Online Gaming - Boundaries of Play October 26, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Conference Sessions.add a comment
I went to an interesting presentation today on Internet safety and online gaming. It was sponsored by Qwest Communications. My notes are below, followed by a short reflection.
The Qwest Incredible Internet
A Colorado Online Safety Coalition Executive Forum
Nick Yee Ph.D. - Business Week, CNN International, WSJ, and the New York Times
Boundaries of Play - Uses, Risks, & Benefits of Online Games
http://www.nickyee.com
The presentation started with a video introduction to World of Warcraft (WOW.)
Screen shot of Tune Town - Disney - safe words - furniture used by kids to circumvent the language restrictions.
Examples of online behavior:
- 4 hour wait in WOW standing in line, no one cut in the line
- wedding plans in WOW
- funeral arrangements in WOW
- Paying people to level up their characters
Online gaming tends to be broken into categories for younger and older audiences, and between social environments and games.
Younger Audiences -
Game Worlds
Club Penguin - minigames, safe chat
Social Worlds
Habbo Hotel - mostly a chat space where kids customize their avatars and rooms - micro transactions for premium features
Older Audiences -
Game Worlds
World of Warcraft - purchased software and monthly subscription - demo followed - kill creatures to get loot to buy upgrades to kill bigger creatures
Social Worlds
Second Life - social world targeted at adults - everything is created by the members of the virtual community - avatar customization is extensive - currency is based on Linden dollars
There are differences between an online gaming experience and that of a social experience:
- Game Worlds - higher costs, game-based interaction - age and gender are hidden, so predation is lower than in places like MySpace where age and gender are part of the experience
- Social Worlds - lower or no cost, no predefined goals
Some games are not safe for younger audiences - SL (Second Life) for example, limits users to audiences above 18, although there is little to no way to check - SL does have a teen specific area.
Audition - online dancing ‘game’ from Asia - uses micro-transactions to upgrade your avatar.
Asian market is not as focused on moderated chat.
Who plays these games?
- Average Age = 26
- Median Age = 25
- Range = 11-69
- 25% are teenagers
- 8-16% female users depending on the game
- 50% work full time
- 36% are married
- 22% have children
- Some online spaces are unique where student, children, adults, retirees, professionals, etc work cooperatively
Benefits of online gaming:
- Diverse social backgrounds
- collaboration with adults
- leadership opportunities
- endless ad-hoc groups in safer spaces
Risks for online gaming:
- Kids being treated as adults
Usage patterns:
- average number of hours per week = 20 hours per week
- compares with TV hours - average TV viewing in US is a little over 20 hours a week - as gaming increases, TV viewing decreases
- 8% of users spend 40 hours or more per week
- 70% of users have spent 10 hours or more continuously in the game
- Age is not correlated with usage
Is online gaming anti-social?
- 20% play with a family member
- 25% play with romantic partner
- 70% play with a friend
- 80% of players play with someone they know
- Online gamers play online to keep in touch with their friends
- Online gamers see online play as a way to maintain relationships as a shared experience
Parents see shared gaming as an opportunity or window to view and participate in their children’s world - gives them an opportunity to see how their kids interact with others, provides many learning opportunities to discuss social interactions/skills
Online gaming provides:
- unique social spaces
- working with others has potential benefits
- parents can play with children productively
Example guidelines:
- only play with supervision
- only group with parents or fiends
- only group with others when a parent or teacher is able to supervise
- free to group with others but tell parents hot it went
Why do People Play?
- Achievement - Advancement, Competition, Mechanics
- Social - Socializing, Relationships, Teamwork
- Immersion - Discovery (my favorite), Role-Playing, Customization, Escapism
Not all players are playing for the same reason
Gaming motivations:
- Online gaming may be fulfilling psychological needs that some people aren’t getting in the physical world
- Behavioral Conditioning (BF Skinner)
- Gaining prestige and status
- Sense of constant progress
Other examples:
- EVE Online - corporations as organization structure
- WOW - a guide is much like running a small business
- Peace Maker - explores both sides of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict
- Ohio State - replicated campus for recruiting (Second Life?)
Typed Chat and Anonymity:
- less inhibition when people type their information
- Idealization - we tend to see only what people want to present, and so we often see people in an idealized way
- About 50% of online users have shared a secret with an online friend that they’ve never shared elsewhere - females at a higher rate than males
- Seeing people behave in an online game shows some of their character - provides a stressful environment to expose character
- 80% of online gamers have made really good friends with someone they met online first - not as much of a gender difference for this question
Why do some relationships only happen if they start online?
- Shyness on the part of either partner
- Inside-out - superficial qualities (appearance, social circles, age) would have prevented individuals from striking up a relationship
Online relationships are not better or worse, they are just different - while it is easier to idealize someone, we also have opportunities to see character traits not easily seen
Online relationships start with virtual contact that takes time to progress (variety of tools, IM, email, video chat) to an ‘analog’ or physical contact.
Problematic Usage:
Amount of time is problematic. 60% have played for 10 hours or more at a time. 40% lose sleep to play. 17% have had relationships, finances, or jobs suffer due to playing habits.
Predisposition factors: Depression, loneliness, social anxiety. There is mixed evidence as to whether Internet use helps or hurts in the long term.
Just removing access may not address underlying issues. Because people play for different motivations, one treatment may not help all cases.
