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:

1. "What success are adolescent males finding in out-of-school literacy practices"
2. "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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Back in the fall of 2007, I was a guest lecturer for a video game theory course on our campus. While I've blogged and expanded about much of the content from that lecture, I have not provided my powerpoint slides. The slides focus on the work of Gee and Bogost and how it is relevant for the students in game design. Some of the slides are a little bare but I hope this is helpful for those who've asked in the past.

Educational Games: Games that Teach, not Preach: Slide Show

The students used three articles as required readings for my lecture:

Good Video Games and Good Learning by James Paul Gee

and 2 Gamasutra articles

• Who Says Video Games Have to be Fun? The Rise of Serious Games by Bryan Ochalla
• Persuasive Games: How I Stopped Worrying about Gamers and Started Loving People Who Play Games by Ian Bogost

In addition to these classroom resources, here are my individual posts about applying some of Gee's principles to information literacy instruction:

• Production
• Design
• Agency
• Interaction
• Risk Taking
• Identity
  
• Just in Time
• Situated Meaning
  

Palgrave MacMillan recently released a revised and updated edition of James Paul Gee's essential work, "What Video Games have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy." As I've made way through the book looking for updates, I was struck by this statement in the revised conclusion:

"Having given now a great many talks about video games across the world, I know that many people who have read this book take it to be an argument for using games in schools or other educational settings. However that is not the argument I have tried to make in this book. I have first wanted to argue that good video games build into their very designs good learning principles and that we should use these principles, with or without games, in schools, workplaces, and other learning sites."

For over five years, Gee's work and advocacy for video games and education has opened doors and opportunities in libraries, schools, and campuses around the country. Gee's quote above rightfully suggests that Gee's work is important for instruction librarians, teachers, and educators at all levels to consider for teaching strategies and instructional design. Games are important for how they teach players, not simply because they teach within an electronic or virtue experience.

Video game strategies including Gee's principles provide us, as educators, a guideline for how to plan, structure, and implement engaging classroom instruction.

I said it before, and will continue to, video games are good teachers and we can use their strategies to improve our own teaching. As Gee states, "we should use these principles, with or without games..."

image from Palgrave MacMillan

My article in College & Research Libraries News just went online. It recaps the teaching of information literacy through fantasy sports and the University of Dubuque's experience doing so. I am always interested in feedback (especially constructive or negative since one can always improve), so please let me know your thoughts.

Librarians' sport of choice: Teaching information literacy through fantasy football

That title applies to most of my work on this blog. Now that I've finished my draft of a publication on this topic I wanted to share part of my conclusion. As spring semesters start across the country over the next few weeks, a hope this provides some librarians a little extra push to try something new and experiment with video game strategies.

Writing the chapter and this passage helped refocus me for the coming semester and reminded me to keep trying even when things don't work out. I hope it can do the same for some others.

Starting the process of “leveling up” an information literacy program does not need to be intimidating or daunting. When applying any new strategies or technology, it is best to start small by setting limited goals and focusing on smaller content (King, 2007). King’s advice is sound, and while not revolutionary, it is practical. Existing information literacy classes provide jumping off points for those looking to get started with using games and game strategies in the classroom. The University of Dubuque used this message of starting small to place emphasis on success and build upon it. Start small, target a few gaming strategies, include traditional outcomes and do not be afraid of initial failure. These strategies will enhance the learning experiences of students across campus.

Videogames require information literacy to be successful. The skills involved within games create a unique foundation to build future academic success. Librarians are in an excellent position to build that bridge between students, videogame literacy, and traditional information literacy. Creating successful information literate students with videogames goes beyond treating games as a metaphor. Applying videogame strategies created exciting learning opportunities for students at the University of Dubuque, and furthermore, can provide engaging opportunities for any academic library. Videogames can teach a player the research process, and videogame strategies can help librarians teach students.

Many of us are getting the December issue of College & Research Libraries News in our mailboxes this week. Editor, David Free sent me an early Christmas present - a preview of the cover for the upcoming January. My fantasy football and information literacy article will be published in it and I'm excited by the cover.

Since it's was a preview I'm not going to show the full cover.

But here's a little teaser.

