Research Quest

Choices in Video Games: Selection from Public Services Quarterly Editorial

2011-03-30T12:27:00.005-05:00

The following is a short segment from my 2010 editorial in PSQ which discusses video games as potential models for research behavior and the general research process. This segment is focused on categorizing different types of choices players make. These three categories originate from Charsky's 2010 article "From edutainment to serious games: A change in the use of game characteristics" in Games and Culture.

Video games are a shared experience that require interaction and engagement from players.Players are actively engaging with the game, making decisions based on the information available to them, and shaping an experience that may be different for each player. While there are interactions in games that the designers force on a player either for the sake of gameplay or narrative, there still remain choices left in the player’s hands.

Charsky(2010) discussed how games provide players with three types of choices:

· Expressive

· Strategic

· Tactical

Expressive choice allows the player to create a character and personalize that character looks and abilities in order to create a sense of ownership over the character.Gee (2003) talks about this same idea when he discusses how games create a sense of agency for players. This expressive choice helps to create a personal connection with a character that a player may spend 10 – 50 hours with depending on the game.

Strategic choice discusses the technology and systems within the gameplay mechanics. Strategic choice creates systems for players to approach challenges in various ways and still arrive at successful and satisfactory outcomes. This is often done through branching paths and open ended choices that players must decide upon.Bogost (2007) discusses how games create systems for the player to apply various potential solutions to. This idea of systematic thinking that Bogost discusses creates the framework to allow the player to reach a conclusion with the given information, apply it to the game’s situation, and evaluate how successful the choice was.

It is these smaller individual choices that Charsky (2010) describes as tactical choices.These tactical choices are where information literacy skills are applied. Evaluating which piece of information or experience is essential to solve a given challenge.

Succeeding in these challenges requires the information literacy skills of collection, evaluation, organization, and application. Johnson (2005) sites these skills as how video games help players develop organizational and problem solving skills. Gee (2003) looked to these series of decisions and interactions as the ways in which games create good pedagogical models to engage and teach. De Freitas and Oliver (2006) describe the tactical choices in video games and the feedback they provide the player, as a way to create effective learning activities. The unique attributes, interactions, and choices video games create provide justification and interest for libraries to explore ways to integrate video games into learning.

I will be discussing more about these types of choices and what they can mean for library instruction during Friday's ACRL panel session with Neal Baker from Earlham and Katherine Todd from Manhattenville College.

Bogost, I. (2007). Persuasive games: The expressive power of videogames. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Charsky, D. (2010). From edutainment to serious games: A change in the use of game characteristics. Games and Culture, 5(2), 177-198. doi: 10.1177/1555412009354727

DeFreitas, S. & Oliver, M. (2006). How can exploratory learning with games and simulations within the curriculum be most effectively evaluated? Computers & Education, 46, 249-264. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2005.11.007

Johnson, S. (2005). Everything bad is good for you: How today’s popular culture is actually making us smarter. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.

Critical Thinking Mod for Elder Scrolls: Morrowind - mapping it out

2010-11-23T16:11:00.003-06:00

Over the course of this summer and fall, I have worked with a student researcher to create a video game experience that will help demonstrate information literacy skills. I will go into more detail about the project in the coming posts, but I wanted to start off with this video mapping out our character interactions.

After spending a few months this summer looking through online games and not finding anything that provided the depth we wanted within a limited playtime experience, we decided to mod an existing game. After creating the characters and most of the dialogue, we needed to see where our gaps in quest logic and character interactions were.

Student Fellowship: Morrowind Critical Thinking Mod from Paul Waelchli on Vimeo.

Mapping it out allowed us to identify that our critical thinking quest was too straight forward and made creating more characters and dialogue easy to plug in. With the additional characters and dialogue, I think that we've created a quest that will force players to question and evaluate the information that they receive.

National Gaming Day @ the Mulva Library

2010-11-19T16:35:00.002-06:00

We kicked off National Gaming Day a little early last week with a gaming event on Friday night. Since we ran the event past midnight, we were able to help kick off National Gaming Day @ your Library.

We had a variety of board games brought in by our local Green Bay games store: Gnome Games. Students brought in materials to play Warhammer 40k. And we had various video games going: Goldeneye on the Wii and Halo Reach and L4D2 on the 360 played in each of our classrooms. And students even brought in a PS2 and N64 to hook up in our smaller study rooms. It was a good turnout for our first game night.

The students' overwhelming response was: "When can we do this again."

National Gaming Day @ the Mulva Library from Paul Waelchli on Vimeo.

Don't Mourn - Organize

2010-04-07T19:31:00.003-05:00

In the process of writing the last post, I was reminded of my political roots. A loss doesn't mean you roll over and except the result. A loss means you pick yourself up and work again for the next fight.

I know I share some of the blame for the loss of the "research intensive" designation. I could have lobbied harder and stayed more on top each phase. I assumed too much.

As I finished my last post, I started new emails to the committee members and outreach to the incoming Writing Center director. This should start laying the groundwork for the next phases.

I'm thankful for my political losses and for those organizers that shaped me. I've even brought the pin I was given after my first loss. Don't mourn - organize. This discussion may not be the focus of Research Quest, but I needed place to voice my thoughts and pick myself back up.

Now back to the general focus of Research Quest, even if it's been almost six months...

image via: www.laborarts.org

Offered up for the political sacrifice

2010-04-06T21:17:00.002-05:00

Recently, part of what brought me to my current position was lost. The straight forward path to curriculum integration was offered up as a political sacrifice. My route to formal integration has now become longer and more convoluted. But there is still a path. And since I still have my job, I will continue to work toward the goal of formal curriculum integration of information literacy.

For the past few years of the college's general education revisions, information literacy was on par with writing and communication as skills valued across the new curriculum. This focus was written into the working documents and the structure of the new core programs. Courses were to be designated as "writing" "research" or "communication" intensive courses. Each representing valued skills for students across disciplines to learn. This was good structure that insured the emphasis on information literacy. While many would rightly argue (myself included) that many courses currently offered could be considered "research intensive," the benefit of parity was that information literacy was a formal objective that stood on its own in the curriculum.

When I started back in the summer of 2008 I met with the chair of the committee who was and I believe remains committed to the ideas of information literacy within the curriculum. I spent the spring of 2009 meeting with the committee and working with the Writing Center Director, who sat on the committee, to draft language for the "writing" and "research" intensive designations. Unfortunately, the WC director left in the summer of 2009. In the fall of `09, I again worked with the committee chair to finalize draft language for the "writing" "research" and "communication" intensive designations. This was the draft language that was moving forward in the committee.

During this academic year, the general education changes left the committee and went before the full faculty. As with any general education curriculum changes, everyone has something at stake. What proceeded were faculty meetings spent debating the larger structure of the new curriculum. This debate and suggested changes focused on the organization, naming, and focus of 4 or 5 "pillars." Writing, Research, and Communication were left relative untouched in the formal debates.

That is until recently. In between the discussion at division and full faculty meetings, the committee dropped the "research intensive" designation. When the curriculum structure came back up for discussion in the last faculty meeting, only "writing" and "communication" intensive courses were listed. After talking with the chair of the committee, it is clear that there was a need to trim the curriculum structure. And the "research intensive" designation became one of the first trimmed.

As the debate and concern over the expansion of the curriculum grew, it appears that information literacy was the easiest piece to remove. Without a department to speak up or faculty to vote, the library holds little political influence. With only the library director holding faculty status, we became a convenient sacrificial offering.

It is still my intention to continue advocating for the inclusion of information literacy into the writing and communication intensive courses. Now the lobbying effort and demonstrating the value has become a larger focus.

Below is part of the draft language on how information literacy was planned to be integrated into the curriculum. There was/is more to the document, but this provides a quick outline of what was planned. There were certainly concerns and areas that needed work in the text, but since this text is no under consideration, I would like to share it with others. Or at least preserve it in memoriam:

Research

All students at St. Norbert College must complete a minimum of four research-intensive (designated RI) courses according to these parameters:

* One of these RI courses must be outside of the student’s major;
* One of these RI courses must be in the student’s major and in the upper biennium;
* Students with double majors must complete an upper-biennium RI course in each major.
* Students may transfer one RI course in the lower biennium, but not both.
* Students may transfer one RI course in the upper biennium, but the second RI course must be in the student’s major so that transfer students must complete at least one RI course at SNC within the discipline.

In every Core Program, research-intensive, major, and minor course, students should devote energy to targeted stages of the research process—planning, searching, evaluating, revising, organizing, and documenting. The research products, in various forms, are the natural reflection of the research process.
LOWER COURSES

All RI Core Program courses will have a dimension, which includes research exercises, application of resources outside of course material, and a formal out-of-class research assignment. These research requirements must be described in the course syllabus.

Students at the lower core will be able to:

· Communicate a basic understanding of what information is needed
· Apply a variety of types and formats of sources to locate the information
· Identify gaps in the information and revise the search
· Describe and apply criteria for evaluating the information
· Combines new information with existing knowledge to construct individual analysis
· Communicate findings and conclusions to others through various methods
· Follow institutional policies to acknowledge where the information originated from

Students can meet these skills by:

Research Exercises

Courses should promote the concept of research and focus on the research process as a means to understanding course content. A traditional research based term paper is one of the exercises that meet the RI designation. Other possible research focused exercises include:

· annotated bibliography
· research journal/log
· research paper outline
· literature review
· author tracking review
· identifying major journals
· comparison of internet/database searches
· poster presentation
· oral presentation
· journal/book/article review
· research trend analysis

Application of Resources Outside Course Material

Exams should include at least one essay question that requires students to write a paragraph or more to demonstrate information literacy and critical thinking skills (e.g., incorporating external sources, evaluating ideas, explaining concepts, synthesizing material, arguing a thesis, etc.) Though instructors are urged to incorporate an essay component on every exam, they may modify this component to meet particular exam needs.

Just Keep Climbing & Jumping: Tomb Raider's Pacing & Exploration as a Research Journey

2009-10-15T21:41:00.004-05:00

The idea of pacing within a game is not new and certainly not unique to one genre or another. Action, adventure, role-playing, and even puzzle games all require a consideration of pacing. How the player progresses, how the action moves, and how layers of challenge are added are all pacing concepts within game design. The idea of pacing in lesson planning and classroom instruction is not new either, pacing set by teachers, students, or combinations of both are all applied. Education literature has witnessed pendulum swings back and forth between rapid teacher-directed classroom pacing and student-directed variable pacing. Two separate math classrooms found different results in pacing. Sangster (2007) found a quicker paced classroom was beneficial. Vaughan (2005) found that students were more successful when they were able to set their own pacing of a unit before beginning.

Tomb Raider: Anniversary’s challenge in pacing stems its’ heritage and its’ isolated atmosphere. The game throws a large and seemingly open area to explore. The player can explore every gap, cave, and reachable outcropping trying to find artifacts, ammo, and other hidden items. Or the player can seek out the most direct and efficient route out of the room puzzle, progressing forward to the larger goal. This initially creates the feeling of a large area to explore, but quickly the player learns there is typically one, and only one, way to get past the puzzles. There are frequent dead ends for players exploring the area seeking out additional health, ammo, or “lost artifacts.”

The level design does give the player the ability to set their own pace, exploring the open areas for every item or seeking out the solution to the next area. Unfortunately, the level design often creates conflicting pacing. Those looking for the direct route end up exploring because the solution is not immediately clear. And those seeking out each item may stumble upon the exit only to have to return for missed exploration. Over the course of the first half of the game, I’ve experienced both situations.

I believe the game is designed with a slower, methodical pace. A pace that encourages exploration. A pace that reminds the player of how isolated the explorer/robber Lara is. And a pace that was born during an area of game design when there were not clear (or even often stated) objectives, tutorials were not common place, and the rise of game walkthroughs (and sites like gamefaqs.com) were only beginning.

The result of this perceived exploratory freedom is my frequent frustration about where to go and frequent restarts due to missed jumps. The ideas here of pacing tie directly into the directions (and lack of) given to the player. The game asks the player to explore the surroundings and enjoy the journey. While I enjoyed the journey in the first area, by the second area I was focused on the outcome rather than the journey's exploration. I was just trying to get to the next area and goal.

The recent Destrutoid rant on exploration and my classes this week shifted my experience and expectations with Tomb Raider's pacing. The Destrutoid rant talked about exploration in games as a means to either power up and add abilities or as simply as a means to explore and discover. The contrast of exploring to discover and exploring to achieve a goal are at odds with their pacing. When a player's goal is finishing the level or gaining the new ability a tighter, faster pacing keeps the game moving forward and the player engaged in progressing. When the goal is exploration the pacing can be more open and set by the player. These two paces echo Sangster (2007) and Vaughan (2005) from above. The challenge for Tomb Raider: Anniversary is meeting the players' expectation of pacing. When my goal shifted from enjoying the journey to reaching the next area and objective, I was at odds with the game.

Being at odds with the game's exploration pacing, paralleled one instruction experience this week. An undergraduate art history course was looking specifically for articles and resources on their paints and were struggling to find more than a few exact matches. Their goal was to get the required sources and move on to the next assignment and area of their work. The project required them to find tangential sources exploring themes and imagery. The students expectations of classroom pacing were not to search and expand their knowledge and understanding, they were searching to complete the assignment. This difference in research goals effected their expectations on exploration of resources.

In tightly focused research session, the student is able to quickly and efficiently find resources needed. Unfortunately, this can often be interpreted by students as doing a search and finding the closest articles within the first page or two of results. This is not a new concern or expectation by students. Librarians often struggle to help students dig deeper than the top results or to refine a search beyond the "good enough" articles. But when the exploration goal is a quickly paced task to the next assignment, their expectations are at odds with the frequent messy reality of a research journey.

We must also realize that our expectations can be at odds with the students as well. Just as I was frustrated with Tomb Raider slow exploratory pacing, our students get frustrated with libraries with vast resource options to explore. They just want clear directions through the assignment to reach their goal. Not every class can enjoy the journey as much as a Master's of Education class I worked with this week. After three hours of research exploration, and two reams of paper later, they were still enjoying the exploration of every resource and treasure hunt for each new piece of research.

That is the pacing and joy of exploration Tomb Raider: Anniversary expects of its' players. But I was the undergraduate student who just wanted to find my way out of this research cave and out into the daylight of the next assignment. This is a lesson in pacing and exploration that I can take with me into each classroom setting. While I can attempt to inspire the joys of exploration in students, I can also help them understand which path out of their research is the most effective. Just as Tomb Raider's series of jumps, climbs, and ledges may not always feel like the fastest way out of an area, it is often the most effective. In research, sometimes the required information is direct and accessing it is quickly paced. But there are other times when we can help students through the most effective path, which often includes jumps from one database and source to another.

But unlike Tomb Raider's isolated environment, we can help our students understand why this winding research path is important to achieving their desired goal. Unlike Tomb Raider, where the Sherpa died in the opening scene, the individual student is not alone on this exploration. Librarians are there to help pace the exploration, providing both a growing understanding of the journey as a process and effective routes through the deep caverns of research projects.

Cited:
Sangster, Margaret. 2007. "REFLECTING ON PACE." MT: Mathematics Teaching no. 204: 34-36.

Vaughan, Angela L. 2005. "The Self-Paced Student." Educational Leadership 62, no. 7: 69-73.

images from TombRaiders.net

Not Hot for Teacher: Lara Croft & Tomb Raider as Educator

2009-10-14T12:43:00.013-05:00

Much is written about Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider series. As a game it set new standards for 3D exploration in a "realistic" setting. As a feminist image, the character is still discussed over a dozen years later:

Jansz, Jeroen, and Raynel G. Martis. 2007. "The Lara Phenomenon: Powerful Female Characters in Video Games." Sex Roles 56, no. 3/4: 141-148.

But as an educational tool and analogy, well, teaching is not often the focus of discussion. Last spring Nicholas over at information.games wrote about his recent Tomb Raider experiences. I respect Nicholas Schiller's approach to gaming as educational pedagogy and his discussion of the game made me wonder about potential educational parallels. So recently Chad from Library Voice and I started playing through Tomb Raider: Anniversary, a remake/re-imaging of the original Tomb Raider for the Playstation.

Over the last two weeks I’ve been inching my way forward in Anniversary, one puzzle room at a time. And now, at about the half-way mark, there are some instructional parallels that are worth spending a little time on:

User interface settings
Individualized pacing
Clear directions
Staging assignments

Each of these gameplay experiences has a direct connection to what we teach and how patrons use our services.

User Interface:

Early in the first few stages of TR:Anniversary the player is introduced to the concept of “Advance Toggle” for attacking enemies. The default controls allow the player to auto-lock and draw their weapons automatically. “Advance Toggle” manually draws the weapon. When the control option is introduced it in via a quick pop-up window suggesting the control scheme if you are having trouble. The reality was, I was not having trouble defeating the few wild animals around the levels. Since attacking was not an issue, I dismissed the suggestion and continued through the game.

Unfortunately, not using this option made the first boss battle overly difficult. The first real test of gameplay skill comes in the form of a T-Rex. Using the default interface, which was able to get me through the first three levels only resulted in frustration, lots of frustration and dozens of attempts. When I switched to the “advance” interface I was able to defeat the dino in two attempts.

There is a discussion to have about the practice vs. performance aspect of this boss, going from a suggestion to a requirement of a skill needed to progress does not allow the player much room to develop the ability. Part of the problem with the lack of practice is the ease of the default interface. It is easy enough to run around letting the game AI auto target, but it suddenly becomes much more efficient when using the “advanced” controls.

This is the same situation that librarians have discussed with students for years. In most cases, the advanced search boxes in EBSCO, Proquest, FirstSearch, Jstor, and others all result in more effective and efficient searches than the basic search. Last year when EBSCO switched their interface to the Googlized one line, students were please with the ease of use and access to results. Unfortunately, when students begin with more detailed and specific searches they often came up with the red line reading: Note: Your initial search query did not yield any results. But because EBSCO is so nice, the students still have 100,000s of hits based on some of their search terms. EBSCO often allows students to go through their search finding "close enough" articles. Or the research equivalent of running around and shooting until the player hits something.

This fall in my instruction sessions, I've made an effort to have students search both under the default interface and under the "advanced." Even the students that found results under the default interface's single search line, had more effective searches (relevance & retrieval) using the advance method. By helping the students see the difference and understand how to use the advanced search, they continued to use the advanced interface throughout the session and in future sessions as well.

Just like TR:Anniversary, EBSCO allows the user to get by with the default interface. But to really be effective in both the game and in research users need to dig deeper into the interfaces and find the advanced feature that will improve their quest for information and artifacts.

Next up: Pacing

Tomb Raider Anniversary image via TombRaiders.net

Fall Research: Games as Analogy for Information Literacy

2009-10-13T17:12:00.004-05:00

During the first month of the fall semester I've spent my research time split between integrating information literacy into the curriculum and games the teach information literacy. This past spring, I was submitted a proposal (a section of which is shown below) and was awarded a two-year research fellowship student. The student will be assisting in the research, development, application, and assessment of using games to help exemplify and teach information literacy skills.

Description of Projects Involved: The Research Fellow, in collaboration with the project leader, will research and create tutorials that will be used by students to help teach information evaluation skills. These tutorials will include three distinct mediums for student interaction; powerpoint, web-based games, and commercial video games. In order to accomplish this, the Fellow will be responsible for researching critical thinking, information literacy, and game based learning. The Fellow will review gaming projects from other libraries and experiment with online Flash and commercial video games. The project will include four distinct phases: research, creation, application, and evaluation. The first year of the project will focus on research, creation, and piloting of the three tutorials. The second year will include applying these tutorials in workshop or classroom settings and evaluating the results.

We have spent the first month of the fellowship compiling a bibliography and helping the student work her way through the literature. As we work through the literature, I will be posting summaries and discussion of some of the articles. And as the fellowship project progresses, there will continue to be updates and discussion and hopefully examples of games.

