CONVERGENCE IN MEDIA, CULTURE, AND EDUCATION

a) Choose a major concept from the reading and define the concept in your own words

Language is enacted daily to generate or destroy/deny experiences which create meaning. Two powerful teaching tools of language are narrative and inscription (the use of paper, signs, prints and diagrams). They are used to judge a learners comprehension on a topic based on whether or not they present and represent the topic from a school-based perspective -- they ‘talk the talk’ i.e. model principles learned from a text (with graphs and ‘appropriate’ language) when explaining concepts, even if the models are counterintuitive to their personal experiences. Students’ explanations of acquired knowledge using personal experiences are diminished and dismissed, both consciously and unconsciously by those evaluating them.

b) Choose a quote from the reading that elucidates the concept further

“These practices — so material and mundane, so practical, so modest, so pervasive, so close to the hands and the eyes that they escape our attention are, from an historical perspective, radical modifications of the fundamental way in which people strive with one another for power… Shifts in technologies for simplifying, abstracting, deflating the world [into a finite number of relevant aspects (charts, diagrams, formulas, statistics, tables, models which are their representations) [come to be taken as more relevant than the experience itself] so that it can be brought together in new places, and assembled in increasingly complex and abstract ways…ultimately allowing the few to dominate the many” pg. 270. “We are ourselves failing to interrogate the inscriptions we trade in… In as much as we are scarcely able to apprehend the bare existence of what is obscured or obviated by our inscriptions, we seldom name or notice our own blindness” pg.272.

c) Suggest an example to illustrate the concept

The example given by the article pgs. 273-280 (Michaels & Sohmer.pdf) explains the concept well. Four fourth graders are evaluated on the concept of reasoning about seasonal change and its causes. All the students explanations were wrong; yet, one of the four students ‘appeared’ more scientific in his explanation by using appropriate speech as well as constructing and employing a physical model using his hands as the earth and sun, that those evaluating him believed he had acquired some knowledge. The other three students presented as though they had not understood the concept at all, their language was not fluid, and their examples were experiential as opposed to text based. It was only in a later revaluation of the students’ interviews that researcher’s realized that in fact the other three students probably understood the topic better then the student who regurgitated the text.

d) Situate the concept in your own work or life

I would say I could be equated to the student who appeared to be the more scientific especially in my pre-university schooling. I had a knack for learning the concept as it was taught to me and then parroting it back on tests or in the classroom without ever questioning what was I really learning (if anything) and how did it fit with my personal experiences. I think this has stunted my learning in some ways because it is more difficult for me to articulate concepts in my own words, I’m very good at stringing other people’s words together to illustrate my thoughts and opinions but appear inarticulate when I try and explain it in my own words. Further reproducing concepts without questioning them has left gaps in my own understanding of how to teach. The article points this out on page 275 “the teacher was neither able to teach the theory to the children in her own words nor to register (much less identify and correct) the presence of specific inadequacies and errors in the text.” I may know a concept I learned by rote but for me explain it to others requires me going back to the beginning and relearning it.

TOWARD AN EDUCATIONAL THEORY OF TECHNOLOGY

          An educational theory of technology takes into account what value technology (tool) is adding to the learning and teaching process, taking into account the learning goal (skill or cultural) and using the best tool (technology) to achieve that goal.

Educational Theory of Technology for My Project

         The technology I am using for my project is a webpage it utilises multiliteracy (pictures, text and sound) and hyperlinking to highlight both my technological abilities and spotlight my achievements. To quote Carmen Luke (CLuke.pdf):

“in the digital information environment, an understanding of the relations among ideas is as important as, if not more important than, mastery of the ideas themselves; today, the expert is the one who sees and seeks the connection among related pieces of information, not the one who has the bare decontextualised facts” pg.73.

I chose this technology because it supports my belief that meaning making is achieved by laterally connecting information (which can be achieved by clicking on links in any order) and by using all of one’s senses (site, sound, touch – smell is not yet possible) and not just text in the decoding process.

TECHNOLOGY SUPPLANTS CURRICULUM – SEMINAR SUMMARY

My partner and I chose to look at the introductions of the Science and Technology and the Media Literacy expectation of the Ontario Curriculum in relation to the two articles we had to read for the week as well as past reading we were responsible for. We split the two readings up between us and I was responsible for looking for connections to the Buckingham reading: Buckingham, D. 2003. “Media education and the end of the critical consumer.” Harvard Educational Review, 73:3, 309-327. I have had to read the documents in the past, however I have limited myself to just the expectation which required me to plan lessons, thus I was intrigued by the rhetoric found in the introduction of the document. Immediately I made associations with readings I have done for course work specifically Ursula Franklin. I came up with the following questions for the discussion:

1. Link the language used in the Science and Technology curriculum document with readings we have done in class to date with examples.