Here's the introduction to my upcoming article on information literacy and fantasy football for C&R Libraries News:

Librarians want students to effectively identify and evaluate information and make decisions based upon it. These are just some of the skills that an information literate student successfully applies. These are the same skills that over 19 million people use on a daily or weekly basis playing fantasy sports (Fantasy Sports Trade Association). As the NFL football season comes to a close, millions of Americans, as young as 12 years old, have spent the past few months connected to information literacy. They just don’t know it.
The challenge for librarians is to connect fantasy sports skills to information literacy and create building blocks for academic applications of the same concepts. One library, University of Dubuque, did just this by teaching fantasy football research to incoming student athletes. Through the lesson, students engaged in discussions of creditability, validity, timeliness, and search strategies to find and evaluate fantasy football information. The assessment of these instruction sessions showed incoming students successfully identifying evaluation criteria and reporting positive changes in how they viewed research and libraries.


image from C&R Libraries News

Computers and Composition Online will publish a special issue on the intersections between composition, literacy, and computer/video gaming as a companion to the Fall 2008 special print issue of Computers and Composition, "Reading Games: Composition, Literacy, and Video Gaming." These issues will explore the social, historical, cultural, and pedagogical implications of computer/video games on literacies and the writing classroom.

Here is the full post about the upcoming journal. Proposals are due on Dec. 14th and it looks like the journal with be publish late spring of 2008. For more information check out the journal's homepage here.

The weekly game magazine the Escapist recently featured two stories relating to education.

Erin Hoffman wrote a good editorial about children and games. She continued in part two of her editorial as a short editorial about games and kids. It's quick read but gives another piece of support for why we as educators should continue to look to games and gaming strategies in education.

Ben Sawyer covers and debunks 10 Myths of serious games:

• Serious Games Aren't Fun
• Games Are Young Media, So Serious Games Are For Young People
• There Is No Proof That Games Affect Anyone

And for some lighter reading, Saund Sands of Gamers with Jobs wrote about his journey to quit World of Warcraft. Enjoy.

In my first post on GOM, about a month ago, I laid out the initial components of Amory's Game Object Model. The model itself appears adaptable and I've started to adapt it by adjusting the model for traditional lesson plans. My fantasy football GOM lesson plan was a good start and really helped change the mindset of creating an instruction session.

I wanted to discuss the additions in the second version of the Game Object Model, GOM II, as well, but didn't get to it. So now I'm returning to provide a detailed outline of the GOMII model. The components of GOM II provides a context in which to assess an educational game. As some libraries are exploring and starting to create games for information literacy, the GOMII provides another means to assess the success of these efforts.

Amory, A. (2007). Game object model version II: A theoretical framework for educational game development. Educational Technology Research and Development, 55(1):51-77.

Game Object Model Verson II

Core concepts: 1) Game definition, 2) authentic learning, 3) narrative, 4) gender, 5) social collaboration, 6) challenges-puzzles-quests

I. Game Space

· Play
· Exploration (1)
· Challenges (1)
· Engagement (1)
· Narrative spaces (3)
· Authentic (2)
· Multiple views (2)
· Gender-inclusive (4)
· Transformation (2)
· Tacit knowledge (6)

A. Visualization Space

· Critical thinking
· Discovery
· Goal formation
· Goal completion
· Practice
· Story (3)
o Plot (3)
o Reflection (2,6)
o Relevance (1,2)
oGame rhythm (4)

I. Elements Space
· Fun
· Emotive (1)
o Graphics
o Sounds
o Technology
o Backstory (3)

a. Actors Space
· Drama
o Role models (4)
o Interaction
o Gestures

II. Problem Space
· Puzzlement (6)
· Accommodation (6)
· Assimilation (6)
· Complex (1)
· Flow (6)
· Activity-based(4)

o Conflict (4)
§Win/Lose
§ Indirect

o Explicit knowledge (6)
o Conversation (6)
o Model-building (2)

A. Communication
o Reading
o Writing
o Speaking

B. Literacy
o Visual
o Logical
o Mathematical
o Computational

C. Memory
o Short-term
o Long-term

D. Motor
o Manipulation
o Reflex

II. Social Space
· Democracy (5)
· Social capital (5)
· Dialogue (1,5)

A. Computer Mediated Communication
o Network (5)
o Tools (5)

B. Social Network Analysis
o Visualization (5)
o Relationships (5)

Back in August, I was one of the reviewers for an upcoming (2008) on electronic gaming in education. For more details on the book, reviewers, and timeline following the link here.

The reviewing process was interesting and the content of the chapters had a lot of potential. I'm sure I'll end up blogging about it once it finally comes out. But until then, there is one piece from a chapter that I wanted to discuss. Since this was included in the literature review, I'm not releasing any new findings or original work from the author.

