876 Matching Annotations
  1. Mar 2016
    1. I noticed that the female non-playable characters were all wearing short skirts, while the male non-playable characters wore long pants

      Had you ever noticed this before, or were you more aware of these design and aesthetic choices because of our Cycle 4 readings?

    2. While playing the game I remained cognizant of how female characters were being portrayed.

      I appreciate the influence that our Cycle 4 readings are having on your play - I'm glad this is happening.

    3. a Pokémon type chart

      I've never seen such a chart before. Gee has written extensively about the literacies necessary to play Pokemon well. This is a brilliant example that deep knowledge is required to play, and to play well.

    4. This game had something new that others didn’t, it lets you know when you’ve acquired all the Pokémon on a certain route. I could not continue until I caught them all.

      What does this help you to understand about your own motivation and investment in game play? And what specific mechanics were designed here to create this type of effective and immersive experience?

    5. mostly because of this week’s reading topic

      Nice

    6. In spirit of Pokémon’s 20th anniversary (February 27, 2016) I am playing Pokémon Alpha Sapphire on a Nintendo 3DS for this cycle’s play journal.

      This is so awesome - you win.

    1. are proven educational effectiveness and overall impact on student learning outcomes.

      Yes, a point and debate we'll address in a subsequent cycle. "Measuring impact" is a very contested idea, and we'll try to parse and understand what does and doesn't count as evidence of student learning, and how this data is being marshaled to support decisions around game-based learning in schools.

    2. of the transfer of knowledge

      And there are many - both those providing evidence (to varying degrees) that educational media like games can support transfer, and many that say the evidence is weak or disconfirming.

    3. This would align with the assumed character/ narrative that exists.

      Can you tell me/us a little bit more about this? I'm a bit confused...

    4. Just the observation of a child using another skilled player as a resource as opposed to utilizing the programs "tutorial", gives the player more control over how she learns to play the game, rather be directed by the software.

      Alternatively, there may also be an "ecology" of resources and relations - peers, tutorials, designed features of play, other written resources like Wikis - that collectively support deep play and (ideally) learning.

    5. How this question is answered could, in a sense, direct the overall development of the educational gaming market.

      If this is a dynamic that you're interesting in exploring (which I think is great, by the way), please focus future scholarly critiques on articles that directly address this concern.

    6. to applied practice in the classroom

      Or even to less formal problem posing and solving in everyday aspects of their lives... yes?

    7. "Bring Your own Device" policies at school.

      There's an interesting set of questions and tensions between BYOD and equity. Does it facilitate greater equity if schools allow students to bring their own devices? What if some students don't have devices? In that case, is it more equitable to buy into 1:1 programs?

    1. If gaming literacies, levels the playing friend, providing equitable learning opportunities, how can we more effectively recruit students to be apart of that team?

      Another powerful question... what do others think?

    2. What are the ongoing implications of STEM/ STEAM development using gaming principles in the classroom?

      This is an awesome question and one that we'll explore in specific detail later this term when we look at educators as game designers.

    3. tudents in the "clubhouse" likely were able to work with one another to support them.

      They did. It's a very social, interactive, some might even say playful learning environment.

    4. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and math) studies in the K-12 arena

      Awesome, me too. And I'm curious to know why. What experiences have you had, or what general interests do you hold, that encourage your interest in STEAM?

    5. that apply to technically creative career paths in design and media.

      Such as? I'm curious how your experiences help you to make this connection...

    1. I want to see what people have to say about why they might stop playing, as well as what brings them back to the game (and, apparently, the affinity space).

      This does sound really interesting. What motivates people to play? To join? To leave and to also return? Gee and Hayes provide some insight into these processes given their characteristics of affinity spaces, and it may be interesting to see how your experience with KSP does/does not align with those features.

    2. Mods appear to be a big part of the gaming experience with KSP

      As they are with many video games. I say go for it!

    3.  I’m actually really into the development notes, which they try and release weekly – the notes are a good insight into the overall communication lines between the “game” (i.e., the people who are responsible for the base game) and the community at large.

      That's really cool. Tapping a bit of learning theory... some might call this artifact (the development notes) a "boundary object" that carries new knowledge between various settings and communities. Perhaps you'll dig into this aspect of your affinity space in future posts?

    4. People are generally ready to cheer each other on, which gives forums a positive vibe

      That's nice to learn, and is not always the case in other spaces.

