I'm surprised by the amount of recent interest in what I've done with "the clickers" / Turning Point classroom voting technology. I've had interest from some LOEX attendees and the IL list serve on creative uses for "clickers." I'm also surprised by how unique my application was. The multiple paths, branching lectures and decision tree review activities like Library Dusk were new ideas. My co-worker also received an email request from the UW-Madison libraries about how we are using the "clickers" on our campus.

I'm excited about the interest others are showing and I hope that more people will adapt this strategy. If you are at a school with some type of classroom voting tech, I encourage you to play with it, be creative and think about how it could engage your students.

A few nights ago, I got sucked into the world of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. After all the conversations in my classes before the end of the semester, I wanted to explore the world from a societal reflection of violence and culture. My challenge with GTA: Vice City is that I wanted to play it as a Role Playing Game. I tried to converse with the people walking down the street, testing the limits of the law enforcement, and exploring the city. I wanted a living world with consequences for my actions.

Although I was disappointed playing GTA this way because Vice City was mission focused, I continued to come back to explore. I wanted to see what kind of life choices I could make within the framework of the game. GTA as a social commentary is not a new idea and there's a body of work about it. One article that stuck with me recently was a post on MIT's Henry Jenkins blog.

The article was on research done by Kurt Squire on teenagers perceptions of GTA: San Andreas. You have to scroll down to get to the article via the link here... but it is well worth it. Here are a few quotes that peaked my interest:

In fact, these kids were a little offended that white researchers would focus on gaming violence rather than the real violence surrounding them... These same kids were concerned that white kids might also think that it's easy to leave the ghetto:
"The most unrealistic part of the game is that as a black man, you can't just up and buy a house."

The social dialog on race and class in America that GTA: San Andreas could stimulate would be a great discussion. Unfortunately, too often it is easier to target and attack the violent depictions, rather than engage in a discussion about the acts and circumstances depicted.


Photo via Flickr.com by Gem

Since returning from LOEX, I've felt creatively drained and tapped out. This past week I scrambled to get caught up. And with the summer classes starting on Monday, I am diving right back into instruction. Monday morning I have an introduction section for our college's Research and Writing course which is focused on the region of Oceania. Over the past few semesters, I've opened their first research paper with an overview of the topic and lecture on potential topics. This past semester I modified it to incorporate student choice and gaming strategies.

Although those sessions went well and the student feedback was positive, as the semester went on I grew more uncomfortable about the long lectures the librarians were giving at the beginning of each paper. If I'm an advocate for video game strategies, like personalization, multiple paths, decision making and feedback, as ways to engage our student - a 45 minute traditional lecture didn't use any of those strategies.

Instead of a traditional format, I'm designing the session to focus on student exploration of topics and having them share the topics they found. The ideal is to get me out from in front of the class and have the students more engaged and sharing with each other.

Over the past year I spent time developing instruction sessions with specific video game strategies in mind, now it is time to go back and look at the other sessions and see how they can be adapted.


Image via Flickr.com by Rob Surreal

There's nothing quite like being gone for a conference (LOEX) during the last week of the semester. Yes it was a huge recharge for my energy level, but the back load of work piled up quickly. Given my last post on the social nature video games, this post from Tuesday at Gamepolitics.com ties in nicely.

Halpin as president of the ECA disputed the results of a study by the "Save the Children" organization. As my previous post stated, I agree with Hal Halpin on why and how games can be a social experience.

The survey itself is a nice example of information literacy. The "Save the Children" organization is not an unbiased group. And the "study" they refer to is based on interviews of 100 teachers and their perceptions. There isn't any experimental data with a sound methodology to support the "findings" of the study... sounds like a good place to start an article search.

As a result of the comments from the AZ State University Gaming project presentation, I’ve thought about my experiences growing up at the arcade. Gaming in the arcade was a social experience. I was reminded of this yesterday upon walking into the arcade here at the hotel. Suddenly memories of my childhood came rushing back at me. Playing the games, like The Simpsons side scrolling brawler, now make me realize one key fact:

I didn’t sink dozens of quarters into these machines because the gameplay was good, I did it because the experience was fun.

We shared the experience with friends and strangers alike. Quarter after quarter we came back for more. We played the game through with people standing next to you, commenting, condemning and commending along the way. Under this model, even single player games were a community experience.

But the question is, how can we adopt that social experience for library video games? The AZ State librarians were discouraged about the initial feedback (but thankfully they are still moving forward). George Washington’s Muckrackers game and staff are discouraged as well. GW was trying to make the game multi player, which is an excellent idea, but costly in terms of creation. The development time and money that is required to develop a multiple player game raise the barrier of entry for libraries. And that does not even take into consideration the logistics of administering to our students.

So in the short term, increasing reflection discussion time and promoting conversations throughout the game can promote that social experience for our students. Gamers are not silent people. We just need to tap into that natural desire to share and critique during gameplay into to create that social feeling of community.

Library games may never give players that same feeling that sinking quarters with friends at the arcade. But we learn from those experiences to engage our students more fully in gaming and learning.

