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ERIC Number: EJ868490
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0192-592X
EISSN: N/A
The WoW Factor
Demski, Jennifer
T.H.E. Journal, v36 n10 p30-35 Nov-Dec 2009
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 Warcraft serves many purposes for one daring group of educators: It's part networking, part idea sharing, part academic inquiry--and a total thrill ride. This article features a "guild" called Cognitive Dissonance, a community of game players populated entirely by educators from both K-12 and higher education who meet regularly in WoW's elaborate, monster-laden fantasy adventure world, where members play, share ideas, and explore possible instructional crossover. The guild was founded and created by Catherine Parsons, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, and pupil personnel services for Pine Plains Central School District in New York state. Although the Cognitive Dissonance guild fundamentally exists to "play" World of Warcraft, Parsons says the guild also provides an unthreatening environment that allows educators to do three things: (1) learn how to play a kind of video game that they may never have played before; (2) learn about the concepts of video games and how they relate to education; and (3) learn from other educators.
1105 Media, Inc. Available from: T.H.E. Journal Magazine. P.O. Box 2170, Skokie, IL 60076. Tel: 866-293-3194; Tel: 866-886-3036; Fax: 847-763-9564; e-mail: THEJournal@1105service.com; Web site: http://www.thejournal.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education; Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A