A recurring piece of advice that I am getting is not to invest too much time in the academic literature around games. In a rapidly evolving field where the product either ‘works’ or it does not, the most salient guidance is generated through other means. I use ‘working’ here holistically, in the same way that painting or a movie attracts, engages and generates interest and reflection. Meeting learning outcomes is certainly part of that whole but relying on it solely as a measure of success in the context of a game points puts different groups at odds with each other.
The Games for Change home page quotes Mary Flanagan, director of Tiltfactor, that games should:
“create a player experience that’s fun first. If you remove fun, players will feel like they’re being preached to and it’s not a game any more, there’s no agency."
Although fun could be substituted for other descriptors for engagement, like anticipation or problem solving, the broader issue is whether or not the play factor in games is removed when it feels like school. At a cursory level, many educators look to games in part to capture the interest and fascination that they observe among their students as they play on laptops and mobile devices. The possibility that games can also foster design and systems thinking, develop multiliteracies and connect to social issues on a community and global scale presents other promising benefits that are unique to the media.
I have titled this page ‘Resources’ rather than literature as a message to visitors and a reminder to myself that my investigation will come from a variety of sources. Videos, podcasts, Internet fora, game reviews and ‘must read’ papers and books identified by valued mentors and colleagues will be referenced in my blog and included in this space. I also plan to use the ideas and knowledge I am gaining from two MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) that I am currently taking on game design with MIT and Cal Arts.
This section will continue grow over next few months. I will include reviews and reflections on sources that I determine to be of particular value and relevance to this project - and I will keep it brief.
The Games for Change home page quotes Mary Flanagan, director of Tiltfactor, that games should:
“create a player experience that’s fun first. If you remove fun, players will feel like they’re being preached to and it’s not a game any more, there’s no agency."
Although fun could be substituted for other descriptors for engagement, like anticipation or problem solving, the broader issue is whether or not the play factor in games is removed when it feels like school. At a cursory level, many educators look to games in part to capture the interest and fascination that they observe among their students as they play on laptops and mobile devices. The possibility that games can also foster design and systems thinking, develop multiliteracies and connect to social issues on a community and global scale presents other promising benefits that are unique to the media.
I have titled this page ‘Resources’ rather than literature as a message to visitors and a reminder to myself that my investigation will come from a variety of sources. Videos, podcasts, Internet fora, game reviews and ‘must read’ papers and books identified by valued mentors and colleagues will be referenced in my blog and included in this space. I also plan to use the ideas and knowledge I am gaining from two MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) that I am currently taking on game design with MIT and Cal Arts.
This section will continue grow over next few months. I will include reviews and reflections on sources that I determine to be of particular value and relevance to this project - and I will keep it brief.
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James Paul Gee
What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy Gee has a Yoda-like status in the educational games community as someone who parses the theory and promise that games can provide for learning. He continues to influence research and pedagogy in game-based learning and curricular change. Gee presents 36 learning principles (13 shown in adjacent video) in the design of well developed games, such as: identity shifting, customization and system thinking. He written an number of other influential books and papers. He is also a sought-after speaker at games conferences and posts essays on his blog regularly. |
His blog is a collection of insightful essays on games and his linguistics specialty, discourse analysis. The following entries are particularly relevant to my project:
Stories, Games and Architecture
Conjugal Games (the marriage of mechanics & content)
Stories, Games and Architecture
Conjugal Games (the marriage of mechanics & content)
Bernie De Koven
The Well-Played Game
Bernie De Koven is another guru of the games community. He focuses on the fun and community-building aspects of play. De Koven wrote The Well-Played Game and A Playful Path, both treatises that discuss his concept of coliberation, where people experience a sense of heightened awareness about their connection to each other, the space they occupy and an activity. He was a pivotal member of the New Games Foundation who created games and events to build community relationships through play. Their work is often confused with non-competitive, cooperative games. In both of two videos that I watched where De Koven presents his ideas at conferences, he is quick to emphasize that his focus has always been on people’s capacity to build a sense of belonging with each other through the shared experience of having fun playing games.
Coliberation can be achieved through both a game community and a play community. The former is exemplified by De Koven in former NBA star Bill Russell, who describes matches in his career when the shared experience of all players on both teams in a close playoff game can - on occasion - transcends the desire to win. This is similar in scale to the feeling that competitive online games communities describe. In these settings, player’s self-select their communities through their skill level. In play communities, players decide if the game itself is good enough -or fits - the taste of the community playing it. They will change the game before they stop playing. In both game and community play, coliberation is possible.