2. Under the section planning student programs the document emphasis integration and collaboration between subject areas, discuss how you might achieve this and why do you think all subjects are not automatically intercurricularly taught.


3. Buckingham writes that “younger children are now coming to be seen as a powerful consumer group in their own right…[and they] gain access to media aimed at adults more readily than their parents did as children.” In light of this do you think the overall media literacy expectations sufficiently prepare
   children to deal with the messages they encounter?


4. Keeping the curriculum dictates “whenever appropriate, students should be encouraged to use ICT to support and communicate their learning…[and] digital cameras and projectors to design and present the results of their research,” discuss both the positive and negative implication of students as producers.

I’m not sure if the questions were not clear or if the group needed to warm-up, but I found that the discussion started off a little slow. However, once we focused specifically on the first quest of language in more depth it picked up. The other three questions did not garner the answers I was expecting or as much discussion as the first question. I think in the future I will take a page from my partner’s book and be more specific by either referring to particular quotes or pages which discussants can turn or refer to in order to refresh their memories.

EPISTEMIC “FOUNDATIONS”: POSTMODERN

Though all of Lankshear’s changes could apply, I feel that the fourth change “changes in the relative significance of, and balance among, different modes of knowing associated with digitization” is most applicable to me. In this section he distinguishes between propositional and procedural knowledge the former being the content and the latter how to find it. I feel though it is important to have a general breadth and depth of knowledge from reading, the humanities etc. knowing how to find the information and connect it is a more relevant skill set. Lankshear list three subcategories of increasing importance:

1. Changes in identity and representation
2. Changes in the representation of truth
3. Rise in an “attention economy” and competition for attention

These three subcategories are foundation issues I will need to deal with in my work. I am interested in educational content development, i.e. creating interactive, engaging, educative, electronic content for classroom and cultural heritage facilities. I believe the primary way to achieve this will be through gaming and simulations. As such, the player/avatar identity creation and flexibility of representation is very important – (see Ch. 3 of Jim Gee’s book What Videogames Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy for more details). Changes in the representations of truth will be very important to the internal content of the game or simulation as only one truth can be represented at a time in game design. The only way to change this is through the choices the player/avatar makes, this point ties into procedural knowledge and knowing how to find information and connect it to get at the represented information. Lastly, the competition for attention will be the hardest to combat. Education based games are not funded in the way commercial games are and thus are not able to compete with the graphics and manoeuvrability that they offer. It will be necessary to constantly and innovatively compensate in order to gain and keep students attention.

