CALC Keynote 2008

Slide 1: Videogames at the Library?! Using Games as Learning Tools Alice J. Robison, PhD Massachusetts Institute of Technology alicerobison.org ajr@mit.edu Tuesday, May 27, 2008 1

Slide 2: photo of Eli Neiburger via Jenny Levine How many of you are gamers? Tuesday, May 27, 2008 2

Slide 3: Define “Gamer” • 90 million gamers up to age 35 • 77 million baby boomers--retirees largest growing segment of gamers • 2003 Pew Internet study of college student gamers--70% play once in a while, 65% play regularly • Average gamer age is 31-33 the entertainment software association; pew internet & american life project Tuesday, May 27, 2008 3

Slide 4: Games are Changing Music & Rhythm Movement-Based (Wii) Casual Games (Flash-based) Sports Games (best-sellers) Strategy Games (chess?) Literature-themed (narratives) Tuesday, May 27, 2008 4

Slide 5: Where do Gamers Play? • Home • Hospitals • School • Online • Offline • Libraries! Tuesday, May 27, 2008 5

Slide 6: More than half of all American teens--and 57% of teens who could use the internet--could be considered media creators. 22% have their own homepages 55% protect their personal information online 33% share what they create online with others 32% report they’ve 85% use Facebook experienced if available on their campus “cyberbullying” 19% blog and 19% remix content they find online 55% use online social networking regularly Tuesday, May 27, 2008 6

Slide 7: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 7

Slide 8: This isn’t Just About Technology technical stuff: we can now use cool stuff to do the same kinds of things we have previously known; a “physical-industrial” mindset--individualized, enclosed, product-centered, hierarchical ethos stuff: co-existence of physical space and cyberspace; a “cyberspatial, post-industrial” mindset--collective, distributed, decentered, process- focused, change-based Lankshear & Knobel, 2006; Jenkins, et. al, 2006 Tuesday, May 27, 2008 8

Slide 9: Good Games Can Be Good for Learning • Gamers see themselves as heroes on quests; series of ever-increasing puzzles and problems • They work toward an end-goal, a quantifiable outcome (school-like) • They are willing to experiment and keep trying, to fix things, take risks, failure is part of the objective • They learn to see the world as a designed space, as a series of systems • They are willing to seek expertise and ask for help--also willing to share expertise, tutor others • Collaboration is crucial with both problem-solving and execution • Thrive at fast decision-making and know how to prioritize • Are good at multitasking and continuous partial attention Tuesday, May 27, 2008 9

Slide 10: What Do Gamers Learn? • See themselves as heroes on a quest, identify with protagonists • Experimental identities, strategies, solutions (guitar player, drummer) • Low-risk testing of living in an immersive space, role-playing (a bee in a bee’s world) flickr.com/photos/foreverdigital Tuesday, May 27, 2008 10

Slide 11: What Do Gamers Learn? • Real-time, immediate assessment and visual feedback • They work toward an end- goal, a quantifiable outcome (school-like) • They are willing to experiment and keep trying, to fix things, take risks, failure is part of the flickr.com/photos/conexaogamer objective Tuesday, May 27, 2008 11

Slide 12: What Do Gamers Learn? • They learn to see the world as a designed space, as a series of systems • Can synthesize both macro- and micro-data in order for quick analysis • Are good at multitasking and continuous partial attention Phase by Harmonix Studios, Cambridge, Massachusetts Tuesday, May 27, 2008 12

Slide 13: What Do Gamers Learn? • They are willing to seek expertise and ask for help-- also willing to share expertise, tutor others (forums, boards) • Collaboration is crucial with both problem-solving and execution (guilds) • Thrive at fast decision- making and know how to prioritize in order to work collectively toward a goal. Tuesday, May 27, 2008 13

Slide 14: What Do Gamers Learn? Collaborative gameplay as a designed objective: • collective intelligence • building networks of trust • ad-hoc committees, cooperation • synthesis of ideas photo: josh bancroft via flickr.com Tuesday, May 27, 2008 14

Slide 15: Good Games Can Be Good for Learning • Gamers see themselves as heroes on quests; series of ever-increasing puzzles and problems • They work toward an end-goal, a quantifiable outcome (school-like) • They are willing to experiment and keep trying, to fix things, take risks, failure is part of the objective • They learn to see the world as a designed space, as a series of systems • They are willing to seek expertise and ask for help--also willing to share expertise, tutor others • Collaboration is crucial with both problem-solving and execution • Thrive at fast decision-making and know how to prioritize • Are good at multitasking and continuous partial attention Tuesday, May 27, 2008 15

Slide 16: information literacy-> gaming literacy identity play affiliations affinity spaces collaborative problem-solving circulating information & data surfing with others Tuesday, May 27, 2008 16