While there is much discussion on creating games with the to attempt to teach information literacy skills. One of the goals of this project is to find existing web-based games that can engage players in information literacy skills and help create a discussion of how those skills can be used in their own research. The project will also compare student evaluations to multiple types of games as instructional technologies. The games themselves will not be intentionally library focused. They will ideally use a variety of settings to provide practical examples of information literacy skills and serve as an analogy for academic based research.

It's Football Season: Fantasy Sports & Information Literacy

2009-09-13T14:11:00.000-05:00

With today's opening weekend kickoff to the new NFL season, it's worthwhile to review some of the information literacy skills millions of fantasy football players will be engaged in over the next few months. This past summer I was one of the many guest videos (guest speakers) in Scott Nicholson's Gaming in Libraries online course. The brief video walks through much of what I've written and spoken about in regards to information literacy and fantasy football.

For Whom the Bell Tolls... I'm Not Dead Yet

2009-09-11T22:07:00.009-05:00

After 6 months of no activity on this blog, the growing assumption is a slow quiet internet death.

But I'm hear to say that it is not the case. I'm not dead, yet. There are still people finding the site and emailing about posts, articles, and classroom ideas. In the words of my colleague, I was on a blogcation. There are plenty of others who took planned and unplanned leaves from their writing. And we all have reasons.

Mine... the sudden death of my father. He died a few days after my last post. I am thankful to have had an open relationship with my father and we never hesitated to say "I love you." That being said, rarely a day goes by that I do not think of him in some fashion or another. In addition to this emotional tramua, as the Spring Semester wore on, the entire library began the preparation for a moving our existing collection and staff to a new library building. All in all, I was not in a mental or physical mindset to write.

I did continue to research and present. And I am back to needing a place organize, share, and shape my thoughts and ideas. Thus, I am back writing again. Over the next few posts, I will catch things up and talk more about my renewed energy and focus for video games and information literacy.

Starting up with where I stopped 6 months ago is a good jumping off point. My post on the state of video games, learning, and academic libraries was responded to by Christy Sich over at Bibliographic Games. Christy had one of the earlier articles about video games and information literacy and her experience and insight are appreicated. She ended her post with:

It's important to imbed information literacy into the curriculum - so a game-based information literacy approach should also be embedded.

Our campus is in the process of revising it's general education requirements and information literacy is currently included at the same level with writing and speaking/communication across the curriculum. Working on a draft of information literacy objectives, outcomes, course requirements has taken time away from video game research, but it has also allowed me to begin looking for games that fit these outcomes. Over the course of this academic year, I will write more about how I'm incorporating games and gaming strategies into the structure information literacy objectives and hopefully curriculum.

But for now, I'll catch myself and anyone else up on the last few months. There are also some new projects that I will be writing about, researching, and reflecting on.

Hello again to anyone who hasn't updated their RSS feeds in a while. And hello to anyone new out there reading.

image from Pythonline

State of Academic Library Gaming & Learning

2009-03-11T15:35:00.003-05:00

The following is an email I sent out to various academic librarians working on gaming and learning in libraries, with a focus on information literacy. I hope that by posting it here and as others post their responses on their own sites this discussion will grow. Please join in this conversation. Nicholas Schiller has already added his thoughts to the dialog.

I hope this email finds each of your semesters going well. I want to ask each of you to consider taking part in a dialog about the current position of games for learning within higher education libraries. Recently, I was asked what the most innovative application of gaming in academic libraries was in 2008 year. While I turned to the work of many of you, I was struck by how fewer projects there were compared to 2006 and 2007. This perception played out through many of conferences during 2008 and was something that struck me during GLLS in November.

While more and more libraries are getting involved with gaming through events and even collections, are we seeing the same growth and adoption with gaming and instruction? Has gaming and learning hit a wall within higher education? If so why? If not, where is it evolving?

Each of you has had some part over the last few years researching, producing, and presenting instructional games and applying gaming strategies in academic libraries. Creating gaming nights is a straightforward process. Creating learning games and lessons with gaming strategies on the other hand, is an involved (and sometimes time consuming and/or expensive) creative process. But many of you are doing it on a variety of levels. My question is if our work is spreading or are we just talking to ourselves?

Now is the time to ask questions, discuss, and look to the future. Nick and Mary both have gaming presentations/posters at ACRL at the end of the month. But these are the only two gaming sessions in Seattle. According to the early program for this year's LOEX conference, there are no sessions on gaming and instruction. There are a number of gaming sessions at ALA Annual, but most are focused on public libraries. Where do we fit?

Discussion Questions:
1) What is the current state of games and learning in academic libraries?
2) What are some of the factors to that current state?
3) Based on your experience and research, what are the next steps?

4) What are the factors supporting or preventing those "next steps?"
5) What do the finical and economic situations at many institutions mean for instructional gaming in libraries?
6) What other issues/questions should we be considering?

Thank you all for taking the time to consider taking part in this discussion. I know that there is much work to still be done in our field, but I am hopeful that through collaborations like these we can continue to move forward.

Thank you,
Paul Waelchli

Goodbye EGM

2009-01-07T12:11:00.003-06:00

I spent the night glued to twitter feeds and message boards last night reading about the UGO buy out of 1up and the cancelation of EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly). The writers there consistently spoke with a unique voice in video game journalism and I’m sorry to see many of them go. Their writings, shows, and podcasts were a part of my routine. Three of their podcasts filled my MP3 player every week for the last two years. Over that time, people came and went. Relationships were cultivated. Trust was built. I’ve told many people that I spend more time writing and reading about video games than I do playing. The 1up.com staff was a large part of my gaming experience. They will be missed.

EGM was a video game institution. It was about to enter it’s 20^th year with its final issue. I remember seeing the very first issue of EGM on newsstands as a kid, but it wasn’t until issue number 4 that I became a regular reader. Even as a middle school kid, I was reading about games from numerous magazines (Nintendo Power, GamePro, EGM, Computer and Video Games, Computer Gaming World). One perspective was not good enough even back then… it’s no wonder I’m teaching information literacy. But EGM stood out above the rest. Nintendo Power was for the fan in me, Gamepro had a fun kid friendly style with reviews, but EGM felt honest, harsh even at times. Video games got poor ratings. And who didn’t wonder who Sushi-X and Quatermann were?

EGM is a part of my gaming history as it is for many video game players. While the death of EGM and print video game magazines was written on the wall for a while now… the loss is not softened.

Thank you to all the EGM writers and editors over the years. Your work has helped video game players question sources, look for additional perspectives, and see their hobby and passion as something more than the electronic “toy” it was back at the start of your run in 1989.

“Multiple Literacies in 2008 Holiday Games”

2009-01-06T20:53:00.002-06:00

The January epsoide of Games in Libraries podcast was released today. The podcast itself is filled with a number of good interviews including one with the Video Game Librarian. The final segment of the podcast includes a discussion about the multiple literacies being put into practice by some of the bigger games of the holiday 2008 season. I talk about the traditional, media, visual, and information literacies at work within the following games:

(info links provided by CrispyGamer, if you haven't read some of their freelance content now is the chance

I had initially hoped to get something posted here discussing of number of these games during the holiday season, but time got away from me. My segment on the podcast is a condensed version of the possible discussion about the literacies at work within these games. And that’s a discussion I’d like to come back to during this month.

But until then… enjoy the podcast and please give me any thoughts or feedback on the connection between the video games discussed and literacy. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

“Welcome Back… Your Dreams are Your Ticket Out”

2009-01-05T23:48:00.002-06:00

Over a month and a half since my last post. I’d like to have some wonderful story to go along with my absence, but the end of a semester at a new institution brought a number of unexpected surprises. But the end my first semester came with a number of good results too.

A 100% increase in the number of instruction sessions taught from Fall 07 to Fall 08. Granted we started with a tiny number compared to what I was doing at the University of Dubuque. UD’s 450 plus sessions for a student body of 1200 is an amazing number. But still I managed some good growth and have hopefully laid down a foundation for future semesters

An initial campus assessment of some information literacy skills was conducted during the semester. 888 students from across all four grade levels (an easy 222 class average) answered a series of questions dealing with evaluating sources, identifying keywords, and plagiarism. The results we mixed, good in some areas and identifying areas of need in others. This initial round of data gives me numbers to work into conversations with faculty about their students and the benefits of information literacy.

I organized and ran a student study break on the Sunday before finals week. There were snacks and sodas for the students along with board games and Mario Kart Wii. We had a very successful night and ran out of soda within the first 20 minutes. I hoped for about 100 students and ended up with 192. Hopeful the good buzz generated by this event will lead to good things this coming semester.

My one disappointment with this semester was the lack of involvement with the general education committee. They are changing the curriculum and the chair was vocal with me and the library about supporting information literacy. While I may be disappointed in the progress, it is a committee working toward change – change moves slowly.

My goal and dream for this semester is not only to continue to build on the success of the fall and to push myself and the library with the changes in the general education. Therein lies my dream. My ticket out of hit or miss one shot instruction. A curriculum where information literacy is tied into it.

We’ll see. But until then… welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.

Vs. Mode: Level Grinding in SRPGs as a Research Process

2008-11-20T10:44:00.006-06:00

Library Voice's Chad added his thoughts about SRPGs and grinding. He's having a good and long experience (50 hours) with Disgaea, but his narrative progress has recently come to a halt. This has changed the game for him, but also opened up new gameplay elements for him, including the following:

However, once I got to Episode 11, I found that my Brawlers, Warriors, and Scouts (all traditional weapon wielders with swords, guns, and axes) would not cut it. As result, I’ve spent the last 5 hours in the game leveling up my new Mages and Clerics.
Now going back to the drawing board here might really frustrate some gamers, particularly after the amount of time invested in the game. Going back to a beginning level may seem pointlessly redundant, and I could easily become frustrated that I did not create the right characters in the first place. Some may find that leveling up can be a ridiculously boring process, since you simply play previous levels in order to strengthen the weaker characters. I initially thought I would feel the same, but I’m actually enjoying the process of level grinding. And believe me, it is a process...
...As such, I’m seeing and learning things about the game, and about myself as a player, a bit differently. In other words, I had gotten quite comfortable with how I was playing the game. The game shocked me out of my comfort zone at Episode 11, which caused me to stop, re-evlaulate, and play the game in a different way.

Chad's gaming experience translates well to a variety of learning situations, including research. His experience parallels that of an upper-division student I worked with earlier this week. She was very comfortable with the ins and out of EBSCO based databases, but moving her into more subject specialized databases opened up a new realm to explore and search skills to built. Obviously, some of the same skills and strategies still applied but new combinations of subject terms and other search strategies created a new and different experience for her.

In both cases, players and students relying on the familiar and understood skill set created a situation where they needed to expand their existing skills and knowledge base in order to progress. They were able to do a lot with a common set of tools (character classes & databases), but for true mastery and quality of gameplay they needed to add to that skills set- learn new techniques, practice them in a safer area to build them, and eventually apply them to the overall project.

Research can be a grind. But just as Chad has found satisfaction in the act of grinding and slowly advancing his characters, our students can derive the same sense of satisfaction. Granted, not all students are interested in a slow progression and quick results are sometimes needed. But framing a research project in the minds of gamers as a way of leveling up their work is a mindset worth discussing. Grinding research can be a rewarding experience, and one that doesn't need to take the 50+ hours players invest in video games.

Versions of Disgaea are available on the PS2, PS3 PSP, & DS.
Screenshots of the DS version are via RPG Fan

Story vs. Strategy: Grinding Your Way to Emotional Investment

2008-11-19T06:52:00.005-06:00

Last week I wrote about the embedded narrative in Syphon Filter for the PSP. Chad over at Library Voice followed up my post with an excellent one of his own. He talked about the game and related some of the games’ experiences to library services. The four points he made are not isolated to the Syphon Filter series but can be applied as general lessons that games provide for library services.

Chad and I are both currently playing strategy role playing games (SRPG). Here’s a quick link to define what SRPGs are. But for me, SRPGs have always felt like a complicated version of chess

. The player moves each character around a map (traditionally a grid) with a set movement distance and attempts to clear (or take) the opponent’s characters. I’ve played and thoroughly enjoyed a number of games in this genre including Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1, PSP) and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA). Last fall I wrote about how the Final Fantasy Tactics series offers players a number of ways to practice their information literacy skills. A large part of my enjoyment of the series is the numerous layers of depth and skills applied during the preparation and execution of each battle.

In addition to the Final Fantasy Tactics series, the publisher Atlus and developer Nippon Ichi have also pushed the genre forward with games like Disgaea, Phantom Brave, and La Pucelle: Tactics. Chad is currently playing Disgaea on the PSP currently. I’m playing another SRPG, Jeanne D’arc, published by Level 5, that was released for PSP last year.

Based on my post last week about the embedded narrative, I wanted to look at the narrative of SRPGs, but realized that I couldn’t without talking about the gameplay as well. Often in SRPGs, as in traditional RPGs, there is a degree of grinding and character building involved. Leveling up your character is important to being statistically strong enough to defeat the opponents’ characters. Yes, with good tactics it is very possible to defeat an opponent at a level or two higher, but often grinding is a potential solution to a challenging battle. The difficultly with grinding is it tends to delay the narrative of the game.

When a player needs to spend time leveling up, the central story arc takes a backset. The political fighting of Final Fantasy Tactics or the magical interpretation of the Joan of Arc story slow to a crawl as a player spends time leveling their characters. This past weekend, I was trying to push ahead with the central story only to continually get defeated in a specific battle. The solution was clear – grind, level up, and try again. Doing so I made the intentional choice pull myself out of the narrative and dive into the chess-like strategy of individual battles.

Upon doing so, I instantly recalled where my emotional investment came from in previous SRPGs. It is not the game’s narrative that held me in the game’s world, it was my emotional connection with the individual characters. Like many role-playing experiences, the enjoyment is derived from the expanded story and characterization created by the player. Grinding has built up a camaraderie between the game characters and myself. While the game’s attempt at developing relationships has slowed as I’ve continued to grind, my emotional investment with the characters has continued to grow.

As I develop a personal investment in the characters, my commitment to the game and the success of each character grows. This isn’t a unique experience for video games. And the debate over which is more engaging: an open ended user created narrative vs. a tightly channeled game narrative is one that fills message boards on a regular basis. There is clearly a place for both. And some games find a balance between the two (the 12 million playing WOW’s new Lich King expansion are an example).

Is one narrative experience more valuable than other?

Or is it a matter of taste?

I’m curious what Chad and others have to say.

Tomorrow I’ll come back to SRPGs and focus more on the tactics and strategies and how that can relate to our students’ searching experiences.

images via Gamespot

On a night just like tonight... Happy Birthday Wii & PS3

2008-11-18T23:37:00.002-06:00

Cold. A brisk winter wind. A night filled with anticipation. Excitement both for the new gaming experiences and potential profit. Two years ago this week, the Sony PS3 and Nintendo Wii were released within days of each other.

Happy birthday!

On the most recent Gaming in Libraries podcast, I mentioned how I thought believe the Wii has expanded the acceptance of gaming in libraries. Clearly the Wii has expanded the gaming audience. The PS3, while it may struggle in sales, it is still an amazing piece of technology and will continue to help gaming grow and expand. The PS3's folding @home project may have faded from the spotlight, but it still is an important step in broadening commercial video game use.

I was out at both launch nights interviewing those waiting in line.

PS3 launch night discussions

Wii launch night discussion

Both posts are filled with comments from gamers about what they do when they are stuck. The interesting piece is that this same mentality can be seen at the reference desk. Students and gamers see asking for help as a potential weakness. With the Pew Internet study showing that 98% of teens play games, this mentality may not be going away.

So how we change that?

Can librarians can be the "in-game" tutorial during the opening level, more than the "cheat" when frustration sets in? Should we?

Confronting the Challenge: Gaming as Instructional Technology in School Libraries

2008-11-17T23:50:00.006-06:00

Over the weekend, I had a challenging conversation with a elementary school librarian. He's plays video games with his children at home and likes the idea of gaming in libraries, but is struggle to see how it fits in at the elementary level. We talked about the challenges he sees with bringing gaming into their curriculum.

Our conversation was cut short, as our kids debated who was controlling who was controlling who in Mario Party 8. But I was able to bring up the excellent work that librarians are doing bringing in a variety of game experiences into their libraries. The work done by Chris Harris and Brian Mayer mapping board games to AASL Standards. The work of others holding Alternative Reality Games (ARGs) focused around classroom content. Made for good talking points.

I did give him the link to a good K-12 online presentation on educational gaming that could help support his points when talking with his teachers:

Games in Education: Myths, Realities, and Promise by Sylvia Martinez

While much of it is review for those engaged in the dialogue of games and education, it provides a good entry point for those in K-12 education. She brought up many good points including how traditional edutainment games fail:

“These games fail as authentic learning experiences and do nothing to change the way students learn.”

Martinez also spent time talking about how games in education cannot be isolated just to the game, but need to flow over into peer and classroom discussion:

“As you can see, the role of the teacher is extremely important in balancing gameplay with reflection on the experience.”

“As with many games, the playing is not the power, the learning happens as you analyze mistakes either alone or with friends.”

Martinez treats video games in education like any other instructional technology. Application and reflection are equally important parts of the learning experience. But she points out the same challenges that arose in my conversation with the school librarian:

“The question is: Are games useful in learning or are games useful in school? Right now, unfortunately, these are not the same thing.”

Finding ways to fit games with content and experiences with the existing curriculum as Harris, Mayer, and others are doing is the first step in a long process.

I'm thankful for the challenging conversation about gaming in school libraries. After spending most of my time talking about the educational benefits of gaming, being confronted with the challenging realities of school district pressures, curriculum conflicts, and tight budgets is good. I'm looking forward to continuing our conversation, bringing in other area school librarians, and hopefully (eventually) making some applications for gaming in their libraries.

Martinez's closing thoughts provide words of encouragement for my continued conversation with my discouraged school librarian friend:

“Games are a way to bring joy and excitement into learning, but they need adequate time, matching assessment strategies, and reflective extension activities to make them really worth it.”

Searching for the Story: Getting more out of video game narrative

2008-11-12T23:46:00.003-06:00

Over the last week or so, Chad Boeninger, from Library Voice, and I discussed the game Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow for the Sony PSP. Both Chad and I finished the game this week and spent some time talking about the narrative of this game and other games in the Syphon Filter series.

Without giving anything away (even if the game is over a year old), we both wanted more out of the narrative. The game's story was written by novel and comic author Greg Rucka . The game is full of plot twists, terrorists, and covert government agencies which feels right at home for the universe of special ops agent Gabe Logan. These political / military thrillers are also right at home in the novels of Rucka. This combination made me excited about the potential of the game's story. And this anticipation also effected my initial impressions on the story.

The outline of the story itself is really solid and the narrative arc flows well for the game. My disappointment was in the lack of details and depth portrayed through the cut scenes. Big events and twists would happen that felt out of the blue. Alliances shifted and evidence was presented that moved the plot forward but lacked a clear explanation and rationale. I wanted more from the story because I was so invested in the outcome.

After talking with Chad about the narrative and running theories and story gaps past one another, I realized what I missed. The key to fully understanding the twists of the story came from the evidence I mentioned above. Throughout the game you, as Logan, can find hidden evidence files in each level. Sometimes these are appropriately placed in file cabinets or on computer desks. Other times they are very "gamey" and hidden on high ledges or out of the way locations. Regardless of where these files are hidden they hold the key to fully grasping the story. The player has the option of reading through the files found in each level from the menu screen. And it wasn't until tonight, when I went back to read through some of the files I found, that the holes in the cut scenes started to fill in. Unfortunately, I hadn't found all the hidden evidence in each level to get all the details... but it is a game after all and it's encouraging me to come back and replay levels for more detail.