EPISTEMIC “FOUNDATIONS”: MODERN

	Howard Gardner
	Multiple Intelligence
Attitude toward education & Philosophy	· Gardner criticizes just having an intelligence defined by IQ, humans are better thought of as having eight, maybe nine, kinds of intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. Gardner defines these “as abilities to solve problems or fashion products that are valued in culture. There are many ways in which we know, understand, perceive, learn and process information.” · Students will be better served by a broader vision of education, wherein teachers use different methodologies, exercises and activities to reach all students, not just those who excel at linguistic and logical intelligence · Deep understanding', performance, exploration · Additional intelligence identified – Existential, spiritual and moral intelligence
Conception of literacy	· Describes literacy as the mastery of symbol systems, o First there exist many kinds of symbol systems, many of which are not closely related and which can be conveyed through a multiplicity of media. o Second attainment of literacy poses a different task for children of different ages and, even more so, for adults who are trying to master one or another symbolic system
Curriculum	· Multimedia curriculum resources · All intelligences are needed to functions in society o Implies that educators should recognize and teacher to a broader range of talents and skills · A deeper understanding of curriculum material takes place when more intelligences are incorporated o Curriculum needs to facilitate the interconnections between the intelligences
Ethics	· Gardner on Ethics in a YouTube video o Http://www.google.com/url?Sa=X&q=http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=ge1zzjag2vo&oi=manybox&ct=51&cd=1&resnum=7&usg=afqjcnhqda9oqmzzvay8cwrxykrxnbud1a · Ethics have more to do with personality and emotion. The respectful mind, Gardner indicated, has to do with "how we think and relate to other people, most importantly to other people around us.” While this mind develops at a relatively young age, a kind of intuitive altruistic sense of reaching out to those around us, “attempting to understand differences and work with them,” the ethical mind is more abstract, and generally develops during adolescence. It has to do with fulfilling one’s responsibility in the world in terms of job role and as citizen. · Personal challenges of respect versus ethics
Evaluation	· Providing opportunities for assessment of students using their stronger intelligences gives an better idea of their nowledge of the material o Student portfolios, independent projects, student journals and assigning creative tasks · As children do not learn in the same way, they cannot be assessed in a uniform fashion · Individual evaluation practice - allow students to explain the material in their own ways using the different intelligences
Pedagogy	· Allows educators to reflect on the curriculum and their pedagogy to better meet the needs of their students · Material to be learnt in authentic environments · Utilize mentoring with experts in the area of development · No benefit in attempting to teach all subjects using all of the intelligences. He also expresses concern that some ducators have a shallow understanding of what it takes to really engage an intelligence · Teachers should introduce a topic with different entry points, each of which taps primarily one intelligence. Entry points are designed to intrigue the student via a presentation in an intelligence that is a particular strength for him or her. Gardner also believes that a thorough understanding of a topic is achieved only through multiple representations using different intelligences. Hence significant time must be invested to approach a topic from many different perspectives, and topics should be important enough to merit close study · To foster creativity in the classroom, Gardner recommends that teachers “model novel approaches and answers to questions and indicate [to students] that those responses are legitimate.”
Political/Sociology	· Believes ignorance is the root of most evil. Promoting intelligence, education, and reasoning skills won't solve all the world's problems, but at the least, we can know our world is escaping inertia and propelling itself far into the future · Gardner believes that scientists and researchers, those involved in the arts, and teachers at all levels of education can change people’s minds. He discusses how this goal is achieved by these “indirect leaders” through “scientific discoveries, scholarly breakthroughs, and artistic creations.” 7 ways to change peoples’ minds: o Reason: Presenting logical facts in se­quence such as Ben­jamin Franklin’s habit of listing the pros and cons of a given situ­ation to reach a deci­sion o Research: Presenting relevant data, an example of which would be gathering price information before making a purchase. o Resonance: An idea feels like a fit; in other words, the idea “feels right” to the audience o Representational Redescriptions: A viewpoint be­comes more convincing when it is presented it several different ways, each of which proves the same point. For example, an executive implementing a policy change would present the change differently to managers than he would to line workers o Resources and Rewards: In this instance, one option has an ob­vious advantage that makes it too good to pass up. Someone who decided to purchase a modest home to stay within her financial resources would suddenly re­consider her choice in the face of a sudden multi-million dollar lottery win. Coercion can fit into this category; a parent who promises a child extra privileges to reward an improvement in grades could greatly influence that child’s behaviour. o Real-World Events: Wars, economic depressions, or natural disasters can cause people to change their views. Someone who moved to Florida upon retire­ment may well move out of the area after experi­encing a hurricane o Resistance: The greater the resistance, the harder it is to convince others to change their minds. It is difficult to convince someone who is a committed life-long Democrat that he should vote Republi­can. Therefore, it is important to keep resistance in mind. In the book, Gardner attributes an ability to overcome resistance as one reason why Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were able to put their different political views aside and resume their friendship during their later years.
Psychology	· Cognitive Science or Brain Based Learning · When Gardner says that intelligences are independent, he is referring to separate sections of the brain that control each intelligence and have distinct methods of processing information. No one kind of intelligence is better than another each intelligence has its own sphere of expertise · Intelligences do not work independently of one another in a real-world setting. Most tasks require the simultaneous use of several intelligences in order to be completed successfully - intelligences are not fungible · Gardner’s criteria for selecting these particular abilities as intelligences include: o Independence from other intelligences (within the brain); o Having a central set of information-processing operations; o Having a distinct developmental history; o Having roots in evolutionary history; and having a cultural basis. · We all possess all of these intelligences but in varying degrees of strength, skill and limitation

EPISTEMIC “FOUNDATIONS”: PRE-MODERN

Quote: Plato's was the time of great change from instruction in elevated, rhythmic public speech to the predominance of prose speech What formerly could only be recited or sung, can now be pinned down, penned down. The script can be copied, one copy serving as the source for another. The scroll can freeze "materials" for a teacher. It is not the speech but the language of the past that can be made present (p.23).

Summary: In Plato’s time, an improvement occurred in the transmission of information and learning, information no longer needs to be recollected either publicly or by learning rhythms or cadences as a mnemonics device. The information could now be written down and fixed. This fixed material could also be faithfully reproduced and verified, thus resulting in an authentic transmission to others. It is not the “mechanics” (speech) of writing, i.e. how it is done; but the “system of symbols” (language) which gives meaning to the content that is available for learning.

Extension: This change has several double-edged implications. First, writing down information gives it a broader audience for example scholars in Athens could send scholars in Carthage information and it would not be changed by the messenger. However, writing limited the sphere of information i.e. one has to be able to “read” to receive the message. As discussed fixing or pinning the information down had a negative effect on memory, over the years people have not had to “remember” in the same way that they did before. Again, this can have another side to it, instead of “regurgitating” information, which could easily be looked up people could now spend their time conceptualizing. By fixing the word down on paper it appears to give it some form of “truth”. This is problematic in two ways first it is the “truth” of the victors, the power structure etc. that is being fixed not all voices are being heard. Second it can foster a sense of compliance, these people must be write as they already know more about the topic because they were able to write about it.

