Tuesday June 12, 2007 Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) in the new media classroom
As part of our new concept here at Blern, we are going to be attempting an "article of the month" review each month or so. To start this out, I've chosen Aaron Delwiche's "Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) in the new media classroom" (2006). The idea is simple, each month or so a Blern author will post a review of a scholarly article and the other Blern authors (and anyone else for that matter) can post a comment containing their review of the article. Afterwards we will all get together for a short meeting over coffee or lunch or whatever. On to this month's article...
http://www.ifets.info/download_pdf.php?j_id=32&a_id=661 (full text)
http://www.ifets.info/abstract.php?art_id=661 (abstract)
screenshot taken from Second Life
The premise of this article is to delve into the educational benefits of games, specifically, Internet-based massive multiplayer role-playing games (MMORPG). The author, Aaron Delwiche, has taught two classes using Everquest and Second Life respectively, and is more or less sharing his insights and lessons learned from these experiences. As he states himself, these findings are anecdotal and lack any "formal and detailed classification."
These types of games, and recently Second Life in
particular, have gained a lot of attention from the education community. I myself have been to a few seminars on this
topic, although I did miss the speaker who came to DH Hill not too long
ago. Out of everything that I have seen,
this article does the best job of describing the real benefits, potentials as
well as what to be fearful of.
I've asked myself before, what does adding graphics to the equation really add to learning, as opposed to discussion boards, chat rooms and the like. I think this is the answer: 3D online learning environments are "living, breathing textbooks" or at least, they can be. These environments are so engaging that when experiencing one of these MMORPGs, you may slip into a flow state where you become more confident, exhibit more exploratory behaviors, your sense of time becomes distorted and you experience greater learning overall. You can become so engaged with the material that you literally lose track of everything else. I see this in a way as tricking a student into learning by making the environment so enjoyable and immersive that the students forget that they are "doing homework." Being able to harness that flow experience for education is one of the greatest potentials and challenges for the future of online gaming in education.
There are other challenges associated with these 3D environment. What to watch out for include dealing with a steep learning curve of a game, the limitations of current technology and most importantly the potential harm that games like these can cause to individuals. Because of the highly addictive nature of these games, the author recommends warning students in advance of any class that uses these. In fact, there are clinics out there that treat people who have become too immersed. Although that flow state is powerful and enticing, MMORPGs have the potential to ruin lives, so however they are used in the future, it should definitely be done with caution.
However, I invite you to please comment with your own insights on this subject or reviews of this article! Also, if you like, you can join Blern at the Learning Commons in the Presentation Practice Room at 10 am on July 19th to sit and talk about this topic over coffee.
Comments are closed for this entry.
Interesting read.
Posted by Scott on June 12, 2007 at 01:50 PM EDT #
My alma mater has been teaching with MOOS,MUDS, MMORPGs for a while now. I took a class my senior year that was completely in a virtual environment. Check out Ohio University's Second Life Campus/Promotional Video.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aFuNFRie8wA
Posted by Mike on June 13, 2007 at 09:32 AM EDT #
I've been a fan of these types of games for years, and generally, I agree with the assertion (attributed to Steinkuehler in the Delwiche article) that these virtual environments can share certian characteristics with social communities in the physical world (such as specialized language or social rituals), and I'm glad that academics are finding these environments to be worthy of their attention and study. I've heard Steinkuehler speak a couple of times this year -- good stuff.
Still, to be honest, I have yet to be convinced of MMO games' broad applicability in instructional settings. Whenever I hear about a teacher using a MMO setting for a class, it always seems to be in some very specific context, such as Delwiche's examples of using a MMO game to study the social practices within the MMO game itself, or using a MMO game to study the design characteristics of MMO games. I think that an instructor who wants to use an environment like this in instruction needs to have some very specific instructional goals and objectives.
I would love to hear about other examples of how, specifically, instructors are using these environments in teaching. New technology is cool and all, but using technology for its own sake, without sound pedagogical underpinnings, is a mistake.
The article stresses the importance of bridging the game experience and the real world domain of professional practice, which is another element that seems to be missing from some of the examples I've seen of this type of work.
I'm not bashing the article; it sounds like the two examples that Delwiche describes would be wonderful clases to take, if one were a student in those specific areas of study. I might even try to get my hands on the course readings packets from the example courses he describes.
The topic of "addiction" in the context of gaming is also a little troubling for me; some of the warnings seem exaggerated to me, such as the description of "many stories of students whose lives had been ruined by Everquest addiction". Really? I am dubious. Anyone know of any actual statistics on this topic?
My favorite line in the article: "By the end of the class session, the Misty Thicket was littered with scores of Halfling corpses." LOL. Noobs. :)
Posted by swatkins on June 14, 2007 at 02:32 PM EDT #
Thanks for pointing us to a really interesting article that points out a lot of interesting aspects of MMOs. I think the article did a great job of outlining characteristics of MMOs that could potentially be beneficial for learning as well as some important concerns to keep in mind.