I've always enjoyed the Syphon Filter ever since its start on the PS1 in 1999. While it never was as revolutionary as Metal Gear Solid, it had a narrative that continued to make sense across six different games. The intrigue, twists, and action make it a natural fit for anyone who's enjoyed spy novels like Clancy and others. My initial lack of satisfaction with the narrative was a result of being too caught up in the action and flow of the game. I wanted to keep moving, take out that sniper, and rescue my partner. I didn't have time to stop to read a file. But that is where the narrative gets fleshed out. And this is where games present a different way to experience a narrative. A player does not get the full experience simply watching the cut scenes like a movie. The player needs to be actively looking for, interacting with, and reading the extended narrative to gain the full story experience. Henry Jenkins talks about embedded narrative where players flesh out the story by interacting with the game world. Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow is a great example of this.

What's interesting though, is that I knew the Syphon Filter series on the PSP was a good example of it. I've used it in multiple presentations talking about how video games are changing the way people interact with stories. The truth is, I just got too wrapped up in the tension of the narrative that I wanted to keep pushing it forward. But now I can go back, read through the evidence I found, search for more, and continue to enjoy the depth of the narrative even after my initial playthrough.

I can no longer say I expected more out of the narrative of the game. The story Rucka created and the way the game told it expected more out of me.

Taking the library out of information literacy games

2008-11-11T13:15:00.005-06:00

Lisa Hinchliffe recently started Inspiring Innovation. I've had the opportunity to work with Lisa as a member of ALA's Gaming and Literacy Expert Panel and I've admired her work in information literacy and library innovation for a while. Lisa's post from her time at GLLS 2008 rasises a really interesting question:

I wonder if there is a way for students to play a game on a different topic that would enable information literacy skill development and in which success is dependent on high levels of information literacy abilities?

This is an important question that librarians looking a games for learning should be asking. While libraries are the major advocates of information literacy on our campuses, we do not assume that info lit skills are only being practiced in libraries. In fact we don't want to be the only ones owning info lit. Libraries struggle with getting information literacy intergrated into the curriculum and forming partners with subject specific faculty. Any review of the literature shows numerous articles on these topics. Lisa question brings information literacy within games to that same level. I replied with the following:

The next step to gaming within the higher education curriculum is to create games, as you said, "on a different topic that would enable information literacy skill development." If we think of gaming and information literacy, than just like info lit, the more it is tied to meaningful content the more successful it can be.

While I've been fortunate to help highlight the work of libraries creating info lit games, we are missing a larger potential. We can remove the game out of a library context and still teach info lit skills. And by removing the library context it is possible to remove some of the reluctance that Jenna describe.

There's a lot of work to do on that end, but it's work worth doing.

If we agree that games can help teach and provide practice of information literacy skills, then we should be looking at connecting information literacy to other games (both serious and COTS) that are being developed and used within education. Librarians work to connect the value of information literacy to classroom content. Taking a look at how games used in education are applying information literacy skills can help provide additional support for gaming, add value to an already rich experience, and gain some partners for future applications.

Thank you for raising the question Lisa. I hope that others will join the conversation and continue to find ways to tied information literacy to video games.

The Adventures of Links: First week of November

2008-11-10T22:57:00.004-06:00

After spending the last week wrapped up in GLLS 2008 and the election's joyous results, my RSS reading has taken a hit. Below are some of the stories I missed from last week... maybe you missed them too.

An Interview on Games and Business

Henry Jenkins has a detailed interview with the authors of the new book Changing the Game: How Video Games are Transforming the Future of Business. I haven't read the book yet, but it was mentioned by some of the speakers at GLLS 2008. As always, the thought provoking analysis on Jenkins blog is time well spent.

Microsoft's Games for Learning Initiative

Back at the beginning of October, Microsoft announced their funding and support of a new initiative. The news was covered on a variety of sites including Serious Game Source and Grand Text Auto. But now there are more details coming forth. The post is a summary of a speech given by Katie Salen at Toronto's "Future Play" conference. I'm interested to see how these projects develop and how the take advantage of gaming educational properties.

National Geographic's Expedition Game

Ian Bogost over at Watercooler games had a post about the online game that National Geographic is running this week. The game itself is based along the lines of traditional point and click adventure. While it may not be the most advanced gameplay, it is a great attempted to add value to the expedition shows each night. The shows provide additional clues that open up information in the game. But the games themselves are decent discussion starters. I've been reading The Magic Tree House series with my five year old son and all the locations covered in the game are ones that the book characters have visited. I am going to use the game as a way to add content to his interest sparked by the books.

Alternate Reality Games (ARG) and Info Lit

There is some good activity over at UNC's Games4Learning. Chad Haefele over at Hidden Peanuts recently spoke about ARGs. His post makes some important connections between potential ARG experiences and information literacy skills.

For a future bookshelf

There is a call out for chapters for a book collecting educational games. Design and Implementation of Educational Games: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives looks to be published sometime late in 2009, but the call is open until December 15th.

image from VC Reviews

Continued Advocacy: Personal Reflections on GLLS 2008

2008-11-09T20:57:00.002-06:00

It’s been a week since I was standing in front of the GLLS 2008 attendees talking about videogames and learning. While it was only about 15 minutes, it was a conversation that I built over the last two years. In fact, most of my experience at GLLS 2008 was the summation of the last two years. That culminating event really changed the tone of GLLS for me. I mentioned during the “Gaming in Libraries” podcast from GLLS that the tone was different from the year before. This year libraries are finding their stride. Gaming in libraries is becoming part of library’s plate of services.

During GLLS 2007, everything felt fresh and exciting. I felt that libraries and games were just peaking over the horizon and trying to stake a claim. All the work that Jenny Levine did to put gaming and libraries out there, set the tone. Henry Jenkins and James Paul Gee laid the groundwork for why gaming was culturally and academically valuable. I know that I was naïve and wide-eyed in 2007, but in my conversations with people at last summer symposium there were many others just starting to seriously look at gaming. I’m thankful for the many people in academic, school, and public libraries that were pushing gaming forward at that time. And I’m thankful for everyone who’s joined in that effort over the last year and a half.

I had a chance at GLLS 2008 to talk about most of my projects:

- Mapping videogames to information literacy standards
- Fantasy Football as information literacy practice
- Applying gaming strategies into classroom instruction

I also had the opportunity to help highlight the work that other librarians are doing in creating games for teaching information literacy.

I am very thankful for the conversations I had with a number of attendees around these ideas and I hope that the ideas helped spark interest or applications. There is a lot of work to do with gaming in libraries, but based on the work that the attendees are actively planning and already doing there is a lot of good to come out of the work we are already doing.

My mission and direction out of GLLS 2008 is much different than GLLS 2007. In 2007, I left feeling charged and justified in the work I was doing. People were interested and there was excitement around it. That excitement paid off during last week’s symposium and I’m grateful for the opportunities I had. Now coming out of 2008, I am again recharged but for a different mission.

Applying gaming strategies into education is useful as a teaching strategy and I will continue to talk about ways to apply gaming strategies to teaching. Mapping information literacy skills to commercial off–the-shelf (COTS) games is important to communicating the value of videogames in libraries and information literacy. I will continue this effort, expand it to include additional games, and work to formalize it in order to create a guide for others.

The work that Chris Harris and Brian Mayer are doing mapping board games to AASL Standards and NY State Standards is the model for the next step for my work mapping videogames. Making the argument that COTS games teach and apply information literacy in the blogsphere was the only place I could start. But I am hopeful that through a variety of partnerships those arguments can be carried out and applied elsewhere.

It’s taken me a couple of days to sift through all the emotions created at GLLS 2008, but I am eager to pick my gaming advocacy flag back up and help move it into the next battlefield. While that analogy may be more militaristic than it needs to be, it fits. This conversation over the curriculum applications of video games is already well underway in higher education and education in general. Other libraries are already engaged in the conversation too. I am hopeful that collectively we can integrate gaming in the curriculum.

I perceived a tone shift from the excitement and justification during GLLS 2007 to service and sustainability during GLLS 2008. While this shift has challenged me personally, the shift is good for the long term. This shift in tone can lead to a shift in application and ultimately integration. Games are already being argued for and applied within education. The more libraries join and support that conversation, the more exiting GLLS 2009 will be.

Relax, Play, & Learn: GLLS 2008 Speaker Reflections

2008-11-08T21:57:00.004-06:00

After spending the second half of last week taking in all the election coverage, I've finally worked my way through the rest of my GLLS 2008 notes. While I initially started posting the sessions during each speaker/session, I quickly got wrapped up in getting ready for my different presentations and decided I could come back to the posts afterward. Regardless, you can catch all my session and speaker write-ups under the glls2008 tab. In addition to the individual write up, I wanted to take time to reflect back on the keynote speakers and the symposium as a whole.

It is useful to discuss the speakers as a whole because there were many themes that overlapped and while initially some of their content felt redundant, upon reflection it feels like multiple perspectives in the same debate. Ultimately the keynote speakers combine to make the point that:

Games create learning opportunities. Teens are already playing and not being psychologically harmed. Libraries are supporting gaming and thus supporting these learning opportunities. So play, have fun, and the learning will come through play.

There were about 10 minutes from Marc Prensky's opening keynote that really summed up his writing and thoughts on how "complex" games teach players a host of skills. This series of skills was part of the impetus for my own thinking and writing about video games and libraries. He talked about how complex games can help players learn:

Collaboration
Effective decision making
Prudent risks
Ethical decisions
Scientific deduction
Think laterally
System thinking

While those skills still hold as much meaning today as they did back in 2005 and 2006, it was disappointing to see that his discussion of them had not evolved since then. Those in the audience that had not read Prensky before, hopeful walked out with these key points. Unfortunately, it appeared that the distractions he created about "renaming the library" or trying to redefine librarians or even the suggestions of things to do (all of which libraries are already doing) were what many librarians took away from his keynote.

Prensky's keynote was followed by Amanda Lenhart from Pew Internet & American Life. While I had read through the report and the questionnaire before, it was a wonderful piece to the larger message the keynote speakers created. The Pew Study showed upwords of 95% of teens play games regularly (99% of boys). If they are learning the skills that Prensky (and similarly Gee and others) have stated, then the current and coming generation is well prepared to think critically and apply a variety of literacies. Hopefully, Chris Harris, Brain Mayer, and myself helped support this perspective by discussing how games (board and video games) can be directly connected to established learning standards. Tying games directly to standards should help make advocacy for gaming in libraries easier.

Scott Nicholson's update on how libraries of all types are using gaming showed continued support for gaming not just as a one shot program, but as an ongoing service in libraries. This growth and sustainability in libraries creates continued opportunities for the type of learning discussed and the type of civic community that the Pew Study found.

Dr. Kutner's keynote highlighted that the reported negatives of playing violent games are overshadowed by the positive experiences discussed by the other keynotes. His research found little real evidence of increasing in violence based on violent video games. Kutner stated players play violent games not because they are violent but because the experience is often engaging and motivating. It is these violent and "complex" games that also lead to the learning discussed in the opening day. Andrew Bub's GamerDad supported Kutner's data and findings, not through additional data but through antidotes and personal experience. Bub and Kutner provided librarians with two angles in the common thesis of the impact and advocacy of video games. Bub summed up concerns over video game addiction nicely, calling it "a page turner" and comparing engaging gameplay to a book "you can't put down." When the medium is not vilified, then fears of prolonged engagement become something to celebrate and admire rather than fear and condemn.

And finally, Jon-Paul Dyson was a wonderful summation to the symposium. His point that games are play - play supports learning - learning is good - games are good. The logic in his speech capped the arguments made by the other keynotes perfectly.

The keynote speakers at GLLS 2008 can be summed up in the following statements:

Games create learning opportunities. Teens are already playing the games and not being overly psychologically harmed. Libraries are supporting gaming and thus supporting these learning opportunities. So play, have fun, and the learning will come through play.

image via Silversprite's Flickr photostream

What Every Librarian Needs to About Videogames and the Law

2008-11-07T23:17:00.000-06:00

Mark Methenitis, Joystiq / Law of the Game blog

He started with a quick overview of copyright and fair use.

Mark stated that in law school they stated that the key copyright is that it is a "bundle" of rights that exists. In addition to copyright, games not only content with copyright but also with EULAs (End User License Agreement)

Methenitis stated that fair use does not apply universally. There are two potential sources of restriction to gaming events copyright and the EULA. Both can be overcome, but at what cost or restriction. The "right of performance" is restrictive. None of the traditional exemptions to not apply to gaming and libraries. Which means libraries should be asking for permission. Permission in writing, physical or email. In a safe legal environment, libraries should be asking.

Do libraries need to ask every time or can they get a broader blanket?

Beth Galloway mentioned that Nintendo and Red Octane, producers of the "Guitar Hero" series, have both provided permission for use and were good to work with.

Scott Nicholson asked if working through the ALA to get a blanket performance rights by company. Mark stated that working through the ALA could be a successful strategy compared to hundreds of requests. He stated that it would still be on a case by case example.

****

I wonder how "fair use" plays into gaming at libraries?

I wonder how this discussion will evolve as the profile of gaming in libraries continues to rise. Gaming events in libraries may be considered public performances of the games, but most gaming events encourage players to play more of the game. Library gaming tournaments also require players to practice to be competitive. Again meaning patrons are buying more of the games. One of the reasons publishers may not be too aggressive on pursuing libraries is because there is a positive net result in their gaming profits.

Mark also has a really interesting post on intellectual property and Little Big Planet. As games formalize user created content, the debate over ownership and rights will continue to evolve.

The Power of Play Today

2008-11-07T22:50:00.000-06:00

Below are my notes from the closing keynote speech at GLLS 2008:

Jon-Paul Dyson; Strong National Museum of Play; Editor American Journal of Play

Play involves passion. Because of this passion play is what we spend our time doing, or at least our free time.

The Strong Museum is working on a big exhibit coming next year on electronic games.

There are elements where games, play, and reading all come together. Jon-Paul used a Venn diagram to show the junction and also where they exist on their own. Used the quote "work is not the opposite of play, depression is the opposite

He posed the question of "what is play?"

Fun
Voluntary
Play is its own reward
Exists in a "Magic Circle"
- Rule set
- Emersion/absorption

6 elements of play:

Anticipation
Surprise
Pleasure
Understanding
Strength
Poise

The Benefits of Play:

Refreshes us, breaks from life, work, learning
Increases our flexibility
Learning
Makes us happier

Jon-Paul talked about how our play today is not new play. It is the same play just in a new medium. "A new way."

He gave libraries some questions to try to answer:

What is the role of the library?
Are libraries about books, about information, about play?
How do libraries engage these new forms of play?
- How do libraries fall into the Venn diagram of games, play, reading

Do libraries provide play? Or do we promote the best play?

How can we do each?

****

Jon Paul's remarks provided a great conclusion to the symposium. Games of all kinds are enjoyable because we play them. Through play we can learn a variety of skills and concepts through the act of play. Playing builds community for both those playing and those watching. Play is worthwhile for the health of an individual and an institution. Gaming in libraries, in all its forms at GLLS, is a great way to reach out to various communities of all generations, provide services that build relationships and stimulate growth, and to come together in shared experiences of play.

IL Challenged? Don’t Blame Them, Game Them

2008-11-06T23:11:00.000-06:00

Richard Glass, Marsha Spiegelman, Nassau Community College

Glass and Spiegelman describe their information literacy game in Second Life. The game, is a series of quests throughout different Second Life locations. While the content amounts to a traditional tutorial the interactive environment creates a new experience. Glass and Spiegelman have used the Second Life platform to create a game, rather than just simply existing in the virtual world. The game is a great idea that is still going through additions and just starting to be used. But as a concept, they've created a tool for a virtual tutorial that pulls the students out of a static webpage walkthrough, into a living world of Second Life. As community college faculty, the idea of a virtual tutorial for students is a great way to meet and adapt to their population's needs. Below are the notes from the GLLS session:

Students collect items in Second Life based around clues provided within instruction. They created a game within Second Life.

One of the challenges in the game is to evaluate websites. The links are provided within Second Life and the students then access those sites and return to SL to answer the questions. Some of the other questions scattered throughout the quest are adapted from Scott Rice's Information Literacy Game.

Other quests include going to "Mystery Island" to A.Christie's cottage to search for a book using the library catalog. The game has a specific set of outcomes, but incorporates a number of choices. Students will get extra credit for playing.

2 questions from the audience:

How long does it take to play through?
How much has been play tested?

A: Glass and Spiegelman are just getting the SL quest out to their students now so any student feedback was very limited. I'm interested to see how this advances and adapts as more people play through the quests. I plan to follow up with them at the end of this semester and see how things are going.

Hopefully glass and Spielman's ideas open doors to others to use virtual worlds as a place to create game-like experiences. Experiences that mirror traditional gameplay elements and the satisfaction players derive from them.

Glass and Spiegelman have a broader gaming and libraries article in the October issue of C&RL News. They been using gaming principles in other instruction sessions and the article discusses that in more detail.

"gaminglearning," American Library Association, October 07, 2008.
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crlnews/2008/oct/gaminglearning.cfm

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crlnews/2008/oct/gaminglearning.cfm

Lessons for History from Rome: Total War

2008-11-06T22:59:00.000-06:00

Speaker Seann M. Dikkers, from UW-Madison GLS Group.

Dikkers who is a doctoral student who has also presented a GLS 4.0 this past summer. He has worked with Kurt Squire on his Civilization III research.

Total War publishers use historians on the game developers. Dikkers also said that the publisher was much easier to work with than Civilization's publishers. Total War publishers did not shy away from working with educators and welcomed their game as a potential teaching tool. Producer Sam Weinberg stated that one of the keys to historical thinking is to divide up historic into segments and periods

Shogun, Medieval, Rome all recreate historical eras and allow players to experience history and the impact that decisions had on events. Dikkers spent a little time going through the history of the Total War

As the teacher, engage with the players and ask questions. "Why use ladders when the gates are open?" If players do not have an explanation or rationale for their actions, then ask leading questions to help them discover the learning. Ask them to talk to each other, seek out advice online.

Gameplay Mechanics include:

Settlement types
Financial Management
Family Trees / leadership
Guild Halls
Papal / Senate edicts
Technology Development
Diplomatic Relations

The game investment and enjoyment leads to further study and discovery. He suggests that when doing clubs and applying games, have multiple games to build through and apply. Using multiple games allows for more details, spend about 6 – 9 weeks per game.

Structuring Sessions:

Play – post details & handouts (45 – 60 min)
- If there are announcements, post it – don't lecture it
Breaks – 5 – 10min
- Teaching balance… How do you walk away from a game?
Add challenges
- Do after/during break
- "Who can find a strategy to beat the Romans?"
- Can use as a teaching tool
Play (60 – 90 min)
Save – Quit
- 30 seconds
- No, "Right after this."
- There are important events outside of the game
Critical Interactions
- "I'm going to teach you how to take care of my lab"
- Give them some responsibility
- Use it as a time of reflection and learning

Continuing Challenges

Find a Strategy: What is the holistic process of strategies of success?
Game objectives
- How does this help with literacy and learning

One of the key pieces that Dikkers discussed that is important for the successful advocacy is capturing examples of learning to provide evidence to those making decisions about funding and supporting these gaming and learning experiences.

****

While I have not played Rome: Total War, I have played some of both Shogun and Medieval. The historical accuracy in each game is amazing. The games are a great example of Bogost's "procedural literacy" concept. Total War players are learning about the decisions of historic leaders and how decisions impact the surrounding events. Dikkers did a great job of laying out the larger world that Total War includes and set up some excellent educational experiences. Just as Roper from the FAS stated in other session, the challenge is not if game will be used for education, but if they will be used well. Total War is a great example of games that can be used well with traditional world history curriculum.

Assessing the Potential of Games for Teaching

2008-11-06T22:50:00.000-06:00

Karen Markey, School of Information at the University of Michigan

Back in December of 2007, I had a chance to talk with Karen Markey about her team's experience with their initial information literacy game. The following is Karen's GLLS session on her game, it's development, and the lessons learned from the assessment.

*****

Team Members

Two faculty members Karen and Vic Rosenberg.

