What Video Games Have to Teach US

About theCrisis in the

Humanities

presentation for

ENGL 680v Writing in Virtual Worlds22 November 2010

Chapter 7, “The Social Mind: How Do You Get Your Corpse Back After You Died?”

What can we learn about how people collaborate through video games as a social network?

Adrian’s Corpse Run

Adrian’s play reflects social aspects of gaming;

he is a node is this distributed network.

He contributes to the network through:– Group play carried out on multiple levels

(group v. guild)– His website advising newer players on

how to level faster– Recruiting new players in rl

The network is mutable, where he can change not only practices and outcomes but the game itself– Hex editors– Cheating the timer on his corpse– Reworking the network by working

outside the game world

Adrian’s guild is an affinity group. Affinity groups are a form of distributed network “wherein people primarily

orient toward a common set of endeavors and social practices in terms of which they attempt to realize these

endeavors” (183).

Adrian & the Distributed Network

― Gee’s distributed network draws from the idea that “each of lets other people and various tools and technologies do some of our thinking for us” (184).

― In a distributed network knowledge resides in interactions among nodes (people, tools, technologies, etc.), “not in any one ‘node’…but in the network as a whole” (185).

― Adrian’s gameplay in Everquest is one example of a distributed network

Gee argues that the “new capitalist” model also represents a distributed network, where each node is expert and offers a unique perspective required for collaboration. However, he also recognizes that the “new capitalist” model is not preparing everyone to participate in these networks as “knowledge workers.” Some workers will remain outside or on the periphery to carryout industrial and manual tasks (193-4).

Problems with the Distributed Network

― In viewing affinity groups as a distributed network, Gee specifically states that he is not referring to class, race, gender, sexuality, culture, etc., but something like gaming communities.

― Furthermore, his conception of distributed networks says very little about the influence or agency of each node. Even in video games, some player “nodes” are much more significant and influential than others, e.g., guild leaders v. nubs, tanks v. dps, etc.

What then are the shortcomings or dangers of the distributed network?Is this conception of a distributed network largely a utopia/dystopia because Gee is uncritical of his metaphor?How is the distributed network different from Fordist, socialized conceptions of the assembly line?

The Distributed Network & Learning

How do we judge learning?How do we know when learning happens?

― “Learning is not best judged by a change in minds (the traditional school measure), but by ‘changing participation in changing practices’” (190).

― These changes in participation are socially situated, and they will not appear in the same way in different social situations.

How do you measure change?If the Brown and Campione classroom model becomes the norm, is there change in participation?Changes in participation reflect a process pedagogy, but aren’t easy to quantify in terms of grades. How do Brown and Campione assess student work?

The Distributed Network & Competing Models for the Academy

Humanities model of education– “Life of the Mind”– Emphasis on personal growth– Research is largely a personal endeavor– Networks are limited to a field and institutional apparatus (conferences, journals, etc.) – The role of education is to teach you how to work within these limited networks.

Corporate model of education– “Address your worth”– Emphasis on production– Research is funded and owned by the university/sponsor– Network constraints are imposed from outside by the sponsor– The role of education is to teach you how to produce via networks.

Distributed network model of education― Emphasis on participation and collaboration― Research is oriented around shared endeavors― Networks are multiple― The role of education is to teach how to work within, around, and outside network constraints.

aka why humanists balk@distributed networks

Addressing the Crisis: Competing Narratives

What are some of the causes of the crisis in the humanities?Humanists/traditionalists claim it stems from the restructuring of financial aid

and changes to the role of higher education– Includes fuddy-duddies like Perloff, Greenblatt, and Fish, as well as Giroux and

others in critical pedagogy

Corporatists claim it stems from a narrow focus on the ephemera surrounding enlightenment concepts of education– Largely accused of the STEM fields, but includes strains in composition, such as

Richard Miller who vanquishes critique to the dustbin of history

Digital rhetorics folks point toward a radical schism between how we carry out work at home and in the workplace and how we carry out work in the academy. This schism is attributed to radical changes in technology over the past 30 years.– Includes Jenkins, Gee, and many of those in education/academia we’ve read this

semester

Examining Different Models for a New Academy: Gee’s Distributed Network & Jenkins’

Participatory Culture

33. Distributed Principle—meaning/knowledge is distributed across a network of nodes

34. Dispersed Principle—learning is shared outside the domain/game

35. Affinity Group Principle—group bound by shared endeavors

36. Insider Principle—teacher and producer, not simply consumer

Distributed Cognition—ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities

Collective Intelligence—ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others

Transmedia Navigation—the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities

Negotiation—the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting

Appropriation—the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content

Networking—the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information

What do we gain (or lose) by having multiple heuristics with which to approach similar or the samequestions about incorporating learning practices associated with new media in the classroom?