Peer Pedagogies on Digital Platforms: Learning with Minecraft Let's Play Videos

by Michael Dezuanni

Overview

How a popular entertainment genre on YouTube—Let's Play videos created by Minecraft players—offers opportunities for children to learn from their peers.

Every day millions of children around the world watch video gameplay on YouTube in the form of a popular entertainment genre known as Let's Play videos. These videos, which present a player's gameplay and commentary, offer children opportunities for interaction and learning not available in traditional television viewing or solo video gameplay. In this book, Michael Dezuanni examines why Let's Play videos are so appealing to children, looking in particular at videos of Minecraft gameplay. He finds that a significant aspect of the popularity of these videos is the opportunity for knowledge and skill exchange.

Focusing on Let's Play practices, the videos themselves, and fans' responses, Dezuanni argues that learning takes place through what he terms peer pedagogy—a type of nonhierarchical learning that is grounded in the personal relationships fans and players feel toward one another. Moreover, the Let's Play platform is part of a larger digital ecosystem that enables children to learn from one another in unique ways. Dezuanni explores how Let's Players enable learning opportunities, examining digital literacies, the Let's Play genre, and peer pedagogies. He then presents case studies of three successful family-friendly Let's Players of Minecraft: Stampylonghead, StacyPlays, and Karin"MG, microcelebrities in a microindustry. Dezuanni analyzes the specific practices and characteristics of these players, paying particular attention to how they create opportunities for peer pedagogies to emerge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262539722
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	09/22/2020
Series:	Learning in Large-Scale Environments
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Michael Dezuanni is Associate Professor in the School of Communication and Associate Director of the Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology in Australia. He is the coeditor of Serious Play: Literacy, Learning, and Digital Games.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword vii

Acknowledgments ix

1 Introduction: Learning with Minecraft and YouTube 1

2 Minecraft's Digital Media Literacies and Learning 13

3 The Let's Play Genre, Microcelebrity, and Learning 31

4 Peer Pedagogies and Digital Platforms 49

5 Exploring YouTube Let's Plays and Peer Pedagogies 67

6 Stampy's Lovely World 81

7 Animal Rescue with StacyPlays 101

8 Hanging Out with GamerGirl 121

9 What I Learned from Stampylonghead, StacyPlays, and KarinaOMG 145

10 Conclusion: Media Literacy in the Age of Minecraft and YouTube 163

References 175

Index 201

Editorial Reviews

Michael Dezuanni’s in-depth analysis of the players and hosts of YouTube Minecraft channels illustrates that playing isn’t just about learning the game but also about learning to participate within massive online communities.”
—Yasmin B. Kafai, Lori and Michael Milken President’s Distinguished Professor, University of Pennsylvania
 
“Peer Pedagogies on Digital Platforms describes how online digital platforms and fan culture have changed the dynamic of peer relationships. The book is timely and relevant for educators, parents, and others who are interested in understanding the nature of online social relationships and learning in young people’s digitally mediated lives.”
—Elisabeth R. Gee, The Delbert and Jewell Lewis Chair in Reading and Literacy at Arizona State University; coauthor of Families at Play: Connecting and Learning Through Video Games

From the Publisher