A computer lab has become one of the most popular hangouts at Northern Virginia Community College after officials decided to load its PCs with popular video games, install a PlayStation and an Xbox, and declare it "for gamers only." The goal of this lab is to entice students to take game-design and other IT courses. John Min, dean of…

For a growing group of educators, the online role-playing game World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment's massively popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), is a place to go to relax, network, and discover potential learning strategies-- and slay a few monsters if they get in the way. The online role-playing game World of…

Recently, attention has been paid to computer and video games as a medium for learning. This article provides a way of conceptualizing them as possibility spaces for learning. It provides an overview of two research programs: (1) an after-school program using commercial games to develop deep expertise in game play and game creation, and (2) an…

This book shows teachers how to bring students' Do-It-Yourself media practices into the classroom (Grades 6-12). In one accessible resource, the authors explain DIY media, identify their appealing features for content area instruction, and describe the literacy skills and strategies they promote. Chapters address: Adolescents' DIY Media as New…

As 3D digital game-based learning (3D-DGBL) for the teaching of literature and history gradually gains acceptance, important questions will need to be asked regarding its method of design, development, and deployment. This article offers a synthesis of contemporary pedagogical, instructional design, new media, and literary-historical theories to…

Video games and gambling often contain very similar elements with both providing intermittent rewards and elements of randomness. Furthermore, at a psychological and behavioral level, slot machine gambling, video lottery terminal (VLT) gambling and video game playing share many of the same features. Despite the similarities between video game…

In this paper we articulate an alternative approach to look at video games and learning to become a creator and contributor in the digital culture. Previous discussions have focused mostly on playing games and learning. Here, we discuss game making approaches and their benefits for illuminating game preferences and learning both software design…

This study tested the hypothesis that violent video games are especially likely to increase aggression when players identify with violent game characters. Dutch adolescent boys with low education ability (N=112) were randomly assigned to play a realistic or fantasy violent or nonviolent video game. Next, they competed with an ostensible partner on…

Most research on violent video game play suggests a positive relationship with aggression-related outcomes. Expanding this research, the current study examines the impact group size, game motivation, in-game behavior, and verbal aggression have on postgame play hostility. Consistent with previous research, group size and verbal aggression both…

Sociologists have observed that young people increasingly draw on global as well as local images in their constructions of individual selfhood. This article provides a narrative analysis of stories of inhalant use-induced hallucination, drawn from interviews conducted with young people in Melbourne, Australia. Young people's stories of the…

This paper addresses both the need and benefit of using technology in our K-12 and higher education settings. It also provides suggestions and samples for application of modern technology in schools. Teachers will be challenged to advance their lessons using technology that students are already familiar with and using in their personal lives.…

This article reviews a selection of studies on digital media and learning for young children ages 3 to 6. The range of digital media for this age group is growing and includes computer-delivered and online activities; console video games; handheld media, occasionally with GPS or an accelerometer, in cell phones and other wireless mobile devices;…

Gaming and social networking define the millennial student. This research focuses on an evolving collaboration between 2 faculty members of different disciplines who merged Web 2.0 and game scenarios to infuse research techniques as integral components of math/computer science courses. Blogs and wikis facilitated student-faculty interaction beyond…

Marie Evans Schmidt and Elizabeth Vandewater review research on links between various types of electronic media and the cognitive skills of school-aged children and adolescents. One central finding of studies to date, they say, is that the content delivered by electronic media is far more influential than the media themselves. Most studies, they…

Amy Jordan addresses the need to balance the media industry's potentially important contributions to the healthy development of America's children against the consequences of excessive and age-inappropriate media exposure. Much of the philosophical tension regarding how much say the government should have about media content and delivery stems…