Readings and Research
The following readings highlight the benefits, current uses, and potential of educational computer/video games.
Please select and read at least one of the readings listed below. You will be asked to apply your readings during the discussion on eCollege.
Please select and read at least one of the readings listed below. You will be asked to apply your readings during the discussion on eCollege.
Colby, R.S. & Colby, R. (2008)—A Pedagogy of Play: Integrating Computer Games into the Writing Classroom
This paper discusses the integration of recreational computer games and learning in a college-level writing course.
Abstract:
"Traditional distinctions between work/play and classroom/gamespace create barriers to computer games’ integration into academic settings and the writing classroom in particular. For a writing class, the work/play distinction often relegates games to an object of analysis in which students critique the games but have little invested in the gameplay itself. After examining briefly how historical changes in education created these distinctions, we offer an alternative position that places play and gamespace within the realm of the classroom. In so doing, we open up a gap for computer game theory to inform the pedagogy that can be practiced in a writing classroom. We show one such example of game theory informing writing pedagogy—the theory of emergent gaming. We then offer an example of an enacted emergent pedagogy in which students play the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World ofWarcraft throughout the term, composing self-determined, rhetorically focused writing projects informed by play and written for other game players."
Abstract:
"Traditional distinctions between work/play and classroom/gamespace create barriers to computer games’ integration into academic settings and the writing classroom in particular. For a writing class, the work/play distinction often relegates games to an object of analysis in which students critique the games but have little invested in the gameplay itself. After examining briefly how historical changes in education created these distinctions, we offer an alternative position that places play and gamespace within the realm of the classroom. In so doing, we open up a gap for computer game theory to inform the pedagogy that can be practiced in a writing classroom. We show one such example of game theory informing writing pedagogy—the theory of emergent gaming. We then offer an example of an enacted emergent pedagogy in which students play the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World ofWarcraft throughout the term, composing self-determined, rhetorically focused writing projects informed by play and written for other game players."
| Colby, R.S. & Colby, R. (2008) |
Petkov, M. & Rogers, G.E. (2011)—Using Gaming to Motivate Today's Technology-Dependent Students
This paper discusses the use of digital games in the classroom to increase student motivation. Petkov & Rogers' assertion—"Serious gaming will give a well-balanced instruction which contains the desired educational material as well as the motivational boost that is needed for the technology-dependent students."
| Petkov, M. & Rogers, G.E. (2011) |
Squire, K & Jenkins, H. (2003)—Harnessing the Power of Games in Education
Abstract:
"The video game industry has been a major influence on students’ lives in recent years. Now researchers consider how games might be used in pursuit of engaging, effective learning experiences. Kurt Squire and Henry Jenkins describe five detailed scenarios designed to illustrate the pedagogical potential of computer and video games."
"The video game industry has been a major influence on students’ lives in recent years. Now researchers consider how games might be used in pursuit of engaging, effective learning experiences. Kurt Squire and Henry Jenkins describe five detailed scenarios designed to illustrate the pedagogical potential of computer and video games."
| Squire, K. & Jenkins, H. (2003) |
Andrea: Learning From Recreational Games & Importance of Avatars
Original art by Katie Smith
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