Be proactive:
- Set clear limits and expectations
- Encourage balanced interests
- Be involved
Summary:
- Many kinds of virtual worlds
- Unique social spaces
- Play can get very complex
- Both easier and harder to know someone
- be proactive in preventing problematic usage
- Start with sound pedagogy - just because it is virtual doesn’t make it better
My thoughts:
It was terrific to share a discussion with other people who have a stake in keeping kids safe online, especially because the discussion focused on the positive aspects of online gaming instead of just decrying all of the potential problems. It was interesting to see that at least one person in the room responded to the presentation by saying she didn’t understand how people could spend this much time on gaming. Someone else pointed out that she was thinking with her ‘adult-parent’ perspective instead of seeing it from the perspective of our students. This really is an issue of perspective. All of the pluses amount to very little if you don’t value the gaming experience.
Blog Example #13 Professional Development - Reflective Journal October 25, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Edublogs.add a comment
Barbara Ganley’s blog bgblogging, was recently mentioned in a post on writing literacy by Will Richardson on his Weblogg-ed blog. In this example post, she provides insight into some of her recent teaching experiences in getting her students to write.
http://mt.middlebury.edu/middblogs/ganley/bgblogging/2007/10/blurred_boundaries_some_recent.html
$100 laptop delayed - $400 GOGO edition October 24, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in OLPC.add a comment
Reuters is reporting that the One Child per Laptop was delayed due to a couple of last minute bugs. The delay means that people in the US who are buying a ‘give one get one’ edition for $400 will probably not see theirs during the Christmas giving season. The reason? The OLPC foundation would rather provide the laptops to children in Peru and Uruguay first so that they will have them in time for their summer break.http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idLTAN2334869520071024?rpc=44
Blog Example #12 - Staff Communication - Professional Development October 17, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Edublogs.add a comment
Susan, a technology teacher in Denver, uses her blog, Technology Training for Swansea Teachers, as a venue for communicating tech announcement, updates, and tidbits for her staff at Swansea Elementary. Her use of a blog for communicating is also a great way to model effective practices for her teachers.
Cyberbullying resources October 16, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Articles/Videos.add a comment
digizen.org has posted a video that can be used to facilitate a discussion around the issue of cyberbullying. The video is well done with a message that we all need to participate to prevent bullying behavior. The site also includes additional resources related to online safety.
http://www.digizen.org/cyberbullying/film.aspx
Fair Use or Misuse October 14, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Fair Use.add a comment
eSchool News online digs into a report on fair use from researchers at Temple University’s Media Education Lab, American University Washington College of Law’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property, and American University School of Communication’s Center for Social Media. The report makes the point that teachers are confused about fair use, and that results in some teacher being too cautious which compromises the content of their class, while other teachers are not cautious enough which can put the teacher/school/district at risk of violating copyright laws.
The report recommends a two-pronged solution to the problem: First, teachers should learn more about the “clear and unambiguous rights” they already enjoy under copyright law; and second, the education community should develop and disseminate a “code of practice” for the fair use of copyrighted materials by educators.
The article also includes a link to the report itself.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryRSS.cfm?ArticleID=7430
Information R/evolution October 14, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Articles/Videos.add a comment
Digital ethnography describes itself as
a working group of Kansas State University students and faculty dedicated to exploring and extending the possibilities of digital ethnography.
The video below is just one example of their work describing the current state of information in education.
More of their videos can be found here:
http://mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg/?cat=4
I found this by following a link from Karl Fisch’s The Fischbowl:
http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/10/two-more-conversation-starters.html
Tiny Devices October 12, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in OLPC.2 comments
Kathy Schrock has posted a nice collection of some of the ya$ls mentioned here and elsewhere. She talks about why you might want a 1-to-1 learning environment, and also gives some thought to the supporting technology you might want to get the most out of the opportunity. Her post is well worth the read.
http://kathyschrock.net/blog/2007/10/tiny-devices-and-1-to-1.html
Eee PC - $100 laptop starting from $199 October 11, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in OLPC.1 comment so far
Reuters is reporting that Asustek Computer received an order for 1 million low cost computers called Eee PCs. I’m making an assumption that more computers is increasing the number of people connected to each other, and I think that’s a good thing.
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKTP30697020071011?rpc=44
Cool Tools Collection October 5, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Tools.2 comments
CogDogRoo has posted a cool wiki collection of 50 story telling tools. It is so easy to lose track of so many tools, so the feature comparisons is very helpful. Many of these tools can be used for a variety of purposes, not just story telling.
http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/StoryTools
$100 Laptop Apple Style October 2, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in OLPC.add a comment
Okay, technically this one might not really be a laptop, but the Apple iPod touch deserves consideration in this space. Kathy Schrock recently posted several times about her experience with one of the new iPod touches and recounts her experience on her blog, the KaffeeKlatch. The first post is linked below, but look for additional posts in her archive. Pricing currently starts at $299.
http://kathyschrock.net/blog/2007/09/ipod-touch-is-great.html
More $100 Laptops for More Than $100 October 2, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in OLPC.add a comment
C|Net Blogs has a nice report on yet another $100 laptop for more than $100, from now on referred to by my first self-coined term: ya$l (pronounced yeah-sil.) I’m not really sure why this issue interests me, but access is still an enormous issue to overcome if technology is to have the sort of impact I think it can have.
http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13512_1-9789306-23.html?tag=rsspr.6211270&part=rss&subj=news
Kids Online October 1, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Data.add a comment
Two interesting bits of information.
1. eSchool News online today reported that over 93% of parents say
they have taken action to make sure the web sites their children visit meet parental standards.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryRSS.cfm?ArticleID=7391
Good thing too, if the next survey is also accurate.
2. eMarketer is reporting that 43% of kids age 3-11 are online. The report doesn’t break down their other than to say that they are online at least once a month.
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1005410&src=article1_newsltr