The researchers cited within the chapter discuss components that could be integrated into an instructional activity or game in order to improve a learner’s intrinsic motivation for playing, these include the following strategies:

• Challenge
• Curiosity
• Control
• Fantasy
  
• Personalization
• Cooperation
• Competition
• Recognition

Considering these factors is useful not only in creating educational games, but also in designing our information literacy sessions and creating lesson plans. Research shows that these are the major components that students look for in judging the value and use of a game within an educational context. If students are creating the criteria that engages them, we as educators should take notice.

I am currently working on redesigning an instruction session that I do with a public speaking course. I've done the same lesson (more or less) for the last four year... granted the class has done the same assignment as well. Incorporating these components into the design of the lesson may increase students engagement and motivation.

Identifying the common level of inexperience allows for ways to start students within their zone of proximal development (ZPD) and stretch beyond that. Vygotsky’s (1978) zone of proximal development emphasizes the difference between what students are capable on their own given their previous experience compared to what they can grow to achieve with the assistance from others.

Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development represents the “distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers (1978, p.86).”

Gee makes the point, in previous publications and again in Good Video Games + Good Learning, that Vygotsky’s ZPD is applied on a regular basis through tutorials and other introductory stages in video games. Video games fill the role of peer or teacher when they guide players through the initial stages of a game, helping the player learn the gameplay mechanics and strategy. Games scaffold the player by introducing basic gameplay elements and then building on top of them, adding complexity that requires mastery of the initial skill set. Games often take two distinct approaches applying Vygotsky's ZPD: either setting aside the first level or two that step a player through the skills they will need throughout the game; or by staggering the scaffolding throughout the game, introducing new and advanced skills throughout the game that apply to the coming levels and depend upon the understanding of the previous skills.

Being aware of how and where games apply education theory help in understanding why games are engaging for the players and successful in creating consistent - yet achievable - challenges. The awareness of video games application of education theory reminds us, as educators, to look outside our fields and outside the realm of academics to find successful applications... and inspire us in our own classrooms.

Images of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (PSP) and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii) - 2 games that provide strong examples of applying Vygotsky's ZPD were taken from Ign.com

Over the past few days, I've started to pick my way through Ian Bogost's Persuasive Games book and James Paul Gee's Good Video Games and Good Learning. I've talked about both in the past when they first hit my radar, but now since I'm preparing to be the guest lecturer for a Game Theory course I'm able to dig into them. I'm speaking on learning through games, something to the effect of "Games that teach, not preach."

This includes Gee's principles from What Video Games have to Teach us about Learning and Literacy and his other work; Bogost's learning through games and what the play experiences teach us; and some targeted readings about serious games and learning. I'm excited about being asked, but my excitement is tempered by not having a syllabus yet to narrow in my focus.

I'll post more of my thoughts and responses to my readings soon, along with the contents of my lecture as they develop.

Recently I’ve been lamenting the loss of the Gamer’s Quarter and their quarterly publication. Last spring they published their 8^th and final regular issue with the promise that they are not going away forever, just coming back less often. Unfortunately, I think it is the relationship equivalent to “It’s not you, it’s me.” The Gamer’s Quarter was a thoroughly enjoyable publication with essays dealing with games and the emotions, life, and memories that surround those games . The stories are not really reviews of games, but more of experiences of those games. I hope the writers have found continuing outlets for their work. If you haven’t read anything from there yet, look back at my post last February for my recommendations.

In order to get my creative writing fix, I’ve been reading Cerise and their September issue (along with their back issues are worth checking out. They are (as they say in their mission statement):

Cerise is a resource by and for women gamers. We are dedicated to increasing the voices of underrepresented identities in the game development industries and in gamer communities.

It’s a good read and an important alternative voice in a traditionally male dominated industry.

Jeremy Parish (of 1up.com) personal blog has expanded to include more community involvement. Users are submitting reviews and essays of older games. The essay/review of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is a good example of how the “reviews” are more than traditional reviews.

For anyone still concerned that the generations growing up with video games have lost their written expression. Each of these three site provides examples that gamers are discussing, reflecting, and writing about their experiences on a regular basis.

After my freedom for finally catching up on my RSS feeds, I'm back into the mix. But only 200 unread items is easier to dig through than 1200. Today over at the Law Librarian
there was a post about an annotated bibliography on Virtual Worlds and Education by Sharon Stoerger.

While the content is good, the focus is not as tight as I expected. It provides much more of an overview of learning in games (including simulations, MMOPGs, and stand alone video games). Given the growing field of research on this topic it could have been focused strictly on virtual worlds. But as it is it's an excellent resource.

The annotations are a great refresher for those of us in the field and a good overview for those interested in virtual worlds, games, and education. And really, as librarians who can pass up an annotated bibliography?