Slide 17: What do we mean by “literacies?” encoded texts that can be retrieved, worked with, and made available independent of the physical presence of another person (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006 - newliteracies.com) Tuesday, May 27, 2008 17

Slide 18: What do we mean by “new literacies?” blogging, fanfic writing, manga-producing, meme-ing, photoshopping, podcasting, vodcasting, gaming, html-ing (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006 - newliteracies.com) Tuesday, May 27, 2008 18

Slide 19: newest gamer cultures http://apps.facebook.com/friendwheel negatendo.net Tuesday, May 27, 2008 19

Slide 20: online social networks xkcd.com Tuesday, May 27, 2008 20

Slide 21: alternate reality games Tuesday, May 27, 2008 21

Slide 22: passive gaming PMOG “adds an element of score-keeping, gentle competition, cooperation and self-reflection through scorekeeping and game dynamics added to web- browsing” (Justin Hall, 2007) It opens our eyes to what the web really holds, to expand our grasp of meaning-making experiences with the web pmog.com Tuesday, May 27, 2008 22

Slide 23: Diner Dash, gamelab.com/game/diner_dash Tuesday, May 27, 2008 23

Slide 24: “Gamers...in the Library?” --Eli Neiburger “WHY?! For the love of dear old Melville Dewey, why would we take our hallowed houses of learning and sully them with these vile, prurient, mind-rotting entertainments? Well, it’s a fair question, so long as you remember that they were saying exactly the same thing about Pride and Prejudice not that long ago. Minus the Dewey part, of course.” Tuesday, May 27, 2008 24

Slide 25: “Gamers...in the Library?” --Eli Neiburger “We’ve also learned that content is not just about text, and that media doesn’t have to be socially redeeming, or even any good, for our patrons to want to consume it.... ...If we were supposed to restrict ourselves to offering materials with purely redeeming social qualities and educational value, we’d have to throw out half the collection.” Tuesday, May 27, 2008 25

Slide 26: Gaming Literacy Ethos • Kodak Picture Gallery --> • stickiness--> syndication Flickr • demographics--> identity • Britannica Online --> play Wikipedia • developer-written--> • personal websites --> players co-writing blogging • individual competencies • evite -->upcoming.org --> collaborative questing • publishing--> • value dependent on participation scarcity of products--> • content management value dependent on systems --> wikis behavior choices • directories (taxonomy)--> • surfing alone--> surfing tagging ("folksonomy") with others Tuesday, May 27, 2008 26

Slide 27: What Does it Mean if... • Gaming is the new golf? • You’re not making connections in WoW, etc., or you have no reference for it? • You don’t know how to visualize data, problem- solve with others, know how to think with systems • You don’t know how to interact online and socialize in games, virtual worlds, or interactive sites? • You don’t know how to present yourself online? Tuesday, May 27, 2008 27

Slide 28: Adopt the Ethos of Gaming Literacies Use design principles of good games • Low-risk opportunities for failure • Encourage design-system thinking • Reappropriate, circulate, visualize data • Legitimate peripheral participation • Don’t erase judgment, ethical decision-making • Problem-based learning • Information literacy • Go outside the game: transmedia, fan cultures • Identity play • Affinity spaces PLAY GAMES--failure is part of the game, remember? Tuesday, May 27, 2008 28

Slide 29: References, Further Reading • “Meet the Gamers” -- Squire & Steinkuehler, Libraryjournal.com, 2005 • Gaming and Libraries: Intersection of Services-- Jenny Levine, ALA (theshiftedlibrarian.com) • Henry Jenkins’ ALA Keynote (TechSource, Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium), 2007 • What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy-- James Paul Gee (2003) • Got Game: How the Gamer Generation is Reshaping Business Forever-- Beck & Wade (2005) • How Computer Games Help Children Learn-- David Williamson Shaffer (2006) Tuesday, May 27, 2008 29

Slide 30: References, Further Reading • http://del.icio.us/ajrobison/calc08 • Bibliographic Gaming-- bibliogaming.blogspot.com • Game On: Games in Libraries-- libgaming.blogspot.com • Pop Goes the Library--popgoesthelibrary.com • http://www.eye4youalliance.youthtech.info/ • Global Kids Digital Media Initiative (NYC)-- holymeatballs.org • Project New Media Literacies (MIT): projectnml.org • Goodplay Project (Harvard): goodworkproject.org/ research/digital.htm Tuesday, May 27, 2008 30

Slide 31: Videogames at the Library?! Using Games as Learning Tools Alice J. Robison, PhD Massachusetts Institute of Technology alicerobison.org ajr@mit.edu Tuesday, May 27, 2008 31