What Video Games Have to Teach Us... - Book Review

Shaynna Austin
Digital Rhetorics
March, 2015

What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy - James Paul Gee

Chapter 1 - Gee starts off by telling us how he decided to write a book on this topic by relating how his experiences with video games made him realize that they were devices geared toward making people learn. He realized this when he was playing video games with his son and found that even games for kids were long and somewhat difficult. Regardless of the difficulty though, his son still enjoyed playing video games. In an attempt to understand why his son would want to pursue something so difficult, Gee decides that he should start playing some adult video games that require 30-100 hours of play time. Doing this, he realizes that games that sell the most copies tend to be long and difficult and requires the player to learn.
He goes on to say that learning is a lot like reading and thinking, in that, everyone has a different perspective. He also says that reading, thinking, and learning is a social activity. No one can have their own private reading of a particular text and assume that no one else has thought or said it before. Somewhere along the line, a person falls into a group or multiple groups, even if they haven't met those people who share the same perspective. Gee sees video games as social learning that shouldn't be done alone.
He then lists off that the book will discuss several principles that he believes video games possess. By doing this, he hopes that he can provide some insight into making education better. Perhaps, even offering some suggestions to make school more interesting for kids.
Gee closes the introduction by explaining that throughout the course of the book he will not be talking about violence or gender at all, simply because there has been extensive research in both areas. He also says his book would get extremely "cluttered" and would need more space if he added those two issues in there. Instead he mentions his thoughts on the two issues: 1) That there is no evidence of video games resulting in real world violence. Rather, the violent crime rate has decreased as video game sales increase, and 2) That while female video game characters are over sexualized at times, and a large majority of girls stop playing video games by the 6th grade, there is still evidence of dedicated girl gamers.

Chapter 2 - In this chapter Gee discusses how images and sounds are just as educational as text is for reading and writing. He believes that the multimodal nature of video games delivers more knowledge and information than print alone could. Gee also says that video games is a type of literacy and that it has it's own domain, along with it's own sub-genres of games such as First-person shooter, strategy, fantasy role-play, etc. From here he launches into a problem he noticed, where older generations of people will look at a game and say that it's, "A waste of time." He argues that people who say this seem to associate academic domains of knowledge gained through reading and writing in school as more valuable than something as enjoyable as a video game. He explains that this type of attitude comes from the fact that the person who isn't playing the game hasn't learned the rules of the domain, and thus believes it doesn't do anything. He creates an analogy to explain how this logic is misguided by saying, "...Imagine a textbook that contains all the facts and rules about basketball and read by students who never played or watched a game. How well do you think they would understand this text book?" (23) Instead of thinking that video games offer nothing, he wants to give us another perspective on what video games do for us.
One way that they do things for gamers is that they get the gamer involved in active learning. The gamer, "...experiences the world in new ways, forms new affiliations, and prepares for future learning." (24) Games make gamers do "work" but in a context different from, say writing a book report for Digital Rhetoric's class. When playing a "good" game, a gamer has to be able to associate elements of the game to certain meanings. An example that Gee uses is yellow pikmen who not only throw bombs at stone walls to let the gamer progress, but also are able to be thrown farther than the red or blue pikmen. Because of this, the yellow pikmen have multiple meanings that the gamer needs to not only memorize, but utilize. The also allows the gamer to make choices, such as whether or not they want to engage in a fight with a sleeping enemy or sneak past him? Aside from this, Gee believes that a good game makes gamers think critically. They do this when the concepts that were originally introduced at the beginning of the game get harder. As well as when the atmosphere of the game changes from inviting and playful, to suddenly serious and extremely dangerous for the fictional character the gamer is playing as. When this happens, the gamer is forced to rethink the things they though they knew and force the player to either start taking risks, or be more conservative. A good game will even make the gamer go beyond the game to solve a certain aspect of the game more thoroughly by using FAQs or forum discussion boards for help.
Gee says that doing these things requires the gamer to take on the identity of, "...an exploratory problem solver." (45)