REMEDIATION

The laptop has remediated my daily life in a variety of ways. First instead of taking notes in the classroom via paper and pen I now you only the laptop thus assisting me in organizing not only my own thoughts better on paper but also the professor’s as well. When the lecture jumps about like the verbal equivalent of hypertext, I am able to return to previous points and insert information as opposed to writing in margins and using arrows etc. Another remediation pertaining is the laptop’s replacement of the library, encyclopaedia, thesaurus and dictionary. From childhood I have always been in the habit of going to the dictionary when reading (whether for school or pleasure) when I do not know a word and using the thesaurus to enrich both my academic and business writing. As a child and into my teens we always had the Encyclopaedia Britannica in our home, I often referenced the material for school projects. The internet as made most text reference books obsolete, it is faster to google then to look up in an index and the information will most likely be more current as well. I rarely physically go into the library anymore. Now I look everything up on line, place the order for my book or article, and then just go to pick up the material I need when it is ready. This saves time and is far more efficient then browsing through the stacks for a book that may have been misplaced or is out. Now that these tools are at my fingertips, I find myself using them more often. One caveat to that is the dictionary for personal reading I won’t open the computer to look up a word I just write it down and if I have time I look it up, if I don’t I just figure out the context form the rest of the story. In terms of curriculum, I see it opening it up for students who like me now have the opportunity to get the answers to their questions with a few key strokes. In an over burdened classroom this could reduce student wait times for teacher assistance and open the teacher up to work with students who need more help. The laptop has made me a “producer” and not just a consumer. I have built websites for school, edited videos and photographs -- manipulating them to suit my purposes/transmit a message. On a personal level, the computer has replaced trips to the bank for such mundane routes as paying bills. I use the computer as a TV/VCR when the primary one is unavailable. Calendar, mail, and instant messaging software have helped me stay in contact with people far away, work on projects collaboratively, and generally organize myself using such functions as tasks for to-do lists and reminder features.

The Longest Journey - A Heroine's Tale

Warning Plot Spoiler



Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsQlh48qO-Q to view the video if you cannot see the above

YEAH!! found a Heroine's Journey told as a videogame

I'm over the moon that I not only found an example of a Heroine's Journey in videogame format but was able to play through the entire game(with assistance from the online walkthrough). The game is called The Longest Journey (TLJ) and it is going to become the template for me to build my Heroine's Journey from.

SPOILER WARNING - Plot (compilation from various sites)

Between science and magic, between order and chaos between Stark and Arcadia there is an ancient balance. For thousands of years the Guardian of the Balance has preserved the Divide between the twin worlds (Stark the solid world of logic and technology that most of us consider to be "reality." Arcadia is the chaotic world of emotion and magic). But now the Guardian has abandoned his tower, the armies of Chaos are advancing and the fate of the worlds is in the hands of one person...the reluctant heroine April Ryan, who at 18 years old leave her repressive home environment and seek her fortune as an art student in Venice, a bohemian slum located in the heart of the sprawling metropolis of Newport. With the power to pass between worlds, April is tasked with restoring the Balance between the two dimensions, before Chaos overruns both worlds. To achieve her goal April must come to understand both worlds (or at least understand herself in both contexts) to achieve lasting balance. As she comes to understand the worlds around her, she solves puzzles to move the plot of the story forward. The creatures, and humans, with whom April interacts vary widely. Some of them add depth to the story, such as the enigmatic Cortez, who does his best to provide some guidance to the struggling protagonist. Others provide breadth, helping to fill out our image of the twin worlds. What makes the game stand out is the believability of the young heroine. Though as a teenager in Stark, April has futuristic technology at her disposal, she still has to deal with many of the same problems students have today. She also has mundane problems with her parents, which become clearer as the story progresses. April does not have any experience that would prepare her to deal with being dropped unceremoniously -- in her nightclothes, no less -- into a magical quest. This is rather refreshing. Most heroes in this style of fantasy adjust to their circumstances far too easily. April never feels terribly heroic; she does heroic things because they are necessary, and she has the courage to resist her doubt and fear. In so doing, she teaches us about our own courage.

TLJ offers 40 hours of fantasy/Sci-Fi gameplay, including all the side conversations divided into 13 chapters. The player controls a single character (April Ryan). TLJ is a third person exploratory graphical-adventure game, also known as an "interactive movie". Such games are more about characters and stories than about the technicalities of interaction. There are no challenges of manual dexterity -- no high-speed chases to maneuver through, no shoot-outs to survive. Adventure games provide their challenges in the form of intellectual puzzles and clues hidden in the environment. As noted from the previous post Adventure games foster judgement, observation, process thinking and reasoning.