Fritz Swanson, lecturer in English wrote the script

Two programmers, one student and one former Microsoft programmer

There are a number of limitations with IL:

Expense of getting into the classroom, both time, space, and money
Disconnect with the content and library

Students chose the topic of the "Black Death." They used with the general to specific model developed by Kirk at Earlham

Web
Online encyclopedia
Books
Articles
Web of science

Defense of Hidgeon: The Plague Years

Online board game
Specific path
Players move space to space, using in game dice
Questions are asked that require them to use library database to answer the question.
- Using existing sources to answer in game questions
Some events required students to go into the library to gain codes from librarians
Answering questions awards money (gold) and scrolls
Allows players to buy buildings when the answer questions correctly and have enough gold
Winner is the one with most land and gold.

Tested the game with a class of 75 undergrad students

29 signed up to play on 8 teams, 2 – 4 per team

When extra credit was given to players

49 students played in total

All player teams played together on same board. The winning team ended up owning everything

Evaluation:

Game generated logs of playtime
Did 3 discussion focus groups
- Those who played
- Those that dropped out
- Those that didn't play

6 teams met the incentive

7 failed to meet incentive

Most teams tested the waters of the game before committing large amount of time

The successful teams answered 51% of questions correctly

67% web

63% online questions

43% of book questions

Physical demands of going to the library

Students stated they had better awareness and familiarity of certain databases. But they did not get the broad to narrow process.

8 Premises for Guiding the Development of Games

Gameplay must contribute in a useful way to the coursework
Gameplay that gives mastery over 1 key concept is preferred to comprehensive
Gameplay must count toward student's grades

The other guiding premises are in the full report are available on the games' website

www.si.umich.edu/~ylime/storygame.html

The report is available here as well

Karen is working on a new game: BiblioBouts

Using zotero to create a shared bib
Students will play mini-games that add value to citations
Students will use these bibs in class
The new game will also find ways to evaluate source credibility

In addition, the game framework is planned to assess the relevance of retrieval and the audience's involvement. The amount of playtime and frequencies of play will be recorded in order to fully assess the experience.

Play the Defense of Hidgeon at www.storygameproject.org

Digital Gaming in Library Instruction: Exploring Academic Library Users Perceptions

2008-11-05T22:08:00.000-06:00

Michael Robinson

Wanted to find out how students want to learn about the library and the content therein. The study was intended to see if librarians interests and forward thinking is actually in line with what students want.

Pilot study of 42 users in Fall 2006. Asked about two forms of instruction, formal instruction and informal orientation. In addition five technology based delivery methods were asked:

Paper
2-d web
3-d graphical interface
Audio only
Audiovisual presentation

Data Collection was focused on user's perceptions. User's perceptions of services shape their expectation.

Asked two questions on

Preference on Info Lit
Preference on Orientation of services

Each of the 5 services were paired up to create multiple combinations (x vs. y) the students then answered.

Findings:

#1: Webpage 72,71

#2: 3-D immersive 68,59

#3: Paper

#4: Audiovisual

#5: Audio only

The pilot study led to more questions:

Why more interest in facility orientation vs. information literacy? Is it about spacial understanding in a virtual world?

This pilot is now being apply to his doctorial dissertation and expanding the survey. Michael's study is also going to be a forthcoming article in Reference & User Services Quarterly in 2009 that will provide a full write up on this study.

The study raises good question about users perceptions of how they want their undergraduate services. The results confirm library's continued adaptations and applications of user interactions in catalogs and online services. With 3-D environments ranking 2^nd in both service preferences, it suggests the value of creating and trying new ways to create and teach our students. Unfortunately the results are very limited based on the size of the sample, but the results could help support others looking to try new ways to reach and teach their students.

I'm looking forward to following up with Michael as he works on his dissertation to see how the larger study turns out.

GISK & FAS Learning Technologies: Games for Classroom Education

2008-11-05T21:58:00.000-06:00

Presentation by:

Ann Crewdson, Issaquah/Sammamish Libraries

Angelique Kopa, Harford County Public Library

Dr. Michelle Roper, from Federation of American Scientists

ALSC's Great Interactive Software for Kids Committee changed their game scope in 2007 to include console, mobile, and all games. The expanded scope and expansion of gaming has created both a much larger pool of games to draw from and a lot more work to evaluate them.

The speakers walked criteria for Evaluation:

Content is enhanced by the graphics: like a picture book, graphics need good content
Games should be user friendly: easy to get into, understand and play
Ease of use
Educational and entertaining
Age appropriate: this criteria goes beyond ESRB to the skills and development of games and players
Collaborative play: both for learning and experience

A number of games that met the Standards for Excellence were discussed:

Komnami Kids Playground (PS2)
- "Alphabet Circus" and "Dinosaur Shapes & Colors"
- Practice of motor skills and refinement
- Letter knowledge, beginning literacy skills
- Recognition of primary colors
- Reinforce letter, color, and shape recognition
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
- Puzzles both visual audio
- Thinking, memorization, computation, analysis, and identification
- Challenge friends
- Socialization
Animal Genius
- Produced by Scholastic
- Vocabulary building, life-science concepts, sorting/matching/categorization
- Grades K – 2 recommended, but speaker talked about using it with her 2 year old
- Life Science skills applied
Nancy Drew PC Series
- Based on the books
- Active problem solving
- Nonlinear and higher order thinking
- Develops sequential, logical, reading, organizational skills

For libraries looking for educational uses:

Look for partnerships
- Public / School libraries
- Vendors
- Researchers

Michelle Roper from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) talked about how the FAS has looked at learning technology. They just received founding for a learning technology center. Discussed the potential from studies that technology assisted teaching to bring people from

6 Roadmaps + Executive Summary

Instructional Design
Question Generation

Games make new learning tools possible

Highly motivational
Embedded assessments
Scaffolding
Question Generation and Answering
Simulated environments that allow players to build, experiment, operate equipment, and explore
Collaboration

Dr. Roper discussed the goals of their game design

3 FAS Learning Games:

Immune Attack: basic immunology education; formal learning; $2 million invested into the game
Discover Babylon: classroom and museums for learning, targeted 8 – 14 year old; informal learning; over $500,000 invested in Discover Babylon
Mass Casualty Incident Responder: decision-making; workforce implementation

(Use slides to show screen shots and details of each game)

Immune Attack has been downloaded 6,000 times since it's release two months ago. Results show gender equity with girls gaining more science understanding than traditional instruction.

"What We Don't Know Can Hurt Us" – Roper made the point that it is important to understand gameplay and user expectations is important to be aware of during a game's development.

"It's not whether or not games will be used, but if they will be used well."

This is an important challenge to educators. Games are already teaching, although they may be teaching outside the curriculum. Our challenge as educators is to help find and create games that support and compliment the curriculum. And above that, games that students want to play. Using a game well is not just having good content, it is making a game with good content that is a game… not an electronic worksheet.

Gamers ARE Readers

2008-11-05T21:49:00.000-06:00

The following are notes from the GLLS 2008 session presented by Lindsey Wesson & Lori Easterwood. The session follows along on the same lines as Kelly Czarnecki's Booklist article from 2007. [Czarnecki, K. (2007b). Books for teen gamers. Booklist, 103(13), 78-79.] Their session is a natural extension to the article. Lindsey and Lori treat games like any other entertainment medium and use those experiences to help patrons find other reading experiences they may enjoy. Their session gave an overview to each of the many different gaming genres and suggested types of books for each genre. But beyond that, they made the important point that gaming is a valuable experience for librarians to understand and apply in their service to the public. Thank you Lindsey and Lori for treating video games like just another valid entertainment medium.

****

The presentation focused on tying gaming with reading. Just like talking with a patron about the books they enjoy, librarians help them find books that fit their interest. Librarians can take the same approach for pairing games and books.

There are similar elements in games and books:

Choices, key moral choices that impact character arc
Puzzles / challenges
First –person perspective
Realism (historical fiction)
Historical settings
Literary hook
- think of games as text
- What are the key plot points

Simulation: Terry Pratchett's Nation

Action / Shooter: Artimus Fowl; The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Adventure / RPG: most fantasy novels work; "Horns & Wrinkles" by Joseph Helgerson; "The Inferior" by Peadar O Guilin

Reader's Advisory Skills for Gamers:

Prepare
- Familiarize yourself with gaming lit/press
- Teen Ink.com
Discover a core collection of books for gamers
- Gamers are readers wiki
Create displays for gaming books
Conversation
- Don't wait for them to talk to you
- Don't wait for them to tell you are a gamer
- Don't treat it like a reference interview, it is a conversation
Find a fit
- Aim higher rather than lower
- Listen to what they've been saying
- Bright and shinny
- Books with gaming plots

Teen reads.com

Gaming Plot books:

Epic & Saga
Discordia
Brainboy and the Deathmaster
Heir Apparent
Gamer Girl

"The 39 Clues" intersection with books and online interaction

"Cathy's Book" written by game designers

Contains phone numbers or websites that add in more content to the overall experience

Lori and Lindsey stated in their opening that they've given this presentation (or versions of it before) and I'm thankful for that. Their mindset that video games are just another entertainment medium is wonderful. The argument is not "books or games" but "books and games." Connecting books to games is a good step in acknowledging that games are just another collection and service we can provide.

http://gamersarereaders.wetpaint.com

Grand Theft Childhood

2008-11-03T09:33:00.002-06:00

Dr. Lawrence Kutner spoke about his research with children and their parents about the effects of and reason for playing violent video games.

Kutner started off with the historic tradition of moral panics over video games and other mediums, like the paperback novel. He discussed the scandal of 1873 with Anthony Comstock and congress using "the protection of children" rationale to district the public from larger issues of the time. The controversy of dime novels and the corruption of youth. By understanding the historical context of public fear,

Hayes Code prevented showing dynamiting of trains in fears of instructing people how to do it. Dime novels, movies, comics all used antidotes to show "evidence" of the negative impacts on youth.

Fear of violence in games like Mortal Kombat in the early 90's. Are the current fears over video games no different than these historic examples?

While the statistics that were displayed were outdated, the Pew data showed that children are playing on a regular basis. He used examples of the DC Sniper and Columbine quotes on both sides arguing for and against games as a factor. Evidence shows that violence in schools has gone down over 20 years, but the coverage has gone up. There is no official profile of "school shooters." Only 1 of 8 had shown any interest in video games. Using FBI stats, youth violence peaked in 1994, overall youth crime is down. Only simple assaults have dramatically increased. Explanations in mandatory aressets.

Kids listed the 5 most played games in the last 6 months. #1. GTA 44% Madden 34 28% Halo (boys)

Girls #1 Sims, #2 GTA

Only 5% of boys 6% played with adults. For 96% of boys the reason to play was a social experience to play. Children that play M rated games are most likely to have gaming in their bedrooms.

62% used games to relax, about 25% used games for emotional regulation (forget problems, get anger out, feel less lonely). This is a key that the games are not causing the problem, but a sign of a larger problem.

They did focus groups with both parents and kids. Parents of boys were not concerned about gore, more concerned about violence against women and minorities. Were concerned about sex in games more than general violence. Kids were most concerned about language. Kids asked about what age was appropriate for M rated games. Kids were concerned about the same issues as parents and "swears" for their younger siblings. Boys that were surveyed were much more concerned about sex, than violence.

Reasons found for "Why play violent games": Compete and win, get anger out, modding, and guns (unclear on meaning)

The researchers sought to understand what qualified as violence. Violence is not aggression, and that distinction is important. Statistical prediction cannot show causation. Children studied were clearly able to distinguish fantasy from reality.

What attracted kids to games were the complexity of gameplay, narrative, and character. Most happened to be M rated.

Sample was light on Latino and Asian, versus national average. But the sample was broad, urban and suburban, race, socioeconomic class was representative. Their sample showed the heavy ownership of consoles, which matches the Pew Internet survey.

Question asked about ethical questions in games. Kutner stated that content in games should be developmental appropriate. Another question was asked about children's developmental stages where they are able to see violent games as fantasy vs. reality. Kutner, a psychologist, stated that child play is traditionally violent, games may have less of an impact because they can influence the experience and shut it off… unlike movies or television.

Teens, Games, and Civics

2008-11-02T15:39:00.002-06:00

Statistics and results presented by Amanda Lenhart of the Pew Internet & American Life.

The full results of the questionnaire study are here:

http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIAL%20Gaming%20FINAL%20Topline.pdf

The full study is at http://www.pewinternet.org

The audience asked about the digital divide and if that effected game playing. Amanda reported that there were no statistical significance with race, ethnicity, and socio-economic class and ownership of gaming consoles. They may not have the most recent gaming console, but they do own console. These demographics may not have internet access in the home, but still own a console or gaming system. Console gaming is less limited than access to the internet. Amanda reported similarities of consoles and cable taking priority over other household items.

This leveled playing field of access is important for educators because it means most everyone is coming in can relate to gaming experiences and connecting learning skills to these experiences becomes easier.

Marc Prensky: “Don’t Bother Me Mom, I’m Learning”

2008-11-02T14:33:00.002-06:00

The following is a summary of Marc Prensky's keynote speech at GLLS 2008:

Prensky started off who librarians are, stereotypes: past, present, future. He showed clips of what could happen to librarians as they meet gamers. It is a quick and light introduction for libraries.

He challenged us (tongue-in-check) to rename the library "the future."

He talked about his book, "Don't Bother Me Mom, I'm Learning." He faced publisher challenges in getting the book published. Stories as more than traditional books. Stories are spoken, played, acted out. Games are more than just a passive narrative.

Prensky made the distinction between simple games and "complex games." "Complex games" are not mini or casual games that take anywhere from 8 to 100+ hours to complete. These are multiple leveled games that produce learning through engagement. Games work because of generation of 20 year olds are successful in the workforce. Guild management results in business management. Butch Rosser at Beth Israel Hospital in NYC studied gamers as surgeons. Lawyers as gamers, "Objection" game helps train the twitch speed of recognition of procedure. Gamers managing and running teams in sport games creates a deeper level of understanding.

Players are "role playing experts." Moral questions in games… "Just because you can do something – should you?" Parents engage with the experience of books and movies and can engage their children in a conversation. Parents can play and talk to their children about the games. Start asking questions, "Why do you like them?" "Tell me what you think?" We can engage with the players. We need to ask the "Why, but questions?"

Prensky was asked, "If kids play, because adults can't?" He responded by saying that they enjoy their level of expertise, but it is more. The experience is more than a have / have not.

Simulation is a big part of games, but not all simulations have gaming elements. Prensky does make a distinction between the two. Sims have specific content, games are about an experience. Game are the "most engaging intellectual thing we have." Will Wright's quote of games are the manifestation of a problem and finding the solutions. Gamers enjoy the problem solving and learning experience. "Learning is the real reason we play games."

Prensky moved through a number of games and what they learn:

Collaboration
Effective Decisions
Prudent risks
Ethical decisions
Scientific deduction
Think laterally
System thinking

Support systems for games, reviews, official sites, mags, blogs, fan sites, and other support structures for learning and gaining information. Prensky talked about a number of strictly educational games as a place to start. But beyond that he mentioned a number of COTS games that have educational content (Civilization, RTS games, Typing of the Dead). He walked through a number of existing serious games "Immune Attack" by the Federation of American Scientists.

Prensky provided a large number of examples of serious and educational games for people to latch onto and get interested in. Those listening could walk away with potential games to play and experiment with.

"The kids want more games." Project Tomorrow report that games make it easier to learn and understand. Games can be a "bridge" to use as a transfer of skills. [This is a point that I've made and we all should be making - Games are a bridge and it is our responsibility to help make that transfer.]

Games empower students. Players are "creating their own mark" and it lets them learn programming tools. He talked about game designers using good pedagogy. Focus on engagement. Don't Suck the fun out. "Kids play because they are the most engaging thing they have."

Prensky said "connection to curriculum" is a barrier, but that we are "busters" of those barriers. He talked about challenges schools face in using and applying games. Fun and learning do not have to be separate.

The case to make: It's not about games and simulations. It's about ENGAGEMENT. 21^st century learning. Engagement is not about what we do "to" the people, but what we do "with" the people.

He then made the futurist case for "Homo sapien digital" and rapid technology changes within the next century. Changing tools through "21^st century tools." Librarians, teachers, parents need to engage with the digital natives. Digital tech is "their birthright." It is more than just saying "they don't need them." Talked about being locked into the "artifact" versus the "content" within them.

www.marcprensky.com and www.games2train.com for the slides of his presentation and additional resources.

Chris Harris asked about "digital natives" vs. "digital immigrants." Prensky stated that he never meant to set up the divide. He responded that he has moved away from that terminology to shift it to "Homo sapien digital." It is bigger than one generation. We can all be digital, it is just a matter of time on when people can get there. And importantly for librarians and educators how we can help everyone get there sooner.

Mapping Information Literacy to Games and Life

2008-11-01T23:16:00.003-05:00

As part of the opening speakers tomorrow at GLLS, I am fortunate enough to be giving a short 10 - 15 minute segment on mapping gaming to information literacy skills. I am using the time to talk both about videogames and fantasy sports and how the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards fit into these play experiences.

Without the narrative, some of these slides are not that useful, but I wanted to get them out there as a reference for people.

My main emphasis is not simply that players are practicing information literacy skills in games and that we, as librarians and educators, can use that way of thinking for traditional educational content. It is important to know that the bridge we are building to our students' and patrons' experiences is two ways. Gaming is a real and concrete application of information literacy skills in their lives. If we can see that, value that, and help our students understand that... then information literacy has meaning and context throughout their lives. This continued application opens doors to life long learning.

Teaching Strategies - Video Game Strategies: GLLS 2008

2008-10-27T22:08:00.002-05:00

In preparing for GLLS 2008 in Chicago this coming week, I'm putting the finishing touches on a number of projects. One of which is a workshop on applying gaming strategies into library instruction. Much of the content comes from James Paul Gee's work and from the Games Summit conducted by the Federation of American Scientists.

Below is part of the resource handout that we are providing to the attendees to head back to their classrooms and incorporate these strategies.

*****

The student is the player. The game is our classroom.

• Clear goals: Successful games have a clear set of goals, the path to those goals may not always be clear, but the end product, the success is.

- Well – Ordered Problems: Games build on previous skills and demand players string these together to solve the current problem and advance. Games use ordered problems to scaffold the player’s learning, introducing new skills and building on previous ones.

– System Thinking: Games help players learn how items and situations fit together and what their relationship is. Facts are not isolated, but connected to a larger objective.

• Practice of skills: Games allow players to actively use whatever skill set the player must master in order to be successful.

– Interaction: The experience is not passive, players are continuously interacting with the interface and content. Games players are hands on learners.

– Production : Players do not simply create an end product, but add to and modify the game as they experience it.

– Situated Meaning: Skills are not learned in a vacuum. Players understand the meaning of the skills and facts they learn through the context of the game. A skill is useful and relevant when it is connected to a context the player understands.

• Monitored practice: Games create an environment filled with support structures for players to practice their skills.

– Performance before Competence: Players begin using their skills before they have finished instruction on them. Mastery comes through experience not through tutorials.

• Continuous feedback: As players practice and apply skills, systems are in place to provide information about how the player is doing, what is working, and what could be improved on.

– Cross Functional Teams: Feedback can come from peers working together. Often this collaboration is important to the players’ overall success.

• Individual adjustment: Experiences are not static. Gameplay, objectives, challenges, and tutorials all can adapt to meet the player at their ability level and adjust as the player grows.

– Explore, Think, Rethink: Players define their information needs, seek them out in the game, and evaluate the success of their progress. Players continually make adjustments based on the feedback they receive and their own reflection.

• Multiple routes: There is not one right path or correct answer, but a variety of ways that an objective can be met.

o Just in Time: The introduction and instruction of new skills comes at the point of need. Skills are provided when the situation is meaningful rather than upfront.

- Motivation: There is a driving force or desire for the player to continue to move forward.

– Pleasantly Frustrating: Objectives and challenges are just on the edge of a players abilities. The players know it is achievable and enjoys the process of reaching the solution.

– Agency: A game creates a sense of ownership in the player. The player is invested in the game and feels a sense of responsibility for the outcome.