Chapter 3 - In this chapter Gee argues how identity is key for learning. He explains how identity can be split into three different types of identity when talking about semiotic domains. First, there is the real-world identity that very person has. This real-world identity is defined in ways such as gender, class, and race, but also more specifically like, chubby, wear's-glasses, born during the information age, etc. His second identity the he mentions is the virtual identity. This is an identity that is, "...fixed by the history and workings of the semiotic domain" (55) that it belongs to. Meaning that it is something any person can conceptualize, such a "physicist" and know what physicists do such as the methods of inquiry they go through to do an experiment, and what kind texts they write in their field. The third identity is a "projected" identity. "The learner as scientist," (62) as Gee says. Gee goes through a lot of examples to explain this identity because it's a lot more abstract than the other two. This identity is where the real-world person projects themselves as the virtual identity--while also realizing their limitations to do so. This identity is when a person sees themselves as being, for example, a physicist, and the values and desires they bring with that. He explains that in the classroom, it's difficult for some students to realize this identity because they might have been "damaged" before coming to the classroom. By damaged he means that the student might not have the motivation to do work, or believes they lack the ability to do the things a physicist can do. He argues that schools need to focus on this problem and "repair" these type of students by doing three things that games are already doing. 1) The learner needs to be motivated to try, 2) They need to be motivated to put in a lot of effort, and 3) There needs to be a pay off for the learner. (58) He explains that video games are able to this better than schools because instead of just throwing facts at the gamer and expecting them to know what they mean, the game gives the gamer a chance to try again if they fail. Usually when a player dies, they can restart from the last save point and try again. By doing this, the player has a chance to try new ways of beating a boss or solving a puzzle. (While it should be noted that there are games that do punish a player for dying, as a general rule the type of punishment a player's character experiences does not aim to discourage the player to quit. Rather, it acts like a reminder that dying is something to be avoided at all costs--thus encouraging the player to approach that portion of the game from a different angle.) He closes the chapter by saying that games encourage gamers in ways that schools do not, and he has no faith in "Skill and Drill," methods of teaching.

Chapter 4 - In this chapter Gee discusses how video games create an embedded experience for gamers. Embedded experiences are those that allow gamers to make choices that affect the flow of gameplay and plot of the narrative. This launches him into a discussion about how people need more than just texts to understand a semiotic domain that they're learning. Just reading technical writing on something as simple as geology or even how to play a video game doesn't offer the same amount of depth of knowledge as a learned experience does. He even says that not only do most games these days lack a booklet that tells the player how to play the game, but that in the real world businesses would rather have employees that already have experience in the field. He explains that lived experiences start with the simple process of "probing, hypothesizing, re-probing, and rethinking," (96) and move on to more complicated learning methods. He ends the chapter by saying that there are people who know things but might be able to do well in terms of writing taking tests. These people are able to think and problem solve by associating knowledge in materials and objects rather than relying solely on repeating facts.

Chapter 5 - Here Gee discusses how games use training modules to get gamers to learn. He uses examples from Tomb Raider, Wolfenstein, and System Shock 2 to explain how video games require gamers to transfer previous knowledge from a one game to another game. He considers "transfer" as a very important process for anyone to learn--but that it also can be risky in the real-world. For example, "...Maybe social studies is better off not being done in the style of biological thinking..." (126) He points out that video games seamlessly meld the real-world person with the virtual character to help the gamer learn the controls of the game. Most games have an emphasis on encouraging the player to explore the virtual world to learn the controls, and once they have mastered the basics, the game steadily gets more challenging as the story progresses. He explains that if the game had just thrown the player into an area without explaining the controls, or having advanced enemies in the first episode of the game, the player would become extremely frustrated. He also says that if such a situation did occur, then it might lead to a "garden-path" type of mentality, where the player would expect all enemies to be advanced, and never realize that there could be underpowered enemies that didn't require as much ammunition or effort needed to dispose of them. Thus, Gee argues that it's silly to throw a student into a field of science or math without some kind of guidance/instruction and expect them to eventually come to understand the thing in its entirety.

Chapter 6 - In this chapter Gee talks about how video games allow us to reflect/question cultural models. Cultural models are described as things that people hold to be true and tend not to question until something new puts it into question. His examples involve how a person understands what is considered "good." Is good something a person does for the benefit of everyone? Or do you stand up against the majority point-of-view to defend the minority? Another example he uses is the depiction of war. Older movies and video games from the eighties and early nineties tend to focus on one man who is a superhuman hero, taking a good deal of damage from multiple shots before succumbing to death. More modern games show how confusing warfare can actually be when the player usually dies without knowing where the enemy is shooting from, has to choose whether to follow orders that might get them killed or might keep them alive, and then doesn't even know if the gamer's character made a difference at all in the overall outcome of the mission in the game. His last example involves how a gamer tends to view difficulty as a good thing rather than a bad thing--and that failure isn't a big deal like it is with education. He concludes the chapter by saying that games teach people to reflect on what they thought they knew to be true, and how to change their perspective on it. He adds that learning is more than just reaching the end goal quickly and with little fuss, its also about learning different ways to get there and what you pick up along the way.