I spent some time playing AZ State University's game on Monday after posting about Quarantined over at Bibliographic Gaming. I enjoyed the game and was able to complete it under the 30 minute time frame both with and without contracting the virus (which then reduces the amount of time allowed in the game). It does a nice job of introducing students to citations and how to begin searching for sources (books, articles, web). If you haven't tried it for yourself, I've provided the link with login and password here.

Take a moment and give it a try. Unfortunately, I only asked for permission to post the free trial for the Bibliographic Gaming blog, not over here. So please bear with the link jumping. The game itself still has a few improvements, but most of what I experience the team of Tammy, Bee and company are already working on them. There were a few times that I thought I needed to explore more, only to realize my path was very limited. Exploring buildings, library stacks and other locations are either not allowed or result in nothing. Although I assume this was a result of either time or programming. Overall I an very encouraged and excited about the work they did on the game.

I am disappointed by the feedback the students provided on the game were not as positive as the team expected and hoped. They found the results “kind of depressing.” I agree with Tammy's statement at LOEX that much of the current frustration and lack of enjoyment may stem from the multiple bugs in the current build.

The students also found the board game more engaging and successful, but why? Is it the content? The gameplay? Was it the social nature of playing the board game that motivated the students? What did you think of the game?

I just got home from LOEX and worked on these notes on the plane... there's more to come on this session, including my opinions, but this post is strictly informative.

For anyone not familiar with the project, the librarians initially developed a board game which they planned on being a testing ground for the video game. The many in the audience appeared to be more interested in the board game than the video game. The physical game has gone through four versions board game and the student feedback is positive. The students enjoy creating their own teams and get rather competitive about it.

Their powerpoint presentation was very similar to their presentation at the Internet Librarian conference last fall. The information was still very useful since it included their feedback from this spring semester. Spring 2007 was the semester they used the game within the class.

The video game project itself started with specific learning objectives that included:

• Library as physical and virtual space
• Services the library offers
• Online catalog
• Types of sources
• Evaluation skills

Game Design

Tammy and Bee provided their timeline and game design process. Tammy stressed the importance of versioning a game and realizing that multiple builds are necessary to get the feedback needed to improve the design. While Tammy had some flash programming knowledge, they needed someone with flash game design experience. It was also important the flash programmer have educational game design experience. Both Tammy and Bee highly recommended Rollings & Adams “Game Design” text as a foundation and overview on how to begin planning, designing and developing a video game. Their High Concept document was their sales pitch to the Library Director and others. They commented multiple times that their director was not only supportive about the project but also highly energetic. After the approval of their high concept they developed their 15+ page game treatment, where every choice and decision tree consequence was outlined. The timeline for development was as follows:

• 7 months spent on plots and character story, a lot of time
• 2 months for design
• 1 month for character interaction
• 2 weeks for animation
• 2 weeks for information retrieval / game catalog and database
• 2 weeks for sound creation
• 1 month for bug tracking

The process took over a year and they are still working on correcting bugs and suggestions identified by the students. Students got confused about what was the next step… not as evident as thought and thus the beta testing and in class use provided critical feedback. Some of the specific bugs and improvements included:

• Inability to leave library after checking out books
• “Copy & paste” option for storing articles
• Need to include “mission” screen to help keep
• Hot spots for interactions, more event based encounters
• Better visual doorways to make navigation easier

Tomorrow I'll post the reflections the AZ State Librarian's had on the project, but I'm off to bed.

Thank you for everyone who stopped by my poster presentation. I enjoyed your questions and I hope the information was useful. Gaming strategies are a place that all of us can start without having to commit the time and cost to developing a game. I commend all of those working on gaming projects, but regardless of where your institution is at I hope you gained some ideas about how to start applying video games into your information literacy sessions.

If you are first visiting here, I encourage you to look at the previous post as an introduction with links to the classes discussed in the poster session.

Here are the links for the assessment tools that I used in the instruction sessions. Each link will lead you to a page to download the assessments.

• Website Evaluation
• Review Activity Rubric
• Research Writing Assessment

I will post the poster as soon as I can get the publisher file small enough to upload. Any feedback or questions on my session is welcome. I'd love to know what you thought.

Thank you.

Thank you for attending my poster presentation and I hope that I was able to provide you with some ideas and information about using video game strategies in the classroom. Since this may be your first time here, please take a moment to subscribe to the RSS feed on the right. I want to provide some additional information about the classes and reflections from my poster presentation.

Let's start off back in the fall with a post that would become the foundation for my application of gaming strategies. I followed up that post with 5 steps for using games, some of which I echoed in my presentation. The analysis and similarities about "Why Our Attempts Fail" in both research and in gaming is another starting point for gaming application.

Last fall, I wrote a series of posts (starting here) reflecting on the results of using open ended game strategies for a research writing review session. The results really opened my eyes about how we teach and how we could teach. I included some student reaction and comments in the final post as well. There are also some detailed notes on my branching / decision tree lecture and my branching "choose your own adventure" article search from this spring as well.

Finally, there are is a post on how the frustration playing games can help non-gamers understand what our students might go through with library interfaces.