    5.  I look forward to exploring them more when I have a better understanding of terminology and game mechanics.

      Interesting... these may be some notable limitations to your engagement in this aspect of the affinity space.

    6. reliably ended in me nose-diving a space ship into the ground.

      Can we get a video of this? Sounds awesome!

    7. using the KSP Wiki, starting with the parts page

      Gee has written quite a lot about the various texts and resources that surround game play, and the very technical knowledge that players need to access, engage, and digest often before - or certainly during - their game play. I'm glad you're experiencing a similar learning flow across resources and settings.

    8. Well, I can’t say that I’m now a rocket scientist

      But then who is going to teach me?!

    1. that works with people’s interests rather than trying to force them a certain direction with a lot of flash and sleight of hand.

      Yes, very nicely said!

    2. (I did, by the way, think that Bogost’s longer chapter from The Gameful World was really helpful for a deeper reading).

      This is awesome to learn, I'm so glad that you read it!

    3.  I plan on utilizing some broader search methods and also tapping my peer network to see if anyone has good leads on where to find well-constructed research in this area.

      This sounds like a really nice plan. And as our course progresses, I'll also begin to share more resources about adult learners and games.

    4. and I think this lends itself to stronger, more open conversation.

      Another interpretation of "open learning" - this is wonderful!

    5. need to figure out some new strategies for staying on top of it, but I’m feeling please with the experience and challenged in a constructive way.

      And you're not alone. I'm figuring out new strategies, too. Like these informal comment via Hypothesis in blog margins. It's not evaluative. Just a way for me to check in with you. It's a new strategy for me, and we'll see if it sticks. Keep experimenting. We're all testing out new waters!

    6. Surprisingly… most of the time, it feels pretty good.

      This is nice to learn given all that we're doing!

    7.  I traveled downtown to join members of my cohort in playing a game

      And I'm so glad you did, it was awesome to finally meet you in person!

    1. All of these things are rarely typical for people to experience while attending a lecture, or doing homework, or sitting in a classroom quietly writing.

      Yes, hence the profound difference between learning and schooling.

    2. are used for adult learning

      We'll start to address this a bit more as the course progresses, and there's a recent special of the journal On the Horizon about game-based learning in higher ed - hence, adult learners. I'll share a link with the course and articles based upon everyone's interest.

    3. Both types of reflective play session practices resulted in better understanding of the games we studied.

      I'm still curious to see how our work in public (via blogs and Hypothesis) meshes with LMS-based discussions.

    4. “In Game, In Room, In World,” captured the “multiplicity” of settings and how games and learning is situated by social context.

      This is sentence, and really the paragraph as a whole, is a nice succinct summary of our early readings. Thanks!

    5. would not have been achieved by use of LMS discussion or solitary engagement with texts.

      Yes, my own frustrations with LMS-based discussions have largely motivated this shift into the open with Hypothesis.

    6. This drives the discussion forward in a way I’ve never experienced before and in a way that was motivating to engage with a text.

      This is really nice to learn, and I appreciate the honest assessment.

    7. to annotate a live document.

      Like this :)

    8. without really being totally cognizant.

      Are you in the "zone" so to speak, or just completely confused?!

    1. Perhaps it’s more important to teach students how to critique cultural artifacts, such as a video game, rather than to passively engage with it?

      Absolutely.

    2. That’s why “gender neutral” games often times offer the best possible learning scenario without biases.

      This is an interesting argument... do we want gender neutrality, similar to a "color blind" society? Or do we want games - and media generally - to accurately reflect the wide range of people and experiences that really live in the real world?

    3. can be sexist (among many other negative things)

      Yes, very true.

    4. however these portrayals may be the result of systemic sexism in society as a whole and gender roles and identities crafted and perpetuated by consumer culture, religions, governments, educational institutions, sports, etc.

      Yes, but does that abdicate game developers from the responsibility of perpetuating those tropes?

    5. As games are considered by many a form of art, like film, can portray extremely sexist depictions.

      This is one major reason behind Feminist Frequency.

    6. For starters, game developers may employ more females as part of their development team. Or provide equal play testing scenarios for both men and women in order to assess a game’s appeal to both sexes.

      What evidence do we have of these trends?