De Koven’s work has motivated me to include collaborative gameplay in the game I am designing. The nature of an educational tours is that a group of students and their teachers travel, live and share each other’s space for a period of time. One of the unique things about the Vimy 100 tours is that schools from different places across Canada will converge on the French town of Arras over the same period of days. This creates the opportunity to introduce a game mechanic for strangers crossing paths at the same events to seek each other out to share game items that can unlock new part of the narrative. One such place will be the town Citadel, where 800 students will congregate following the ceremony. The process of finding people using their mobile phones to share collectable digital objects from other game settings like home or Britain could create a fun, seeking activity that could result in De Koven’s concept of coliberation.
Take-Aways
The Well-Played Game
Bernie De Koven is another guru of the games community. He focuses on the fun and community-building aspects of play. De Koven wrote The Well-Played Game and A Playful Path, both treatises that discuss his concept of coliberation, where people experience a sense of heightened awareness about their connection to each other, the space they occupy and an activity. He was a pivotal member of the New Games Foundation who created games and events to build community relationships through play. Their work is often confused with non-competitive, cooperative games. In both of two videos that I watched where De Koven presents his ideas at conferences, he is quick to emphasize that his focus has always been on people’s capacity to build a sense of belonging with each other through the shared experience of having fun playing games.
Coliberation can be achieved through both a game community and a play community. The former is exemplified by De Koven in former NBA star Bill Russell, who describes matches in his career when the shared experience of all players on both teams in a close playoff game can - on occasion - transcends the desire to win. This is similar in scale to the feeling that competitive online games communities describe. In these settings, player’s self-select their communities through their skill level. In play communities, players decide if the game itself is good enough -or fits - the taste of the community playing it. They will change the game before they stop playing. In both game and community play, coliberation is possible.
De Koven’s work has motivated me to include collaborative gameplay in the game I am designing. The nature of an educational tours is that a group of students and their teachers travel, live and share each other’s space for a period of time. One of the unique things about the Vimy 100 tours is that schools from different places across Canada will converge on the French town of Arras over the same period of days. This creates the opportunity to introduce a game mechanic for strangers crossing paths at the same events to seek each other out to share game items that can unlock new part of the narrative. One such place will be the town Citadel, where 800 students will congregate following the ceremony. The process of finding people using their mobile phones to share collectable digital objects from other game settings like home or Britain could create a fun, seeking activity that could result in De Koven’s concept of coliberation.
Take-Aways
- collaborative play is a shared human experience from childhood and can be tapped-into as adults
- educational games must generate fun through play in addition to lead to learning
- seeking co-tourists from other schools groups and sharing game items with them could be and interesting and fun mechanic for my game that could create coliberation when done through large groups at a common location
Jim Mathews
Using a Studio-Based Pedagogy to Engage Students in the Design of Mobile-Based Media (2010)
Games can contribute to learning in number of ways, from initiating interest to unlocking content within the context of a historical narrative. Jim Mathews, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin and director of Field Day Lab, at the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery uses games as examples of design and design thinking where students apply and develop a range of literacies in addition to traditional reading and writing. In the process, they learn across the changing physical, digital and social spaces education landscape using mobile media.
In this paper,Mathews describes the Neighbourhood Game Design Project, where students draw on their knowledge and experience of playing games to design their own place-based, mobile games or interactive stories using the design studio method. He advocates pedagogies with an emphasis on participation, collaboration and distributed expertise rather than simply having students produce media products (e.g. digital timelines and presentations).
Jim’s work is particularly relevant to my inquiry because it demonstrates how games can create opportunities for learning and student knowledge production through actively designing them, not just through play. The game that I produce for this project could very likely involve a design challenge using collected digital artifacts along the Vimy tour.
I have decided to use a modified version of the design studio method in this project after reading about the process Matthews used with his grade 11 and 12 class. The core components of this design process are project-based work using rapid iterations informed by frequent formal and informal critique. Hopefully I can get a number of colleagues to help in this process
Take-Aways
Using a Studio-Based Pedagogy to Engage Students in the Design of Mobile-Based Media (2010)
Games can contribute to learning in number of ways, from initiating interest to unlocking content within the context of a historical narrative. Jim Mathews, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin and director of Field Day Lab, at the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery uses games as examples of design and design thinking where students apply and develop a range of literacies in addition to traditional reading and writing. In the process, they learn across the changing physical, digital and social spaces education landscape using mobile media.
In this paper,Mathews describes the Neighbourhood Game Design Project, where students draw on their knowledge and experience of playing games to design their own place-based, mobile games or interactive stories using the design studio method. He advocates pedagogies with an emphasis on participation, collaboration and distributed expertise rather than simply having students produce media products (e.g. digital timelines and presentations).
