Connected Gaming: What Making Video Games Can Teach Us about Learning and Literacy
224
Connected Gaming: What Making Video Games Can Teach Us about Learning and Literacy
224eBook
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Overview
Over the last decade, video games designed to teach academic content have multiplied. Students can learn about Newtonian physics from a game or prep for entry into the army. An emphasis on the instructionist approach to gaming, however, has overshadowed the constructionist approach, in which students learn by designing their own games themselves. In this book, Yasmin Kafai and Quinn Burke discuss the educational benefits of constructionist gaming—coding, collaboration, and creativity—and the move from “computational thinking” toward “computational participation.”
Kafai and Burke point to recent developments that support a shift to game making from game playing, including the game industry's acceptance, and even promotion, of “modding” and the growth of a DIY culture. Kafai and Burke show that student-designed games teach not only such technical skills as programming but also academic subjects. Making games also teaches collaboration, as students frequently work in teams to produce content and then share their games with in class or with others online. Yet Kafai and Burke don't advocate abandoning instructionist for constructionist approaches. Rather, they argue for a more comprehensive, inclusive idea of connected gaming in which both making and gaming play a part.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780262336963 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | MIT Press |
| Publication date: | 12/16/2016 |
| Series: | The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning |
| Sold by: | Penguin Random House Publisher Services |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 224 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Quinn Burke is a Senior Research Scientist in the Learning Sciences at Digital Promise. Quinn's research examines the effectiveness of different coding activities for introducing computer science and computational thinking to students. Quinn's research has been supported by a number of state and federal grants. Previously, Quinn taught at the college and high school levels.
Table of Contents
Series Foreword ix
Foreword Constance Steinkuehler xi
Preface to 1995 Minds in Play: Games to Be Played, Games to Be Made Seymour Papert xv
1 Introduction 1
2 The Serious Side: Making Games for Learning 19
3 The Social Side: Making Games Together Beats Making Them Alone 39
4 The Cultural Side: Rethinking Access and Participation in Gaming 63
5 The Tangible Side: Connecting Old Materials with New Interfaces in Games 83
6 The Creative Side: Tools for Madding and Making Games 101
7 Connected Gaming for All 123
Coda 139
Acknowledgments 141
Notes 145
References 169
Index 195
What People are Saying About This
The best way to make a critical reader is to teach someone to write.The best way to make a critical gamer is to teach someone to design games. That's how you liberate young people to be problem solvers and innovators. Kafai and Quinn's book is essential reading for all educators and anyone else interested in modern teaching and learning.
In Connected Gaming Kafai and Burke lay out a solid rationale and strong evidence for connecting learning and gaming through game construction. The compelling case that they make not only draws upon decades of their own work but uniquely connects with dozens of other projects and initiatives. It draws a logical line between the contructionist thinking of Papert straight through to Minecraft. This is a book that provides evidence to academics, educators, and innovators seeking to engage students through new pedagogies and teach them new practices in meaningful ways. Kafai and Burke have paved the way for decades more work connecting gaming, constructionism, and learning.
In Connected Gaming Kafai and Burke lay out a solid rationale and strong evidence for connecting learning and gaming through game construction. The compelling case that they make not only draws upon decades of their own work but uniquely connects with dozens of other projects and initiatives. It draws a logical line between the contructionist thinking of Papert straight through to Minecraft. This is a book that provides evidence to academics, educators, and innovators seeking to engage students through new pedagogies and teach them new practices in meaningful ways. Kafai and Burke have paved the way for decades more work connecting gaming, constructionism, and learning.
—Eric Klopfer, Professor/Director, MIT Scheller Teacher Education program; author of The More We Know and Augmented Learning
The best way to make a critical reader is to teach someone to write. The best way to make a critical gamer is to teach someone to design games. That's how you liberate young people to be problem solvers and innovators. Kafai and Quinn's book is essential reading for all educators and anyone else interested in modern teaching and learning.
—James Paul Gee, Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies, Regents' Professor, Arizona State University; author of What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and LiteracyConnected Gaming is a landmark book on games and learning that situates cutting-edge research on games within the deep and enduring work of constructionism and participatory learning. It offers a crucial touchstone for parents, educators, and companies building games for social impact, and will serve as a critical volume for decades to come.
—Kurt Squire, Department of Informatics, University of California, Irvine; author of Video Games and LearningIn Connected Gaming Kafai and Burke lay out a solid rationale and strong evidence for connecting learning and gaming through game construction. The compelling case that they make not only draws upon decades of their own work but uniquely connects with dozens of other projects and initiatives. It draws a logical line between the contructionist thinking of Papert straight through to Minecraft. This is a book that provides evidence to academics, educators, and innovators seeking to engage students through new pedagogies and teach them new practices in meaningful ways. Kafai and Burke have paved the way for decades more work connecting gaming, constructionism, and learning.
—Eric Klopfer, Professor/Director, MIT Scheller Teacher Education program; author of The More We Know and Augmented LearningConnected Gaming is a landmark book on games and learning that situates cutting-edge research on games within the deep and enduring work of constructionism and participatory learning. It offers a crucial touchstone for parents, educators, and companies building games for social impact, and will serve as a critical volume for decades to come.