Week 5 - Webtoons, K-sports, K-esports (August 30th)

[Crystal Hsia]

I work mainly with highschool students. So for the curriculum idea, I will like to integrate what we have learned at this seminar to the AP foreign language topics that the college board highlights.

1. I think the K-Beauty and K-Pop can supplment the theme in "Beauty and Aesthetics - Fashion". I will use the video that Dr. Jung-Kim Jennifer played last week about the change of beauty for the past 100 years as a prompt to think about what components influence peoples' view. 
2. The other idea that I'd like to integrated the movie "Kim Ji-young: Born 1982" introduced on week 2 to talk about the theme "Families and communities. How do family structures/roles in various cultures differ? 

Look forward to hearing more from this awesome group!

[LauClaudia]

Hi Kara,

I also teach a class, called Pop Cultures of East Asia, that has a similar format.  The course includes Korea, China, and Japan, I provide some resources, students have discussion boards, and then each student makes a deeper research and makes a presentation.  However, we use a different platform, called VoiceThread.  It is quite interactive and I like it, because students can also make comments.

An activity for the food chapter, would be to visit an East Asian restaurant and write a food review.  When the pandemic hit, I modified the assignment for students to cook and write a reflection instead.  

Students love this class.

 

[ParkLisa]

I thought it was interesting that esport was able to flouish in Korea because of the culture and the physical set ups that already existed, like the PC bangs.  There were PC bangs in my neighborhood for a while but they were shut down for some reason - probably the late hours.  Teens in Korea have the PC bang to play video games.  The fact that PC bangs organized touraments which led to televised, professional leagues show how all the factors in Korea worked together to push esport to a level unheard of in other countries. Schools in the US are slowly trying to catch up.   

[LauClaudia]

I had a student who did a presentation on Korean esport and I learned everything from him. 

I am (or I feel) old, in terms of esport!  This is a surprising new trend, which is still not well seem by many people.  There are studies that show how excessive screen time can damage our brain and our vision, and this kind of obsession may just keep people away from their daily obligation.  But when big money is involved, the whole concept changes.  As the book says, when big corporations such as Hyundai started sponsoring this with huge amount of money, it gave a lot of incentive to the youth to compete, and in the society to accept and enjoy this new form of sport.

It is definitely something new, and we need to embrace changes and innovation.  I am happy and proud that Korea been the vanguard in this new trend.  Although I am from Taiwan, I feel close to East Asian countries, and I cheer for all that Korea has achieved! 🙂

[BurkotEmily]

What I found most interesting in the first article was the idea that PC Bang (internet cafes) were so important to early e-sports in Korea because Korean gamers prefer to play against someone in the same place as them vs. playing against someone via a game server.  This reminded me of last week when we talked about how many Koreans do not like to eat alone, and may even queue up a Mukband video to not feel like they are eating alone.  The article also discusses the importance of an audience to e-sports and it made me think about how different having an in-person audience would be compared to having a digital audience through something like Twitch.  However, Korea has also developed channels specifically for airing e-sports tournaments, which feels a little one sided compared to the lively audience in a Twitch streamer's chat.

[LauClaudia]

I agree with you!  I lived in Brazil, and they have their own version of comics, and the main character is Monica.  This is a big cultural icon for all Brazilians!  Argentina has its own, especially with Mafalda, and I learned that French Belgian has their "bande dessinée".  I would love to go over it and smell its culture through their version of comic books. 

[DiederichAnn]

As we look to connect our students in LA with South Korean students in my Global Citizenship Seminar, it would be interesting for members of our group to select a form of culture to learn about. First students, could journal about their own favorite cultural pursuits or activities in their school. After sharing with their classmates, they would read and research about a Korean version of that pursuit-- (ie. K-pop form of US music, a US reality show vs. a Korean one, a Tae Kwon Do or Archery Match, a Korean film that paralels an American film.  It would be a cool exercise for students in both Korea and the US to do a short Pecha Kucha or flipgrid where students can share their takeways and perspetives.  This exercise could also focus on a societal issue significant to the student, which would allow for students to write their points of view in the comment area.

[Daniel Moon]

As someone who has played and followed the esports scene since its inception, it's interesting to see a deeper dive as well as see confirmation of my own observations of the area. Even as a kid, I was fascinated with both the obsession and the rigorous work ethic the esports players had (Starcraft Brood War, CS:GO, etc). However, this interest in games like Starcraft was limited to East Asian countries and all but the most devoted or "nerdy" fans in western culture. As the concept of esports grew, I observed major games developed in the west, like League of Legends, mimic the structure that Korean esports media, teams, and culture had set decades before--this has only increased the interest in esports in general, but has shone a light onto the top players that end up winning millions of dollars at tournaments. 

[DupuyRoger]

Yes Courtney I would love to teach you and anybody else interested in learning how to use Adobe Spark actually I have a couple of slide presentations and videos to help with that I could make those available to anybody in this forum request and I will send it to you and I'm also open to answering your questions as I've given workshops on these tools before and happy to do it again for you guys!

[Jennifer Jung-Kim]

Great ideas! I teach a foodways class and students have to each make a video. Because not everyone can afford to eat out or buy special groceries, I give them the option of going to a market and talking about the ingredients or prepared foods there (without buying them). 

[Taylor Bub]

I think it is so interesting that in Korea, they prefer to play together in person instead of simply over the internet.  I also think that it is great for those who participate socially.  This reminds me of the videos we see online of young kids saying really awful things to each other and really bullying each other online because they arent good at whatever game they are playing, and I think it stems from them not having to physically face the other person; by playing online where you never meet in person it makes them feel as though they are not talking to a real person.  I wonder if this form of online bullying does not happen as often in Korea. (obviously it still happens, but maybe it isn't as prevalent?)

[SaenzSotoElizabeth]

Esports is something that I have always wanted to know more about so thearticle provided highlighted how long and how much effort is put into it. I am obviously a novice bystander and at some point I would like to dedicate some time to actively participating in Esports. Webtoons are not necessairly new to me. My middle daughter was the one who introduced me to them. I defintely think I can research and find some webtoons I can bring into our classroom. This will definitely assist my reluctant readers.

[KeaneJerrica]

I love these ideas and the structure you shared. I'm fascinated by sociology and it would be sooo cool to dive deep into sociological topic such a beauty, or the family while using Korean pop culture as the case study. It offers alot of opportunity for thoughtful discussion. 

[Taylor Bub]

In class we talked about having students analyze different shows or advertisements to understand the culture that each particular clip comes from.  In my AP Psychology course, my students study social-cultural psychology, which discusses the idea that we are psychologically influenced by the culture that we are raised in.  It would be interesting to have students identify different potential societal/cultural pressures within different cultures.

[Daniel Moon]

There are multiple division 1 schools that have full scholarships available for the top players that apply, and prize pools for esports tournaments continue to rise. I think the students who treat it like both a passion and a sport are being quite rational--traditional sports are largely dependent on genetic factors that are outside of most of our control, but esports is a bit more equitable in that sense (does require dexterity, quick reactions, and high critical thinking), but the fact that it is "less body" and "more brain" makes it more accessible to people wantin go participate in sports. I know our school as already started making inquiries into CIF (state athletic organization) and is looking to go all-in and set up computers and practice rooms in the coming years.

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