directing learning

In many first-person shooters games, the environment of the game is structured to help guide the player through the maze of the level. In cases where the scenery opens up (like open street fighting in Left 4 Dead) the direction the bad guys are coming from is often an indicator to the player which direction they should be moving. For those who don’t play, it’s usually toward the bad guys. In the game demo’d in class tonight, Army of 2, the unfinished warehouse walls directed the player toward the path they should take to get through the level. There were extra walled in rooms that allowed the player to explore, potentially picking up amo, weapons and money, but the basic path to navigate the level was provided in the scenery. In this way, many first-person shooter games are designed to allow the player freedom to move within the world, while clearly directing their play and path. However, unless GPS is activated, the player simply ‘reads’ the environment for clues on navigation, having previous experience in first person shooters is often helpful for reading the scenery quicker. So a player who prefers this type game becomes more familiar with the scenery and builds literacy skills that help them read the environment to navigate their way through the levels.


In this way games are directing the learning of a player. Specifically, first person shooter games are signaling to players where to go, and providing clues in the scenery as to the correct path. However, most players read these clues without being conscious of their learning of and use of a specific literacy skill within a specific game genre. As educators we look at learning within in videogames for ways to help us direct classroom learning. How do we create a learning environment where the path from day 1 of school to the last day of school is directed to the students without them realizing the pushes they receive along the way? How does the scenery of a classroom encourage exploration, and reward correct exploration behavior, while still creating the necessary literacy skills to keep the student on the correct path without them even realizing they are learning how to be while learning ?

motivation

Some researchers look at narrative in videogames the way they look at narrative in TV shows and movies, as plot devices that function to tell the watcher a story. The problem is videogames are interactive, a player rarely simply watches the action happen, they see bits of a story so they can get to a part where they make the action happen. In some newer games narrative has become a more complex part of the introduction and includes short videos full of plot introducing the character and characters to the player. In many ways these introductory videos function to motivate the players. They provide enough interaction and enough background information to draw the player in, to make them want to complete the game. The story functions to motivate players by building identification with the character they are playing as. They are given just enough story to be intrigued (granted not all games are good at this).


So, if plot videos in videogames function to build motivation to keep players playing by creating identification with the characters, how else does identification develop? In various web communities members become recognized members through various literacy practices unique to the environment. They work toward being recognized as a member, they build literacy to gain identification. In these situations does identification function as the motivating factor for putting in the work to build literacy skills? Is identification with the character of a videogame the motivating factor keeping players playing and the videos just the tool of delivering identification?