I've got a few posts saved up that I've written while trying to decide what to do with this blog. It's gone through a few different hosts (ultimately back to Blogspot), a few different titles/URLs, and dozens of different templates. I think I'm finally happy enough with it to start posting for reals, so I'll be posting some of that backlog. So that explains why I may sometimes, like here, be commenting on articles from months ago.
Quite a few blogs have linked to this piece. There are a few critics, and a lot of people who just seem to like the idea of criticizing Farmville.
There are many things to criticize about these games, but I don't think that Liszkiewicz's criticisms happen to be valid ones, so I feel the need to rebut most of his points individually. Specifically, I'll just focus on his assertion that Farmville is not a game. Now, I haven't read Caillois, though I really should. But I will go ahead and take his definition of game at face value rather than debate the definition itself - and I still think that if Farmville doesn't count as a game by this definition, many other things commonly referred to as games don't count either.
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
A couple thinky videos
Neither of these is all that new, but they both make some interesting points about the future of education.
The first gets a bit alarmist in spots, but I like what it has to say about the changing face of knowledge, learning, and education:
Did You Know? from Amybeth on Vimeo.
The second is a talk by Philip Zimbardo, of the infamous Stanford prison experiment, who apparently is doing stuff about perception of time now. As my husband put it, it comes off as he's found his hammer and is now turning everything into a nail, but I don't think that makes it any less interesting. Anyone studying cognitive, behavioral, or social sciences knows by now that there are a million factors involved in any action and a million lenses to view it through, and every lens gives you a bit more of the whole - so viewing all of this through a "perceptions of time" lens certainly won't hurt.
I do take issue with his characterization of time spent playing video games as "alone" - Reed Stevens, Constance Steinkuehler, and plenty of other scholars will tell you that video game playing is very often a social activity, whether with others physically present or online. The point remains, though, that many of these interactions are different from "traditional" socialization (especially those that happen online, often semi-anonymously) and so might be changing the ways that young people view social interaction.
The first gets a bit alarmist in spots, but I like what it has to say about the changing face of knowledge, learning, and education:
Did You Know? from Amybeth on Vimeo.
The second is a talk by Philip Zimbardo, of the infamous Stanford prison experiment, who apparently is doing stuff about perception of time now. As my husband put it, it comes off as he's found his hammer and is now turning everything into a nail, but I don't think that makes it any less interesting. Anyone studying cognitive, behavioral, or social sciences knows by now that there are a million factors involved in any action and a million lenses to view it through, and every lens gives you a bit more of the whole - so viewing all of this through a "perceptions of time" lens certainly won't hurt.
I do take issue with his characterization of time spent playing video games as "alone" - Reed Stevens, Constance Steinkuehler, and plenty of other scholars will tell you that video game playing is very often a social activity, whether with others physically present or online. The point remains, though, that many of these interactions are different from "traditional" socialization (especially those that happen online, often semi-anonymously) and so might be changing the ways that young people view social interaction.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
In Game, In Room, In World
I read this article months and months ago - about the same time as the last time I updated this blog, and meant to post it but never did.
In-Game, In-Room, In-World: Reconnecting Video Game Play to the Rest of Kids' Lives, by Reed Stevens, Tom Satwicz, and Laurie McCarthy. I was very excited to find an article that is looking at the social interactions surrounding video game playing. It's really just scraping the top of what I'm guessing there is to find, but you have to start somewhere.
I spoke with Tom Satwicz during a symposium at AERA this year, and he mentioned this newer article written from the same data set, on kids' understanding and use of quantity in the games. I haven't read this one yet, though.
In-Game, In-Room, In-World: Reconnecting Video Game Play to the Rest of Kids' Lives, by Reed Stevens, Tom Satwicz, and Laurie McCarthy. I was very excited to find an article that is looking at the social interactions surrounding video game playing. It's really just scraping the top of what I'm guessing there is to find, but you have to start somewhere.
I spoke with Tom Satwicz during a symposium at AERA this year, and he mentioned this newer article written from the same data set, on kids' understanding and use of quantity in the games. I haven't read this one yet, though.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
New DS, Cool Master's Thesis
I am a big fan of the educational possibilities of the Nintendo DS. It's got everything going for it - portability, networking, many types of input (writing, typing, voice). This little machine has so much untapped potential!
Today Nintendo added to that with the announcement of the upcoming DSi, which will also have a camera, the ability to download games via Wifi, and an SD slot. What can't you do with that, I ask?