• Personalization: Games give the player the ability to create and shape the characters and the world of the game. This individualization engages the player through a strong sense of self.

– Identity: Games that allow players to create a unique self create a personal investment from the player. They can relate to the game characters and can about their actions.

• Infinite patience: Games encourage players to take risk. Even if the action is incorrect, the results of failure are not punishing, but encouraging.

Vs. Mode: Our Gaming Dollar

2008-08-27T13:30:00.005-05:00

I’m thankful to Chad for starting back up Vs. Mode (link) for this academic year. I was pleased with our discussions on GTA IV, safe exploration spaces, and interfaces from last spring.

Chad’s discussion about stretching one’s gaming dollar for personal enjoyment and value, but then turns the discussion to libraries with:

“The question as it applies to libraries is this: Should more libraries be circulating video games in an effort to extend the value of a video game? Isn’t that what libraries are all about? Don’t we buy books, movies, music, and other media so that more people may use them as often as they wish? Won’t our dollar go a lot further if libraries buy a game and have it played so much that it won’t play anymore?”

I subscribe to the logic of getting good value for your gaming dollar. Rarely have I paid full price for a game and pride myself on buying only 2 games in the last year and a half over $30. I’d be happy talk about my successes in finding games on the cheap, but I’d rather be talking about why we should be finding games in the library.

Chad’s question about the cost and value of videogames in library collections. I was fortunate enough to be formally at the Charles C. Myers Library of the University of Dubuque where we started a gaming (both board and videogame) collection. I feel very strongly that videogames should be treated by libraries as any other media. The artistic, entertainment, and educational value with videogames should be enough for libraries to consider adding them to their collections. I was pleased to see that my new public library, the Brown County Library, had already started a gaming collection with their system.

As I defended videogames in libraries in a letter to the editor in Dubuque, the same issues are true with Chad’s question. Just as movies and graphic novels have found homes in libraries, so too should videogames. Regardless of your rationale of choice (social significance, cultural importance, etc) videogames fit that role.

If the justification applies to other media we need to be advocating to our colleagues, administrators, Dean’s, City Councils, and voting public why videogames should have a place within our collections. If your library can budget to buy popular movies for entertainment purposes… then gaming collections are the next step. While the argument of the potential sizes of audience may have once held true, the gaming industry now is on par with the movie industry in the amount of revenue generated. The audience for games is no longer an isolated minority.

Now at academic libraries like my own they are not buying DVDs for recreational use. It needs to be tied to the curriculum. Videogame would fall under that same judgment. But if your academic library budgets for recreational movies for students and the campus, you should be considering videogames as well.

The University of Dubuque library spends some money and partners with their Student Government Association to provide additional money to buy DVDs for solely entertainment purposes. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done. The Student Government initially turned down the idea of a videogame collection. What we thought was going to be an easy audience, was not. Fortunately, eventually, the collection moved forward and within two weeks of being on the shelves over 50% of the games had circulated multiple times. Their gaming collection was a success.

I hope more libraries of all types begin seeing the value of gaming collections and those providing the funding see the value as well. There are a variety of stories and resources out there.

The ALA's Gaming Resource wiki has some good talking points to get started. There are a number of other resources out there (including a few on the 100 Tips list) and I know that there are more being added to the ALA Gaming wiki... so add your thoughts and resources.

Since this is a Vs. mode, I need to send a question back to Chad. So if we agree that videogames have value and should be included in collections...

What does a core collection look like? How can we help others get started?

Connecting the Multiple Literacies: A Librarian Call to Action

2008-08-15T07:06:00.001-05:00

Even though the work of Gee, Prensky, Jenkins, and others have addressed videogames value to literacy. And with the ALA focusing on gaming and literacy, drawing connections, and increasing our patron/students’ ability… students have still struggled on traditional evaluations. Squire (2005) suggest that the failure is not in the students but in the way our traditional education systems are structured. While the discussion of how our education system assesses students is important, it is not the focus of the post. The successful engagement of students in multiple literacies can start with librarians at every level. Continued documented success of these literacies will lead to institutional acceptance and value.

To work toward that end goal, understanding the multiple literacies students engage in is necessary. Our patrons and students are seeking text that have meaningful context within their lives. Videogames and other transmedia stories are shaping their expectations of what a story can do. A non-linear, multi-layered experience that rewards their previous knowledge is a way for students to flex their understanding and thought processes. This application is important not only for increasing students and patrons literacies but also their information literacy skills. We have the opportunity to seek out these multiple literacies and help students and patrons evaluate and responsibly apply their knowledge.

Engaging these multiple literacies through videogames is just on of the many possibilities and examples we can create. I recorded a podcast segment yesterday for the ALA Gaming podcast on fantasy football. My discussions on fantasy football are focused on more than encouraging libraries to use fantasy football to connect with users of their libraries (which is a good thing). My discussion and application here is larger and I believe ultimately more rewarding:

Seek out and create connections with existing interest (pop culture or otherwise) that students/patrons already value and have an existing knowledge base. Game stories that transcend videogames and move into graphic novels, novels, and other media involve our readers in deep and complex narratives that allow them to flex those multiple literacy muscles.
Our job can be to use these experiences and help students recognize the traditional, information, and other literacy skills they are currently practicing through their multiple literacy experiences.

I’ve used the bridge metaphor before and will continue to do so. We have the opportunity to bridge our students/patrons existing knowledge and skills in these multiple literacies to the traditional academic skills and literacies our educational systems value. Our successful bridging may be just the evidence and documentation needed to help create the changes and shifts that leaders like Gee, Squire, and others have advocated for so long.

The Adventure of Links: Week of August 11th

2008-08-14T23:11:00.005-05:00

I missed my "Adventure of Link" links last week, although I had the links combined. A head cold hit me and I woke up out of the haze to realize that it is Thursday. Well, here are some links for this week.

Using traditional games for educational purposes:

Instead of making serious games for education, why not embrace traditional gaming to enhance kids' lives?

The concept and the discussion in the article are good. We talk about games having educational and critical thinking value, but we in academic libraries work to create games to our specific needs. If we looked at games that were out there and the skills they taught, we could not only use their strategies (an application I promote), but we could use the game itself to help teach. Problem puzzles deep in a temple of a Zelda game? Logic puzzle from a Telltale adventure game? Physics challenges and predictions from a FPS? Games provide applications of educational concepts that we could use. GameSetWatch also ran the article from Serious Games Source.

Which is it? A serious game or a simulation?
Clark Aldrich has a quick post talking about each on his site. I think it is easy to blur the line when thinking of what we want to create or what we want our students to experience. The line can also be blurred when discussing educational gaming with administrators. Clark puts it as such:

But what is also tough is when people confuse serious games and educational simulations. Now these are obviously much closer together in any taxonomy. But serious games are light experiences that are easy and fun to engage while building awareness, and educational simulations rigorous develop skills and capabilities.

Cerise weighs in on game cannon:
I've mentioned the quality work at Cerise before. This article looks at the ongoing debate of if games are art/expression or have value... what is the core group of titles. What is the gaming cannon?

Gaming on a grown-up's budget:
Mister Raroo drew criticism from some gaming libraries with his initial column, but his most recent one is a good read for any "grown-up" with a gaming passion. Sometimes our passions and our pocketbooks don't have the same priorities.

Managing my money:
Speaking of budgets, Future-Making Serious Games has an interesting story about a new educational game used to help teens manage their money, learn budgeting, and other financial skills. As someone who's taught money management to 7th and 8th graders, a game to do this would be a welcomed resource. Granted there are many games that apply economic issues, but this is a great use of teaching a process through gaming.

In Loving Memory: Luke Stempa 1994-2006

2008-08-08T07:08:00.002-05:00

It was a two years ago today that my godson, Luke Stempa died.

Luke was a gift.

While I have few words to describe him right now, thanks to the tightening in my stomach and an overall sense of loss. After moving to De Pere, where Luke's family is, it is bittersweet. I wish he was here to share in Mario Kart races and Star Wars discussions. I know he would be excited about the lightsaber battling Star Wars: Clone Wars game and we could have logged hours in it together. But I am thankful to be closer to his family and continue to be a part of their lives... honoring those who are gone by loving those left behind.

Luke was and is an inspiration for me and my work on this site. Because of Luke's physical conditions he was limited in sports and other activities, but much of Luke's identity, and learning came through his life as a gamer. In gaming any physical struggles fell away and he was who he and those who loved him truly saw himself as; an intelligent, strategic, problem solver responding to multiple points of information and understanding it all. Whether helping others in Runescape or toying with the Dark and Light sides in KOTOR, he embodied what games could teach and how students could learn through them.

Here are posts about Luke and his continued influence in my life, one from a month after his death and another from this past spring. I know that he would love the work and discussions going on here.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family this day and everyday.

Luke, I love you and miss you. Thank you for the games we played, the lightsaber battles together, and the love we shared.

(Part of this post was first published last year on the anniversary of Luke's death. I will continue to post a reflection to Luke as a way to honor him, focus me on the educational aspects of games, and continue to work toward helping all students learn through video games and gaming strategies.)

Canadian Study on Video Games, Literacy, and Boys

2008-08-07T21:43:00.003-05:00

UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF NEW LITERACIES THROUGH VIDEO GAME PLAY
AND DESIGN (2007)
by Kathy Sanford & Leanna Madill
Canadian Journal of Education (30), 2

Librarians are acutely aware of the literacy struggles of boys. These issues are not unique to age or geographic location. Studies in Europe, Australia, and Canada all have sought to address the complicated literacy practices that boys engage in across media.

This Canadian study looked at two research questions:

"What success are adolescent males finding in out-of-school literacy practices"
"What literacy practices are occurring when adolescent males participate in instruction and the creation of video games" (p. 439)

The adolescents were very interested and able to communicate how they were learning through videogames, but did not connect it to literacy learning (440). Librarians are in a position to make that connection for them and with them. I've been thinking more and more about this connection and bridge as our call to action with videogames and literacy.

The study found boys taking operational literacy (what to do in a process, how to do it) for granted. One subject said, "Only we need to understand it, if you can understand it - it's okay" (441). This mindset assumes a common set of knowledge and understanding. But if students do not have this knowledge base, communication and application will suffer. Sanford and Madill identified this as a potential reason that boys are less successful with traditional print literacies.

The boys studied wrote journal entries and sketched game ideas. This written and read communication was enhanced through verbal collaboration and social interaction. The verbal collaboration was seen as more successful by those studied. This type of interaction fits with the adolescent's multiple media literacies where they are communicating ideas and knowledge. Those studied found that this social community helped them develop skills and a greater awareness of written and verbal skills.

Sanford and Madill identified a speicfic concern that others, including myself, have raised before:

Unless taught how to notice and critque the social values and assumptions in a game, video game players are mostly unaware of the broader social pratices embedded in video game context (449).

If games are to have education value, then like any other educational technology there needs to be discussion and reflection on the experience and application. Any type of learning is not an isolated affair. It doesn't simply happen with one experience (videogame or anything else) learning comes from interaction during and after events and experiences.

Sanford and Madill lay the charge of learning through games squarely at the feet of educators:

Scholars need to problematize the seamless qualities of video game play and creation and create spaces where players can step back from the powerful, immersive qualities of game play and examine values (451).

We can create environments in and out of our libraries and classrooms that use videogames for play and allow for moments to step back have discussions and learn.

Revisting the past: Kurt Squire, Civilization, & the classroom

2008-08-06T23:00:00.003-05:00

Changing the Game: What Happens When Video Game Enter the Classroom?
From Innovate: Journal of Online Education, August/September 2005

I had a chance over this summer to catch up on some reading thanks to long flights to and from conferences. After reading through this article from 2005, I wondered how much our dialog over videogames in education has changed? I think the scope and acceptance of educational gaming has increased since then. The amount and focus of scholarship has certainly strengthened as well. While the article is dated the findings and Squire’s analysis is still relevant today.

Even today, his introduction reads as an important overview for anyone concerning videogames and education. After the overview, Squire discussed his experiences implementing Civilization III into the classroom. Much has been written and presented by Squire on these experiences, but tracking them back to his initial experiences in 2004/2005 provide useful insight.

Like many educational applications of games since, some pieces of the game and the lessons attached to them connected with students… others didn’t. Squire discussed how some students opted out of the game from the very beginning and were skeptical of the educational value. This continues to be a challenging balancing act with video games in classrooms. Are they not “fun” enough to engage some students and are they not “educational” enough for students concerned with standardized test scores and entrance exams. The break from traditional curriculum turned off the high performing students . These students had “mastered” the traditional system and saw little value in something that broke out of the traditional mold.

I can understand the perspective of these students, since I was one of them. I choose a traditional world history class in high school over a teacher who used the original Civilization. I was concerned with grades and an effort was not made to explain how games teach process, not just events. It is often the process that sticks with us longer than the detailed facts of an event. I remember more history based on the long hours playing Civilization late at night testing out the situations and details I learned during the day in class.

Outside of students stuck within the traditional system, Squire found players with histories of lower educational performances did well with the games and gained meaning and understanding of events, situations, and processes from the game. Success in the game unit increased the students’ confidence and ultimately their success in the overall class. As Squire correctly described the situation, the game, discussion, and reflection created success in those who were failing school – or for those where school was failing them.

Squire points out that there is not a silver educational bullet, and today there still isn’t. But games and gaming should be part of the answer. He discussed how to create a curriculum that reflects on how people learn and interact, while opening it up to real world simulations and gaming experiences.

While the challenge of evaluating and assessing gaming in education is still a challenge as it was for Squire, the groundwork he laid and the work he continues to do provides examples and inspiration to those seeking to use videogames as a teaching tool.

Fantasy Sports, Information Literacy, & Your Library

2008-08-05T23:19:00.001-05:00

John over at The Video Game Librarian blogged about using fantasy football for programming at your library. It's great to hear other people talking about this idea. I have talked with both public and academic librarians about using fantasy sports as instructional and community building activities. John's blog is great and I hope that it helps inspires others to give fantasy football a try as well.

Sara Holladay (The Fantasy Football Librarian) and I presented a LOEX of the West back in June on this topic and you can access our slides and handouts here. If you are looking to find ways to work in fantasy sports into your library this is a great place to start. I'm hopeful that these resources will soon be on the ALA's gaming resource page which should make them available to a wider audience.
If you are looking for additional resources and fantasy football analysis, The Bruno Boys Fantasy Football Cheatsheets are a great place to start. The Bruno Boys are only a few years old, but their quality rivals that of more nationally know sites. They also do a good job of providing background on their writers for users (and librarians) to evaluate their authors. Sara has also contributed to this guide. As a free, 112 page resource, this is a great value and in-depth resource for anyone interested in fantasy football or looking for resources to support a library program.

We Fiit? Excer-gaming studies on Wii Calorie Burning

2008-08-04T20:47:00.001-05:00

While I've missed my first goal on Wii Fit, I continue to play at least a few days a week. I'm closing in on my new goal and more importantly I'm still enjoying the workout. With exercise, weight loss, and videogames on the mind, I wanted to highlight a few recent studies on active Wii gaming.

MTV's Multiplayer Blog discusses the recent findings by the American Council on Excercise. A study conducted by the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse Excercise and Health Program found that actively playing individual Wii Sports games only burned about half of the calories compared to playing the actual game. You can find the full study here. The results themselves are not too shocking, actual physical play burns more calories. While this study finds Wii Sports is a poor substitute for traditional excersice, it does burn more calories than traditional videogames.

The American Council on Excercise has begun a study on Wii Fit as well. More information on the upcoming study can be found here. Wii Fit, like DDR before it, is being study for exercise and health benefits. DDR has continually been shown to increase activity and is currently being used in a wide variety of schools. John Rice details some addition exer-gaming studies on the Wii, DDR, and some new applications in North Carolina schools.

As for me, I'm back to Wii Fit and working toward my weight loss goal.

Bogost's "Persuasive Games" pt.2

2008-08-03T21:42:00.002-05:00

Continuing my kitchen project and my summary of Bogost's book, here is a more detailed discussion of some of Bogost's specific arguments within his book.

Bogost’s discusses the political application of procedural rhetoric with games that force choices on a player or limit the interaction the player has. This choice or limitation helps create associations of a political message. The message may be success in a field of gray choices without a clear right direction or an intentional failure. This forced failure helps the player experience the limits and struggles of an given political situation. Bogost’s application of the “rhetoric of failure” extends beyond serious political games to political satire games and satire in other disciplines. Examples in both advertising and value focused games emphasis games as satire and a means to present a subversive culture. Games can teach a process by showing how the process fails or how the system breaks down intentionally creating a negative view of the policy, product, or decision.

Some of the examples used in the book are very overt, while others are more complex and challenging to understand. Nintendo’s Animal Crossing videogame and the online flash game McDonald’s Video Game is critiqued and the messages and materialism are discussed. The satire and subversiveness in the McDonald’s Video Game is apparent as the player slaughters cattle for burgers amidst disease and feces. But in Animal Crossing, which is targeted to a younger audience, is the satire of materialism and how some game characters work against it apparent to the players? Without further discussion and guidance do players see or understand the social and cultural criticisms? This lack of application and active discussion is an area Bogost treads lightly around. His focus is not on how educators, activists, and others can apply videogames as persuasive communication. Bogost does not provide practical guidelines or “how to” recommendations. The book’s focus and intent is on providing a framework and explanation of how and why games can influence people and ideas. Not how to create games to do so.

Bogost’s analysis of games with social messages is not unique. Barrett (2006), Murray (2005), and others have critically analyzed Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in the past as both a commentary on society and a contradiction in race relation. Bogost applies his theory of procedural literacy to this previous work to discuss how GTA: San Andreas is effective in achieving this social and racial commentary by actively requiring the player make decisions about what to wear or eat, and who to spend time with. Bogost also builds on the work of others in his discussion of licensing games and products. His discussion of Harry Potter and licensing is similar to the research done by MIT’s Henry Jenkins (2006) on transmedia. Bogost describes how the Quidditch World Cup game, published by EA , created a larger experience in a licensed world. Through the gameplay, players experienced events beyond the books and movies. Andrew Burn’s research (2004) describes a similar relationship between children and the cross media experiences of Harry Potter. Bogost does not build on the work of literature scholars, but as was his method with Grand Theft Auto he provides a procedural explanation of why the videogame experience influences the player and enriches their experience of a licensed world.

Bogost continued his creation of a procedural rhetoric by setting up a theoretical framework in a variety of disciplines. He did so in his discussion of the political, social, cultural, and educational applications of persuasive videogames. His discussion of educational games begins with a detailed review and application of educational theorists. Vygotsky, Dewey, Piget, and others all are applied and related to videogames and learning. The argument that procedural literacy creates learning is easier to make for Bogost, since much of the text describes what people are learning and experiences in games. Procedural literacy creates educational experiences where the player learns through action, decision, and consequences. Videogames like Civilization, SimCity, and Flight Simulator have actively used process to teach players experiences and put them into real life roles for decades. Bogost sees this procedural learning as the key of what games can teach. To this extent he levels criticism at Gee (2003) and Beck and Wade (2004) for being too limited in their discussion and application of what games can teach. For Bogost, games can do more than simply serve as a metaphor to create a new ways of thinking and problem solving. Games teach specific relationships and put players into experiences they can directly connect to life. Bogost’s analysis of the educational application and connection to videogames gives further support to those looking to create serious and educational games. The learning done in games is more than just a metaphor, there are specific skills, processes, and relationships that games can teach.

Bogost's "Persuasive Games"

2008-08-02T19:14:00.001-05:00

I received a final review copy of my book review for the International Journal of Gaming and Computer Mediated Simulations a few weeks ago. Since we are getting closer to the release of the journal and I'm spending the weekend working on a kitchen project... Today and tomorrow I'm going to be posting part of my initial draft of the book review. The actual review has changed a little, but the content here is still a good summary of Bogost's book.

