Double Journal Entry #12

Chapter 5: Learning and Gaming

What is the main argument the author is making in Chapter 5?

The author argues that quality video games offer "deeper and better forms of learning" than that of public schools (Gee, 2004).

What constitutes a theory of learning?
A theory of learning consists of patterns and principles concerning the ways in which people learn.

Why did the author struggle to learn to play Warcarft III? What needs to proceed before good learning principles?
The author struggled to learn to play Warcraft II because he did not believe that he was capable of learning something so difficult. He felt overwhelmed by the vast number of details of the game as well as the real-life online competitive factor. As read in the text, he "failed to engage in a way that fully recruited its solid design and learning principles" (Gee, 2004). It was apparent that because he found the game difficult, he did not fully engage himself in its learning principles –perhaps because of fear of frustration or failure. Learners must be committed to the time it takes for deeper learning to occur.

How would have the author's struggle with learning to play Warcraft III been interpreted in school?
The author’s struggle to play Warcraft III would have been interpreted as a failure.

What kind of learning experience might be better suited for "at risk" students?
Horizontal learning experiences might be better suited for “at risk” students because horizontal learning can prepare them for future learning rather than lead them into a position where failure may override success.

Why does the school-based interpretation of "at risk" lead to bad learning?
School-based interpretation of “at risk” leads to bad learning because the term “at risk” often gets translated to "dumbing-down" (the curriculum) within the school setting.

What do schools need to do to function more like a good game?
Schools need to offer instruction that intrigues students. Students should want to take on new identities and be motivated to fulfill their duties in solving problems. Students should have a key role as they engage in learning.

What is different about how good games and schools assess learners?
In schools, the teachers use the same forms of assessment to assess all learners, whereas good games provide students with the opportunity to assess themselves and make personal adjustments.

What are the attributes of a fish-tank tutorial that make it an effective learning tool? How is it different than school-based learning?
Some attributes of a fish-tank tutorial that make it an effect learning tool include: multimodal information, only necessary information, no areas of complexity; information that reveals basic, important connections, and information that is given for immediate use. School-based learning, however, delivers separate pieces of information that will be recalled at a later date.

 

What is a sand-box tutorial? Why is it effective? How is it different from school-based learning?
A sand-box tutorial is a real, self-paced, self-assessed game at an easy level –as it offers step-by-step instructions. It is effective because the game is played in a “real world” setting, yet the player cannot fail or be harmed. It is different from school-based learning because the skills of the game prepare the player for future learning; in school, children might learn those same skills, but if such skills cannot be mastered, it is considered a failure.

What is a genre? Why is it important for good learning?
A genre is a type of something; the genre reveals to learners what it is they are required to do.

According to the author, what do learning and play have in common?
Real learning and play both produce a feeling of pleasure. According to the text, "Real learning is always associated with pleasure and is ultimately a form of play" (Gee, 2004). Real learning and play often bring a sense of enjoyment to those involved.

How are the skills tests in good games different from skills tests in school?
While playing good games, students decide when and how to self-assess as well as the appropriate adjustments to be made. Good games act as a developmental process whereas in school, adults do the assessing and make decisions concerning the development of the learner. The school learner is told what to do and therefore has no role in his or her learning process.

How does RoN support collaborative learning?
Here, players can challenge each other in online games, converse in chat rooms, read game boards and magazines, etc. By involving one another to create a product or to meet a goal, players are being demonstrating collaborative learning.

Match at least one learning principle of good games (on pg. 74) with each of the following learning theorists you have studied in 3352.
Dewey: They teach basic skills in the context of simplified versions of the real game so that learners can see how these skills fit into the game as a system and how they integrate with each other.

Vygotsky: They ensure that learners at every level of expertise can readily use knowledge that is distributed and dispersed across a great many other people, places, sites, texts, tools, and technologies.They ensure that the learners have and use an affinity space wherein they can interact with peers and masters, near and far, around a shared interest, making use of  distributed and dispersed knowledge.

Piaget: They allow learners to discover the other edge of their competence and to be able to operate just inside that edge. (Equilibration)

Gardner: They give information via several different modes; redundancy.

Bandura: They offer supervised (i.e. guided) fish tank tutorials (simplified versions of the real system).

 

Skinner: They allow learners to practice enough so that they routinize their skills and then challenge them with new problems that force them to re-think these taken-for-granted skills and integrate them with new ones. Repeat.

 

 

Gee, J. (2004). Situated language of learning: a critique of traditional schooling. New York: Routledge.