    7. Assuming it’s the intent of the developers to make the highest possible monetary return on the product.

      There's a nice connection here to our Cycle 4 interview with Anita Sarkeesian.

    8. genders

      Presuming there are two dominant genders? Given the spectrum of gender identities that are increasingly public and welcomed in various aspects of our society, it's interesting to consider not a "split between genders," but perhaps a range of gender identities represented in identities/avatars.

    9. if I can connect the dots between gender and videogames

      There are many dots, and many researchers, and people you can and should connect with via Twitter as this interest develops.

    10. works by Ian Bogost

      Nice connection to other aspects of our course!

    1. who use it as an educational tool for their kids

      And graduate-level learners, too!

    2. Police responded by stating that they would not do any type of screening whatsoever for firearms because of Utah's concealed-carry laws

      This institutional failure, on so many levels, is very disappointing.

    3. the UC Santa Barbara shootings committed by Elliot Rodger this past May

      One of the many reasons why we're also reading Chu this cycle.

    4. will hopefully help to inspire more creative writing

      Did this surprise anyone?

    5. We can be critical of the things that we love. That is possible. 

      Yes! Same goes for schooling, teachers and pedagogy - we can be critical because we want institutions and individuals to work more effectively and for greater equity.

    6. It's straightforward textual analysis. I'm looking at patterns and presenting evidence and arguments to back up those claims.

      For those who have studied some research methods, this is a really powerful means of collecting public "data" through/about games, conducting an analysis, and sharing ("publishing") findings as arguments in videos. Great stuff.

    7. but I didn't know how to explain it.

      Among the many ways to explain complex phenomena, and troubling social practices like sexism and misogyny, theory is one such way. Whereas feminist theory was - and continues to be - a means for Sarkeesian, sociocultural theory in our course is a means for us. That's why our course foregrounds learning theory as central to any discussion of games and game play.

    8. It was my way of pulling feminist theory out of academia into a more public space for a wider audience.

      This resonates strongly with Gee's writing which we read to start our semester - pulling situated learning theory out of academia and into the public space of videogames to explain the relationship between games and learning.

    9. she canceled a speaking engagement at Utah State University after an anti-feminist detractor threatened a mass shooting when police refused to search attendees for weapons, citing the state's concealed-carry law.

      Apparently, the so-called freedom to threaten violence and bear arms trumps the freedom to protect and promote speech - at least when the latter expresses diverse viewpoints and the former potential mass violence. I remember when these events were reported, and continue to be deeply disturbed by the response from all institutions and individuals - except, of course, Sarkeesian.

    1. we are not fucking Mario racing to the castle to beat Bowser because we know there’s a princess in there waiting for us.

      There's the reference, a powerful example indicating the extent to which games, and gaming culture, has influenced (pop) culture.

    2. I’ve heard it come out of my own mouth, in moments of anger and weakness.

      A powerful and public recognition. I believe it is very necessary for people to acknowledge their biases and shortcomings, particularly as a means to work against privilege.

    3. their inner John Galt

      Are people familiar with this reference?

    4. Like life is a video game and women, like money and status, are just part of the reward we get for doing well.

      It's not a stretch to connect this cycle's readings to last cycle's focus on gamification. If daily aspects of life can be "gamified," and if women are perceived as objects, things to be earned or won, then isn't terrifying to consider how applications of gamification - under certain circumstances - may entrench misogyny, sexism, and patriarchy.

  2. Feb 2016
    1. Yahoo! Lecture Series, Univ. of Michigan School of Information, Jan 2013, Ann Arbor, MI

      Nice to learn about your work, and specifically a lecture at UM - I'm originally from Ann Arbor. But it seems you've got a misdirected link here... :(

  3. Jan 2016
    1. “Looking at an online textbook that is really just still a textbook—it just happens to be online.”

      Yes - too often reform means changing the tool without changing the pedagogy.

    2. to “make fun videos”

      My friend and colleague Ben Rimes, who runs The Tech Savvy Educator, conducts wonderful professional development around student video production and sharing, as well as pedagogical implications for teachers.

    3. Using expensive Promethean boards as if they were cheap whiteboards, wasting limited district dollars.

      And, from a pedagogical perspective, often solidifies the teacher as the central and authoritative knowledge-holder, as well as purveyor of direct instruction.

    4. skill-practice games for crowd control or simply to engage kids in something

      Math Blaster!

