ERIC Number: EJ901490
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 12
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1528-5324
EISSN: N/A
Reflections on Play, Pedagogy, and "World of Warcraft"
Pirius, Landon K.; Creel, Gill
EDUCAUSE Quarterly, v33 n3 2010
In an online class, it's not unusual to never see a teacher or classmates face-to-face. It's not unusual to interact with an instructor and classmates through discussion boards or e-mail and to get information through online documents and presentations rather than live lectures. In the spring of 2009 students in the online class "Warcraft: Culture, Gender, and Identity" at Inver Hills Community College did all of this. The video game "World of Warcraft" (WoW) was the text studied, the laboratory, and the classroom for the online course. The overarching goals of the course involved using the game's immersive environment, learning strategies, and culture to encourage and support student learning of the course content. This article shares the story of the learning quest--warts and all--as told by the authors, the instructor and a student, and through the voices of several other students. In the final reflections on their adventure, the authors also provide recommendations for continued use of online games for engaging students and helping them learn and retain course content. (Contains 4 figures and 17 endnotes.)
Descriptors: Online Courses, Asynchronous Communication, Course Content, Video Games, Computer Mediated Communication, Role Playing, Computer Simulation, Fantasy, Interpersonal Relationship, Instructional Effectiveness, Learning Strategies, Community Colleges, Learner Engagement, Reflection, Culture, Identification (Psychology), Sex Role, Stereotypes, Language Role, Citizenship, Influence of Technology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A