Things I would change in the game

• The plot was linear, the quests all needed to be completed in a pre-ordained order and most of the quests could only be completed in only one way. This to me, if transfered to an educational game would feel too much like a regular skill and drill transmitted exercises. I would open up the plot so that items could be collected in any order within a chapter and could be used or combined to move the character through to other chapters. If the order does not fit the story arc then the object could be returned to the inventory to be used again in a more appropriate spot, yet other chapters have been opened and new information is gathered.


• I would vary the puzzles which are required to be completed to move the game forward. For the most part they were comprised of figuring out which objects could be used where and if more then one object is needed how they can be fit together. There were a couple of exceptions e.g. figure out the hieroglyphics on the statue so they align to make a communication system. This required more reasoning than just placing a key in the door to make it open.


• There was no way April could be injured or die. If she didn't do something quickly there were no consequences, or the player tried to make her do something that could hurt or kill her April would refuse. I would have the game in three modes one with timers and levels where April could get hurt and loose lives, the second with no timers but the character could still get injured if the wrong choice is made or would have to double back in order to get out of trouble (this level I would even consider making more interactive having the character confirm the player's choice if it doesn't slow down game play). The third mode would keep the game as is.


• I would make the cut-scenes shorter and intersperse them more so that the same information is reveled to the player just in more frequent smaller doses I found myself wanting to hit escape to skip back to the game play, but knew if I did I might miss important information.

The best thing the game did was provide choice of conversational alternatives, and I would definitely do this as well. Have April go back on her word, or be rude and their were consequences to the story moving forward.

I wish I could bring TLJ into the classroom and use it to show that commercial games can be used educationally, the way Kurt Squires assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison did with Civilization III; however, the game is rated M17 for language and sexual innuendo so I cannot.

The next post will show how The Longest Journey fulfills the criterion of a hero's Journey as per Joseph Campbell's model.

Interesting Prensky Article

I reference this article during the Neuroplasticity seminar. Clicking on the add will allow you to zoom in and read it.

Music and Sound Considerations

I have not played many videogames but the few I have played the music various between annoying (puzzle games) to tolerable but uninspiring. Should the project see fruition and not just concept I would employ a gentleman I met at the Immersive World Confrence, who specializes in video game music. I would like to see the music in the game act like it does in film as a que or to set mood and atmosphere. I see the music reflecting the setting for example this clip would be played during one of the Medieval quests. Please note it takes a moment for it to start after you click the play button

Lick The Maypole by the Mediaeval Baebes Rose album

Click Lick The Maypole if the player is not working for you.

Initial thoughts on curriculum links

I see the screen divided up into three sections

• The top would have all the "statistics" e.g. item gathered during the quest, health meter etc.
• The centre part of the screen would be the game play area
• The lower part of the screen would have captions, as characters speak the words are on the screen, this way the player both hears and sees the words as they are spoken.

As not to interfere with game play vocabulary would appear in the statistic section so players could return to that part of the screen to look up any words they did not understand. By returning to the vocabulary screen players will get additional clues to help them along their quest, in this way both reading and vocabulary acquisition are taking place while playing without interfering with playable elements of the game.

The game could have two options and automatic diary option where all conversations are recorded for the player to return to in order to move forward and/or a diary that the player can write in by pausing the game and putting in conversations, clues etc. in their own words to refer to at a later time. Players could connect in a classroom setting and message clues to each other as well, thus giving an additional writing components. Players could also blog and make suggestions for game improvement or expansion.

Social Studies which incorporates grade 3 pioneers, grade 4 medieval times grade 5 ancient civilizations will be the backbone of the game. The Heroine will travel through time and interact with objects and people in order to move game play forward. For example the player will have to search through a medieval village and speak to the various denizens in order to find an object or acquire information. In the process the player will find out about life in a medieval village.

Math subjects (geom entry, data collection etc.) are incorporated into the game as the player gathers clues or attempts to fire a crossbow at a tree/tower so she can cross a ravine or climb the tower to sneak into a window, or while helping to repair a water wheel etc.

Various habitats could be explored as the character is shrunk or grows during her quest; the human body can be explored as it was in the film the Fantastic Journey as the heroine is shrunk and searches for an object inside the human body.

These are just initial thoughts. I have not began a design document or taken a close look at curriculum expectations in order to come up with a comprehensive plan of what would work and what wouldn't without making subject matter feel like it is being "dropped in."

Confrence: Interacting with Immersive Worlds

I attended the above confrence on June 04-05. It was a great confrence, with my biggest regret being that I wasn't a clone or a triplet so I could be in more then one session at a time.