Take a few moments to dig back through the last few months here at Research Quest.
I'd love to get your comments on these ideas and any others you want to share. Thank you and I hope that together we can find ways to use video games and gaming strategies to increase our students' success.

I left this morning with my family for the LOEX conference in San Diego. I thought I remembered everything:

• Poster Presentation - check
• Laptop - check
• Clothes - check
• Family - check
• Nintendo DS - check

But it was at the 3 hour mark of a 4 hour plane ride with my two sons that I realized I forgot to pack the DS Battery Charger. For a long flight the DS was a wonderful solution. Explaining how to steer and accelerate in Mario Kart DS to my 3 year old was a great way to pass the time.

We made it here (without any the classic Hollywood "switching of poster tubes" drama) and I'm looking forward to spending the day with my family before the conference.

Hot on the heels of the New York Times article about the success of using Dance Dance Revolution in physical education classes, our library staff "tested" DDR out today before our staff meeting. After all my talk of using games for education, this was my first DDR experience (as it was for most of the staff). I can easily say it will not be my last. In fact, I hope we will do it again as a staff over the summer.

Unfortunately, there were no cameras to record the event, but almost all the staff got involved and had a fun time playing DDR Supernova. The event drew many student and staff witnesses, as is bound to happen playing DDR in a classroom with glass walls.

Everyone laughed and enjoyed themselves. Now I hope the students will do the same on Wednesday night when our library offers up a "Finals Prep Study Break" with snack food, a root beer keg, and DDR.

My recent focus on violent video games and their effects is a direct result of two factors:

• First, the English class research unit on violent video and their effects on college students, means that for the last two weeks from 8 - 12 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I've talked about nothing but violent game research on aggression.
• Second, as my advocacy for video game applications and their value in education has grown stronger, I've encountered resistance based upon the "overwhelming" negative aspects of video games.

By understanding the research, and what it does (increased aggression, desensitization, difference in responses based on age group) and what it does not (violent action, large effect on stable personality types) show I am in a better position to defend the use and value of video games. Knowing the research also creates a better dialog with those who have concerns.

It is with this in mind that I continue to build my annotated bib on the effects of violent video games and aggression. It is also with this understanding in mind, that I direct you to the story in Slate.com from Friday: Don't Shoot: Why Video Games Really Are Linked to Violence.

Over the past week and a half, I lead four different Composition sections doing a research based paper on whether or not violent video games increase aggression in college students. I’ve talked about the findings of the articles before, but what struck me during the past week was the discussions the students had.

Students that disagreed with the findings of the articles didn’t just right off the conclusions as wrong or false. They began asking questions about the method and sample size. They started looking for variables that were not controlled for and could affect the results. They were engaged and motivated in the assignment. If we can start students asking the critical questions now and thinking critically from the beginning… then they are better equipped to do so on their own. And that is a pretty good gauge of success.

The other key to student success in this research unit, is making sure they move beyond the point I just mentioned - and use the data from the articles. The students should critically analyze the information and question it, but they still need to rely on the data that was reported... and not their own opinion. The classes have done a pretty good job of pulling out the key data (and understanding most of it), but now they are off to write their papers and that is the real test.

As a class, we decided on a class thesis and outlined how they could set up their paper. Their thesis is a variation on this statement: Playing violent video games increases short term aggressive thought and behavior in college students.

This thesis still generated some debate among the students today, but as I told one student who approached me after class,

"The evidence is there, time and again, now the question is what do we do with this increased aggression? How and if we act on it is the test of our character."

And that is a much larger debate.

I’m feeling guilty about not posting too often last week. I was really on a roll this month, but things should pick up later this week as I head off to the LOEX conference tomorrow.

I spent last week running between teaching classes in the morning and working on my LOEX presentation (I wanted to thank Diana again for the help with the layout). Even this weekend I spent most of my time finalizing my poster, updating my resume and playing with my kids. With LOEX coming this week and some summer projects on the horizon, I hope you will stick around.

Given some of the feedback that I've received from my last post, my stressful week bled into the crabby post. I'm tense and feeling all in knots. I am pushing to get my poster presentation for LOEX finalized before the weekend. Thankfully, I have our administrative assistant helping me with the layout... she is currently working on her Master's of Communication so she's able to apply some of here coursework. Once the poster is finished tomorrow, I'll post it here for additional feedback.

Not much more to say, I'm back to finishing the poster...

Should there be a distinction between "games" and "video games" or even "computer games" for librarians? I often use the term "games" here, but I almost always refer to video games. A recent article on "games" makes me think twice about how we are talking about and using "games" in our libraries.

Earlier today I read the post on The Information Literacy Land of Confusion about a new article about "games" for information literacy, and now it is popping up elsewhere. While the article itself provides nice instruction sessions, I feel called to speak up about the articles use of "games."

While I am very thankful that this type of research, instruction and application is going on, I feel that it sets our sights so low as educators. Felicia's article does provides a handful of useful example games and positive student feedback to go along with them. But I feel that it falls into the trap of basing the genre of library games around what traditional librarians are comfortable with... not what are students are. Yes, doing a crossword puzzle on the computer, counts as a "game" and it is more engaging than a traditional lecture. But is it truly as engaging for students as it could be?