Chapter 7 - Gee starts off the conversation by saying that people who play video games are generally, actively social even if the people that gamers play with aren't in the same room with them. He believes that gamers create "affinity groups" (mentioned earlier, but basically means a small group of people who have intense knowledge about a subdomain) and share distributed knowledge. Distributed knowledge is something that everyone in an affinity group knows, but can be distributed to other people as well. One simple example he uses is his experience with cheat codes in DOS for Windows, and explaining how to bring up and use DOS to younger gamers who were too young to know what DOS was. In this chapter, he also explains that affinity groups are not like community groups because affinity groups are neither good or bad. The values and attitudes shared in an affinity group varies from other affinity groups of the same subdomain. He also adds that each member of an affinity group has a specialty that can be crossed-shared with other affinity groups. He ends the chapter discussing how PC video games are designed to encourage gamers to manipulate software in the game to make new content. This new content (mods) can be shared publicly with other people, which in turn gives the creator feedback (and works into the appreciative systems that he mentioned earlier). He believes that this allows gamers to have a "producer"-like mindset where they are given the chance develop programming and hacking skills which help them learn how to create something that people want/need.

Chapter 8 - For Gee's conclusion, he goes back and lists the principles he believes video games teach gamers that he wishes learning in the classroom could implement. He repeats that he is not arguing that schools need to use video games to teach, but merely follow the same principles that video games already use to make gamers learn. His final closing remark for the book is that he admits to writing the book because he has found video games extremely enjoyable, and feels that he was learning things without actually realizing he was learning anything.

DigiRhet Proposal

Shaynna Austin
Digital Rhetorics
Dr. Michelle Miley
March, 2015

Indie Games and YouTube

 

Video games have evolved a lot since their conception in the eighties. When I say that I mean it in more than just the graphics and business market kind of way. Originally I wanted this project to focus on indie games that were composed in an artistic way which focused on depicting mental illnesses (like depression or autism). Such games I thought about would be "Presentable Liberty" or "The Static Speaks My Name." However, I feel as if I should probably focus on the digital rhetorical part of indie games, meaning: How did these games come into conception, and why did the developer make them in the first place? To answer that, I realized that a large majority of indie games have been created because of the phenomenon of "Let's Plays." Let's Plays are videos of people playing a video game with added commentary. Most people who watch these are roughly in the 20 years of age or younger category. YouTubers (usually in their twenties) who make Let's Plays and are successful in relation to the amount of subscriptions and views on YouTube, give small-time game developers a chance to show case their work for free without having to struggle with advertising on their own. In the last four years Let's Plays have become extremely popular, with millions of subscribers from around the world watching videos on a daily basis. YouTube staff even designed the copyright filter to ignore people who submit video game footage to YouTube. This means that normally a person would get flagged for uploading a song, footage from a movie or TV show, etc. without special permissions. YouTubers who do Let's Plays get to bypass the filter because people who watch Let's Plays usually keep coming back. Sometimes several times a day. With this project, I won't be focusing on why Let's Plays have gotten popular (as the statistics show for themselves that people enjoy video game commentary quite a bit), but more on the relation between small-time game developers, the types of games they make for a YouTube audience, and YouTube itself.

 

For my research I'm going to use a few chapters (specifically sections that relate to what I'm thinking about) from "The Filter Bubble" by Eli Pariser and "What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy," by James Paul Gee. There's a few places in the filter bubble that talk about how popular and fast-growing sites like Google and Facebook started out and operate. I believe YouTube is also mentioned in that book. Aside from that, the "Filter Bubble" also discusses how certain information is catered to the viewer. You can see this on YouTube when you're watching a video because there is always a suggestion bar off to the side, or a "recommended for you" section on your home page. From personal experience I've noticed that if the last ten videos you've watched in the last twelve to twenty-four hours have been music videos, the "recommended for you" section tends to be filled with music videos in the same music genre you were viewing the last time you visited. For, "What Video Games Have to Teach Us...," the section titled, "Transfer and Beyond in Video Games" in the "Telling and Doing" chapter might help explain why viewers (who are also gamers) want to watch someone else play an indie game before they actually commit to buying and downloading.

