Using Gaming Literacies to Cultivate New Literacies

Abstract

The use of games in educational contexts has recently received growing attention; however, many teachers struggle with finding a right context to adopt games in the classroom. To strengthen teachers' beliefs about the educational value of games, this article explains the similarities and differences between new literacies and gaming literacy and defines gaming literacy from the "play" and "design" perspectives. This article presents examples of game use that will help teachers cultivate learners' new literacies through gaming, understand how the game debriefing process can help scaffold students' learning, and identify factors affecting the adoption of games in educational contexts. The audience for this article includes teachers and teacher educators who would like greater clarification regarding gaming literacy and its positive effects on the learning and development of new literacies.Primary and secondary (K-12) school administrators and teachers are usually reluctant to adopt computer games in classrooms (Halverson, 2005). Rice (2007) reported that the barriers preventing teachers from adopting games in the classroom usually concern teachers' negative perception of video games, the difficulty in providing facilities (hardware/graphics) required for running video games, the difficulty in creating sufficient time for students to engage in complex games, and the lack of alignment among curriculum standards. This article responds to these challenges by identifying the educational benefits of game playing, identifying similarities between the elements of new literacies and the elements of gaming literacy, providing examples of game use, and suggesting strategies for classroom-based adoption of games.

Attitudes towards and Effects of the Use of Video Games in Classroom Learning with Specific Reference to Literacy Attainment

“…In such situations, students become focused on the learning that could be achieved as they are aware that it may help them in their current game tasks. Hsu and Wang (2010) elaborate that by using guided practice and regular debriefing, learning is scaffolded. Furthermore, teachers take on the role of interpreter, focus on getting the class to think, reflect and make links between what is happening in the game and the main learning aims of the class (Davies, 2007;Hsu and Wang, 2010;Mercer et al, 2007).…”

“…Hsu and Wang (2010) elaborate that by using guided practice and regular debriefing, learning is scaffolded. Furthermore, teachers take on the role of interpreter, focus on getting the class to think, reflect and make links between what is happening in the game and the main learning aims of the class (Davies, 2007;Hsu and Wang, 2010;Mercer et al, 2007). Teachers who have a firm grasp of the subject curriculum are able to utilise the games appropriately to achieve their educational objectives, rather than to just increase familiarity with the game.…”

FromCounter-StriketoCounter-Statement: using Burke's pentad as a tool for analysing video games

“…The importance of debriefing in an educational context is widely acknowledged (Mayer et al 2002, Peters andVissers 2004). It stimulates transfer by scaffolding the learning process, by relating the game experience to real-life situations, and by enabling peer discussion about what skills and knowledge were learned from the game experience (Hsu andWang 2010, Peters andVissers 2004). The pentad can be used to achieve these goals.…”

“…In education, numerous calls have been made for stimulating a reflective approach to media in general (Jenkins et al 2006) and to video games in particular (Buckingham and Burn 2007;Zagal 2010;Hsu and Wang 2010). However, if teachers want to stimulate a video game wise approach, they will need particular strategies -tools -for integrating such a reflective perspective in teaching and learning (Hsu and Wang 2010;Zagal 2010).…”

“…In other words, they are "being persuaded to think within the constraints of the game" (McAllister 2004. p. 161). Current research in game-based learning (Buckingham and Burn 2007, Hsu and Wang 2010, Pelletier 2005) therefore focuses on how people can become more reflective and critical about the meanings in games in order to learn something about the dynamics of systems and domains like economy, ecology, history and science (Gee 2010). While Bogost has contributed to the theoretical understanding of these processes, he did not himself offer a practical tool for such critical analysis, although he did point in the direction of the American rhetorician and literary critic Kenneth Burke [1897Burke [ -1993.…”