I am thankful that there are librarians developing information literacy games for all ends of the gaming spectrum. But I want to make sure that the more interactive and engaging end of the spectrum, those of video games, gets seen and heard from as well. For my instructional time, I would rather offer my students traditional lessons that incorporate gaming (video gaming) strategies that engage and motivate them. Traditional games do work, but we cannot just throw a computerized word game at our students and blindly trust gaming strategies to work.

There is a lot that video games can offer and teach our students, we just need to be willing to reach out and try. Granted if you are reading this, you know that already... we just need to keep spreading the message.

The article and image are from Library Philosophy and Practice 2007 and is written by Felicia Smith of Notre Dame. Games for Teaching Information Literacy Skills

Gaming as Pedagogy

I am catching up on my Educause podcasts and I listened to this interesting podcast while running today. It is a 2006 podcast (although only posted on 4/9/07) by the creators of an economics course game from The University of North Carolina - Greensboro. The game sets players in a fictional world where they are forced to make ethical and economic decisions based on economic, political and social situations. The podcast is about 50 minutes, much of which is spent listening to clips from the game, but there are a handful a useful segments:

• The first five minutes discuss the educational aspects of games and why they are worthwhile for higher education.
• The next seven minutes describes the technology behind the game and how it was created. This was useful from a technical standpoint to know why they made the decisions they did for the game.
• At the 36:00 minute mark, they offer reflections on the development process and recommendations for others.

The course / game is first being used this semester and they have about 100 students enrolled in the course. So keep an eye out for some follow up discussion once this semester is over.

The podcast and gaming project is a great example for those of us who need some extra evidence to help convince a director or administrator about the viability for gaming in education.

Image via UNC-Greensboro

Pokemon releases in the U.S. this week for the Nintendo DS. Since Pokemon is a license to print money (there are over 500,000 pre-orders) there are two different versions; Pearl & Diamond.

Now I've already about the educational and literary benefits of Pokemon... and I'm not alone in that thinking. But in the honor of a game where the goal is to collect hundreds of unique creatures, train them and battle them against others, I wanted to throw out a marketing application.

Collectible Librarian Cards...
Hear me out here before you write this off. I know the librarian trading cards in the library world has already come and gone. It was hot for a while, but I haven't heard much buzz recently. I never really found the idea all that appealing... it always just seemed tacked on to pop culture. But what if the trading cards are tied to library services and there are rewards for collecting them. Here's my pitch:

• Each staff member has a unique card, with abilities and description of the services they provide (a card for the inter library loan staffers, circulation, reference, acquisitions, etc.)
• Students would receive a card when they used the related service (borrowed a book, checked out an item, asked a reference question, requested a new title, etc.)
• There would be weekly drawings for prizes, where students would write their names on any collected card for the drawing
• In addition, after a set period of time (4 weeks), there would be prizes for any student who collected a full set

This could be an interesting way to introduce students to the library during the first few weeks of a new school year. It would ideally encourage students not only to seek out services again and again for more cards (and chances at the prizes), but could motivate people to use lesser known services in order get a full set.

How have other libraries used "library trading cards," what examples do you have?

Images via Amazon

The Good: Our library received a large gift from our campus student government to purchase materials for recreation and enjoyment.
The Bad: After making it through two rounds of the approval process, the creation of core video game collection was rejected by the student government.

The Good: Today I met with our VPAA. He offered his praise and thanks for the work we are doing within the library. It was also an opportunity to offer suggestions and future directions for the library and the campus, including an expanded campus information literacy program. Even though our team of 4 librarians taught 373 information literacy sessions this school year, we are not as integrated as I would like. The discussion even provided an opportunity to discuss my video game research.
The Bad: More questions, than answers.

The Good: My director wants to discuss the potential for collaboration with the computer graphics department to work on an information literacy game. She is interested in the idea and my research, which gives me hope that I can get the project off the ground.
The Bad: A gaming project would not qualify for one of the mini grants our technology department is giving out.

... You take them both and there you have the facts of life. (photo via sitcomonline)

This week as I've updated my literature search on video game violence and aggression, I ran into an upcoming article on anger as the strongest predictor in the increases in aggression from playing violent video games.

Then today I downloaded this week's Game Theory podcast tackles the topic of video game violence. They interview Patrick Markey from Villanova who has an upcoming article in Journal of Research in Personality on video game violence and aggression... the same author and article I found in my literature search. The interview is runs for about the first 18 minutes of the podcast and is well worth checking out.