Jim’s work is particularly relevant to my inquiry because it demonstrates how games can create opportunities for learning and student knowledge production through actively designing them, not just through play. The game that I produce for this project could very likely involve a design challenge using collected digital artifacts along the Vimy tour.
I have decided to use a modified version of the design studio method in this project after reading about the process Matthews used with his grade 11 and 12 class. The core components of this design process are project-based work using rapid iterations informed by frequent formal and informal critique. Hopefully I can get a number of colleagues to help in this process
Take-Aways
- game design is an example of the new literacies emerging from ongoing developments in technology
- mobile place-based games and interactive stories are ideal learning activities for design thinking
- students should be capable of collaboratively and creatively design solutions to complex open-ended problems
Chris Holden
Leveraging Mobile Games for Place-Based Language Learning
Chris Holden is an Assistant Professor at the Honors College of the University of New Mexico. A mathematician with a PhD in number theory, he currently teaches classes in mobile game design with a place-based approach, and directs the Local Games Lab ABQ. He is part of the ARIS Games team where among other roles, he provides and maintains online support materials for the platform.
Holden’s work focuses on games for community interactions like language learning, museum and community centre programs. He developed the Mentira Program with colleague Julie Sykes, a Spanish language learning game. Players are fourth year Spanish students, who attempt to solve a prohibition-era murder allegedly committed by a family member, in order to clear the family name. Through the gameplay, they visit 6 different locations in the Los Griegos neighbourhood of Albuquerque to collect and share clues about the case. In the process they interact with fictional characters which unlock events which provide information or a collectable item. Mentira has a game phase and a classroom phase, where students attempt to identify possible murder suspects and innocent parties through a discussion of the clues. It is a good example of integrating game field and classroom settings.
Holden and Sykes’ approach offers helpful elements for my project. First, Mentira offers a model of how mobile learning can be personally customized, socially constructed and extend beyond the classroom (Holden and Sykes, p.4). Place plays a critical role in the context of the experience strongly influencing students how students learn by interacting is spaces embedded with historical or ecological significance. I also like that there are parts of the activity where students interact face-to-face when they are not on location. My game will be designed for touring student groups. It would be advantageous to have elements of the game play that they can do while in their hotel or on public transit where they can share ideas and possibly game items. The unique situation that having the same students in ongoing close proximity to each other over the course of days or even weeks creates some interesting opportunities that do not exist for single players of those on day trips.
Chris Holden is also co-editor of Mobile Media Learning: Innovation and Inspiration published through Carnegie Mellon University’s ETC Press. It is a collection of different examples of ways that mobile media is being used by educators in classrooms, research labs and community settings.
Take-Aways
Leveraging Mobile Games for Place-Based Language Learning
Chris Holden is an Assistant Professor at the Honors College of the University of New Mexico. A mathematician with a PhD in number theory, he currently teaches classes in mobile game design with a place-based approach, and directs the Local Games Lab ABQ. He is part of the ARIS Games team where among other roles, he provides and maintains online support materials for the platform.
Holden’s work focuses on games for community interactions like language learning, museum and community centre programs. He developed the Mentira Program with colleague Julie Sykes, a Spanish language learning game. Players are fourth year Spanish students, who attempt to solve a prohibition-era murder allegedly committed by a family member, in order to clear the family name. Through the gameplay, they visit 6 different locations in the Los Griegos neighbourhood of Albuquerque to collect and share clues about the case. In the process they interact with fictional characters which unlock events which provide information or a collectable item. Mentira has a game phase and a classroom phase, where students attempt to identify possible murder suspects and innocent parties through a discussion of the clues. It is a good example of integrating game field and classroom settings.
Holden and Sykes’ approach offers helpful elements for my project. First, Mentira offers a model of how mobile learning can be personally customized, socially constructed and extend beyond the classroom (Holden and Sykes, p.4). Place plays a critical role in the context of the experience strongly influencing students how students learn by interacting is spaces embedded with historical or ecological significance. I also like that there are parts of the activity where students interact face-to-face when they are not on location. My game will be designed for touring student groups. It would be advantageous to have elements of the game play that they can do while in their hotel or on public transit where they can share ideas and possibly game items. The unique situation that having the same students in ongoing close proximity to each other over the course of days or even weeks creates some interesting opportunities that do not exist for single players of those on day trips.
Chris Holden is also co-editor of Mobile Media Learning: Innovation and Inspiration published through Carnegie Mellon University’s ETC Press. It is a collection of different examples of ways that mobile media is being used by educators in classrooms, research labs and community settings.