    5. Identify uses of technology in schools that promote learning, development and success for all students versus uses that don’t.

      I appreciate the transition from access - as a key indicator of equity - to participation, and a broader understanding of equitable learning as a (social) practice.

    6. And which are, in fact, worse than a pencil?

      I appreciate that technology is defined as inclusive of pencils (and, by extension, other "material" or "analog" technologies), and also that these "low-tech" tools might be more supportive of student learning than the latest app or digital device.

    1. ways not necessarily connected to academics or schools

      Since Jim wrote this over a decade ago, there has been tremendous growth in studies about how people - and whether children or adults - learn in and outside of school, across more formal and more informal settings, and with various tools and resources that move seamlessly among our everyday activities.

    1. That observation deserves serious attention because how a problem is structured makes all the difference in the world

      The structuring of "problems" will be a key theme in our Games and Learning course this semester.

    2. That is, even the best of educational games tend to be marginalized and channeled in the direction of extra-curricular activities.

      Is this still the case today? What do classroom teachers think?

    3. are not solely theoretical

      What other examples of games and play resonate with Fred's broader arguments?

    4. the act of asking good questions, guided by the construction and testing of theories, in a way that illustrates the very essence of the scientific method

      If people are interested in learning more about the importance of questioning and creativity to science and inquiry, check out Stuart Firestein's book Ignorance and a great talk, too.

    5. focusing attention on imaginative and efficient use of resources

      Has anyone played equations before? If so, please share your experiences with us!

    6. Equations: The Game of Creative Mathematics
    7. even in our secular schools, a tendency towards sectarian thinking.

      Here, "sectarian thinking" appears to take on dimensions that are not expressly political (though they could be), but also tied to rigid disciplinary boundaries, alliance for formal knowledge (and ways of knowing), and even perhaps what "data" and "evidence" counts to substantiate someone's "truth."

    8. a world where Gods collide and their followers depend with greater and greater certainty on the correctness of their God's solution

      Fred appears to be extending his critique, and core argument, to the broader realms of politics and social values. From debates about climate change to the current presidential campaign, this statement seems quite relevant today.

    9. Further, they learn that some kinds of problems are more important than others.

      Based upon your experience in school, or upon the experiences of children you know, how does formal schooling privilege some problems as more important than others?

    10. Therefore a puzzle-based education might not prepare people for life after school as well as a game-based education might.

      If you accept the basic premise of Fred's observation, what thoughts does this statement spark?

    11. There is an endless array of secrets that others know and you don't.

      Does this resonate with anyone's experience as a student in school?

    12. A game creator is "God-like"

      In this comparison a game designer creates conditions and means for players, but does not necessarily specify the only acceptable solution to a given problem for those players.

    13. The more you know about a mystery, the more mysterious it becomes. The more you know about a secret, the less secret it becomes.

      Do you agree with Fred's claim?

    14. not just in terms of whether a player's team wins or loses

      This is a rather nuanced and provocative point - a player, or a team can be successful in game play and not "win." What types of scenarios demonstrate successful game play as distinct from - or not exclusively reliant upon - winning?

    15. that does not have a solution

      In other words, puzzles have a single, pre-determined solution.

    16. School grades

      What level of school might Fred be discussing? While I might presume he was talking about elementary or secondary schooling, I think aspects of his argument are relevant to graduate school, too.

    17. Fred Goodman

      I first met Fred as a high school student. I grew up in Ann Arbor and Fred was a professor of education at the University of Michigan. Fred continues to influence many of my collaborations and scholarship, particularly my work with Jeff Kupperman.

    1. providing newpathways for work in the field

      Which of these concluding questions from Salen resonate strongly with you, and why?

    2. to be critiqued
    3. but by the contract it establishes with players when they accept itsrule set and enter into the space of play

      This raises a rather powerful analogous question: How does formal schooling, if at all, establish a contract with students that they can accept - on their own terms - to then authentically enter a space of play, exploration, and learning?

    4. when we, in fact, need to look atplayers’ performance and understandtheirunderstandings of them.32
    5. tensions in distinction between the real and the virtual,in school and out of school, formal and informal, learning and teaching, knowing and being.
    6. Weknow, for example, that play is iterative as is good learning, and that gaming is a practicerooted in reflection in action, which is also a quality of good learning.
    7. what routes to policy change

      Regarding policy change, the US Dept of Education's recent Educational Technology plan mentions games and game play on many occasions. While this doesn't equate with policy change, it does indicate that policymakers are increasingly aware of the power of games and play.

