Digital games for educationDigital games for education

Mark Chen

Feb 13, 2008

Benefits of gamingBenefits of gaming

Promotes problem solving and logic skills Playing good games means recognizing

patterns and making strategic decisions. Situated experience can be powerful.

What transfers though? Embodied narrative

Controversies of gamingControversies of gaming Violence

No conclusive research partly due to misunderstanding of games and genres

Assumes content or disposition transfer Simple player-game model of experience

Addiction Assumes games are valueless Simple player-game model, again

Sociocultural model of gamingSociocultural model of gaming If gamers are part of a larger cultural

phenomenon, the source of powerful benefits and controversies are tied to cultural practices and norms. Collaborative, collective decision making Distributed expertise Danger of dominant norms marginalizing

certain players

Gaming literacy?Gaming literacy? Participating in a transmedia culture

Websites, FAQs, fan fiction and art, wikis, digital literacy practices and tech knowledge, online communities

As with any domain, to be literate means to participate (produce, consume, share).

Rather than censor or exclude certain cultural practices, we should encourage critical thought and a sense of self in social contexts.

Some good games for classroomsSome good games for classrooms Still, there are definitely some games that are

better suited for classroom use. PeaceMaker and other games for change:

http://www.gamesforchange.org/main/GameList Animal Crossing Civilization (Kurt Squire) SimCity (Cole and 5th D stuff) Darfur is Dying: http://www.darfurisdying.com

ResourcesResources Jim Gee interview: http://chronicle.com/colloquylive/2003/08/video/ Orange County DoE video on games for education:

http://www.seriousgames.org/archives/000199.html Mark’s essay on pros and cons of gaming:

http://markdangerchen.net/2007/06/04/exam-question-1/ Mark’s essay on games for learning:

http://markdangerchen.net/2007/06/04/exam-question-2/ A response to the New Atlantic’s take on video games:

http://infocult.typepad.com/infocult/2005/08/new_atlantis_gr.html Games Learning Society conference An example of New Games Journalism:

http://www.alwaysblack.com/blackbox/bownigger.html

Class agendaClass agenda Discuss the Gee article—do you agree with his premises or not? Explain. Describe your experiences playing digital games from the past week.

What decisions did you have to make? Were the games difficult to get into? What are the issues with the games you played this past week (not all digital

games in general)? Think about the written “texts” in the games you encountered. Do you think

there is value in the texts for helping students increase their traditional literacies (reading, writing)?

Talk about the social nature of games—do you feel the games you played encouraged cooperation, competitiveness, social interaction, etc.?

What were the stereotypes visible in the games you played? Short presentation/summary