The confrence was divided into 4 streams:

Theory of Immersive Worlds explored:

i. the theory of interactivity, from perspectives such as narrative and gameplay (ludology);
ii. analyses of the cultural and psychological effects of immersive worlds.

Creative practices in Immersion examined interactive new media art, and its exploration of new idioms and challenges in immersive worlds.

Immersive Worlds in Education examined the application of immersive technologies to teaching and learning.

Immersive Worlds in Entertainment examines entertainment applications of immersive technologies.

The four keynote speakers at the conference were:

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - spoke about Flow and the Phenomenology of Immersive Environments. He explained that flow is the phenomenon of being immeresed in an activity to the point of enrapturement or entrancement. That once an individual is in a state of flow they lose all sense of time, they are so caught up in what they are doing that there is no future or past just and extended present. Flow is critical to meaning making. The following diagrams show how flow is situated between boredom and anxiety and the cycle of flow as one learns a new activity or task

Arousal the state just before flow is the optimal position for learning to take place. Apathy is the least condusive state to learning - watching TV is an activity listed under this state. Prof. Csikszentmihalyi, then went on to list the 6 conditions which foster flow.

1. Attention is focused on a limited stimulus field. There is full concentration, complete involvement
2. Action and awareness merge – only participant not both participant and observer e.g. don’t think about where your fingers on the piano just playing
3. There is freedom from worry about failure – feel unstoppable
4. Self-consciousness disappears – ego which is presented to the world disappears
5. Time is distorted
6. The experience become its own reward - not expecting anything from the activity accept the activity itself – valuable for its own sake

In flow there are clear goals every step of the way and feedback is immediate.

When he was asked if there is a difference between cerebral and physical activities in relation to flow he said though he had not specificly set up his research to look for difference he also did not note any differences, the 6 conditions were found in both types of activities.

Chris Csikszentmihalyi - directs the Media Lab's Computing Culture group, which works to create unique media technologies for cultural applications. His presentation was entitled - No Do-overs: Technology and First Lives. He spoke broadly about ethics in technology and the convergence between technology and art.

James Paul Gee - Author of What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy spoke about the 7 core principles that make a video game motivating for learning.

1. Psyching out – how rules can be used for your advantage to accomplish goals to which you are personally and emotionally attached
2. Micro-control that gives rise to either embodied intimacy or an extension of power and visio
3. Experiential learning that meets all the right conditions for learning from experience
4. Finding and using Effectivity (skills) Affordance Matches between Bodies (given by micro control) or Tools and Worlds – invitation to action
5. Modeling and using Models to make learning from concrete experience more general and abstract
6. Player-Enacted Stories or Trajectories
7. Modding as adaptive rather than assimilating

Prof. Gee questions if serious game can have all 7 properties, and if not which properties are the most important, and should be kept in mind while designing serious games.

Gee says humans use the above principles daily in the "real world" however their control/agency over them is being eroded ,thus good videogames which employ these principles are addictive because they return the control and agency to the player/character.

Denis Dyack - Founder and Preseident of Silicon Knights, closed the confrence with a discussion on convergence in the gaming industry, called The 8th Art. Dyack said film is called the seventh art and videogames are the next step in the convergence of all other art forms (books, film, TV and radio), hence the eighth art. Dyack went on to discuss how despite technology rapidly changing it is having less and less of an impact on games themselves, i.e. developers don't have to worry about being outpaced by the technology resulting in bigger and better content instead of "technological tricks". Dyack predicts that the Internet will ultimately take over gaming hardware by digitally streaming software directly to the end-user in realtime thus eliminating piracy. Women make up 25% of the current gaming market, further the SIMS was one of the all time highest selling games with these two stats in mind Dyack sees a bright future for women in games both as players and developers.

In terms of education the strongest concept regarding videogames is their abilities to let learners make mistakes and "do-over" rather then penalize them for their mistakes.

Additional References

Alam, Junaid. (2004). What is a galaxy without stars: drop the sexism, bring the women. The Escapist, 17 Retrieved 01 June, 2007 from http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/17

Banet-Weiser Sarah. (2004). Girls Rule!: gender, feminism, and Nickelodeon. Critical Studies in Media Communication.21(2) 119–139

Crawford, Chris. (2004). Women in games. The Escapist, 17 Retrieved 01 June, 2007 from http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/17

Do Rozario, Rebecca-Anne C.(2004). The princess and the magic kingdom: beyond nostalgia, the function of the Disney princess. Women's Studies in Communication; 27(1) 34-59

Grigsby, Mary (1998). "Sailormoon: Manga (comics) and Anime (cartoon) superheroine meets Barbie: global entertainment commodity comes to the United States" The Journal of Popular Culture 32 (1) 59-80

Melling, O.R.(2001). Chronicles of faerie:golden book of faerie. Toronto: Puffin Canada

Pullman, P.(1995) His dark materials:northern lights. London:Scholastic

-- (1997) His dark materials:the subtle knife. London:Scholastic

-- (2000) His dark materials: the amber spyglass. London:Scholastic

-- (2003)Lyra's Oxford. London:Scholastic

Ruberg, Bonnie. (2004). Women monsters and monstrous women: representing the feminine in survivalist horror. The Escapist, 17 Retrieved 01 June, 2007 from http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/17

Schott, G and Kambouri, M. (2006) Social play and learning. In D. Carr et al, Computer games: text, narrative and play. (pp 119-132) Malden, MA:Polity Press.