    8. that make sensibleuse of digital media

      I argue that the sensible use of digital media in schools - and particularly games - is still very rare. We'll be looking at some exemplar "counternarratives" during Cycle 5.

    9. This strikes us as a fascinating social organization where adultswith particular interests/backgrounds/resources can serve as targeted learning brokers for the children
    10. Phil Bell,in his group’s study of everyday learning as it relates to science and technology, has foundseveral complex and fascinating social contexts that provide reinforcing conditions initiating(and sustaining) the gaming that is present
    11. Nichole Pinkard

      Pinkard is an acclaimed researcher, designer, and computer scientist whose contributions to Connected Learning movements, particularly the Cities of Learning effort in Chicago, is remarkable. Her research is complementary to our studies in this course, and may be of interest to students eager to explore media, gaming, and computational literacies outside of formal schooling.

    12. But as both Everett and Watkins and Pitaru show, entry into a broadecology of gaming is never a given. Many barriers to entry exist.

      Again, note the concern for equity.

    13. and new learning spaces

      This applies to the designers of new learning spaces in elementary, secondary, and higher education, too!

    14. Designers of cell phones, operating systems, and new learning spaces would do wellto learn from games. When the stakes are so high, a system can’t afford not to teach
    15. but to the entire tool-set available to the player within agaming practice

      This also includes affinity spaces

    16. Key moment Number Four requiressupport of acommunity of practiceon the part of design

      This course's use of public annotation-as-discussion, and the broader invitation for people interested in games and learning who are NOT formally enrolled in the course to read and participate, is an attempt to both design and support such a community of practice.

    17. Key moments1–4 infuse the ecology of gaming, creating feedback loops that cycle through levels of en-gagement, agency, mastery, expertise, and back again
    18. the power peer-to-peer learning affords the evolution of a knowledge sys-tem, and the range of guises in which such learning is currently cloaked
    19. Key moment Number Three requires support ofreflectionandinterpretationon the part ofdesigners
    20. Key moment Number Three occurs when a player turns to another and asks, “Wantme to show you?”
    21. Key moments Oneand Two are requirements of any good learning system, digital or otherwise. As a teacherIoften measure the quality of my own instruction within this framework. Key momentNumber Two requiresdepthon the part of design

      Salen's reflective comment on her own pedagogy and design resonates strongly with me. I, too, wonder how undergraduate and graduate students in this course will ask to play, and also develop deep investments in their own learning.

    22. gaming as a productive literacy drivesfeelings of personal agency, affecting both life and thought.
    23. many games players come to feel a sense of agency or ownership..
    24. he player feelsinvestedin the experience

      When in your experience have you felt invested in the experience of formal learning (ie schooling)?

    25. “Can I save it?”
    26. heframes the question of “Can I try?” as a conduit for social inclusion
    27. or a player who lacks confidencewill rarely choose to play, in the same way that a student who lacks confidence in his orher ability to read will tend to shy away from reading, and most certainly will refrain fromdemonstrating that ability in front of others.
    28. Can I try?”
    29. that gaming represents an ecologythat is tangled up in a range of other ecologies—social, technological, economic, political—and that learning how to activate gaming as one node within a larger network holds promisefor those willing to engage

      And engage we will!

    30. Although. . . we may recognize the learning potential of games, thisrecognition alone does not change the structural conditions that insist on the bifurcationbetween entertainment and education and correlate only academic content with educationalsuccess” (p. 114)

      The historian of educational technology and reform Larry Cuban has argued that schools traditionally co-opt innovative technologies to meet the established needs of schooling - such as staid measures of academic achievement. Arguments can be made that the so-called "integration" of games for learning within school co-opts the power of games, and sanitizes the creativity and expressiveness of game play for the traditional purposes of schooling.

    31. Having kept each of these concerns in mind, I did my best to create a volume that supportedcomplementary and contradictory perspectives without the weight of too much conceptualprejudice
    32. gaming-as-ecology I pushed the authors to explore the designand behavior of gamesas systemsin which young people participate as gamers, producers,and learners
    33. it is equally critical to address howplayers take on active roles in determining how, when, and why they learn

      Learner agency can quickly get shortchanged in conversations that focus too heavily upon tools-as-answers.