Markey gives an engaging interview and calls both the gaming press and video game critics to task. Violent games do increase short term aggression, but increase is statistically small and is see in other violent media as well. Markey brings up a number of good points for gamers, educators, and parents alike:

• Violent video games do increase aggression
• Average correlation of increased aggression is only .15
• Research shows violent games effect people differently (gender, experience, trait hostility)
• Anger significantly increased the effect of increased aggression
• Violent games as a catharsis is not supported by scholarly research

Both Markey's article and his podcast interview are a good addition to the literature and a reasoned voice in the debate. And since I'm a librarian, here's the full citation for Markey's forthcoming article:

Giumetti, G.W., & Markey, P.M. (2007) Violent video games and anger as predictors of aggression. Journal of Research in Personality, doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2007.02.005

Image from Patrick Markey's homepage

I’ve been surrounded by discussions about violent video games over the past two days. With the tragic events at Virginia Tech people are searching for answers. And rightful so. Unfortunately, lawyer Jack Thompson drew a connection to video games on Fox News only hours after the event happened. Chris Matthews challenged Thompson’s claim that video games caused the situation on Hardball. Even Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Phil have weighted in on this topic.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families effected by this tragedy. The events of Monday gave the classes that I’m working with a lot to talk about. This week we started the violent video game research unit with 4 more English classes. The topic itself normally challenges the students, who are ready to provide anecdotal evidence on why violent games are not “bad.” But with the heightened awareness of this week (4/20 being Columbine’s anniversary), the students have a genuine interest in the topic. While some students argue that “of course they do” others are ready with story after story to disprove their claims. And proof is the essential lesson in this unit.

Using the evidence and looking at the proof, frustrates students who are used to having their opinion be enough proof. But I welcome that. I love their frustration and eagerness to challenge the topic. The focus of their paper is objective and evidence based. By hitting an emotional issue like this, it challenges them to remove themselves from the paper. The students are confronted with the hurdle of pulling their opinion out and solely focusing in a scholarly research. We are back at the process tomorrow and I’ll give you an update.

Photo by RichardAM

What is the goal of the video game?
What is the look and feel of the game?
Why would someone play the game?
What can the game do better than if someone experiences it physically?

These are all key questions (and baby steps in the game design process) I was asked yesterday about the creation of an information literacy video game. As I’m starting to explore my options for creating a game, I had a conversation with a graduating computer graphics student who is entering the game industry. I’m not really sure I have answers to all of these questions, but his questions have me thinking.

My broad goal is that students would find, evaluate and apply information to be successful in the game (pretty much the basics in information literacy). Looking through the ACRL Info Lit Competency Standards there are a variety of standards and outcomes that fit… but that’s for a future post.

I’ve thought only briefly on the look and feel of the game, because I’ve been operating on the assumption that modding a game for my educational use would be the most efficient. But after my discussion, any look and feel can work for most engines - it is just a matter of how long the design process takes. When I think about the look of a game, I think in a 3^rd person perspective. A 3^rd person perspective lends itself to more interaction and communication – which would be vital to a game about information.

While the perspective and setting “feel” of the game is important, I’m more concerned with the learning curve. I think that a 3^rd person view lends itself to a smaller learning curve compared to a 1^st person perspective. The important “feel” of the video game is that any student, regardless of experience, should be able to jump in and play quickly and easily.

The “why” someone would play is straightforward: 1) because the game is interesting and engaging, or 2) because they are forced to play for class. Obliviously, I prefer the first of the two choices.

What makes the game better than doing it physically? I hope that a game would be more interesting, engaging and provide a different application for the learned skills that could not efficiently be used outside.

In addition to these 4 questions, we talked at length about the following issues:

• Point of view for the player
• The genre setting
• Importing images into existing game engines
• Creating dynamic dialog
• Dialog that branches and is dependent on previous actions
• Role of NPCs in the game
• Mapping controls and actions

The computer graphics student also suggested a good way to start looking at the layout…

First – Overall goals, what is it I want to teach
Second – Based on these goals, what missions could accomplish them
Third – Within each mission there are one or more areas for the player to operate within
Fourth – The areas need to be populated with characters, items, and materials to interact with

I’m thankful for the engaging and challenging discussion with the graduating computer graphics student I had yesterday. I respect the student’s experience and knowledge in 3D graphic design and specifically game design. He’s given me more to think about. He’s actually in the process of trying to get an internship with Raven Software after graduating this spring. I’m thankful for his input and wish him luck in his job search.

Image via IMDB.com

Matthew Weise - Part III
Lessons learned from a commercial engine for educational games

Part of my long list of questions that I had for Matt was about educational gaming in general and any projections or suggestions he would have for others:

In additional to the game design and challenges, we spoke about the pitfalls to traditional educational games and how to avoid them. Matt knew that if the game was engaging, learning would come naturally through playing rather than in some cut-scene lecture. The game was not focused on learning, but on playing and learning through play. He described video games as the Trojan Horse for their ability to slip games and play into traditional lessons.

Weise cautioned not to make video games the “medicine in the apple sauce.” Simply importing traditional content into a game framework is one of the “stupidest things” to do for a educational purpose. Putting standard content into a game format does not make it fun or engaging for our students. For Weise, educational games are not about teaching bits of information, but they are about the process of exploration and reflection students undergo while playing. That is where the learning occurs.

Wiese offered some advice to other educators looking to use video games:

1. Start with a broad focus – Allow the game engine to help determine the specific skills or outcomes it is best tread.
2. Explore the engine - When analyzing an engine, ask “What can we teach with this?” Play with the game engine and see what can be done.
3. Find the game - Once there is a broad pedagogy focus, and an understanding of what the game engine is capable of, then “find the game” based on the resources. At this stage, it is realistic to now set educational goals.
4. Time – be prepared and realistic for the amount of time the project will take.