Bogost’s thesis and theory are ripe for a mainstream discussion, the emphasis on traditional theory and the creation of a theoretical framework limit the book’s accessibility. Bogost’s thesis that videogames use processes to effectively communicate ideas and persuade those exposed to them (procedural rhetoric) is a critical explanation of how and why videogames communicate ideas in a variety of settings. While the focus on theory may put off those who are interested in Bogost’s theories after his 2007 appearance on Comedy Central’s Cobert Report, his work is significant to those in the field and academics in various fields.

Bogost’s is an assistant professor in the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture at Georgia Institute of Technology, and his communication scholarship is evident in this work. He begins the text with a discussion using his discipline to set up the theories around rhetorical communication. This foundation in communication theory establishes his work as a scholarly discussion. Bogost uses his communication framework to launch a discussion about how videogames can not only teach and influence, but also to create a rhetorical domain (procedural literacy) to analysis and discuss games from. Bogost’s focus throughout his survey is the creation, application, and importance of how games influence player by putting them into a process and experiencing the values and choices of the results of that process creating procedural literacy.

Bogost’s contribution in this text is a framework to discuss games as not just simulations, or art, or metaphors, but as works of communication that can express specific ideas through gameplay. This communication can be overt or subtle, but the messages, experiences, and learning the player engages in make videogames a powerful tool.

The Adventure of Links: A Week in Review

2008-08-01T22:26:00.004-05:00

As I've spent time catching up with video game and education game news over the past week here are a few key links that are worthy of revisiting.

Literacy and Learning in the 21st Century
Over at Mark Wanger's Educational Technology and Life blog he talks about some of the audiences responses to what literacy is and how it is changing. With the announcement of the ALA and Version's grant for Literacy and Gaming, the discussion of how videogames help shape and develop literacy is important. The more we expand our discussion and involve the wider scope of education and educational gaming, the better we will be able to address and shape our patrons and students multiple literacies.

Seven Things You Should Know about... Wii
I hope many of you follow the various resources out of EDUCAUSE, but they released a "7 things" list for the Wii. This quick list is a great resource to those still unaware of the details and specifics of the Wii. It also would function well as a resource for adminstration, boards, and other organizations to help them understand more of the educational possiblities of the Wii. The social functions of the Wii are well know and easy talking points... this list targets the educational aspects to go along with the community building.

ESA Essential Facts 2008
The Electronic Software Association 2008 statistical report has been covered on a variety of sites, but if you haven't downloaded, printed, and started using them for talking points.... here's another chance. I've read through the report a number of times and the findings provide a number of excellent talking points, many of which I've used in the past in presentations and media interviews. Know them.

Educational Games Research
John Rice continues to provide resources on videogames and their educational uses. In July, he discussed the educational uses of the Wii and the top 5 platforms for creating educational games. John has talked about the top 10 free educational games before, but his post on engines to develop games on is a great jumping off point (and testing ground) for people looking to try their hand & ideas on creating a game. Most of these are not new, but for people looking to get started, it's a good introductory post.

This "week in review" should return again next Friday to highlight some of the educational gaming news of the week.

100 Tips and Resources: A guide for getting started gaming

2008-07-23T11:50:00.004-05:00

Jessica Merritt compiled a great resource for librarians, of any type, with questions about gaming in libraries, "Bringing Gaming (and Gamers) to Your Library: 100 Tips and Resources."

Jessica's list of 100 collects a lot of previous written information on gaming events, collections, and research. The list adds other items of interest and general tips for libraries looking to bring in patrons, host events, start collection, promote learning, and defend these practices. This list paired with ALA's Games and Gaming wiki are excellent resources for librarians getting started or looking to expand their gaming programs.

Here are a few of the ideas that are relevant for gaming in an educational context:
21. Position yourself as a guide: Gamers will respect you more if you present yourself as a strategy guide for the game, rather than a gatekeeper.

At the reference desk and in the classroom, we need to be seen as guides and "walkthroughs." We are not gatekeepers, that model is past. Gamers often see guides as a crutch when they are stuck. Librarians are there to help when they get stuck, but we can also be there in the beginning as a tutorial.

31. Play games that require collaboration: Get everyone involved when you play games that focus on collaboration and teamwork.

Bee Gallegos from AZ State University described that students responded better to their game Quaratined when paired up an not isolated. Learning and play are not isolated experiences.

32. Be prepared for opposition: Not everyone understands the appeal of gaming, particularly video games, in the library, so you will find that you'll need to defend your actions with academic discussions and statistics.

Resistance and opposition to something new is unfortunately part of the process. Part of the goal of the ALA's Gaming wiki is to provide those resources to librarians to further the discussion and provide assistance.

50. Talking Points about Gaming in Libraries: Use this resource when explaining why bringing games into your library is so important.

51. Games for Teaching Information Literacy Skills: Felicia A. Smith considers how you can use games for education.

I've written about Felica Smith's work before, the link above is her formal article on her word and puzzle games in info lit.

62. Games for Higher Education: 2008: In this piece, Bryan Alexander examines the complexity of gaming, learning through gaming, and more.

When I started this blog back in 2006, there were very few central sources for gaming and education, let alone libraries (The one site I linked to is now dead). But with resources like these librarians have the tools to be successful in gaming for communities and learning.

Thank you Kelly for the link.

Linking up with Games+ Learning+ Society

2008-07-22T22:46:00.003-05:00

Last week the fourth Games+Learning+Society conference happened in Madison, WI. Each year the conference has provided a wealth of information, research, and application on gaming in education. GLS services the research community well by recording their sessions and making them available via Mediasite. Some of this years presentations are already up and online... here.

In addition to the video content, there are a wealth of good blog posts about individual sessions. Serious Game Source had a news story about the start of the conference and James Paul Gee opening statements. The Brainy Gamer has a great write up on Gee's speech and John Rice over at Educational Games Research links to Gamasutra's write up of Gee speech as well.

Mark Chen, who's presented at GLS the last two years, has some nice overviews and commentaries of the day by day sessions: Session 1, Session 2, Session 3 , the second day's Session 3 covering virtual worlds, and Session 4. Mark also provided a list of other blogs covering GLS which is a great resource for more analysis on the sessions.

There were a number of sessions that seem relevant to libraries looking at gaming and I'll post some reflections once I view the session. But one session by Erica and Rick Halverson covered fantasy baseball and the learning that goes on within fantasy baseball games. The Brainy Gamer posted his thoughts on the session and GameSetWatch picked up the session and posted about it as well.

With the wealth of scholarship at GLS and elsewhere, libraries looking at gaming and education should take some time to read through these sessions, view a few presentations, and begin the discussion about what this research means for us in libraries.

Teacher (>,<, or =) Librarian: Where is our role?

2008-07-21T23:07:00.002-05:00

Today I had my first Info Lit class of my new job, and it was great to be back in front of students. My energy and job fulfillment come from my interaction with students and getting back teaching breathed life back into me after doing more librarian focused duties for the past few weeks.

I've wrestled with the label of "librarian" for a long time. Am I a librarian who teaches or a teacher who's a librarian? I've struggled with this concept over the last year, trying to determine what choosing one over the other meant for my career. And while there is a clear answer for me based on how I came where I am today, the answer may not be clear for others. But the question is, should it?

At LOEX of the West back in June, Lisa Hinchliffe and Merinda Kaye Hensley spoke about teacher self identity. They described how they were helping create and foster it both in Library Science grad students and in current library faculty. At the beginning of their session, they brought up the concept of "seeing yourself as a teacher, not just assigned teaching duties." This really hit home for me. I am accoustomed to seeing myself as a teacher and sometimes take it for granted that others do.

Off of Lisa's reccomendation during their presentation, I've started reading Parker Palmers' "The Courage to Teach" and read through Scott Walter's "Librarians as Teachers: A Qualitative Inquiry into Professional Identity" article out of College and Research Libraries Janurary issue.

The attendees at the LOEX of the West session brained stormed ideas about "what they wished we known." A partical list is below and it's a great start to reflection over the summer.

How to "stand" like a teacher
Creating learning outcomes
Problems with routine/burnout
Handling change as teachable moments
Adapting to learning styles
Teaching different levels and generations
How to focus content
Personal control over content
Creating collaborations
Classroom management
Teaching strategies for engagement and active learning
Respecting the students and their lives

Where do you fall with the issues? What questions do you have?
We can use the summer not only to get our libraries ready for students in the fall, but ourselves as well.

The ACRL IS section sponsored a session with Jeffrey Liles as the speaker at the ALA conference. Dr. Liles spoke about learning theory and how that can and should translate into the classroom. His theory to practice worksheet can be found on his website along with the conference presentation slides and a host of other resources. His education and learning assumptions (as shown in the slides) are great for any teacher to keep in mind. Some of them fit right into good gaming and good educational pedagogy:

Less is more
Student in control of their learning
Learning is not linear

These assumptions and their connections to learning theory were are great reminder and grounding to start fresh in a new semester and a new classroom.

In my new position I'm spending a lot of time thinking about these teaching issues. I'm working on communicating these ideas and pedagogies to the librarians around me, while still valuing their experience and knowledge. Everyone has something to learn and something to teach. I look forward to experiencing both as a Teacher-Librarian.

Now since this blog focuses on videogames, information literacy, and gaming strategies for pedagogy, teaching philosophy discussions won't happen very often. And just to tie this post back to gaming, here's another example from Teach42's post on creative answers...

From a gamers vocabulary that is a correct answer: "pro" is the opposite of "noob." As teachers, we may never be pros. I'm fine with that. The continued learning and honing of skills is a good thing in the classroom and in any game. While our students may or may not be "noobs" they will grow in their skills as long as we don't consider ourselves too good of "pros" to stop learning and practicing.

Images from Steve Dembo at Teach42 post full of funny test answers from students

Get back in the saddle... Two months of transition

2008-07-20T22:07:00.001-05:00

It's been two months since I last posted. Two months, I'm sorry. Unfortunately this isn't the first time I've gone on a long blogging sabbatical, but this my time away is directly related to moving, a new house, and a new job. If there is anyone surprised to see me back... thank you. I'm glad to be back.

Rather go into all the details of what has kept me away - here are a few of the highlights:

Snagged a Wii the week of Wii Fit's release. While my sons were excited they were disappointed that I didn't get Mario Kart Wii. I did pick up one of the last copies in Dubuque, IA of Wii Fit on it's launch day. After checking 4 stores, the 5th had 3 copies left by 6:00 pm. My wife and I were excited to try it. I was not as excited to find out my BMI put me just above the "normal" line into the "overweight" range. But that whole BMI issue has already been discussed. It's "Brain Age" for your body. It's been two months now and I'm still playing. Granted not playing as frequently as I should but I'm playing 3 to 4 times a week. I'm coming up on my 2 month goal and I'm not going to make it. But I still want to keep playing, both alone and with my kids.

The end of May was my final days in Dubuque. I said my final goodbyes to the University of Dubuque and what a goodbye! The kindness of the staff and the support they've given over the years was amazing. I will be forever grateful. And to top it all off they held a going away party filled with 80's music and Wii Sports. I couldn't ask for anything more. Thank you.

Saying goodbye to Dubuque and the University of Dubuque meant moving to De Pere, WI and saying hello to St. Norbert College. The first two weeks of June (before starting library work) were filled with work. Moving into a new house, cleaning, painting, cleaning, building, cleaning some more, and rebuilding made starting "work" feel like a break from all the house projects. After working on our house from 7:30 to at least 10:00 everyday, a regular workday sounds like a break.

The blank slate of my office parallels the blank slate of my new position. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to build an information literacy program here, but there is a lot of work that can be done. Over the past month, I've had chances to meet with a variety of faculty, staff, and students around campus. There is a lot of interest in my position and people open to change and new ideas.

I met with the Associate Academic Dean and chair of the general education committee. He is an exciting person, filled with passion and I look forward to working with him. We met to talk about the college's work to rewrite their general education curriculum, specifically about including information literacy into the curriculum. While this will be a process that takes time, I am excited about the possibility to help shape (or at least strongly advocate) for information literacy across the curriculum. The library has the support of the Associate Academic Dean and he wants to make sure we are not only at the table, but part of the curriculum.

I'm excited about all the potential here and look forward to sharing the growth that we accomplish. Since starting the job at St. Norbert, the house projects have continued. House projects are the major contributor to my lack of blogging. New garage, windows, and now updating the kitchen. There is a never ending stream of projects. By the time I've stopped working on projects each night finding the mental stimulation to blog has been a real challenge. But enough of the excuses, I'm back on a regular basis now.

So after all the transitions of past months, I'll be back and blogging again on a more regular basis. I've written a number of posts over the past weeks and attended LOEX of the West and ALA's Annual Conference so there are a number of posts that I will be putting the finishing touches on my comments and applications over the next weeks.

Thank you for sticking with me. The new job will bring new applications of gaming and information literacy to continue to discuss and share.

Video Game Recomendation: The World Ends with You

2008-05-15T20:33:00.003-05:00

I do not usually hype a game or discuss game reviews. Usually there is an educational component to why I'm discussing a game. That being said, I haven't been this drawn into a game, characters, world, and gameplay for a couple of years. The game is Square Enix's "The World Ends with You."

The review by Edge Magazine, it is a mix of concepts that ultimately succeed in both style and in depth of gameplay. The New York Times raves in their review:

The result is not just the best role-playing game ever designed for the DS, but one of the best role playing games ever designed for anything.

Stephen Totilo over at MTV's Multiplayer Blog discussed his continually enjoyment of the game and even compared it to the GTAIV for creating a player experience.

Over at 1up.com, Jeremy Parish reviewed the unique game stating:

By all rights, The World Ends With You should be an annoying disaster, a bundle of tired gimmicks and trite clichés... Yet somehow all the things that should be unbearable fall into place and create a game that's far more unique, interesting, and addictive than it has any right to be.

A review from Game Trailers.com

If there needs to be an educational connection for this game, my recent discussion on video game interfaces ties nicely into "The World Ends with You." The player has the ability to control both the top and the bottom DS screens at one time, but it is not required. Beginning players can allow the computer AI to control the top and as the players experience and confidence grows they can control both for added benefits and abilities in battle. The game creates a low barrier to entry and while it sets the mastery level high, it rewards the player for that mastery.

The interface is designed to engage and allow ease of entry level use, with integrated tutorials to walk the player through the system. The interface allows for advanced users to take advantage of controlling both screens creating both incentive for mastery and rewarding that ability. Systems can find and should seek to strike a similar balance.

But in the meantime, I encourage anyone (age appropriate - What they Play lists 11 years old) to go out and try (rent or buy) "The World Ends with You" and see if the game's world draws you in as much as it did me and other reviewers... enjoy.

gameplay image from Ign.com

Introducing the new Co-Book Review Editor: Me

2008-05-14T06:50:00.001-05:00

A couple of months ago an announcement and call for submissions went out for a forth coming journal, International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations . I had worked with the editor-in-chief, Richard Ferdig, before and he was looking for editors for the journal. It sounded like an exciting opportunity and a way to become more involved with educational games and research. I submitted my bio, CV, and statement of interest and was very pleased to find out I was accepted.

Their editorial review board reads like a who's who. It is filled with people who's work, application, and innovation I admire. And somehow, I managed to find a spot as a co-book review editor. I'm currently working on a book review for the issue, contacting publishers for review copies, and starting to line up future reviewers. I am excited because this position will help keep me focused on educational gaming applications and connected to the larger research community.

The journal itself looks good and the group working on it is incredible. More information on the journal can be found here, and the general mission of the journal has me looking forward to the first issue:

International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations publishes research articles, theoretical critiques, and book reviews related to the development and evaluation of games and computer-mediated simulations. One main goal of this peer-reviewed, international journal is to promote a deep conceptual and empirical understanding of the roles of electronic games and computer-mediated simulations across multiple disciplines. A second goal is to help build a significant bridge between research and practice on electronic gaming and simulations, supporting the work of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.

If anyone has any book review or journal editor experiences or tips they want to share... I'm listening.

And for those interested, the journal is always looking for submissions.

Vs. Mode: Interfaces

2008-05-13T22:52:00.004-05:00

I've spent time over the last two days playing Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for the Nintendo DS. The game itself is enjoyable, you control the action with the touch screen. Draw a slash on an enemy and Ryu attacks. Draw an upward motion to jump, and so on. It is an intuitive control system. I have enjoyed the interaction and innovation the game offers, even if I'm feeling like I do the same thing again each level until a boss fight creates a new pattern to recognize. In spite of this fault, the action is intense and the game keeps the pace moving.

The gameplay got me thinking about interfaces, video games and library systems. Interfaces, both streamlined and extremely complex are a staple of video games and libraries. Given this history and connection, it is also a good topic for this week's Vs. Mode. After a short week last week with Library Voice and my eventually follow up with applications in the classroom, Chad and I are back for another round...

Interfaces

This week sees the re-release of two very distinct games that greatly depend on their unique interfaces: Myst for the Nintendo DS; and Supreme Commander for the Xbox 360.

Myst is a classic adventure game that most will remember from the early 1990's was a technical marvel with it's detailed graphics and 'life-like' world. While I know this may alienate some, I never was able to get into Myst. I knew a number of both children and adults who were immersed into Myst's world. I shared a dorm floor with someone who spent days drawn into Myst and Myst's sequels. While the world was created to a player in, I always felt a strong disconnect as I continually clicked trying to find the right image to open a door or solve a puzzle. "Pixel hunting" as gameplay, never felt like a game to me. While I respect what Myst did for the industry and the love people have for it, the interface continually frustrated me. And it appears to be frustrating reviewers for the DS version as well.

This streamlined interface, while it created a feeling of immersion, did not make comprehension of the environment and goals a priority. As a player, I was often left wondering where to go next or what to click on to advance my progress.

How many of our students feel the same way? Do our students feel lost in our interfaces, wondering where to click to actually get what they need? Do our students have the Myst like patience to keep trying or do they get frustrated and jump back to their comfort zone of Google?

Supreme Commander is another game releasing this week. It is a story of interfaces to the opposite extreme. It actually recommended that players use 2 monitors to play when it was released last year for the PC.

Two monitors? The level of detail and information available actually encouraged a dual monitor set-up. Now, how many gamers actually used this advanced set-up is up for question. The commitment of time and of the learning curve for the player is great, but supposedly the reward is worth it. Supreme Commander is a real-time-strategy game of controller units, managing resources, and organizing battles on multi fronts. Players are processing a lot of varied data all at one time in order to successful play the game.

Image a dual monitor set-up for undergraduate research? The same student that may complain about the library catalog or a databases' interface may go back to their dorm and use this dual monitor set-up. The game requires a lot from players, but players are capable of meeting those expectations. Should library systems create a high level of expectation as well? Student can map every action in World of Warcraft to a hotkey function, but struggle to keep articles marked in a database or access subject headings. There is a disconnect there. It is not a matter of ability, it is a matter of desire, interest, or perceived value.

Chad my question is, where should libraries fall? Closer to the streamlined and obscure version of Myst? Or toward the complex and rewarding Supreme Commander?

And where, oh where, does EBSCO's new interface fall?
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword image from MSNBC
Myst images from Gamespot and Nintendo Centrum
Supreme Commander images from IGN

Leveling Up Your Librarians - ACRL Proposal

2008-05-12T23:41:00.004-05:00

I want to post an ACRL workshop proposal that I submitted along with Chad Boeninger, from Ohio University & Library Voice, and Jon Helmke from the University of Dubuque. I'm posting in part to seek feedback on comments on our workshop idea. I am eager to keep librarians moving forward beyond just simply talking about "why" libraries should consider, engage, and apply video games and gaming strategies. While I'm happy to talk about the "why" it is the "how" that is really important. How librarians can actively apply gaming strategies into our programs, services, and classrooms. This workshop is a step in that direction.

Leveling Up Your Librarians: Using Videogame Strategies to Increasing Student Engagement & Motivation

Short Description:

As libraries are talking about the value of videogames, the relevance of gaming in libraries cannot be ignored. The challenge is not in seeing the value, but in finding effective and efficient ways to apply gaming into services and instruction. The workshop will help the participants identify and employ gaming strategies into existing programs. This workshop inspires librarians to start small and introduce gaming strategies with traditional outcomes to immediately enhance student learning.