    34. and no two players ever experience the “same”game
    35. One cannotlearn about or from games without engaging in their play
    36. and many games take both digital and nondigitalforms. Play across media is one way games are mobilized within everyday activity.

      Transmedia storytelling and pervasive play are important reminders that the activity of gaming crosses media forms, platforms, sidewalks, and various realms of society and culture.

    37. Gaming can include interaction with nondigital media.

      How frequently educators and designers forget this when overwhelmed by the advocates of techno-determinism!

    38. of a need to identify the kinds of questions not yet asked, thekinds of research not yet done—the failings, in other words—of the current approach to afield that is only now beginning to take shape.

      I would argue a similar assumption undergirds Games and Learning because the field is still nascent, is still taking shape (or further fracturing), and because many questions about learning remain unarticulated.

    39. but by the ways that particular practices are in circulation with others. (p. 64)
    40. Gamers not only follow rules, but push against them, testing the limits of the system in oftenunique and powerful ways.
    41. thelusory attitude,the attitude required of playersin order to play.23

      Bernard Suits also discusses the importance of lusory attitude. My 2014 article with colleagues from the University of Michigan discusses the importance of lusory attitudes - we'll read that article during Cycle 5.

    42. a cognitive attitude tied directly to the creative, improvisational, and subversivequalities of play

      The design of Games and Learning attempts to create conditions that encourage a similar attitude in students.

    43. Gaming is play across media, time, social spaces, and networks of meaning; it includesengagement with digital FAQs, paper game guides, parents and siblings, the history of games,other players, as well as the games themselves.
    44. The concept ofgamingas it is used in the following pages goes beyond games, in the same waythatlearninggoes beyond the configuration of a classroom

      Salen's mention of a classroom configuration reminds me that there's a persistent tension associated with game operating as both a noun and a verb. Same with school. I address some challenges and productive conflict associated with this thing/action duality in my conclusion to the book Teacher Pioneers (which we'll read during Cycle 5).

    45. This is where the real work needs to be done to better understand the connectionsbetween forms of gaming and certain kinds of acquired knowledge and practice.

      This remains a pressing issue in the learning sciences, particularly when the relationship between certain games and the "impact" of learning remains tenuous at best.

    46. “Video games are not just stagesthat facilitate cultural, social, or political practices; they are also media where cultural valuesthemselves can be represented—for critique, satire, education, or commentary” (p. 119).
    47. ongoing tensions be-tween industry relations, distribution infrastructure, patterns of player/viewer engagement,genres of representation, social agendas, and educational philosophies.

      These are some rather significant tensions. In Cycle 4 we'll consider the recent gamergate controversy, and how one social critic in particular is speaking back against "genres of representation" and "social agendas."

    48. Acknowledging that gamesalreadyoperate as robust learning systems forces afocus on the intrinsic qualities and characteristics that guide the types of learning and newliteracies gaming and games advance.
    49. According to Constance Steinkuhler “Online technologies provide new opportu-nities for ‘anytime/anywhere’ social interaction, and the number of innovative curriculardesigns that incorporate online collaborative environments has been steadily increasingsince such technology first emerged.”17
    50. “We are just learning how toexercise that power—individually and collectively—and fighting to define the terms underwhich we will be allowed to participate.”16
    51. Henry Jenkins

      Henry Jenkins' influential work on participatory culture is a core aspect of Cycle 2.

    52. is antithetical to theway most schools currently operate

      Elsewhere, Kurt has written that games can "threaten the current order of schooling."

    53. and perhaps even from those of theirmentors or teachers

      Here's one intersection of equity-oriented and interest-driven learning.

    54. ames develop players’productiveliteracies, an ability touse digital technologies to produce both meanings and tangible artifacts.
    55. his does not bode well for those seeking a silver bullet toslay the games and learning beast. It does suggest, however, that ongoing work will need tobe done to design and support asetof gaming and learning frameworks for use by students,parents, teachers, and researchers
    56. on his or her own terms

      This is another indicator that equity is foregrounded throughout this volume.

    57. Jane McGonigal

      We'll consider a critique of McGonigal's latest book during Cycle 3.

    58. KurtSquire

      My dissertation advisor from UW-Madison, we'll be reading Kurt's work during Cycle 2 and Cycle 6.