My conversation with Matt was very enlightening and really helped me think more about the potential for creating a information literacy based game and how we are using games in general in the classroom. What question do you have about some of the points Matt made?

In addition to these 3 posts, I'll post the transcript of Matt's answers later this week.

Matthew Weise - Part II
Lessons learned from a commercial engine for educational games

The second part of my conversation with Matthew Weise, focuses on the limitations and challenges when using a commercial game engine. This is the main topic of Matt's session at GDC this past March. The slides of that presentation are now available for download... here.

While Matt felt good about the commercial engine choice, they still ran into a variety of limitations. The underlying rule set to the game created an initial problem. The game engine had a binary view of violence, it was either on or off. Players were not able to disengage from a battle and once a battle was started the players would battled until one died. While this makes sense in the context of traditional games, it presented a challenge to the design team. This was one of the problems the design team faced that took months to resolve.

Weise stressed that using an existing engine and modding saved the time of having to build one, they were initially limited in what they could do. It took about a month to work out how to remove the traditional scantly clad female clothing and replace it colonial clothing. Bioware, the creators of Neverwinter Nights, was responsive to the team and Matt was able to leverage MIT’s clout in getting assistance.

Photo of Revolution from The Education Arcade

Matthew Weise - Part I
Lessons learned from a commercial engine for educational games

It’s been about a month now since the interview, in fact I interviewed Matthew Weise on the night of Thusday, March 15th. While I've been slow to write up our conversation, it is still very relevant. I continue to return to my conversation with Revolution game designer, Matthew Weise, as I’m looking ahead to future applications of video gamed in library education.

Matthew considered himself a gamer and game designer first and approached the project with that mindset. He used his “gaming compass” to determine if the game was fun. The advantages of this approach are evident in the flexibility of the design and creation process used to create Revolution.

The initial proposal for Revolution came out of a class where the project was to create a game to help teach about the Revolutionary War. The proposal was void of any technical constraints or requirements. Matt considered using either a commercial game engine or using middle-ware. Given the time constraints, modding a commercial engine was a better choice. Matt looked a at variety of genres and role playing games, with there traditional conventions of exploration, dialog, and interaction, were a natural fit for a game about Colonial American and the War. Matt also considered Warcraft III and other engines before deciding on Neverwinter Nights. The entire process itself took about 3-4 semesters to move from the design to a playable build for schools. The team was made up of a mixture of graduate and undergraduate students.

The main goal of the project was to create a believable simulation of colonial Williamsburg. Learning did not come with content packaged and delivered in the game, it came through playing. Matt commented that video games help teach history, not as a narrative, but as a process. Learning comes through playing and experiencing the game. One of the key gameplay elements of Revolution is the social and communication aspect. This gameplay focus is a direct result of the strengths of the Neverwinter Nights engine. There is a social “echo” effect that is built into the game, where there are consequences for actions. How the characters react to decisions the player makes and how that information spreads throughout the town. Matt was able to center the gameplay around the oral culture of the colonial time.

Photos from the Revolution page on The Education Arcade

Church pastor's have the ability to influence the members of their congregation, religion has a tendency to do that with people. But now I'm excited about a growing number of future pastors influencing their members in a positive way about video games.

At church this morning, I talked to one of the students from the class I spoke with about video games. They had recently held a gaming night at their Seminary library for all seminary students to attend. Here are some of the comments from the gaming night, forwarded to me from the faculty member teaching the class:

It was very cool having a lot of people around playing. It was a good community experience.

I came towards the end of the evening, but I was glad I did. I had a blast with Wii. The last video game I ever played was Nintendo 64, usually Mario Golf, so this was a serious step up for me. It seemed everybody present enjoyed this opportunity to play the games.

We had a larger turnout than I think we expected, which was very good. I think most people had fun, too.

I thought it was lots of fun! I laughed until I stopped.

I had a blast! Didn't get a chance to play with the Wii because it was so popular, but enjoyed gaming with the people who came.

I'm very thankful for the work that Susan is doing (and grateful to be a part of it) in helping pastors break through gaming stereotypes and see the positive (both educational and social) applications of video games. This week they are looking at Second Life as a place for outreach and community.

Every new pastor with knowledge and understanding about video games, creates the opportunity to open more people to the idea and benefits of video games.

We seek feedback because we want to change and improve what we do, not because we are looking to pat ourselves on the back. The challenge with any type of feedback or assessment is to be willing to act on the results and change. While we are still getting good comments about the use of game strategies in our review, there are more people commenting that they feel it is too late in the semester for the review. We need to take this feedback and use it to change... even in the face of traditional librarian judgment.

I thought the activity was useful, however, it seemed to be a big review. I felt like I had been through the process that each group discussed many times before in my other papers. But reviews are always helpful–it made me feel like I knew what I was doing and I feel really confident in my research skills.

And another positive comment:

I thought the reviews were helpful and a good way to start with the paper. it aided me in narrowing a topic for my paper.

