John Kirriemuir and Angela McFarlane (2003) wrote a survey-based conference paper on how “pure” computer and video games (that is, games that are not explicitly designed to be educational) tend to be used in classrooms.
Kirriemuir and McFarlane report that games are typically used in five ways: (1) research projects, although hardly any schools continued to use the games after the projects ended; (2) school-oriented competitions; (3) computer clubs that are largely unsupervised and not part of a learning program; (4) a vehicle for literacy or critique (that is, describing or evaluating games); or (5) a reward or incentive to maintain good behavior.
The most common games used in classrooms were reported to be strategy and simulation games. SimCity and Roller Coaster Tycoon were the two most commonly used…
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James Paul Gee (2004) devotes a chapter to “affinity spaces” — online and/or face to face interactive spaces consisting of people held together because of shared activities, interests, and goals — in his book, Situated Language and Learning: A Critique of Traditional Schooling. Affinity spaces are sustained by fans of all sorts of things (e.g. comic books, movies, celebrities), including video games. For video games, these include the enormous number of websites of all kinds — sites featuring tips and strategies, artwork and fan fiction, game patches and modding resources, and all the other kinds of online and offline interactions centered around a game (e.g. World of Warcraft, Lineage, etc.). Gee notes eleven defining features of an affinity space:
- A common endeavor is primary, not aspects such as race, class, gender, or disability that can often hinder communication.
- Newbies, masters, and everyone else share common space
- Some portals are strong generators (whatever gives the space some content)
- Content organization is transformed by interactional organization
- Both intensive and extensive knowledge are encouraged
- Both individual and distributed knowledge are encouraged
- Dispersed knowledge is encouraged
- Tacit knowledge is encouraged and honored
- Many different forms and routes to participation
- Many different routes to status
- Leadership is porous and leaders are resources
Gee contrasts these features with those of the spaces found in typical classrooms, and
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Looks like eBay prices on the Nintendo Wii are finally starting to drop to around the $320-$330ish range. As of yet, there aren’t too many software titles to choose from besides Zelda, Madden NFL Football, and the pack-in Wii Sports game. When will we see a Wii game that makes learning a primary goal? As Nintendo is trying to market the traditional “non-gamer” market, could a fun, engaging educational game — say, to teach history or some kind of detective game to promote scientific inquiry — be the one of the first console game to get both parents, teachers, and researchers excited? Will we see Wiis in classrooms (because of the learning opportunities) anytime soon? What kinds of learning does the motion sensitive “wiimote” lend itself to? So many questions, so few answers..