Podcast - Designing Using the Hero's Journey from Gamasutra

Here is the link to a podcast on how the Hero's Journey is used in videogame design it is about
56 min long http://cmpmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o1/gdcradio-net/GDCR/gdcr_017.mp3

I have not yet listened to it from start to finish.

Software Evaluation

To date I have evaluated and rejected 4 programs which do not require programming knowledge in order to build the game. I have another 3 which have come to my attention which I will be evaluating.

3D Adventure Studio
An editor for creating adventure games. It consists of two parts:

• An editor: To allow you to create your own 3D Adenture games
• A runtime engine: To play games created with 3D Adventure Studio

This package is out of Norway and is still under construction according to the site, however looking at the download pages, nothing has been updated since 2003. The package came with a 15 page tutorial which was poorly written. I spent most of one day working with the software. The programs biggest disadvantage is one must repeatedly tap the arrow keys in the editor to zoom in and out when playing the game. The results of how the program looks and works wasn't worth the effort. Further the game could not be modified at this point to add characters, dialogue etc.

Here is a picture of an outdoor scene

Adventure Game Studio

Adventure Game Studio (AGS for short) allows for the creatation of point-and-click adventure games. It consists of a development environment, and run-time engine. The game interface is fully customizable. AGS came with an extensive tutorial and is still supported through Wikis and a support team should questions arrive. However the resulting game is 2D and very simplistic looking. The software as far as I could discover after 2 days of experimentation is only customizable within pre-existing perameters and thus was not suitable for developing my Heroine's Journey.

Here is a sample of the software's interface

Game Factory 2

From the company

"The Games Factory provides everything you need to manufacture Arcade games, Platform games, Adventures, Screen Savers, and much, much, more. You simply click on an object, drag it to the play field, and click on the action it should perform. We supply all the heroes, monsters, powerups, and other objects you need, plus the sound and music for your games. Of course, you can easily add your own, custom items if you choose."

GF2 had the best tutorial of all the software packages I evaluated, including both pictures and words, which made it easier to follow. The tutorials were seperated into 14 steps or lessons. Though the company claimed that by following the tutorial a game could be created in an hour I found in reality it took 3+ hours to build the example I will be showing below. Without purchasing the complete package I cannot conclusively rule out that the program is incapable of being customized to my requirements, however following a series of emails with the support department and the resulting arcade style game I have decided to keep looking around.

Here is the resulting game

Here is the URL to view it directly from YouTube if you cannot see this embedded version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbayFAJ6jzg

Reality Factory

The last software package I evaluated was Reality Factory, a freely available toolkit that allows for the creation of complete, commercial quality games without knowing any programming. It was the most promising of all the software though harder to learn then some of the others. It's major draw back is that it is a shooter, and hence not suitable for my Heroine's journey. I contacted support to see if the game could be modified to be an adventure game and was told a couple of people online were experiementing with doing so and I should contact the forum, but they could not help with any modifications because they designed a shooter. I posted to the forum but was never contacted back. I spent 2 days working with the software to get the following example:

Here is the URL to view it directly from YouTube if you cannot see this embedded version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZacBMb6vn_Q

Design

Below is a sample of how the Nine Act Story Structure from film can be used to design a videogame.



In case the video is giving anyone problems here is the URL to the uploaded movie directly on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP2M6qo6n5g

Star Wars: The quintessential hero's Journey

As I mention at the end of the video clip. I would have liked to have used a female protagonist and given a film or literary example of the Heroine's Journey, but todate without extensive research I have not be able to find a story to give as an example so I chose Star Wars to illustrate the journey.



If you are having problems viewing it from here click this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3PDmwnUbvM and it will take you to YouTube to see the video

References

This is alist of articles, books and links I have started to accumulate. It will be updated throughout my research.