But here are the growing number of comments that suggest that while the activity is worthwhile, it would be more useful earlier in the semester.

It was a fun activity but we did already know how to find research since we had already done two papers.

I thought it was good information, but for the beginning of Res104, not the end. We should know by now how to research.I think the information was presented well by Paul, but I do think it would of been something that was more useful at the beginning of the class.

Last semester we started to get a few comments like this, but not nearly the same amount. Whether this is because we are doing a better job of preparing the students or they are retaining more information I'm not sure - I hope it's a little of both.

We didn't change this semester because we were stuck in a traditional librarian mindset. "How can we review if we didn't teach them everything?" The reality is, they are learning it and exploring enough on their own that they feel comfortable with their skills. Of course, being "comfortable" and being "proficient" are two different things. But changing the review to earlier in the semester would help allow the students to discover that for themselves. Our Info Lit team will break out of the traditional mold and realize that the librarians are not our digital native students.

Lessons learned in self-discovery stick around a lot longer.
Check out the full list of comments on the course blog


Photo from: Bowie, David. [Photograph]. Retrieved April 14, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/ebc/art-18906

This post continues the discussion of Henry Jenkins book "Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers"

Jenkins makes another good point in the same chapter on gaming that is often overlooked. It is the discussion of the meaning and impact of violence in video games when he refers to the meaning that many players take away from violent shooters:

“There are really two games taking place simultaneously – one the explicit conflict and combat on the screen, the other, the implicit cooperation and comradeship between the players.” (p.114)

While non-gamers may only see the violence on the screen, the players are not focused on it. They are focused on the strategy and the teamwork required to be successful. It is not a disregard for the rules and norms of society that is learned, but the rules of success and strategy of the game.

“Games do represent powerful tools for learning – if we understand learning in a more active, meaning-driven sense. The problem comes when we make too easy an assumption about what is being learned just by looking at the surface features of the games” (p215).

Jenkins rightfully contends that some opponents of violent games spend their time combating the surface violence of a game, when a more meaningful dialogue and education could had by discussing what the games have to say about violence (what are the costs or consequences to violent actions?). The Rockstar game “Bully” is a perfect example of this judgmental attitude. The game has results and consequences for violent action. Jenkin’s describes games as an “ethical testing ground” where a variety of moral and ethical character decisions could to tried and reflected upon. For all the negative press that Rockstar’s GTA and Bully games have received, the games to force a player to make moral and ethical choice and then react and deal with the consequences of those decisions.

Rather than rallying against games like these, we as educators should be engaging them and the students that play them. Use the game experience as a gateway to a larger discussion about the role of violence in society and our lives and the consequences to choosing violence as an option.

This coming fall semester, I want to explore this idea of games being a moral playground with professors in the sociology department. Video games create a learning environment where the player can experiment with social situations like violence and see and reflect upon the results of violence and how the player fits that into their own ethical and moral decision making process.

Photos from the PS2 game "BULLY" from amazon.com & theage.com

I picked away at Henry Jenkins book Fans, Bloggers and Gamers this week. There is one specific chapter about video games which brings up a variety of issues and discussion pieces.

Jenkins starts off discussing some of the legal controversy and challenges that violent video games faced in recent years. While it’s a little dated and doesn’t include of the state challenges and regulations, his point still applies. Jenkins points out the opponents of violent video games try to have it both ways. It is argued that; 1) video games contain no expressions and do not convey ideas and 2) the content and ideas within games are harmful. If games contain no ideas, then why are harmful? With an argument like that, it should come as no surprise that the courts continue to uphold games as part of protected free speech.

Games are unique in that they allow the player to create and construct their own events and meanings. Jenkins discusses how meanings emerge through the interpretation of the game and because of this each player can experience a different meaning based upon their own game experience. This personalization of a meaningful experience only makes it more powerful and more valuable for the player. For us as educators, this knowledge calls us to try to create these experiences within our classroom. Our students all enter with a variety of motivations and experiences, but video games and gaming strategies help us create a learning environment where those individual motivations are used and strengthened.

Jenkins briefly mentions the work of Gee and Kurt Squire. Jenkin’s discussion of Squire’s work is interesting not for the skills he is teaching, but more for the character that the games help develop. Squire’s game-based learning builds upon the existing beliefs and realities of those playing. In addition to the gameplay experience, the discussion, reflection and interpretation of that experience is just as useful as a learning tool.

“These kids are taught to explore their environment, make connections between distinct developments, form interpretations based on making choices and playing out their consequences, and map those lessons onto their understanding of the real world.” (p.214)

If you weren’t reading that quote on a site devoted to video games and information literacy, what would you assume the quote referred to?

Jenkins also talks about how games’ “open-ended structure puts the burden on the user to make choices and explore their consequences” (p.218). This is exactly the same video game strategy that our information literacy team is successfully applying to our information literacy program.. these are the sessions that I’ve been discussing this week

I just got out of a class session and we are having our students who went through the open ended gaming strategy review session leave comments about the activity on the course blog. It's only feedback from 2 classes, so I'll post more as they come.

Here are a few comments... follow the link for the full list of comments
Give us Feedback!

