Week 13: MMO2

B. So?

A. Wow. In two ways. I've never been assigned to play games before. And I never imagined that there were actually people doing real research on this stuff... I mean, they're games!

B. Yes they are. But there's way more research going on than you realize even now. Here's a bunch of other research that's currently going on. Read the abstracts of all these pieces (that have them), skim all of these pieces, and read at least three of them completely. I want you to read all the abstracts so that you get a feel for the breadth of the research in gaming. Some of this seems closely related to learning and some of it doesn't. But let me assure you, it all is.

• Rich Interaction in the Context of Networked Virtual Environments: Experiences Gained from the Multi-player Games Domain (PDF)--Manninen
• Economics of Virtual Worlds--Castronova
• Ethics and Games--Reynolds
• Rubicite Breastplates (PDF)--Burke
• The Daedalus Project--especially the revised motivation framework--Yee
• The Laws of the Virtual Worlds--Lastowka and Hunter
• The Sopranos Meets EverQuest--Jakobsson and Taylor
• Problem-Centered Coaching and Communities of Practice (No Longer Available)--Can
• The Unreal Estate Boom--Dibbell
• A Lever to Move the Mind--Au
• Replaying History (PDF)--Squire and Barab
• Killers Have More Fun--Kim
• and literally anything written by Constance Steinkuehler on the topic

A. [looking to other students] That's a lot of abstracts...

B. It is. And there's alot of game playing yet to be done this week... If we can arrange things, we may even hold a class meeting in Lineage. Watch for more about that on the class listserv.

A. That would just be weird.

B. This week I want you to do more doing, as it were. So I'm going to shut up and cut straight to the assignment.

Assignment: More Gaming

• Complete the readings for the week as described above.
• Play Lineage for another five hours *minimum*.
• *Have fun!* but also pay attention to what's happening during game play. Are you seeing any of the phenomena described in the research you skimmed this week?
• Post a short piece to your blog about teaching and learning in MMO environments. Discuss Merrill's five components of effective instruction from last week in the context of the game you've logged 12+ hours on and the research articles you have read. Are teaching and learning really done differently here than in classrooms? If so, how? If not, why? Use general constructs in your discussion, like guidance, feedback, practice, presentation of information, timing of presentation, etc. Illustrate your points with examples from your own gaming experience.

A. And, yes, we'll all post them on time.

B. As corny as it sounds, you'll get as much out of this week as you put into it. THINK. PONDER. CONSIDER. Try to connect things in your mind. Try to open you mind to ways MMO technologies could be used to support learning.

A. Ok, ok. Let me go get started!

B. See you online!