    59. the contributors to this volume, each in his or her own way, sharesin the belief that exposure to the flexible rule sets and iterative, cyclical play embodied inboth design and gaming practices are critical for thinking about literacy in the twenty-firstcentury.
    60. nd toward an emphasis on creative production and the principles of design asastarting place and main area of emphasis with kids.
    61. Colin Lankshear, Michele Knobe

      Students who took Learning with Digital Stories last summer will certainly recognize these names!

    62. The meaning ofknowingtoday has “shifted from being able to remember and repeat information to be-ing able to find and use it.”1
    63. produce some of the most powerful, persistent, and problematic lessons about race inAmerican culture
    64. S. Craig Watkins

      Watkins has also contributed significantly to the development and study of connected learning efforts, a framework for learning and design complementary to many games and learning efforts.

    65. Playing video games is a kind of literacy. Not the literacy that helps us read books or write term papers,but the kind of literacy that helps us make or critique the systems we live in. . . . When we learn to playgames with an eye toward uncovering their procedural rhetorics, we learn to ask questions about themodels such games present. (p. 136)
    66. Ian Bogost

      While we won't be reading this chapter by Bogost, we'll read a few of his pieces on gamification during Cycle 3.

    67. Mizuko Ito

      Mimi Ito's contributions to media studies, games, learning and mobility is second to none. Her leadership of connected learning theory and programming, such as Connected Camps, may be of interest to some students in our course.

    68. theater games likeSibling Rivalrywere used in contexts rang-ing from activism to acting

      Anyone familiar with theatre games, such as the improvisational and embodied games designed by Boal? I'm increasingly interested in Boal's theatre of the oppressed, and the role of games in transgressive and transformative dissent and social change.

    69. nor a digital one
    70. As kids get left out—not only of videogame play but also of other digitally based experiences popular among their peers—they willcontinue to fall further and further beyond.

      As with Salen's concern, our study of games and learning will never shy away from considering the implications of equity.

    71. He argues that making digital games accessible to a wider audiencebenefits everyone by providing opportunities for play across communities.

      Notice how equity is being defined beyond either access or participation.

    72. Given the relative scarcity of empirical research on video gameplay

      This has certainly changed since this volume was published in 2008. We'll read a literature review that surveys more contemporary empirical research during Cycle 5.

    73. Stevens, Satwicz, and McCarthy follow with “In-Game, In-Room, In-World”—a captivatingethnography of young people in different families playing video games in their own homes

      We're reading this during Cycle 2.

    74. In this chapter, Geetakes on the intersection of game design and good learning, choreographing potential sitesof engagement between the two by drawing on contemporary work in the learning sci-ences.

      For students in INTE 5320, this chapter by Gee is a nice complement to the selections of his 2004 book we're also reading in Cycle 1.

    75. These chapters articulate a form oflearning ecologypresent inthe way kids game

      Note how the concept of a learning ecology is associated with "game" as verb.

    76. In the end we decidedto use them all; each name came with subtleties and distinctions that would have been lostwithin a unifying framework.
    77. We could not even decide on a shared nameto refer to our object of study—games, digital games, video games?

      This remains a concern in the field of K-12 education - what are people talking about when they discuss "games and learning"?

    78. from education, the learning sciences, film studies, technology, anthro-pology, game design, performance studies, computer science, and youth development.

      Note the breadth of fields concerned with games, gaming, and games in learning. In our course, we'll primarily draw upon literature from education and the learning sciences, not from fields such as anthropology or computer science. That reflects both a constraint of our course, and a recognition that "games and learning" means many divergent things to many different people.

    79. My goal, and that of the authors selected for inclusion,is to pepper this often black-and-white mix with shades of gray, pointing toward a moresophisticated understanding of the myriad ways in which gaming could and should matterto those considering the future of learning
    80. casts them as a Holy Grai

      And many, unfortunately, still do.

    81. in the sense of how all of the various elements—from code to rhetoric tosocial practices and aesthetics—cohabit and populate the game world. Purposefully broadin scope and multidisciplinary in perspective,Ecology of Gamesis intended to complexifyadebate around the value of games and gaming that has been, to date, overly polemicand surprisingly shallow
    82. who haven’t been invited to play

      Similar to Gee's (2004) introduction, this question foregrounds equity at the center of the entire volume.