In celebration I went looking for what I knew was nearly nonexistent research on the educational use of the DS, and found a new Master's thesis that also got me very excited, though I've only read the abstract. I love problem-based learning, I love the DS, whatever this guy did it must be awesome! If the author, Michael David Lipinski, ever happens to read this (maybe by googling your name and ending up here?), please contact me, I'd love to talk to you!
Today Nintendo added to that with the announcement of the upcoming DSi, which will also have a camera, the ability to download games via Wifi, and an SD slot. What can't you do with that, I ask?
In celebration I went looking for what I knew was nearly nonexistent research on the educational use of the DS, and found a new Master's thesis that also got me very excited, though I've only read the abstract. I love problem-based learning, I love the DS, whatever this guy did it must be awesome! If the author, Michael David Lipinski, ever happens to read this (maybe by googling your name and ending up here?), please contact me, I'd love to talk to you!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
MMORPGs: Play or Work?
An interesting little piece from Games & Culture by Nick Yee at Stanford on how online games (MMORPGs in particular) blur the line between play and work.
I know from experience it isn't just MMORPGs that do this - Animal Crossing is an essentially single-player game that many people experience as walking that line. AC always felt fun for me, though, even when it veered into work territory - I recently bought Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life for my GameCube, and although I'm not far into it, it feels more like work than play so far. Even the DragonWars application I recently installed on Facebook feels more like a routine than a game... but I keep going back, because I want that most expensive dragon, darn it.
Also, as often as you see play referred to as "children's work," is it really surprising that the boundaries would continue to be blurred into adulthood? Is playing house really that different from playing at a career later? How can this fact (that play can often include the same actions as work, but retains some kind of difference motivationally) be used as an advantage in an educational context? If you convince a child to play at being a scientist, will the lessons learned during the game apply elsewhere? It's not obvious that they would - I doubt the people running pharmaceutical companies in Star Wars Galaxies are out thinking about new drugs in real life... but do they learn something about running a business?
Yee also has an article up on the risks and benefits of kids playing MMORPGs.
I know from experience it isn't just MMORPGs that do this - Animal Crossing is an essentially single-player game that many people experience as walking that line. AC always felt fun for me, though, even when it veered into work territory - I recently bought Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life for my GameCube, and although I'm not far into it, it feels more like work than play so far. Even the DragonWars application I recently installed on Facebook feels more like a routine than a game... but I keep going back, because I want that most expensive dragon, darn it.
Also, as often as you see play referred to as "children's work," is it really surprising that the boundaries would continue to be blurred into adulthood? Is playing house really that different from playing at a career later? How can this fact (that play can often include the same actions as work, but retains some kind of difference motivationally) be used as an advantage in an educational context? If you convince a child to play at being a scientist, will the lessons learned during the game apply elsewhere? It's not obvious that they would - I doubt the people running pharmaceutical companies in Star Wars Galaxies are out thinking about new drugs in real life... but do they learn something about running a business?
Yee also has an article up on the risks and benefits of kids playing MMORPGs.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Video games at APA
Science Daily has an article up about what seems to be a symposium on video games at APA.
The first study is by Fran Blumberg of Fordham University, looking at middle schoolers' problem solving strategies while playing video games, finding that their goal orientation affects how they approach problems in the game. Here (journal, subscription may be needed) is a related 2000 study by Blumberg on the relationship of goal orientation to performance (in video game playing).
Another study by Constance Steinkuehler at Wisconsin - Madison analyzed posts to World of Warcraft forums and found that a majority were using scientific reasoning skills in their approach to the game. You can find many previous WoW (and other) articles by Steinkuehler here. I have to wonder how much the scientific reasoning found generalizes to other environments; are these gamers able to analyze scientific arguments found elsewhere in their daily lives?
The first study is by Fran Blumberg of Fordham University, looking at middle schoolers' problem solving strategies while playing video games, finding that their goal orientation affects how they approach problems in the game. Here (journal, subscription may be needed) is a related 2000 study by Blumberg on the relationship of goal orientation to performance (in video game playing).
Another study by Constance Steinkuehler at Wisconsin - Madison analyzed posts to World of Warcraft forums and found that a majority were using scientific reasoning skills in their approach to the game. You can find many previous WoW (and other) articles by Steinkuehler here. I have to wonder how much the scientific reasoning found generalizes to other environments; are these gamers able to analyze scientific arguments found elsewhere in their daily lives?
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