“The people transmitting their stories to the next generation aren’t priests or poets or medicine women. They’re multinational corporations. And they are not trying to appease the gods. They are trying to appease the shareholders” (Herz, 1997, p. 170). Can we reclaim the story medium in one of its contemporary forms—i.e., videogames—to use it in a socially- responsive way and at the same time undo the problems that are currently associated with the use of this form?

Why should educators care about games?  Student motivations have been shown to decline from grades 3-9  Video games are engaging kids  Video game usage can serve as gateway into technology fluency  Unexplored potential of video games as a curricular context  Useful platform for design-based research  Effectively accomplishes theoretical ideals  Provides a truly transactive curricullum

1. Connects Content with Context (situated cognition) Whereas young people become accomplished in geometry and mathematics, and wise within these limits, prudent young people do not seem to be found. The reason is that prudence is concerned with particulars as well as universals, and particulars become known from experience, but a young person lacks experience... (Nichomachean Ethics 1142 a). Head, Hands, Heart

2. Legitimizes Learning … a state of engagement that involves: (a) projection into the role of a character who, (b) engaged in a partly fantastical problem context, (c) must apply evolving understandings to make sense of and, ultimately, transform the context. (d) and provides opportunities to examine one’s participation in terms of the impact it had on the immersive context.

3. Supports Transactivity  Transaction, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “a communicative action or activity involving two parties or things that reciprocally affect or influence each other.”  The idea is that through participation individual, content- to-be-learned, and context become bound up as part of a system in which all are changed through the transaction.

4. Treats Learning as a Trajectory “An affordance network is the collection of facts, concepts, tools, methods, practices, agendas, commitments, and even people, taken with respect to an individual, that are distributed across time and space and are viewed as necessary for the satisfaction of particular goal sets.” Barab & Roth, 2007, p. 5

5. Allows One to Act a Head Above Himself  It is through play that a child can experiment with actions and engage behaviors even before she appreciates the meanings associated with these actions. Simply stated, while engaged in play, a child can function "a head above himself" (Vygotsky, 1933/1978, p. 74).  Vygotsky accorded dramatic play a special place in the development of young children, with his colleagues referring to it as a "leading activity" in the child's early development.  Play provides "an optimal context for the emergence and continued growth of the most important cognitive and social processes of young children or their 'developmental accomplishments'" (Leong, Bodrova, Hensen, & Henninger, 1999).

6. Useful for Evolving Theory

7. It is fun!  In elementary school, a different attitude towards learning regularly emerges; school-based learning is often something that must be done before a child is allowed to go out and play—an activity distinct from play and explicitly labeled ‘work’ (schoolwork, homework). Much like eating one’s vegetables before getting dessert, schoolwork becomes a chore rather than reward. (Barab, Arici, & Jackson, 2005, p. 5)

Game Concepts  What is a game  Meaningful Play  Designed Play Rules Interactivity Narrative  Games as Systems

What is a Game?  A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome. System Players Artificial (boundaries between artificial & real) Conflict Rules Quantifiable outcome Narrative

Meaningful Play  Meaningful play in a game emerges from the relationship between player action and system outcome; it is the process by which a player takes action within the design system of a game and the system responds to the action. The meaningfulness of an action in a game resides in the relationship between action and outcome.  Meaningful play occurs when the relationship between actions and outcomes in a game are both discernable and integrated into the larger context of the game.

Games as Designed Systems  Games are Systems Objects – parts, elements, or variables within the system Attributes – qualities of properties of the system and its objects Internal Relationships – relations among the objects Environment – the context that surrounds the system Social Interactions – the interactions one has with people around the system Narrative Frame – storyline that provides overall game semiotics

Semiotics How meanings are made  A sign represents something other than itself  Signs are interpreted  Meaning results when a sign is interpreted  Context shapes interpretations  Meaning from objects comes from … Rules Narratives Social Interactions Boundaries

Anatomy of Choice 1.What happened before the player was given the choice? 2.How is the possibility of choice conveyed to the player? 3.How did the player make the choice? 4.What is the result of the choice? How will it affect future choices? 5.How is the result of the choice conveyed to the player?

Tic-Tac-Toe (rules)  Players take turns  One player has x and another o  Any cell can only have one o or x  To win you must have 3 in a row of the same type x or o  One move per turn  A row is horizontal, vertical, diagonal  Game is a draw when no player can move  3 x 3 grid  Two players  If you win you can go first

Analyzing Games  Narrative Analysis  Goal Analysis  Role Analysis  Interaction Analysis  Learning Analysis  Social Interaction Analysis  Cultural Environment Analysis