Theorizing Games in/and Education

Abstract

Games are a nascent topic for educational research, with an increasing numberof conferences (e.g. Games, Learning, & Society), print publications (e.g. Games & Culture), and even federal grants (e.g. Quest Atlantis, RiverWorld, Whyville) recently given to the study and design of gaming technologies in/for education. However, to date, games have been chronically under-theorized a "technology in search of a paradigm" (Gredler, 1996). This symposium proposes new conceptualizations of games in relation to education. Our collective goal is to better articulate the nature of contemporary interactive technologies so as to forward educational theory; each paper addresses crucial aspects of games and gaming culture against a backdrop of research on learning, education, and society (c.f. Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, & Gee, 2005; Steinkuehler, in press). To do so, this unique symposium combines (a) ethnographies of naturally occurring game environments, (b) game-based learning programs based on findings of how learning occurs in such environments (c) a an empirical model based on games for thought, a type of professional practice simulation games, and (d) a research project using games and game technologies for social science theorizing. Together, these papers suggest new directions for the cognitive sciences pointing toward how to design learning systems for an information age networked society.