I agree with Swatkins that I haven't yet seen enough evidence that MMOs can be broadly applied to learning contexts. It seems like it takes a very specific context -- such as Delwiche's course content -- to make intense, in-depth use of an MMOs a good idea. Consideration of using something as involved as an MMO necessitates thinking about teaching and learning in a pretty creative way. Even if an instructor doesn't decide to go all out and use an MMO, maybe there are elements of these environments and gaming in general that could be incorporated into real world learning experiences as opposed to the virtual world.
It seems like most recently I've heard people throwing around ideas about using Second Life for helping students connect online to help each other and build relationships at a distance rather than engaging deeply in learning activities. This social use seems to be somewhat different from the more involved activities in Delwiche's courses. I'd like to see some reports on how well this is working and if students like it.
I do want to point out that Delwiche is pretty cautious about recommending use of MMOs. I was pleased to see his closing comment, "In many classroom situations, face-to-face discussion makes more sense than on-line interactions...In many situations, traditional methods of instruction will work just fine. Yet, we should not be afraid to experiment. Experiment, like play itself, is ripe with possibility."
I think it's cool that there are instructors like Delwiche who are willing to experiment. We should be willing to experiment in both the virtual and non-virtual worlds.
Posted by klducket on June 14, 2007 at 03:55 PM EDT #
I found this link on del.icio.us:
Higher Ed efforts in Second Life:
http://www.universitybusiness.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=797&pf=1
Posted by swatkins on June 17, 2007 at 05:39 PM EDT #
I saw some news this morning related to the "video game addiction" angle that the article discusses.
Whole article at news.com
"Doctors backed away on Sunday from a controversial proposal to designate video game addiction as a mental disorder akin to alcoholism, saying psychiatrists should study the issue more.
Addiction experts also strongly opposed the idea at a debate at the American Medical Association's annual meeting. They said more study is needed before excessive use of video and online games--a problem that affects about 10 percent of players--could be considered a mental illness.
"There is nothing here to suggest that this is a complex physiological disease state akin to alcoholism or other substance abuse disorders, and it doesn't get to have the word addiction attached to it," said Dr. Stuart Gitlow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "
Posted by 152.1.209.139 on June 26, 2007 at 08:25 AM EDT #
That's very interesting. I don't think I would compare a substance abuse addiction with a video game addiction either. I would, however, still call it an addiction in a non-medical sense. I read an article not too long ago that said the average gamer in America is 33 and the more avid players have spent 10 years playing games. There are individuals who play 18 hours a day, lose sleep, ignore loved ones, don't keep up with their hygiene, etc. Granted, they aren't physically harming anyone near them or ending up on the streets either. There's other stuff in this article too, about how gaming addiction may really be indicative of some other kind of issue, like depression or social anxiety.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19354827/
Posted by Charlie on June 26, 2007 at 09:14 AM EDT #
This is a really facinating opportunity for education, but, as the article mentions, there are accessibility issues with Second Life. Not just the usability/learning curve issue, but it provides a barrier as assistive technologies can't interact inside it. If something like Second Life or another 3D virtual environment is to be used in an educational setting, we need to find a way that the educational value can be replicated in an accessible way. I'm hoping that the developers of these worlds will start to think about these issues.
Posted by Lisa on June 28, 2007 at 01:50 PM EDT #
Interesting article, although I don't think his use of Second Life shows the education advantages of the game - seems like it was just another sort of teaching tool. They could have been programming an X-box game.
What I did think was really neat was the focus on translating "student engagement in the game world to engagement in an overlapping knowledge community that is connected to the theoretical concerns of the course in which the MMO is being used."
I think Quest Atlantis does a particularly good job of this. You can explore Quest Atlantis here:
http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/index.html
In particular, I find this page helpful for describing how Quest Atlantis works:
http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/public/qa_worlds.pl
Posted by Kim on July 13, 2007 at 04:25 PM EDT #
These multiplayer online games can help develop a person's social skills. They get to interact with other players around the globe in a virtual environment. This could really be a good way to develop social skills.
Through these games, people can make friends, do business, indulge in conversations, and learn or share ideas with others. This should be like a practice for players to use their social skills. Thing is, they should apply it in the real world as well. They should use their social skills in dealing with people personally. Because there are times when they would prefer communicating virtually rather than face to face.
Important matters that need to be talked about should not really be relied in the virtual way. It is still best to settle things personally.
Posted by Social Skills on August 23, 2007 at 12:20 PM EDT #
Through these multiplayer online games, players get to use and practice their communication skills by interacting with the other players even if they do not know each other. This fosters friendship, teamwork, and goos sportsmanship.
Online games can also develop one's communication skills by being able to communicate with other players from different countries. They can adjust to each other's differences and develop good relationships.
Posted by Communication Skills on November 22, 2007 at 03:21 PM EST #