 

My method for this project is that I plan on getting a lot of reading done--preferably, I would like to find more online sources from the school's database like ECAT or any of the others. I'd like to get my reading done before the 4th, and possibly have an outline by that time as well. Ideally, if I knew someone who has made an indie game I'd interview them, but that might be out of the question. I've seen a few developers in the YouTube comments section, but it might be weird to randomly ask them, "Hey, so do you mind telling me about your experiences making this game, what motivated you to do this, and your feelings on it's reception on YouTube?" That said, if I can get a short interview I'd get that done before the 11th. With or without an interview, I'd start working on what the project should probably look like. From the looks of it, this is a paper with video, gif, picture, and hover-links inserted into it. So I'll need to play around and see if I can make those things. I've never done a gif or a hover-link before. Hyperlinks and embedded videos are simple, but beyond that I'm lost. I should have a solid first draft by the 17th, which is when I'm scheduled to show my workshop. And by "solid," I mean it'll be done, but it might need to be revised. The feedback from the workshop should help with the revision.

 

Works Cited

Gee, James Paul. "What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy." Palgrave Macmillan. New York, NY. 2007.

Pariser, Eli. "The Filter Bubble." Penguin Group. 2011.

 

 

 





AV Project and Reflection

 

 

Reflection:

 

I choose my topic because video games have been apart of my life for as long as I can remember. I think video games are more than just a distraction from everyday life. I had a really hard time trying to figure out how to put this video together, and for that I'm sorry. At one time I had three different versions of my outline and how I wanted my video to go. Once I started working on my video though it took a different rhythm than I had planned, but I hope it still is at least passable.

 

I choose to make my project in movie maker because I don't have any other video program to use. Originally I was going to do some animation, but then I learned that buying animation software costs about $200 - $300 dollars, so that was out of the question. Plus, I also realized that having things animated might not actually contribute rhetorically what I was trying to say in this video. Basically I was trying to find common ground for my audience (which is my peers in this writing class) to relate to this video. Despite the fact that the majority of us are lumped into the same age group (20-somethings) it felt like there weren't very many hardcore or casual gamers in the class. So I had to find a way to meet them halfway. The facilitator of our group suggested I use Ted Talks for sources instead of actual papers because most of the ones I was finding were way too old. I found a paper that discussed video game's and art, and it was still hung up on video games like the first Halo game and Doomsday or Date Night, which are all really old. Video games today take a lot more risks than they used to. There are even video games that get developed by people like you and me who just program and code a 16 bit video game in their spare time. That said, I chose a 2005 game called "Shadow of the Colossus" created by Sony because it's a cult classic. This is because back in 2005 SoTC was the only title of it's kind that was an action-puzzle game that also focused a lot on narrative. However, for my video I didn't want to get too deep into why I thought this game was so special because I didn't want to sound like too much like a fangirl. Now that I've got this uploaded I really feel like that might be my undoing... I was kind of hoping some clips from the game would help speak for itself, but since the audience is likely to never have played SoTC that might not have translated well. I do hope that the flow between the dialogue and captions seems "active." By active, I mean that the dialogue and captions kind of connect and talk to each other. If you don't get that feeling though that's ok, I was at least trying to do something more with what I had.

 

A lot about this project I didn't quite know how to do because the only real skills I knew before class was video editing, certain types of file formats, and how to upload. I'm still not sure if this video fits the criteria you asked for because I feel like my skills with technology are limited, and from sitting in the studio groups, it sounded like I was just supposed to google everything if I had some kind of tech question. So, here's my attempt...

 

 

 

Sources:

-Tommy Tallarico TEDxManchesterVillage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6K5B0iBUnA

-Daphne Bevelier TEDxCHUV - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8hzowkUkR4

- Andy Robertson TEDxExeter - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8hzowkUkR4

- Doug Walker, "The Nostalgia Critic" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK-HYNXdIJI

Shadow of the Colossus is owned by Sony Computer Entertainment and developed by SCE, Team ICO, and SCE Japan.

Official soundtrack from Shadow of the Colossus by Kow Otani.

SotC fan art was taken from DeviantArt.

I do not own anything in this video nor am I making money on this video. All content belongs to its respective owners.