Bates, Bob. (2005). Into the Woods: A Practical Guide to the Hero's Journey. Gamasutra Retrieved 12 March 2007 from http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050617/bates_01.shtml

Campbell, Joseph. (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

de Castell, S.C., & Jenson, J. (2005). Videogames and digital game play - The new field of educational game studies. Orbit, 35(2), 17-20.

de Castell, S.C., Luke, A. (1986). Defining literacy in North American schools: Social and historical conditions and consequences. In S.C. de Castell, A.Luke, & K. Egan (Eds.), Literacy, society and schooling (pp. 87-109). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Dickey, Michele D. (2006). Game Design Narrative for Learning: Appropriating Adventure Game Design Narrative Devices and Techniques for the Design of Interactive Learning Environments. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 54, 3; 245

Estes, Clarissa Pinkola. (1992) Women who run with the wolves: myths and stories of the wild woman archetype. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

Gamasutra Podcast (Producer) Bates, Bob.(Presenter) (2007, January 03). A Practical Guide to the Hero's Journey [Podcast radio program]. GDCRadio's store & podcast. Retrieved March 12, 2007, from http://cmpmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o1/gdcradio-net/GDCR/gdcr_017.mp3

Gee, J.P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave/St. Martin’s.

Hopkins, Lisa. (2002). The Female Hero in English Renaissance Tragedy. Palgrave Macmillan.

Labre, Magdala Peixotoand Duke, Lisa. (2004)."Nothing Like a Brisk Walk and a Spot of Demon Slaughter to Make a Girl’s Night".: The Construction of the Female Hero in the Buffy Video Game. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 28: 138-156

McKinley, Kathryn. (2001). Reading the Ovidian Heroine: "Metamorphoses" commentaries 1100 – 1618. Brill Academic Publishers.

O'Reilly, Julie D. (2005). The Wonder Woman Precedent: Female (Super)Heroism on Trial. Journal of American & Comparative Cultures, 28(3), 273-283(11).

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital game-based learning. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Sánchez-Escalonilla, Antonio (2005) The Hero as a Visitor in Hell: The Descent into Death in Film Structure. Journal of Popular Film & Television, 32, 4; 149

Sherman, Sharon R. (1997). Perils of the princess: Gender and genre in video games. Western Folklore; 56 (3/4), 243.

Swift, Susan Eleanor. (1999). Film, feminism, and the sacred: The tension of gender and mythology in popular film. Institute of Integral Studies

Vogler, Christopher. (1992) The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structurefor Storytellers and Screenwriters. California: Michael Wiese Productions.

Introduction to my MRP

I have chosen to do a major research project instead of a thesis. I am using this blog as a journal or log to track my research progress as I come across information etc. so that I will have an amalgamated source to refer to when pulling my project together.

I will be designing an educational videogame using the Hero's Journey (also known as the Monomyth) as it's core. However, I have chosen to put a twist on the project, and make it a Heroine's Journey because rarely do hero's journeys have a female protagonist.

During my initial research when I googled the term "heroine's journey" the only references that came up were to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Xena Warrior Princess." When I turned to the York research librarians for assistants, I was given Penelope (Odysseus' wife) and other Ovidian/classical examples, which most people would not be able to identify with today.

The challenge for my MRP at this point as I see it is four fold. If anyone has other suggestions, thoughts, comments, ideas etc. please email me.

1) Design

• Story/Script (Dialogue) - Character - Plot - Setting - Conflict - Archetypes etc.
• Levels
• Music
• Playability - balancing action with puzzles etc.

2) Educational content - Initially I was going to design the game for a junior/intermediate audience (Grades 4-9); however, after watching the popular TV game show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" I realized that many adults are not familiar with material grade school students are learning. As long as there is not "graphic" content and language I don't see a reason to limit the audience.

• I need to determine what topics from the curriculum could be learned from this type of game and demonstrate from existing literature what other learning is occurring during game play.
• Educational material MUST be embedded into the game and not an add-on.
• Content MUST not be drill like problems

3) Joesph Campbell was the first to write about the basic pattern of the Hero's Journey found in many myths from around the world. In looking at the Heroine's Journey, I need to explore

• If and how it differs from the Hero's Journey.
• Does a Heroine need to kill in order to fulfill her journey
• What will be the Heroine's trials
• What will be the boon she brings back to her people - one idea I had for linking this to curriculum was that the heroine would bring back the Magna Carta

4) Lastly I will be looking into various programs for building the game. I have limited programing ability. I need to find programs which will be relatively easy to learn for a novice. I have discusses this with my advisor, and we determined that it is quite possible that I will not be able to actually find anything suitable for my programming level but I should document my search and experience with the programs I try.

The subsequent posts will all have little bits of work that I have been doing towards the above. Images, music etc. that I am using are all for educational purposes only. I have not given specific references for images as in some cases they are too numerous (e.g. I used over 20 sources to create a film clip explaining the Hero's Journey using Star Wars as an example.) I have used YouTube to house my images but they are set as private as not to violate copy write issues.