Jenkins Response

One thing that caught my attention while reading the Jenkins article was their mentioning of games as a means of learning for children. This reminded me of some research I did last semester on this very subject.

In an article I read last semester, the authors discussed a type of game that enables players to manage virtual worlds. One example had students be an environmental scientist in charge of a wildlife park. They had to manage water pH levels, oxygen, and so on. Then the game would advance a decade or so and show them the results of their actions. Whether or not the fish were dead or other scenarios had occurred depended on what the player did. This enabled them to see real world consequences without having Green Peace on their back for killing a lake of fish.

"Part of what makes play valuable as a mode of problem-solving and learning is that it lowers
the emotional stakes of failing: players are encouraged to suspend some of the real world consequences of the represented actions, to take risks and learn through trial and error" (p. 25). This quote from the Jenkins article gives a good explanation for why learning from games can be valuable.

Participatory culture seems to be ever growing in popularity, so it only makes sense to adapt it to learning as well.

~JV