Long Description:

As more libraries are talking about the value of video games in our communities, collections, and classrooms, the relevance of gaming in libraries cannot be ignored. The challenge is not in seeing the value of video games, the challenge is in finding effective and efficient ways to apply gaming into our classrooms and at reference. Rather than investing thousands into longterm game development, librarians can start applying gaming strategies in their instruction and services to improve student engagement and learning today.

The workshop will provide a framework of gaming strategies based upon the work of James Paul Gee, Marc Prensky, the Federation of American Scientists and others to show that the value in gaming is not in the electronic format, but in how students and players interact with the experiences. This framework parallels much in traditional educational theory and provides librarians an existing base of knowledge to build upon. The participants may already be applying some of these strategies within their libraries. The leaders will help the participants identify and apply these strategies jointly in targeted services or classes to create game-based learning experiences. Using video game footage, the leaders will demonstrate how games apply these strategies to teach players and motivate them forward. During the workshop, participants will bring a example of a information literacy lesson or service that they are currently using at their institution and work with the workshop leaders and other participants to identify and integrate gaming strategies into it to improve their teaching and service. This focused and practical application of gaming into our libraries creates opportunities for librarians regardless of gaming experience to obtain the engaging and educational value of video games.

The leaders will demonstrate gaming strategies by actively using them during the workshop. Time is scheduled for leaders and participants to debrief on the process, identify existing hurdles, and brainstorm solutions. Also the presenters are creating an online toolkit to provide continued support to participants after the workshop. This online toolkit will provide examples of lesson plans that integrate gaming strategies and other information sources.

Students playing video games of all kinds and in all places are actually developing their academic skills by exercising critical thinking and information literacy. Librarians are uniquely placed to build on students’ gameplay experiences to create that vital link between game and academic success. This link is created in classroom instruction by using the very same strategies designed into games to engage and motivate players. Librarians can incorporate video game strategies in reference and instruction to create a relevant and meaningful experience for students. This workshop will allow librarians to start small and targeted gaming strategies, while including traditional outcomes to enhance the learning experiences of students across our campuses.

Learning Outcomes

Participants will:

Define gaming strategies in the context of educational pedagogy and student learning.
Identify examples of gaming strategies to enhance student learning.
Create classroom applications of various gaming strategies to increase student engagement and motivation.
Construct reference service applications with gaming strategies for the enhancement of student access and value.
Develop a lesson plan that integrates gaming strategies for use in an existing information literacy session.

If you have any suggestions for content for the workshop, questions about the format, or any other comments please let me know. The more input on this - the better.

I believe that it is possible to move beyond asking the "why" questions about video games and libraries. Our content does not necessarily need to change to use gaming applications effectively. It is not the "what" that we need to adapt to make gaming work - it is the "how."

Vs. Mode - Mastery in Games & in the Classroom: What Can We Do?

2008-05-10T23:17:00.003-05:00

With the vs. mode discussion wrapping up for this week, I wanted to take a moment to offer suggestions on how to answer my own question. The round started with Chad's discussion of mastery or "good enough" in games. I replied with a detailed description of games as both "try and die" and "mastery through play" and responded to some of the questions from Library Voice. While the vs. mode supplement provided examples of both styles, it did not address the specific question:

What steps can we start taking now to foster this mentality?

I'm not naive enough to believe that changing the classroom setting and educational dynamic from "try & die" to "mastery through play" is a simple or straightforward process. I may not be naive, but I am a hopeful fighter. There are many pieces to creating this change, both on the front end (classroom) and the back end (educational system) that need to occur for lasting change. But I have faith. Last week's LOEX conference was full of examples of people working to help shift us closer to "mastery through play."

[any information on the LOEX presenters can found... here. The site will be updated with more handouts soon.]

Front End Changes:

Meet students where they are. We should value our students' experience and use it. Not diminish it. William Weare, Valparaiso University, and Michelle Kowalsky, William Paterson University, spoke on this topic with their presentation "Library Instruction and Student Engagement in the Age of Google."
Engage our students in areas where they already have experience and use the worlds they know. Sara Holladay and I talked about this with our session on using fantasy sports as a bridge to the academic information literacy skills our students need.
Apply various learning styles to reach all players/students. Just as gaming uses a variety of methods to reach the audience, so should we. Merinda Kaye Hensley discussed and provided examples to reach a variety of learning styles in her excellent interactive session: "When the World Grows Smaller: Renewing Your Instruction Methods for International Students Using the Cephalonian Method."
Let the students play. We can lower the barriers to failure and create engaging and dynamic lessons applying gaming strategies.

Back End Changes:

Assess the comments and attitudes of our students. What was/is their emotional pulse. Candice Benjes-Small and Eric Ackermann from Radford University spoke on assessing comments in their session "Creating An Architecture of Assessment: Using Benchmarks to Measure Library Instruction Progress and Success."
Evaluate our services after the assignments are due. We should be asking the question of if our "game guides" (instruction) was really useful. If not, do we need a better walkthrough guide? Here is the handout from Jeannie Callas' assessment presentation with some examples to help us get started.
We can treat assessment as an assembly process, not the final product. Assessment that is based on the "quest" rather than just the "final boss." This portfolio method of assessment is not new, but it takes the emphasis off of the "good enough" end product (boss battle) and turns it to the process/journey of a portfolio.
Librarians should advocate and work for inclusion on the "design team." Are you or is someone from the library on an assessment committee or organization on campus? Does the library have a place at the table? If we are part of the "games" design, then we are in a better longer term position to creating winning products... life long learners.

These are just a few of the many changes we can start to move our educational focus to mastery through play.

If not now, when?

If not you, who?

Vs. Mode: Mastery in Video Games; the supplement

2008-05-09T06:25:00.004-05:00

Chad over at Library Voice got this week's Vs. Mode started discussing if videogames teach through forced repetition or through incentives to return. I replied in kind late last night, but as I was writing I wanted to explore more games to see how they teach.

Do videogames use the "try and die" method Chad discussed basically providing the player enough skills to complete the level or the boss (ie. teaching to the test)?

Or Do videogames create a "learning environment" where players want to continue trying and return even once done to improve their performance and create mastery through play?

To gain a larger picture of the gaming world, I want to look at both the top selling games in America from April 2007 to April 2008. According to a Next Generation story from April 9, 2008 the following are the top ten games:

10. Brain Age 2: More Brain Training in Minutes a Day

Brain Age 2 is most certainly a game of mastery through play. The game is designed to bring players back on a daily basis to practice their skills and improve their scores. It tracks the daily scores and praises the player for setting new records.

9. Super Mario Galaxy

Mario Galaxy is a balance of both types of teaching. To progress through the story, the player only needs to do enough to complete a level and eventually defeat Bowser. But to really complete the game and gain access to the "secret" ending where Princess Rosalina's storyline is tied up (Gamasutra had a great piece on this earlier this week... here) - a player needs to collect all the star pieces. There are many star pieces that can be obtained within any given level of Galaxy and this piece of unfinished business helps create the motivation for the player to return again and again and gain mastery at each level.

8. Assassin’s Creed

Assassin's Creed follows the same example as Mario Galaxy, although critics have argued if the narrative in the game is even enough to keep players coming back. Regardless there is an overarching narrative that will continue into future games of the series, but there are also flags hidden throughout the world to provide players a reason to return. Although, unlike Mario, the the incentive is stronger to "just get through and be good enough" rather than collect everything.

7. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
Now here is a game that forces mastery through play. Pokemon evolve and gain experience through their battles, so continued play is a must. Most players, regardless of their age, do not play for the narrative of becoming a master trainer. Most play for the collecting, leveling, breeding, and battling of their Pokemon. Mastery is not gained by being "good enough," there is always something or some Pokemon that can gain experience.

6. Need for Speed: ProStreet
The racing genre itself is based around mastery through play. While there may be times when "good enough" is needed to open up a new car or track, the gameplay is designed around the continued play and improvement of play. Records are set by the fastest time, not just anyone who crosses the finish line.

5. Madden NFL 08
Being good enough may get a "W" in the box scores, but mastery through play comes over the course of a season or more. The player learns more after every set of downs and every game. The skill and drill strategies do not work here because (most often) the AI will adjust if a player's strategy or plays become routine. Mastery not memory is needed here.

4. FIFA Soccer 08

Same comments as Madden above. Mastery not memory.

3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero may rely on memory for notes, "good enough" is not in this rockers vocabulary. Guitar Hero allows players to teach to the test by practicing songs they will need in the career mode (expect for the boss battle, which take on the just survive mentality), but Guitar Hero also keeps scores on each song. This reporting encourages the player to return again and again, to see how they have improve and ranking their performance

2. Halo 3
The final two games balance both modes of teaching. "Good enough" applies to the single (or mulit) player, story driven experience where the players are able to close off Master Chef's story arch. But the multiple player is what continue to drive sales of these games and continued to drive people online to play them.

The online multi-player experience is specific to mastery through play and practice. Online leaderboards may record wins and loses and rewards those who continue to practice and improve their skills.

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Like Halo 3, the story driven experience allows for skill and drill education. In fact, due to COD4's continually respawning enemies memorizing certain spawn points and patterns is often the best (only?) way to get through certain sections. But it is not the single player game that kept COD4 on the top of XBox Live until last week's release of GTA4. It is the deep multi-player experience that creates a rewarding learning environment for players to increase their skills. COD4 recognizes the importance of mastery through play and practice by awarding metals and levels to players who have learned skills and increased the success in online games. COD4's online mode creates an active learning experience that players continued to return to in order to practice, improve, and demonstrate their knowledge.

Knowing that many of the top selling games last year tried to find a balance between passing a standardized assessment (boss battle or level) and a continued learning environment for increasing knowledge (higher scores or rankings) - can we as educators find that balance?

And can video games help us achieve it?

All images via Next Generation

Vs. Mode: Mastery in Video Games & Mastery in Research

2008-05-08T23:47:00.001-05:00

It's another week and while Library Voice and I are a little late to the table (finals week and all) we are back with another Vs. Mode. Chad starts off with a post on video games, mastery, and education. He raises questions about if games teach by repetition (die & try) or through practice (replay)? I'll first touch upon how games teach through each strategy and then move the discussion to what we can and should do about it.

“Try and Die”

As Chad talks about the try and die gameplay mechanic, “Typically, if you get beaten by a level boss, you have to fight him again and again until you defeat him. Once you get enough practice by getting beaten over and over again, you eventually (hopefully) develop enough skills or learn more about the boss to defeat him.” This is video games version of teaching to the test. Granted this is a gameplay mechanic originally applied due to the quarter eating economics of arcades, then to AI limitations, and eventually it simply became a video game tradition. There is most certainly skill here is the successful completion of a mission or a boss fight. But it is the same type of skill developed in schools to pass and perform well on skill and drill tests.

Gameplay teaches to the test be allowing players to practice a specific skill in the level that will be used against a boss battle. Anyone who’s played a Zelda game will understand the logic of, “If I just got bombs in this boss dungeon, then I must use bombs against the boss.” Now granted there is something to be said for the “just in time,” as Gee describes it, delivery of information that makes the information relevant and important to the user/gamer. But the method of gameplay, or teaching for that matter, that focuses on just passing the boss or the assignment is simply an extension of skill and drill educational practices. A class is passed, a mission is completed, period. Under this method the grade or the amount of health left doesn’t make a difference. One life bar or ten, the battle is over… move on.

Now I’m not the first to use gaming analogies to criticize some traditional educational methods. Others have done it before and done it better. I was rereading an article from Kurt Squire last week from Innovate (2005) and he leveled criticism at skill and drill assessment and traditional curriculum. What is important in this discussion is not the limitations of “teaching to the gameplay test” but how to get beyond it to the mastery level of skill.

Mastery through Play

Chad’s idea of mastery through play really boils down to “good enough” not being “good enough.” Game players may pass a level, but will they return to it again for a better rating/score or to unlock some additional material. While the player was “good enough” to move beyond the level there is often some incentive, either intrinsic or extrinsic, for them to come back. Chad’s question is about how we can create this incentive to come back and continue searching with our students.

Before we try to answer that question, let’s look a little bit more a some examples from games to gain a better understanding of what creates this incentive. Chad uses the example of Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror for the PSP (and ported to PS2). Dark Mirror uses both narrative and gameplay incentives to elicit mastery from players. Each level contains hidden folders that provide additional information about the larger story and conspiracy that occurs throughout the game. This is an embedded narrative device to motivate players to explore more even after they were “good enough” to pass the level. The gameplay incentive is tied to gaining a better rating or score for completing the level, similar to what Chad described.

[It is useful to know the distinction between these motivations because it speaks to games recognizing different learning styles. What connects with some players/learners will not connect with others, so building both styles into the gameplay creates an appeal to a larger audience. It may not immediately seem relevant to talk about video games teaching to different learning styles, but the consideration is there (but that is a discussion for another Vs. Mode).]

I’ve recently played Syphon Filter for the PSP as well, but I’ve been playing the online game Combat Ops. The online multiplayer version encourages mastery through play at the gameplay level. While a player may be good enough to help his team win a match, there is always room to improve. The improvement is encouraged as a player can play similar maps again and again against the same or different opponents. Even though I know I’m not even close to the mastery level in the game, I still continue to return, practice, and hopefully improve. Most online multiplayer games encourage mastery through play, since there is never a next level. Players continue to play matches with and against each other not for the story, but the gameplay. Multiplayer games add a social dimension to mastery, a player’s skills also increases their perceived valued in an online community.

Puzzle and racing games apply the concept of mastery through play as well. A player may pass an individual puzzle or track but there is always the incentive to come back for a higher score or faster time. Most non-story based games use mastery through play as a motivating concept to keep players coming back to the game. This week’s release of Boom Blox for the Nintendo Wii is a great example of this. As you can see from the gameplay trailer below, it is a puzzle game based around the basic idea of building up blocks and knocking them over. There are single player missions where good enough can get a player by. But the majority of the gameplay centers on getting a better rating/score for a level. Players return because the game is enjoyable and there is both an intrinsic and extrinsic desire to do better. The extrinsic reward is the better score or unlocking new content. But the intrinsic reward of having fun or a sense of accomplishment, will always be a more powerful reason to draw players back into games.

Now let’s look again at Chad’s question:

My question is this: 1) Does real learning occur in video games with these methods? 2) Can these teaching methods be replicated outside of the video game world? 3) Which method (if any) should educators and librarians employ when teaching our students? 4) Finally, can we do this without making it too dorky for our students?

1) Yes real learning does occur in both of these methods. But as discussed above, the “teaching to the test” mentality of Mastery of “try and die” is a short term skill. A player who’s barely passed a level once is not guaranteed to pass during another try, if they are not keeping their skill set up. “Mastery through practice” creates long term learning (of gameplay mechanics at least) through practice and continued use. This learning and retention of skill sets falls neatly into place with our experiences in educational environments.

2) The intrinsic and extrinsic motivation that the games mentioned above can be created in our classrooms. Teachers attempt to incorporate these various incentives and learning styles on a regular basis. The challenge is not only in creating these methods in the classroom but retaining them. For librarians how do we get past the “good enough” mentality of students searching for results and doing research? Creating experiences that get beyond “passing the level” is something we continue to struggle with. The hardest question is not if they can, it is how can they?

3) I sure hope that I’ve answered this question above… Mastery through play is a wonderful application when we can achieve it.

4) Ah, the “dorky” librarian question. I believe the answer to avoiding the “dorky” factor as Chad put it, is not to try to shoehorn our instruction into a game mentality. Yes, sometimes games are appropriate but not everything needs to be a game. A classroom setting can be just as engaging through gaming strategies and other teaching strategies without having to play a “game” with our students.

Creating a game sets a pretty high bar of expectations for students. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be trying and investing in projects and grants to create games. [Those are important and should continue] But it does mean it is not the only path. We can and should be using video games and gaming strategies to inform our teaching, not just simply to do our teaching.

So Chad if we agree that “mastery through play” is an ideal application of helping students move past the “good enough” mentality of the first 3 results in Google or the first page in EBSCO – how do we create it?

What steps can we start taking now to foster this mentality?

Can we ever foster it?

I’m already starting a response to my own question… I believe the answer lies in a combination of new gaming strategies and traditional education pedagogy. How about you?

You know you work at a great place when...

2008-05-06T21:44:00.004-05:00

... the staff sets up a gaming day for your going away party.

Today I had my farewell reception at the University of Dubuque and the library staff organized an event. I not really a big event kind of person and always wondered what people would say to me at something like this. It turns out, they said an awful lot of nice things. Surprising nice, inspiring, and moving comments about my work with the University.

At LOEX this past weekend, I made an brief comment to my co-worker, and future Assistant Director Anne Marie Gruber that I'd love my last impression to be gathering people together and playing Wii. I thought it would keep things fun and continue to advocate for video games.

Anne Marie took the comment and ran with it. I was shocked to find Wii Sports set up. It was great to see staff and faculty try Wii Tennis and Bowling. And even the faculty that didn't try it were talking about it. I was happy that the library staff helped keep the conversation of video games and gaming general on campus. Not only did they keep the conversation going, but our director, Mary Anne Knefel, took time to help my youngest son with Wii bowling. Thank you Mary Anne.

Thank you to all the library staff who put the event on, you really made me feel valued. And thank you to the University for seven years of growth, education, and community.

Gaming at the University of Dubuque's Study Break

2008-05-05T22:29:00.002-05:00

Sunday night, the library at the University of Dubuque held their finals week study break. We had sandwiches, fruit, cookies, chips, and lots of caffeine to drink. The library's board game collection was put to good use with a number of large groups of students playing games. In addition, DDR continue to be a popular way to regain some energy.

This semester was the 3rd semester that the library's held the study break and each time we have partnered with other groups on campus like student life and student government. The feedback from students was great each time and this Sunday was no exception. We had a record turnout. Even with me doing some DDR, people stayed around... so the food must have been good.

I know the library is in good hands when the Director and upcoming Assistant Director will take on all challengers. If there is ever a collection development debate that can't be settled through words... DDR awaits.

Gaming Applications and LOEX of the West

2008-05-04T16:34:00.004-05:00

After getting back yesterday from LOEX in Chicago, my attention is now turned to LOEX of West. The conference theme is: Successful Experimentation and Innovation in Instruction. I am excited about this conference because gaming was one of the focuses within the theme. Sara and I are presented an updated version of our LOEX presentation. There are a number exciting presentations focusing on gaming, but my concern is that they are all focused on one of the two days.

Friday, June 6th
Chris Thomas and Jerremie Clyde from the University of Calgary are talking about their Half-Life 2 mod for information literacy. More info on their project can be found on their site, Hardplay.

Bee Gallegos from Arizona State University is presenting during the second session of the day on their information literacy game project Quarantined.

This is great and exciting news for information literacy and video games in academic libraries. The problem comes during the final session where 3 of the 5 total video game presentations occur. I'm disappointed that even though gaming was a focus of the theme, the sessions are all grouped together at the end of the second day. This scheduling unfortunately reducing the audience for all three of these sessions. Rather than allowing librarians interested in games for instruction to find out as much as possible, they are limited by scheduling.

The final presentations during the cramped 3rd and final session include:

A Portal to Student Learning: What instruction librarians can learn from video game design

Nicholas Schiller - Library Instruction Coordinator, Washington State University Vancouver
Our students are coming to the university having spent thousands of hours playing games. This presentation will analyze the learning techniques designed into the game Portal and provide practical instruction techniques that are familiar to a generation of games and also appropriate for the rigors of academic research.

Head Hunt: An Online Library Orientation Game

Fred Roecker - Library Instruction, The Ohio State University Libraries
Can 6,000 new students become familiar with a major library before they set foot on campus? They can if they play "Head Hunt," the new online library orientation game from The Ohio State University Libraries. Learn about development, software, testing, and more to create a similar game for your libraries.

