Westchester Library-Alice Robison-October 2007

Videogames at the Library?!
Using Games as Learning Tools

Alice J. Robison
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
alicerobison.org
ajr@mit.edu

Thursday, November 8, 2007 1

How many of you are gamers?


Define “Gamer”


Define “Gamer”
• Teenage boys in the basement? Nope!


Define “Gamer”
• 90 million gamers up to age 35


Define “Gamer”
• 77 million baby boomers--retirees largest growing
segment of gamers


Define “Gamer”
segment of gamers

• 2003 Pew Internet study of college student
gamers--70% play once in a while, 65% play
regularly


Define “Gamer”
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


Games are
Changing
Guitar Hero, Rock Band
Wii Sports, Wii Play
Casual Games
Sports Games
Strategy Games
Literature-themed


Where do Gamers Play?

• Home

• Hospitals

• School

• Online

• Ofﬂine

• Libraries!


More than half of all
American teens--and 57% of
teens who could use the
internet--could be
considered media creators.


internet--could be
22% have their own homepages


internet--could be

32% report they’ve
experienced
“cyberbullying”


internet--could be
55% protect their personal information online

experienced
“cyberbullying”


internet--could be

85% use Facebook
experienced
“cyberbullying”


internet--could be

85% use Facebook
experienced if available on their campus
“cyberbullying”


internet--could be

33% share what they create online with others

85% use Facebook
“cyberbullying”


internet--could be


85% use Facebook
“cyberbullying”
19% blog and 19% remix content they find online


internet--could be


85% use Facebook
“cyberbullying”
19% blog and 19% remix content they find online

55% use online social networking regularly


This isn’t Just About Technology

Lankshear & Knobel, 2006; Jenkins, et. al, 2006


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



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



What are Gamers Good At?


• See themselves as heroes on quests



• Willing to experiment and keep trying--like to fix things, not
afraid to low-penalty risks




• Are “systems thinkers;” see the world as a designed space





• 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







• Thrive at fast decision-making and know how to prioritize

• Are good at multitasking and continuous partial attention


What are Games Good At?


• Recruit collaborative problem-solving and execution--many games
deliberately designed for social strategies



• Invite players to take risks and experiment in low-risk settings before giving
high-stakes challenges: failure is part of the puzzle




• Help players view the world as a designed space, which enables players to
unpack hidden systems, underlying themes





• Invite players to take on multiple identities in situated contexts and then
reflect on those choices






• Instant, frequent feedback on behaviors, choices, execution-- often
communicated in a variety of modes (cutscenes, graphs)






• Instant, frequent feedback on behaviors, choices, execution-- often
communicated in a variety of modes (cutscenes, graphs)

• Encourage production, participation, affinity, data circulation & display


information
literacy->
gaming literacy
identity play
affiliations
affinity spaces
collaborative problem-solving
circulating information & data
surfing with others


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)


What do we mean by “new literacies?”
blogging, fanfic writing, manga-producing,
meme-ing, photoshopping, podcasting,
vodcasting, gaming, html-ing
(Lankshear & Knobel, 2006)


it’s not a big truck

“The internet isn’t just
something you dump
something on. It’s not
a big truck. It’s...it’s a
series of tubes.”
--Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)

John Hodgman’s Reply
Ted Stevens Remix


newest gamer cultures


online social
networks


alternate reality games


passive gaming


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)


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


“Gamers...in the Library?”
--Eli Neiburger

“WHY?! For the love of dear old Melvil
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.”


“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.”


A Zero-Sum Game?
• Content

• Knitting clubs,
romance novels,
large-print books,
movies, discussion
groups, storytime

• Connections,
community

• Instruction


digitallearning.macfound.org


New Media Literacies
Play
Performance
Simulation
Appropriation Participation Gap
Multitasking
Distributed Cognition Transparency
Collective Intelligence Problem
Judgment
Transmedia Ethics Problem
Navigation
Networking
Negotiation


NML Framework http://projectnml.org
Play: involves experimenting with Collective intelligence: pooling
one’s surroundings as problem-solving knowledge toward a common goal

Performance: involves adopting Judgment: evaluating the reliability
alternative identities and credibility of different sources

Simulation: involves interpreting Transmedia navigation: following
and constructing dynamic models narratives across multiple modes

Appropriation: meaningfully Networking: searching for,
sampling and remixing media content synthesizing, and disseminating
information
Multitasking: scanning one’s
environment and shifting focus as Negotiation: traveling across
needed communities, discerning perspectives,
norms
Distributed cognition: interacting
with tools to expand mental capacities


NML Thinking
• 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 (quot;folksonomyquot;) with others


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 interact online and socialize
in games, virtual worlds, or interactive sites?
• You don’t know how to present yourself online?


Adopt the new literacies ethos



• 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



• Identity play
• Affinity spaces



• Identity play
• Affinity spaces
• PLAY GAMES--failure is part of the game, remember?


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)



• 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)



• 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



holymeatballs.org
• Project New Media Literacies (MIT): projectnml.org



holymeatballs.org
• Project New Media Literacies (MIT): projectnml.org
• Goodplay Project (Harvard): goodworkproject.org/
research/digital.htm


Westchester Library-Alice Robison-October 2007

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