn more about other cultures. You might also want to consider how the gamification of travel is different from simply researching different places online (which can still help people learn about other cultures). One suggestion: maybe choose another source that helps you explain how games promote interaction and/or cultural exchange.