    83. act as a point of entry or departure

      This is an important framing of gaming (and perhaps play) as a means, not an end in itself.

    84. gaming literacies,orfamilies of practice

      Do you have gaming literacies, or families of practices that routinely engage with while playing?

    85. present, missing, or reinforced

      This is wonderful language - expansive and nuanced. Following Salen, games may be designed to encourage learning, yet forms of learning may still be missing. Additionally, certain forms of learning may be reinforced, whereas other forms are not.

    86. wenow just call themkids
    87. hybrididentities

      What do you think Salen means here?

    88. across highly personalized networks

      Including affinity spaces

    89. An idea that to many seems new today turns out to have graced the lips ofresearchers some fifty-odd years ago

      This is an important reminder for designers, educators, and reformers who chase the novel, innovative, and "disruptive." Games and learning, as Salen traces succinctly in these few opening paragraphs, has been studied for decades.

    90. A virtue of gaming that is sometimes overlookedby those seeking grander goals. . . is its unparalleled advantages in training and educationalprograms.
    1. Perhaps, too, this exposure causes in some of these young people a critique of schooling as it currently exists

      Given the prior list of learning principles, is the critique of schooling-as-usual well-founded? If so, how given your experiences as a learner, designer, and/or educator?

    2. makes many schools look uninspired and out of touch with the realities of how human learning works at a deep level.
    3. However, it is clear that these principles resonant with what theorists in the learning sciences have said about learning in content areas in school.
    4. I believe that these principles would be efficacious in areas outside games

      Too frequently in contemporary discourse around games and learning, various individuals (whether designers, educators, or policymakers) presume that only (digital/video) games exemplify these learning principles. On the contrary, various designed learning experiences can reflect these principles - it just happens to be that many digital games demonstrate these principles particularly well.

    5. some of the learning principles

      Gee expands upon these principles in both this text (as a whole book) and his 2003 book on video games, literacy, and learning.

    6. Distributed and dispersed knowledge that is available “just in time” and “on demand” is, then, yet another learning principle built into a game like RoN.

      This is a key learning principle applicable to both games and learning, as well as the role of affinity spaces in creating and sharing knowledge associated with learning from/with games.

    7. distributed and dispersed across many different people, places, Internet sites, and modalities (e.g. magazines, chat rooms, guides, recordings).

      Note that affinity spaces are not exclusively "digital," but span multiple modalities, media, and everyday settings.

    8. An affinity space is a place or set of places where people can affiliate with others based primarily on shared activities, interests, and goals, not shared race, class, culture, ethnicity, or gender. They have an affinity for a common interest or endeavor

      Here's a formal definition of affinity space.

    9. see Chapter 6

      Students in Games and Learning will be reading about affinity spaces in complementary resources written by Gee and Hayes, though consulting chapter six (in this text) is grand, too.

    10. This social aspect of RoN, and games in general, makes RoN and other games the focus of what I have elsewhere called an “affinity group” (Gee 2003), and what I now prefer to call an “affinity space” (see Chapter 6)
    11. Online there is a worldwide university of peers and experts available to any player all the time.

      Again, a general reference to the notion of an affinity space.

    12. Every player knows there are an immense number of Internet sites and chat rooms from which loads of things can be learned and to which lots of questions can be directed.

      This is a veiled introduction to the concept - and social practice - of affinity spaces.

    13. The skill tests are, as they often are not in school, developmental for the learner and not evaluative (judgments carried out by authority figures).

      This important distinction between development and evaluation will appear again and again through our Games and Learning course this term.

    14. was that I had not properly evaluated my skills
    15. How do they know when they are ready to move on to the more rigorous challenges of the normal difficulty level and harder levels, as well as multiplayer play?

      Do they get a diploma like students do in school? Or an A+?

    16. Games cycle through periods of pleasurable frustration and routine mastery—a cycle of storm and calm

      Have you ever experienced such a cycle of "storm and calm" in the context of formal schooling? If so, what conditions created this type of learning?

    17. he pleasure of mastery
    18. The player has moved to a new level of expertise and will then eventually face a yet harder problem that will start the process all over again
    19. The player must integrate his or her old skills with new ones, forming a new and higher skill set/strategy

      Some people might describe this as similar to a process of improvisation - relying upon old skills that are complemented by experimentation with new skills - resulting in a new(er) and higher skill set and strategy oriented to the given task at hand.