Take-Aways
- learning happens in a distinctly different manner in the field provided it includes opportunities for inquiry
- narrative plays an critical role in the interactions between game players and place
- games or interactive stories can be enriched by the judicious addition of non-site specific components and face-to-face collaboration between players
- educational tours offer a unique challenges for the design and play of mobile geogames.
Jim Mathews and Chris Holden
The Design and Play of Geogames as Place-Based Education (2016: publication pending)
Jim Mathews teams up with friend an colleague Chris Holden in this paper to emphasize the connection that place-based learning has with critical inquiry and mobile geo-locative games. They reinforce that learning in authentic locations is most meaningful when students investigate their own communities from differing perspectives, typically through culture and ecological systems. Mathews and Holden guard against solely designing games that replicate traditional textbook-type content delivery because of the attractive and interactive way that information can be revealed. They advocate for using mobile technology to design student-centered, inquiry-based learning opportunities in a similar manner to cultural journalism, ecological education and local entrepreneurialism, which have characterized place-based learning for decades.
The authors advocate the case for using geogames to generate deep learning through the investigation of local issues that affect students lived experience. The application of these ideas do not at first glance lend themselves well to the study of a battle fought in France almost a century ago but they do transfer nicely to my project. They remind me that people are naturally curious about their own surrounding and locations through daily interactions over time. The traces and stories of troop enlistment and the transfer from local communities are a natural entry point for inquiry and could represent the first stage of the game. In my game, students could examine the policies, accepted narratives and inequalities that emerge from navigating the actual spaces of military recruitment and transportation activity while they investigate the personal stories of the volunteers through local folklore and primary sources. There are some interesting interdisciplinary opportunities with creative writing, art and even physical activity that could activate different parts of the inquiry either within the game or as a supporting activity.
The first part of my mobile game could include many of the characteristics that Mathews and Holden describe: an authentic issue with a local focus where students actively integrate tools to build knowledge collaboratively in an interdisciplinary way. The challenge will if and how they can be designed into the gameplay.
Take-Away:
The Design and Play of Geogames as Place-Based Education (2016: publication pending)
Jim Mathews teams up with friend an colleague Chris Holden in this paper to emphasize the connection that place-based learning has with critical inquiry and mobile geo-locative games. They reinforce that learning in authentic locations is most meaningful when students investigate their own communities from differing perspectives, typically through culture and ecological systems. Mathews and Holden guard against solely designing games that replicate traditional textbook-type content delivery because of the attractive and interactive way that information can be revealed. They advocate for using mobile technology to design student-centered, inquiry-based learning opportunities in a similar manner to cultural journalism, ecological education and local entrepreneurialism, which have characterized place-based learning for decades.
The authors advocate the case for using geogames to generate deep learning through the investigation of local issues that affect students lived experience. The application of these ideas do not at first glance lend themselves well to the study of a battle fought in France almost a century ago but they do transfer nicely to my project. They remind me that people are naturally curious about their own surrounding and locations through daily interactions over time. The traces and stories of troop enlistment and the transfer from local communities are a natural entry point for inquiry and could represent the first stage of the game. In my game, students could examine the policies, accepted narratives and inequalities that emerge from navigating the actual spaces of military recruitment and transportation activity while they investigate the personal stories of the volunteers through local folklore and primary sources. There are some interesting interdisciplinary opportunities with creative writing, art and even physical activity that could activate different parts of the inquiry either within the game or as a supporting activity.
The first part of my mobile game could include many of the characteristics that Mathews and Holden describe: an authentic issue with a local focus where students actively integrate tools to build knowledge collaboratively in an interdisciplinary way. The challenge will if and how they can be designed into the gameplay.
Take-Away:
- leverage student familiarity and curiosity in their local environments through inquiry that generates meaning and in interest
- geogames allow students to see their communities from a new perspective and allow players to take-on and consider otherwise inaccessible roles with different perspectives, possibilities and challenges
- students must interact with the historical, social and cultural particular of a place, not just use it as a mechanic
Upcoming Overviews
Publications
Jesse Schell - CEO of Schell Game and Professor of Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon University
Kurt Squire - Professor of Digital Media and Director of Games+Learning+Society Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Tracy Fullerton - Professor and Chair of the Interactive Media Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts
Publications
Jesse Schell - CEO of Schell Game and Professor of Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon University
Kurt Squire - Professor of Digital Media and Director of Games+Learning+Society Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Tracy Fullerton - Professor and Chair of the Interactive Media Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts