McGonigal focuses on three aspects as she begins chapter 14. The first, "taking a long view means working at scales far larger than we would ordinarily encounter in our day-to-day lives" (Kindle Location 4830), can help players of video games understand their potential to affect change in the long term. Next, "ecosystems thinking is a way of looking at the world as a complex web of interconnected, interdependent parts" (Kindle Location, 4830), makes the gamer think about how their actions can affect other parts of their "world". Lastly, "pilot experimentation is the process of designing and running many small tests of different strategies and solutions to...discover the best course of action to take" (Kindle Location, 4847), means that once a gamer knows how their actions impact, they can focus on taking their actions to a greater scale.
When I consider these three aspects relative to the Settler's game, I think I can most see how I have used the "ecosystem thinking" in my game playing experience. As I think about what I've taken away from the game and how I've changed my thinking from the beginning of the game to now, I can see that I'm playing much more strategically than before. When I'm placing anything in my settlement, I'm focusing on what effect placement will have on the rest of the settlement. I can also see how I've used "pilot experimentation" in some of the adventures that I've participated in. I started out with smaller, simpler adventures, gained knowledge and confidence, and slowly have started to work on more difficult adventures. I would say that the aspect of "taking the long view" is probably the one aspect that I can't really say I've seen much in my game playing.
In terms of educational context, these aspects can encourage students to use the "creative capability" McGonigal talks about. Giving students real world problems to solve, and using the "creative capability" to "inspire them to adopt the long-term, planetary outlook" (Kindle Location, 4863), students could work together (in small or large scale) to seek out problems and enact real solutions developed by the collaboration of the game playing environment. Students are great problem solvers and giving them the experience of game playing may encourage them to develop their own video games that can mirror real-world problems and, hopefully, solutions.
In reflecting back over the past few months of game playing in Settler's Online, I think the three most memorable concepts for me were: "blissful productivity, the sense of being deeply immersed in work that produces immediate and obvious results"(Kindle Location, 905). I remember especially this concept from early in the game playing experience as I was seeing the direct result of completing quests. The next concept that I feel was especially important to me is that of "competitive engagement--the kind of engagement that increases our personal and collective participation by motivating us to do more" (Kindle Location, 3974). I saw this concept more after I joined a guild and found that there were so many people willing to help me and in turn, I felt compelled to try a little harder to achieve the goals of the game. The last of the three important concepts has to do with the "extraordinary collaborators" McGonigal talks about. I found this concept important as I worked with the members of the guild. I knew that there were people who were helpful in specific situations and I called on them for assistance. In turn, I gave resources to thank them for helping me out.
I hope that, going forward, I continue to have time to play Settler's. I've worked so many hours to build this settlement and I'm so used to visiting it and working to maintain what I've built. I can't see just letting it slip away. I am also looking at trying to use this game next year as an elective for some of our students. I can see them working on their settlements and finding the same fun that I did in the game this semester!
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Fix 13
I've been fascinated before by thinking about Gladwell's theory of the 10,000 hours of practice to mastery. I hadn't really considered the gaming or gamer aspect of applying his theory to playing video games. Although, if his theory is to be applied to academics, sports, music, etc., it makes sense that it should apply to the gaming world as well. The statistics about how many hours students spent playing video games was astonishing to me. It makes sense that educators should find a way to capture that interest and make it work for teaching concepts as well. McGonigal states, "unlike their formal education, which diffuses their attention across myriad different subjects and skills, every single gaming hour is concentrated on improving at just one thing: becoming a better gamer" (Kindle Locations 4343-4345). If we can find ways to "harness" that concentrated effort on increasing skill level through playing video games, as educators, we should.
With regard to the Settler's game, I don't know that I've seen that much of the collaboration effort. Admittedly, the amount of time I've played in the past couple of weeks has been reduced from what I'm guessing was 5 plus hours to 2. I've continued to receive help from other players and in return, helped them, but I don't know if it is fair to say that it's been a use of "collaboration superpowers" that McGonigal mentions in the text. (Kindle Locations 4521-4522). I can see that those who are very active in the guild definitely use the "collaboration radar" in that they always know who to go to to get the help they need or they are always there when I need help (Kindle Locations 4530-4531).
I've spent some time in the past week listening to my son while he's playing an online game with a few friends. I hear some of the same language used in their game (different than ours) that I hear when I read the chats or my mail in Settler's. They are offering each other help all the time. The game he is playing is more "battle and win" type, but I heard him mention today that he had received "buffs" from another friend, so he was helping another friend with a "buff". Hearing him use the same words we use in our game stopped me and really made me think about what was going on.
Collaboration is a big word in the educational community now. Many of the skills we want our students to use involve collaborating with others. Not any different than a gamer, but a student seeking out help on a school project will use their "collaboration radar" to choose a partner. Students who are known to be good, helpful workers are sought after in working on a class project. I can clearly see and understand how these collaboration skills could be so useful as educators look for ways to integrate more video gaming into their classes.
With regard to the Settler's game, I don't know that I've seen that much of the collaboration effort. Admittedly, the amount of time I've played in the past couple of weeks has been reduced from what I'm guessing was 5 plus hours to 2. I've continued to receive help from other players and in return, helped them, but I don't know if it is fair to say that it's been a use of "collaboration superpowers" that McGonigal mentions in the text. (Kindle Locations 4521-4522). I can see that those who are very active in the guild definitely use the "collaboration radar" in that they always know who to go to to get the help they need or they are always there when I need help (Kindle Locations 4530-4531).
I've spent some time in the past week listening to my son while he's playing an online game with a few friends. I hear some of the same language used in their game (different than ours) that I hear when I read the chats or my mail in Settler's. They are offering each other help all the time. The game he is playing is more "battle and win" type, but I heard him mention today that he had received "buffs" from another friend, so he was helping another friend with a "buff". Hearing him use the same words we use in our game stopped me and really made me think about what was going on.
Collaboration is a big word in the educational community now. Many of the skills we want our students to use involve collaborating with others. Not any different than a gamer, but a student seeking out help on a school project will use their "collaboration radar" to choose a partner. Students who are known to be good, helpful workers are sought after in working on a class project. I can clearly see and understand how these collaboration skills could be so useful as educators look for ways to integrate more video gaming into their classes.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Fix 11-12
Sustainable Engagement Economy:
As I continue to play Settler's, I'm more convinced that this is a game that I could use with my students. Admittedly, I was nervous about even thinking about introducing them to a game like this, because, quite frankly, I didn't know or understand the whole scope of the game. In reflecting about the readings this week, I can say that Settler's encourages the "good" in people! As I've mentioned before, I've had people sharing with me, offering advice, suggestions, and materials to help make my settlement better. I can see on the smaller scale of Settler's how the aspect of sustainable engagement economy, as McGonigal mentions is a "competitive engagement—the kind of engagement that increases our personal and collective participation bandwidth by motivating us to do more, for longer, toward collective ends." (Kindle Locations 3974-3975). As I've continued to play the game, the search for the XP to move up levels are harder to come by, but, I'm getting more and more interaction with other players. The community aspect of this game is probably what has kept my interest (aside from the requirement) and will keep my interest after the class is over.
More Epic Wins:
The word "epic" has become common in the language of tweens and teens. I hear my own kids using it to describe a variety of situations. I know that from their experience with video gaming that it's a term they've assimilated into their vocabulary. They would tell you it "sounds weird" when I use it to describe something happening to me in Settler's. I guess there is an age game that no video game is going to bridge!!!
In playing the game, I do wonder what other games are out there and if I would like them more or less than Settler's. I wish I had more time to spend trying to get those "epic" moments in the game, though I think I've had a few! I know when I spent a great deal of time getting from level 30 to 31, I never thought I would get to 32! When I did achieve that level, I was very excited! It was my "epic" moment for sure!
Crowdsourcing:
This was an interesting concept for me to learn more about. I've heard the term before, but never really thought much about it's implications. My students, a long time ago, played Free Rice as a Lenten project in school. They would come to the computer lab and for the first ten minutes of every computer class they would play and earn rice for the game. They were highly engaged. They researched where the rice was going. As McGonigal states, they experienced, "a clear sense that you’re a part of something bigger."(Kindle Location 3836) We had difficulty with the site and we stopped playing! I'll have to check and see if the site is still up and running.
The crowdsourcing project that I've read about is "Donor's Choose". It was started by a school teacher in the Bronx, New York, who wanted a way to provide the crucial supplies that teachers and students needed for their classrooms, but didn't have the funding for. Teachers can create an account and write a proposal for something that they need and then the visitors to the site can decide to fund specific projects. Initially, Charles Best, the teacher and founder, contacted some high impact potential donors and funded some of the projects himself to get started. Since that time, he's put together a board of directors with some famous people who have helped keep the funding coming.
I've seen this personally in action as a relative has a child attending school in Chicago. His teacher wanted to buy some additional math manipulatives for her classroom at a cost of $480 dollars. The family took to Facebook and shared the status of the teacher and within a couple of hours several family members donated and the project was funded.
Donor's Choose is more of a "crowdfunding" program, but it still takes many people working together to achieve the goals of the teachers participating in the program!
As I continue to play Settler's, I'm more convinced that this is a game that I could use with my students. Admittedly, I was nervous about even thinking about introducing them to a game like this, because, quite frankly, I didn't know or understand the whole scope of the game. In reflecting about the readings this week, I can say that Settler's encourages the "good" in people! As I've mentioned before, I've had people sharing with me, offering advice, suggestions, and materials to help make my settlement better. I can see on the smaller scale of Settler's how the aspect of sustainable engagement economy, as McGonigal mentions is a "competitive engagement—the kind of engagement that increases our personal and collective participation bandwidth by motivating us to do more, for longer, toward collective ends." (Kindle Locations 3974-3975). As I've continued to play the game, the search for the XP to move up levels are harder to come by, but, I'm getting more and more interaction with other players. The community aspect of this game is probably what has kept my interest (aside from the requirement) and will keep my interest after the class is over.
More Epic Wins:
The word "epic" has become common in the language of tweens and teens. I hear my own kids using it to describe a variety of situations. I know that from their experience with video gaming that it's a term they've assimilated into their vocabulary. They would tell you it "sounds weird" when I use it to describe something happening to me in Settler's. I guess there is an age game that no video game is going to bridge!!!
In playing the game, I do wonder what other games are out there and if I would like them more or less than Settler's. I wish I had more time to spend trying to get those "epic" moments in the game, though I think I've had a few! I know when I spent a great deal of time getting from level 30 to 31, I never thought I would get to 32! When I did achieve that level, I was very excited! It was my "epic" moment for sure!
Crowdsourcing:
This was an interesting concept for me to learn more about. I've heard the term before, but never really thought much about it's implications. My students, a long time ago, played Free Rice as a Lenten project in school. They would come to the computer lab and for the first ten minutes of every computer class they would play and earn rice for the game. They were highly engaged. They researched where the rice was going. As McGonigal states, they experienced, "a clear sense that you’re a part of something bigger."(Kindle Location 3836) We had difficulty with the site and we stopped playing! I'll have to check and see if the site is still up and running.
The crowdsourcing project that I've read about is "Donor's Choose". It was started by a school teacher in the Bronx, New York, who wanted a way to provide the crucial supplies that teachers and students needed for their classrooms, but didn't have the funding for. Teachers can create an account and write a proposal for something that they need and then the visitors to the site can decide to fund specific projects. Initially, Charles Best, the teacher and founder, contacted some high impact potential donors and funded some of the projects himself to get started. Since that time, he's put together a board of directors with some famous people who have helped keep the funding coming.
I've seen this personally in action as a relative has a child attending school in Chicago. His teacher wanted to buy some additional math manipulatives for her classroom at a cost of $480 dollars. The family took to Facebook and shared the status of the teacher and within a couple of hours several family members donated and the project was funded.
Donor's Choose is more of a "crowdfunding" program, but it still takes many people working together to achieve the goals of the teachers participating in the program!
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Fix 9-10
I think it's interesting as I reflected on this week's reading assignment and the topic of the "fix" for this week, "it's more fun with strangers". As I've played Settlers for all these weeks, I can't really think of a time when someone in the game hasn't been extremely helpful! The nature of the game provides for opportunities to help other players. The guilds themselves offer the opportunity for a player to engage and become "friends" with other players. The advantage of the guild seems to be that you've got a wealth of information in the communication with the other players. Additionally, the buffs that you can give to other players also offer the opportunities for players to have "positive participation". In fact, there have been several quests that require you to "buff" other players settlements in order to earn the quest reward. McGonigal states that "in order to turn a group of strangers into a community, you have to follow two basic steps: first, cultivate a shared interest among strangers, and, second, give them the opportunity and means to interact with each other around that interest" (Kindle Loc 2854-2856). The shared interests for all of us is to earn XP to level up throughout the game. Helping each other out in the game can give you a benefit and I think that as a player, if someone helps me out, I'm more likely to help others. I've also learned from other players, mostly those from the guild that I joined and they've been so helpful and have offered advice on what I need to do to improve my settlement. McGonigal states, "Experiencing a short burst of community in a space that previously felt uninviting or simply uninteresting can also permanently change our relationship to that space" (Kindle Locations 2865-2867). I would not have probably considered playing a game like this as I would have been concerned about the kind of people who would try to interact with me, but after playing the game and seeing how helpful everyone is, I am not hesitant to play at all.
The word "hack", to me, indicates tampering with something in order to gain something. I'm struggling to see this fix as frequently as I can relate to many others. I don't know if it's because I've spent less time playing everyday in the past couple of weeks, but it was interesting to me that McGonigal states that "recent research has shown that we don’t even have to know someone to experience the benefits of thanking and being nice to them. Even fleeting acts of gratitude and kindness toward strangers can have a profound impact on our happiness"(Kindle Locations 3126-3127). I can see how participation in the guilds or having many "friends" in your game environment can help create the gratitude and kindness spoken about. I've had a few members of my guild contact me with suggestions and I've seen them regularly visit my settlement to check how I'm doing. I've tried to follow their advice and when I can accomplish something based on the advice they've given, I am generally happier while playing.
The word "hack", to me, indicates tampering with something in order to gain something. I'm struggling to see this fix as frequently as I can relate to many others. I don't know if it's because I've spent less time playing everyday in the past couple of weeks, but it was interesting to me that McGonigal states that "recent research has shown that we don’t even have to know someone to experience the benefits of thanking and being nice to them. Even fleeting acts of gratitude and kindness toward strangers can have a profound impact on our happiness"(Kindle Locations 3126-3127). I can see how participation in the guilds or having many "friends" in your game environment can help create the gratitude and kindness spoken about. I've had a few members of my guild contact me with suggestions and I've seen them regularly visit my settlement to check how I'm doing. I've tried to follow their advice and when I can accomplish something based on the advice they've given, I am generally happier while playing.
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