Travelers of the Metaverse

It has been one week since our presentation. A triad of students from our course presented at the
VWBPE conference. What an experience. The planning and preparation. Putting together a presentation on our learning was an experience that led to more learning that I could have read about in an article or textbook. When I originally signed on to this project, I really didn't understand the extent of the project. "Travelers of the Metaverse" was a catchy title and I saw that only one student was signed up to present this topic. It turned out that in the end there were three of us who had tethered ourselves to this project, and so our journey began.

Our initial meeting began with a clarification of the topic, and a brainstorming session of possibilities. As each member began to throw out ideas it became clear how our roles would take form and evolve over the next few weeks. One was a designer and organizer, one a builder, and one the computer expert and functional designer. I was unsure how our project would progress, but with each person taking on a role that was of interest we immediately found ourselves consumed with the presentation. We each had our spaces to work. We began a conversation and a working document to keep track of each other's progress. We checked in with each other and the collaboration commenced. In the beginning we were cautious to be considerate of the others talents and creativity, but by the end we had gotten to know each other and were able to provide honest and constructive feedback for the common purpose of the presenation. The understanding of our roles, and the expertise that each member had created a project that not only afforded me the opportunity to learn more about my interest, but it opened up a space and opportunity for my peers to teach me about theirs. It was fun and engaging and the a small community within our class had formed. Through construction of our presentation we each connected with each other about the course we were taking together, our goals and even a bit about our personal lives. We came together and achieved many goals that in the beginning of the course I would have thought far out of my capability reach. Through the support of my peers and instructor I have found that anything is possible.

In the Flow

Well I have fully arrived in the World of Warcraft and will not say that I am addicted, but I am in the flow. The understanding of flow and its addictive properties is not only an important idea in gaming but an important idea in teaching. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi introduced the experience of flow. The components he discusses are: clear goals, immediate feedback, balance between challenges and skills, action and awareness, minimal distractions, ability to take risks, loss of self-concioucness, distortion of time and autotelic activity (Csikszentmihalyi, 2009). Flow theory is explained as, "flow theory, predicts that experience will be most positive when a person perceives that
the environment contains high enough opportunities for action(or challenges), which are matched with the person's own capacities to act (or skills). When both challenges and skills are high,
the person is not only enjoying the moment, but is also stretching his or her capabilities with the likelihood of learning new skills and increasing self-esteem and personal complexity (Csikszentmihalyi & LeFevre, 1989, pg. 816). Flow is something that Kurt Squire discusses when he talks about why we should study video games? Squire (2011) answers this question with four responses: 1. They are engaging, 2. Games develop academic interests and content, 3. Games are participatory and can produce outcomes and 4. They are highly motivational and the work itself inspires and adds to the human experience.

In our meeting this week we looked at what makes the game of World of Warcraft educational. There were many positives and negatives to the game and what it has to offer. For us as students in the course it is teaching me to be reflective of what others perspectives are, and how I can be open and sensitive to those viewpoints. I listened to a classmate explain their dislike of the violence in the game. This was a perspective that I did not understand before opening my self up to this point of view. Now I see the importance of what we teach, the tools we use and how these can impact our learners in various ways. I have a better respect for my classmates sensitivities and know this will translate to my students.

My mind has expanded with this introduction to gaming. Engaging in a game like World of Warcraft has open my mind. The design of this games leads me to question how, as teachers, we can facilitate  perspective taking, common purpose and empowering students. How can we design spaces for students to fail, succeed, engage and excel. There is a lot to learn not just from the flow of the game, but questioning how and why flow happens and how that translates to our classes.

Artemis Maat Level 13 ;)



References

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009). Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and. HarperCollins e-books.

Csikszentmihalyi, M., & LeFevre, J. (1989). Optimal experience in work and leisure. Journal of personality and social psychology, 56(5), 815-822.

Squire, K. (2011). Video Games and Learning: Teaching and Participatory Culture in the Digital Age. Technology, Education--Connections (the TEC Series). Teachers College Press. 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027.

WOW!

Artemis has entered the World of Warcraft. It is a very different place then she has ever been. The process of downloading this game and entering this virtual world was way more intimidating then Joykadia and Second Life.

In World of Warcraft Artemis has to take on a role and begin to uncover her missions and level up. Our first venture into this world was overwhelming and exhilarating. Our time flew as we learned to navigate, friend, battle and level. In a pause in the action the question was raised, "but how do we use this in the classroom?" I flashed back to a presentation I had watched by James Paul Gee in the summer of 2013 (http://youtu.be/JnEN2Sm4IIQ). In this presentation he discusses how the interaction of the game teaches us how to work collaboratively to solve a problem. "They need to understand the big picture so they can integrate their skill set with a very different skill set of the other people. In the world of high tech work this is called a cross functional team. Every member of a team has to be an absolute expert but understand the roles of everyone else so that if needed they can take their place (Edutopia, 2012)."

World of Warcraft gives us a space to lead, to collaborate, to overcome a challenge (TedxYouth, 2013). In our current culture of high stakes testing, we do not take the time to teach students that great successes come from great failures. When we discuss educational benefits we often look for something that is measurable. How do you measure confidence, leadership the ability to collaborate, and the ability to problem solve. What I see when I play WOW, enter Joykadia, or even play Dots on my phone is that these games teach us a lot about how we learn, excel and develop as a life long learner.

We need to shift "how do we use this in the classroom?" to how can we change our classrooms to create environments that allow students opportunities to explore the world with meaningful and supportive interactions that allow them collaborate, create and even fail.


References

Edutopia (2012, March 21). James Paul Gee on learning with video games [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnEN2Sm4IIQ

TedxYouth (2013, October 21). How World of Warcraft saved me and my education [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBpcTw7pzJs