GLS 2007 - Gamer Mindset
Games, Learning and Society 3.0
Madison, Wisconsin
July 12-13, 2007
Opening Plenary Session
Gamer Mindset
Presenter: James Paul Gee
This was my first opportunity to here Gee speak and wish that I had more thorough notes but was trying to eat at the same time. (Jenny Levine has very detailed notes though). Here are a few things that stood out...and some of my comments in italics.
- encouraging tech savvy will help with tech innovation (which is a big concern in the US - especially in comparison to 'tech' countries like India. the current education system stifles this innovation and current attempts (eg. standardization) are the opposite of what is needed.
- Modding - the development of a modding culture where 'gamers' are not just using but modifying. Creating new things from different things -reimagining use (like Jenkins' vision of a convergent culture - many forms coming together in different ways).
- Failure - why did you fail? Understanding the reasons behind the lack of success. One fails, then tries again -presumably getting better each time. Failure=learning yet even in university one receives a grade, not necessarily the whys and why nots - many graded papers with just a letter grade and no real understanding of why the grade. The focus is on the end product, not the process. I worked at a technical college for five years and a number of the programs allowed students to repeat exams - up to four times! My first reaction is that these are dumb students - but if it takes them four times do they know the material now, do they know the material any better? What about a nursing student that gets 75% on an anatomy exam - does this mean they don't know 25% of the human body? Sorry patient - I mixed up the kidney and lungs! Anatomy also covers cellular, genetics, etc. that isn't necessary for some nurses to know on a day-to-day basis - it is important that they do. As students we may have opportunities to figure things out - you don't always get an opportunity to use the knowledge that we did learn. Do those as gamers, like myself, learn better by failure and the try, try again method? When do we reach a threshold and go grab a walk-through or a cheat code? Is this the importance of social networks - I've reached so far and now I need some help? I've tried this paper - didn't do so hot - I won't worry about plagiarism because it gets me to my end goal. Or am I getting confused about motivation and risk?
- Transgressing - learning the rules / adapting the rules - gaming the system.
- Seeing through the player's world - and looking for the models that the learner uses to see and interact with the world around them.
- Gamers look for multiple ways to success /prestige.
- social organizations are different for gaming communities
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