Here are 3 comments:

I found the activity to be helpful in showing the various ways to access
articles but more importantly it got everyone involved which is FAR AND AWAY
more interesting than being lectured to.

I think the activity we did was helpful in reminding us that there are different sources we can look at to help our paper.

I found the last meeting that we had to be somewhat helpful but at the same time I thought it was a little pointless in the fact that at this point in RES 104 we should know how to find information for a paper. I think that the time could of been spent looking at something else. Paul did a good job of presenting though he usually makes things interesting.

A surprising snow storm brought with it a shorten day of class, but we still had two video game strategy review sessions. The review activity went well in both classes and the majority of groups were able to demonstrate some proficiency in their research skills.

Hurdles of the day

• Library website navigation: "I don't know how to find a book." One student, who's made it through two rounds of info lit sessions, made this statement today. I've worked with this student during the semester, and he's sat next to me at the reference desk as we both searched for articles and books. The activity threw him into the search and forced him to try. Truth is, he knew how to search the catalog - he just didn't trust himself. The activity forced him to make that choice and live with the consequences.
  
• Collection & location challenges - how to find where materials are by making distinctions between Educational Curriculum materials (intended for middle schoolers) and the general collection
  

Successes of the day

• Critical thinking and evaluation of information, websites and reference material
• multiple uses of resources - overview or focused, what type of information is provided by each resource (article/reference book)
  
• peer assistance and peer led learning - some groups got stuck or didn't find what they hoped for and shared this during their presentation... rather than me as the instructor filling in the gaps, the students jump to do so.
  

A good day for our video game strategies and a good day to spent a little extra time playing with my sons.
edit: format corrections; 10:13 PM

With the long Easter weekend, I left my RSS feeder untouched. A dangerous thing to do. As I'm digging out of my RSS mess, here are a few recent stories that are worth checking out.

Peacemaker - The Game
I was just talking to a middle school student tonight about a social studies project about the Israeli / Palestinian conflict. Here's a new game that allows players to experience either side and make some difficult decisions about a path to peace. As someone with a Political Science degree, I love the idea about allowing students to actually make these decisions and discover the results of them rather than just discusses them in class.

Serious Games for a Mental Workout
An overview of a few serious / educational games that are designed to increase a players attention, memory retention, and recall. Again it's another great use of expanding video games for educational purposes.

Serious Games for the Global Market Place
This is a very solid article on the current state of serious video games. The outlook may appear rosy with the increase of serious games into GDC this year, but Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, of Serious Games Interactive, suggests that the industry could take another downturn. He points to areas of concerns and opportunities for any of us looking at using games for educational purposes should be aware of.

Notes from a New World
Leading MIT scholar Henry Jenkins has the first of a multi-part discussion about the participatory culture and learning environments. I've been reading through Jenkins book, Fans, Bloggers and Gamers, and I'm interested in his work with games and learning. Jenkins is also a keynote speaker at this summer's ALA's Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium (registration is now open, if you haven't seen already).

Practiceware
Andrew over at library+instruction+technology sent me this link. I read Clark Aldrich's book Simulations and the Future of Learning: An Innovative (and Perhaps Revolutionary) Approach to e-Learning last year. It's well worth looking at and he has two more recent books as well. His blog is a nice addition to his research and a working document for his ideas.

Strangers in a Strange Land
Susan Arendt from Wired's Game|Life wrote a fun piece for this week's issue of the Escapist about being an adult gamer, let alone a female gamer, and the stereotypes that people encounter. The Escapist and it's commentary on video games and game culture is a pretty solid read each with a few articles always worth taking time for. Enjoy


Photo via Manual of Civility

It's getting to the end of our semester which means our research and writing classes are starting their final paper. Last semester I modified a previous review activity to incorporate video game strategies into information literacy. We are using the same activity this semester, with a few additions to avoid some past confusion. The activity uses the following video game strategies:

• Encouraging inquiry
• Open ended exploration
• Context bridging from instruction to application
• Scaffolding
• Personalization

Over the next few days, 11 sections will go through the review activity and if the first two sessions today are any indication, they will provide a lot of insight into student's research process. Our first two classes had the disappointments of a group getting confused on newspaper articles articles compared to journal article and finding a source that broadened rather than narrowed their topic. But created good teachable moments for the class, and because of the structure of the activity the students helped to correct the errors as much as I did. The open ended freedom of the group activity created more student ownership over the end product.

I was pleased to see students consistently evaluating websites on some criteria. Considering we had not covered up until today, the students are more aware than even just 3 semesters ago when we started teaching web evaluation.

The wide open, "there is no right answer" approach is as much of an experiment as it is a review. Watching students use "+" commands in Google when we haven't covered that yet with the IL program, seeing students struggle to find a quality website because of their own rigid self imposed criteria, and finding students jumping to Google to find articles rather than library databases are all a great window into their search process. I'm eager to see if these patterns continue and if so how we can use that within our own instruction.

If you more information about the review activity and the results from last semester, please check out these posts:
I get knocked down
Gaming Strategies in Action
The Winding Road
The Hits Just Keep on Coming