The Library Arcade

Dan Hood - Information Literacy Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University
Discover Carnegie Mellon University Libraries' Library Arcade , starting with a brief discussion of educational gaming and ending with the marketing of their final product. Hear how the project addressed learning outcomes, assessment, information literacy, visual literacy, libraries and the "lame factor", gaming culture/millennials, working with outsourced game designers, user testing, and everything else involved in creating these information literacy computer games.

Now for full disclosure, Sara and I are presenting during this time as well, which limits my access. But my disappointment is not personal. I've been lucky enough to talk to both Fred about the "Head Hunt" game and Dan Hood about the creation and gameplay of Library Arcade. And I've emailed Nicholas about his application of Portal.

My disappointed in the scheduling is not for me but for those presenting and every librarian interested in applying video games and game strategies into information literacy. The increased exposure of gaming at LOEX of the West is great, but scheduling problems limit the education and advocacy of video games in library instruction.

Help me LOEX of the West? Or is it too late?

Free Comic Book Day & Libraries

2008-05-03T21:27:00.003-05:00

Since I'm an academic librarian, my RSS feeds for public libraries are on the lighter side. So this may be old news to some of you, but I'm still excited by the activity of this partnership.

After returning from LOEX tonight, there was just enough time to get to my local comic book shop for Free Comic Book Day. With my previous readings into narrative and transmedia, I was interested in the literacy and library connection. A quick search for "free comic book day" and "libraries" resulted in a large number of libraries partnering with comics.
I was overjoyed to find the sheer volume of libraries actively creating partnerships with local comic stores and taking part in free comic book day. ilovelibraries.org summed up the potential of the day nicely:

Aside from providing free exposure to many of the most exciting projects in the comics industry, Free Comic Book Day also presents an opportunity for libraries with graphic novel collections to partner up with local comic book stores. The expertise and product familiarity of the people at your local comic book store can often prove to be an invaluable resource, and the community outreach emphasis of Free Comic Book Day makes it an ideal situation for letting graphic novel fans know about what your library has to offer.

Local newspaper coverage from Norman, OK

The event is a single day when participating comic book shops and libraries around the world give away books to promote interest in the comic and graphic novel formats.

Some blogs highlighted the comic book store partnerships, As Madison did across the Madison, WI Public library system. Others, like Niles, IL used the day to promote existing graphic novel collection. I like Austin, TX Libraries approach to the day, helping promote the day for their local comic book stores and then providing addition copies at the libraries on Monday. Pikes Peak, CO used the to not only provide and promote comics but to provide some educational programming about the history of comics and show a few comic related films.

New Jersey State Library even got into the act.
And finally having the DIY Librarian blog about it helps raise the connection to libraries a lot more than my post.

As a comics read for over half my life, I am thankful to be able to work in a profession that recognizes and celebrates my passions and works to inspire that passion in others.

LOEX 2008: Fantasy Sports - The Road to Information Literacy Championships

2008-05-02T12:44:00.002-05:00

Welcome to those of you attending LOEX. Below you will find a variety of links and documents that were available as handouts. Sara Holladay, the Fantasy Football Librarian, and I thank you for your interest in fantasy sports and information literacy.

We can reach our students where they are at and make their previous experiences and interests valuable and useful in their academic success.

Fantasy Football Mapped to ACRL Standards
Fantasy Football Librarian
Fantasy Sports and Information Literacy on Research Quest

Thank you and we look forward to helping you find new ways to connect with your students.

Vs. Mode Wrap-up: Grand Theft Auto

2008-05-01T19:45:00.003-05:00

The launch of the new Vs. Mode was successful. Chad from Library Voice answered my questions and I think we cover a good number of topics and points with the educational and information literacy aspects of the Grand Theft Auto series.

Chad concluded:

Rather than argue about whether GTA teaches real life skills, should we be arguing that our methods of teaching should be more like GTA? Shouldn’t we encourage students to do more in-depth exploration of their research topics without imposing a self-limiting scorecard on the number of resources they have? Shouldn’t we make our interfaces more user-friendly so that they give immediate feedback when a search fails? Shouldn’t we offer students multiple opportunities for revision, so they can continue addressing a research problem/paper with trial and error? If the whole concept of lifelong learning/information literacy is to develop skills that students will have for the rest of their lives, shouldn’t we offer them multiple chances to try/fail/succeed in the application of these skills? Finally, the GTA series is often commended on the way it nearly replicates much of the real world. Should we be trying to replicate similar experiences in GTA (feedback, trial and error, exploration) and apply them to our world?

For the complete discussion...
Part 1 by Research Quest
Part 2 by Library Voice
Part 3 by Research Quest
Part 4 by Library Voice

Chad and I will return to Vs. Mode next week on a separate topic... stay tuned

Vs. Mode: GTA IV - round 2

2008-04-30T12:26:00.002-05:00

Chad Boeninger over at Library Voice answered my question:
Is GTA a teacher or is it a classroom waiting to students to explore?
Chad makes some great points in his post and his comments make me look forward to continuing this discussion with further games.With his post over at Library Voice... here:

So Paul, my final answer is this: GTA is not a teacher, but a laboratory for experimenting and exploration. Learning occurs while the player mixes the right ingredients, probes the environment, and experiments with trial-and-error. GTA does not tell you what you did wrong if you fail but only encourages you to try again.

Onto round 2 of Grand Theft Auto IV Librarian Vs. Mode...

I agree with Chad that GTA is not a teacher, but a laboratory classroom for the player to experiment and learn. Most players of any GTA game end up spending more time experimenting with the laws, physics, and freedoms in the game world that the central story often takes a backseat to this classroom laboratory setting.

Since we are in agreement about how players learn through GTA, lets look specifically at some of the skills they are practicing and learning in this laboratory. I'm using ACRL's Info Lit Standards as a framework for this discussion because it provides a recognizable starting point and well, we are librarians after all.

1.1.f Recognizes that existing information can be combined with original thought, experimentation, and/or analysis to produce new information

Chad described this in his post:

However, upon rescuing my thug buddies, I now had to evade the police. Guess what? There wasn’t an indicator on my map telling me where I had to go to evade the police. After driving around for about 20 minutes, I got caught by the police. I repeated the mission, and then got caught again. And again. And again. Finally I figured there must be a way for me to hide my car, and I then remembered how to go get my car painted at the car detailer. I had actually learned how painting a car tricks the police in a previous mission, but I had forgotten about that while trying the evade the fuzz. When I finally figured out thats what I was supposed to do, I tried it.

The game already help Chad learn the skill needed in the mission, but it did not direct him to use it again. Based on his experimenting (driving around) and his analysis (still getting caught) he looked back on his existing game information and found the information he needed... it just needed to be applied to a new situation.

1.2.a Knows how information is formally and informally produced, organized, and disseminated

Players have a variety of ways to access and understand in-game information. They can construct it on their own as Chad described, "I learned that if you try to steal a black four-door sedan you’re likely to get shot. All the while I was exploring, I became more familiar with the rules of the game and the layout of the city."

Or they know that the solution is available online or in a print guide as well.

1.2.f Realizes that information may need to be constructed with raw data from primary sources

Again Chad writes, "The player learns by exploring, by experimenting, and by failing." Part of the learning done in any GTA game is in the exploration and experimentation of the game world. The player constructs this knowledge and builds upon it as the game continues to advance.

1.3.b Considers the feasibility of acquiring a new language or skill (e.g., foreign or discipline-based) in order to gather needed information and to understand its context

GTA: San Andreas did this specifically. The main character, C.J., could go to driving school or flight school to enhance in-game skills with driving and flying. Better driving and flying skills allow the player to complete missions more effectively and even open up new content. The player could also bring C.J. to the weight room to increase his strength and thus add addition skills to gathering and understanding information throughout the game. GTA4 creates some new potential for acquiring new languages and skills with it's in-game "friend" system. Niko can stay in contact with non-playable characters throughout the game, creating relationships and opening up new missions or skills in the process.

1.4.a Reviews the initial information need to clarify, revise, or refine the question

Every video game offers this skill. Was the player able to find the information they needed? Did they complete the mission? If not, what information is missing? If I do not have the correct information to complete the mission, I need to revise and refine my question? Maybe there's an alternative to way to deliver the hit on the rival drug lord. Instead of chasing him down in a car, maybe the rooftop is a better option, if so, then I need new information about the buildings and the target's route.

2.1.a Identifies appropriate investigative methods (e.g., laboratory experiment, simulation, fieldwork)
2.1.b Investigates benefits and applicability of various investigative methods

Chad made the excellent point that GTA is set up as an experiment and lab. The player is testing out the boundaries of the world, experimenting with what jumps, neighborhoods, and strategies work and which ones do not. This investigating helps the player reach their information goal (completing a mission). As players, knowing the costs and benefits of the experiment is important as well. Some players will jump online to seek a solution, while other will do the experimenting themselves.

2.3.d Uses surveys, letters, interviews, and other forms of inquiry to retrieve primary information
3.6.b Participates in class-sponsored electronic communication forums designed to encourage discourse on the topic (e.g., email, bulletin boards, chat rooms)

Sharing experiences (ie. Game knowledge) is just as important for the player experimenting in the world of GTA as the actual results of those experiments. Valued is placed on those experiences and others learn from the communication of it.

3.7.a Determines if original information need has been satisfied or if additional information is needed
3.7.b Reviews search strategy and incorporates additional concepts as necessary

Players use both their in-game experiences, online searching, and discussions to determine if they have enough information to complete their current mission. They will either re-try it or go back out in the world of GTA and experiment more – seeking out new or more complete information.

4.1.b Articulates knowledge and skills transferred from prior experiences to planning and creating the product or performance

Players share (internally or often online) how they went from trying one strategy to their new one that incorporates their additional skills and experiential knowledge.

4.2.b Reflects on past successes, failures, and alternative strategies

There is not a videogame played that doesn’t result in the reflection and analysis of the player afterward. Why that jump worked? How can I not get caught? Chad detailed his on-going reflection process as he continued to repeat a mission without success. Being GTA is not a teacher but a laboratory classroom, reflection and peer discussion is the most effective (and sometimes the only available) strategy.

5.1.c Identifies and discusses issues related to censorship and freedom of speech

Since we are talking about GTA censorship and free speech is a central theme in the general media discussion. Every person now playing Niko in GTA4, or anyone who’s spent time with any of the previous characters, has an opinion about on the GTA series and these issues. Regardless of what arguments used (social, moral, legal) the fact remains is that players are actively engaging in this discussion in person and online. Compare that discussion to any had in a classroom about the same issues.

With all these critical thinking and information literacy skills being practiced, the violence and destruction still gain the most headlines. The NPR story does address some of the freedom and exploration the laboratory classroom of GTA creates.

Chad are these skills real? Or am I just trying to make a controversial and violent game more acceptable?

GTA Box art from Global Nerdy

Research Quest vs. Library Voice: Grand Theft Auto

2008-04-29T23:17:00.004-05:00

This week I am starting an ongoing series of weekly posts and discussions with Chad Boeninger, from Library Voice, on the education value of a new game on sale that week or related game series. Chad is an excellent librarian and he and I engage in frequent gaming discussions. This series is an attempt to formalize some of those discussions and share them with the larger library community. We are modeling the format after what Stephen Totilo has done with his Vs. Modes over at the MTV Multiplayer.

This series is designed as a way to offer various viewpoints on new games and their related series as well as creating talking points for those who are looking to advocate for video game not simply as a service to our patrons, but as a way to enhance and improve video game’s application in education. It is our hope that the dialog will be interesting and helpful for librarians interested in video games, learning, and libraries.

And so without further ado, Grand Theft Auto IV…

With news stories in the NY Times and NPR over the last 24 hours on the release of Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA4) and the months of building media by gaming outlets, it will be almost impossible for any another other game this year to match the hype and sales (and probably the controversy as well). While some may look at the game and worry for the future of our children, I look at the game and I’m thankful for the practical problem solving and critical thinking it requires.

Back at the beginning of April, Chad picked up a post by Wired’s Game|Life Chris Kohler about his experience playing GTA for the first time. Chad quoted Kohler and wrote:

Kohler:You have to park the car perfectly. On my second try, I got the car back with time to spare, but pulled it in the wrong way. The game told me I had to park correctly, so I tried to, but the car I’d originally arrived in was blocking the way and I couldn’t get it right. Then, while trying to adjust the car’s position, I slammed it into the wall and now it was busted up. Mission failed. What did this teach me? The next time I did this mission, I parked the first car way outside the lot, thus leaving myself a clean path to pull the bomb-car in next time.

Once you successfully make it out of this mission, you’ll have learned a great deal about the rules of the game. As such, accomplishing all of this was a great feeling.

Boeninger: Yes, while the Grand Theft Auto series is controversial and a bit violent, this excerpt is a prime example the learning process in video games.

Now I do not disagree that the GTA series has some educational value, it is not in the trail and error method that Kohler described. Grand Theft Auto III series of games were not good teachers. Sure the games provided the player with an opportunity to try a new skill, in Kohler's example driving without crashing, but the game left it up to you to lean the skills. While the player's actions certainly had consequences (scratched car = failed mission) there was not a supporting structure their to practice the skill. Unlike a game like God of War were skills are slowing doled out with directions and practice or Zelda Twilight Princess that sets you on a ranch to practice and learn your skills.

Grand Theft Auto is the teacher who asks the question and when the wrong answer is given, quietly sits and waits for the right answer to appear. Giving the student / player the space and allowing them to make their own connections.

That space is where GTA succeeds in educational value. Every corner is filled with potential problems or fun events and it is necessary to think critically about a range of possible solutions to any given problem. GTA allows the player space to apply critical thinking skills to the world and seek out any number of possible solutions to a problem.

This problem solving creativity was highlighted by Kohler, Jeremy Parish, and others on this past week's Retronauts video game podcast. They describe parking cars at the exist before starting a mission to prevent the character from escaping. This open ended and forward thinking problem solving exists in most missions allowing the player to create their own game based on preferences but also live with the consequences.

GTA series does have educational value, but it is not a good teacher. It creates a world of possibilities and asks the player to think of creative solutions and how those choices affect the world around the character.

Chad is GTA a teacher or is it a classroom waiting to students to explore?

GTA Box art from Global Nerdy

Changes in Narrative = Changes in Literacy

2008-04-28T23:10:00.002-05:00

It is important to understand the narrative potential of video games, both for their ability to engage players in stories and to motivate players to create their own narratives. The concepts I’ve covered over the last series of posts on narrative including Jenkins concepts of transmedia and understanding part of the larger debate over narrative vs. ludology provides us an important insight into how our students are interacting with stories and text.

This interaction is not only relevant to the literature and composition faculty I spoke with on Sunday at ACLA but it is also vital for us as librarians to understand as well. The changes in students interaction and expectations create opportunities for us to engage readers and address reluctant readers.

The same recommendations I gave to the ACLA conference, apply to us as well: recognizing, engaging, and creating the value-added narratives that transmedia creates.

The next few posts cover issues of literacy and why understanding this change in narrative is important for reaching our students and patrons.

Videogames New Narrative Interaction: What It Means for the Classroom

2008-04-27T23:05:00.002-05:00

During my presentation on Sunday for the American Composition and Literature Association, based on my ongoing research into videogame narratives and literacy, I offered three points of action on how we, as educators can apply this narrative.

1) Use Traditional Strengths: English departments have screenplay and scriptwriting course or currently partner with Drama/Theater departments. They should create partnerships with Computer Graphics or Game Design departments

English departments can house videogame story / game narrative courses alongside of film/theater ones. Looking back at Bronsky’s game writing elements, they are traditional storytelling elements. If you or your department is not sure where to start – start there. Use it to start a discussion and incorporate what you already do well. Or partner with existing gaming courses and departments to team teach or assist with units on videogame writing. A faculty member in the English department at the University of Dubuque partnered with our Computer Graphics program. Last semester, the students had to create a proposal and design document for an original game. This semester, the English faculty member worked with some students to continue to develop the story and narrative of their videogame project. If this type of partnership is not possible, create an elective course or J-term / summer class and see what the registration is like. You have the skills, experience, and passion – continue to instill a passion for storytelling in others no matter what the format or medium.

2) Seek Transmedia Connections: Many of you already do this to a lesser extent – grabbing a film or play – as a visual representation of the text. Stretch beyond that. Allow for the additional media (TV, theater, games, film) to add and expand the students experience and understanding. Ask questions about connections and draw on their value of information across media. As someone in the audience (Mark) said during the presentation, our survey courses already do this to an extent by showing how and using all the previous analysis to help understand each new piece. Yes, draw out those connections between narratives, even if loose associations. The more our students can see the connection and how their knowledge of one adds value to others, the more engaged they will be.

Another panelist from the conference, Edward Aiken from Syracuse, described an art and religion course he once taught. He talked about looking at artistic depictions of Mary the mother of Jesus throughout history and then showing the film Terminator 2 and raising the question of narrative similarities. The topic struck a cord with students to the degree that a former student stopped him on the street years later to tell him about it. Transmedia creates meaningful lasting connections.

3) Deliberate Awareness: Be aware and deliberate in the engagement of students and narrative across mediums. The pieces described in the presentation and the forthcoming paper discusses how both our current and future students interact and what they expect out of narratives and stories. If we are aware and planning to incorporate these changes in narrative interaction we can and will continue to engage our students in meaningful analysis and creation… inspiring passion along the way.

Terminator image via solarnavigator

Game Story Elements: Creating a Videogame Narrative

2008-04-27T13:10:00.002-05:00

I just returned from presenting at the ACLA Annual Meeting. While the crowd was small there were a number of good questions on my presentation and some excellent discussion between all the panelists. I'll post some more reflections on the presentation and the slides later, but I wanted to post the last narrative resource. Next week I'll post my reflections and write-ups on some literacy studies and videogames.

Dansky, R. (2007). Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Video Games. In C. Bateman (Ed.), Introduction to Game Narrative (p. 1-11). Boston, MA: Charles River Media.

Narrative as the method by which the story is communicated to the audience. Dansky states that the “greatest mistake” is reducing a game’s narrative to story and story alone. Games reach beyond fiction, to where the story is only the “launching point” for the narrative. Players can add to that narrative experience in a variety of ways, beyond the choices made and gameplay actions taken. Players add to the story through original ideas on fansite discussion boards and fan fiction or through official external narratives in web clips, film, novels, or comics. The narrative the player understands and appreciates expands well beyond the game screen or the page.

Dansky’s chapter serves as an introduction to game narrative writing and storytelling within games. His work is more technical rather than an analysis on storytelling. But it is useful to consider what Dansky includes within creating a narrative:

Setting
Character
Backstory
Cut Scenes
Scripted Events
In-Game Artifacts

Dansky also looks at three techniques of videogame narratives

- Immersion

o Similar to Csikszentmihalyi’s “flow”; the player is absorbed in what they are doing and have suspended their disbelief to follow along with the experience

- Reward

o Narrative advances in the story before/after key moments of the game

o This helps to drive the player forward and motivate their progress

- Identification

o Gives the who, what, why’s of the game space and in-game world; creates the context for a player’s actions

o This investment of the player creates ownership and is related to the idea of “agency”

Any narrative experience is completely defined in advance. For game writers this presents challenges to incorporate multiple paths and connect the choices players might make to the overall narratives or narrative. It is possible that no one player has the same exact experience each time. The writer needs to account for all these actions and decisions the players might make.

Because of this difference, while videogame writing borrows much from traditional scriptwriting it cannot be used alone. Game writing takes a little of each media, but not all of any. And this makes videogames and unique storytelling telling medium.

Dansky considers game’s not the writer’s story but the players. Is this true? Is any story simply the writers or does each reader bring something unique that adds and shapes how the events are understood and interpreted?

Images:

KingsQuest from FreeSci

Warcraft III from Gamershell

Play It, Create It, Live It: ACLA Conference Presentation

2008-04-26T22:51:00.002-05:00

As I am preparing to present, I want to make my slides available. I will include a link later to download the full slides, since these are trimmed from the conference presentation for size. Later this weekend, the rest of the supporting resources and analysis will be posted.

Thank you for your interest and please check back on Sunday evening for more resources.