Multiplayer online games as educational tools: Facing new challenges in learning

This paper outlines a proposal for the development of educational multiplayer online games based on the activity theory, as an alternative to the current trend in multiplayer gaming and a means of promoting collaboration among students. In order to examine whether online games are engaging for learners, we consider multiple factors regarding game play - such as frequency of game use, gender differences, identification with the characters, and game preferences - as well as some psychosocial factors that may influence learning - such as academic performance, self-esteem, and computer self-efficacy. This paper suggests that online multiplayer educational games should be approached as a complex learning system, based on the principles of activity theory, where the Subjects would interact with other Subjects, Objects and Tools of the game, under specified Rules and create Communities through division of labor, leading to the expected learning outcome. Thus, we suggest taking into account some important issues concerning the Subjects that the activity theory refers to, such as gender differences in playing games, academic performance, self-esteem and computer self-efficacy.

[1]  John V. Dempsey.  Instructional Gaming: Implications for Instructional Technology. , 1994 .

[2]  Vivek Anand,et al.  A Study of Time Management: The Correlation between Video Game Usage and Academic Performance Markers , 2007, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[3]  Zühal Okan,et al.  Edutainment: is learning at risk? , 2003, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[4]  湯淺 太一,et al.  20世紀の名著名論:Seymour Papert: Mindstorms:Children Computers and Powerful Ideas Basic Books New York 1980 , 2005 .

[5]  Jeanne B. Funk,et al.  Children's perceptions of gender differences in social approval for playing electronic games , 1996 .

[6]  B. Zimmerman.  Academic studing and the development of personal skill: A self-regulatory perspective , 1998 .

[7]  Margaret M. Lloyd,et al.  Virtual Kids of the 21st Century: Understanding the Children in Schools Today , 2001 .

[8]  Carla H. Lagorio,et al.  Psychology , 1929, Nature.

[9]  John Leddo.  An Intelligent Tutoring Game To Teach Scientific Reasoning. , 1996 .

[10]  Annemarie Hauf,et al.  Computers in education , 1983 .

[11]  Valerie Rhodes.  Screen Play: Children and Computing in the Home , 2004, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[12]  Morten Misfeldt,et al.  Player Transformation of Educational Multiplayer Games , 2004 .

[13]  J. Funk,et al.  Playing Violent Video and Computer Games and Adolescent Self‐Concept , 1996 .

[14]  A. M. White.  The Process of Education , 1994 .

[15]  B. Zimmerman.  A social cognitive view of self-regulated academic learning. , 1989 .

[16]  Laurie Taylor.  When Seams Fall Apart - Video Game Space and the Player , 2003, Game Stud..

[17]  S. Owen,et al.  Development and Validation of the Computer Self-Efficacy Scale , 1989 .

[18]  Seymour Papert,et al.  Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas , 1981 .

[19]  Pierre Jouvelot,et al.  Motivation-driven educational game design: applying best practices to music education , 2005, ACE '05.

[20]  J. Funk,et al.  Reevaluating the Impact of Video Games , 1993, Clinical pediatrics.

[21]  Fotini Paraskeva,et al.  Digital games: Developing the Issues of Socio-cognitive Learning Theory in an Attempt to Shift an Entertainment Gadget to an Educational Tool , 2007, 2007 First IEEE International Workshop on Digital Game and Intelligent Toy Enhanced Learning (DIGITEL'07).

[22]  Griffiths.  Computer game playing in children and adolescents: a review of the literature , 1996 .

[23]  Donn Ritchie,et al.  Integrating Technology Usage across the Curriculum through Educational Adventure Games. , 1992 .

[24]  Hitendra K. Pillay,et al.  An Investigation of Cognitive Processes Engaged in by Recreational Computer Game Players , 2002 .

[25]  John Kirriemuir Ceangal.  The relevance of video games and gaming consoles to the Higher and Further Education learning experience , 2002 .

[26]  Y. Engeström,et al.  Developmental studies of work as a testbench of activity theory: The case of primary care medical practice , 1993 .

[27]  Marc J. Natale.  The effect of a male-oriented computer gaming culture on careers in the computer industry , 2002, CSOC.

[28]  Constance Steinkuehler,et al.  Learning in Massively Multiplayer Online Games , 2004, ICLS.

[29]  J. Colwell,et al.  Negative correlates of computer game play in adolescents. , 2000, British journal of psychology.

[30]  T. Gill,et al.  Electronic children : how children are responding to the information revolution , 1996 .

[31]  Suzanne K. Damarin,et al.  The second self: Computers and the human spirit , 1985 .

[32]  Henry Jenkins,et al.  From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: gender and computer games , 1998 .

[33]  Mark D. Griffiths,et al.  Computer game playing in adolescence: prevalence and demographic indicators , 1995 .

[34]  Toni Downes.  Screen play: Children and computing in the home: Facer, Keri; Furlong, John; Furlong, Ruth & Sutherland, Rosamund (2003) London: RoutledgeFalmer, 262pp, ISBN 0-415-29842-3 , 2004, Comput. Educ..

[35]  L. Frank.  The Society for Research in Child Development , 1935 .

[36]  James Paul Gee,et al.  What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy , 2007, CIE.

[37]  Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen.  Overview of research on the educational use of video games , 2006 .

[38]  Thomas Bay,et al.  Gaming the system , 2011 .

[39]  Peter Gray,et al.  Psychology, 4th ed. , 2002 .

[40]  Tony Manninen,et al.  Interaction Forms and Communicative Actions in Multiplayer Games , 2003, Game Stud..

[41]  L. P. Saettler.  A history of instructional technology , 1967 .

[42]  S. Fling,et al.  Videogames, aggression, and self-esteem: A survey , 1992 .

[43]  Nick Yee,et al.  The Demographics, Motivations, and Derived Experiences of Users of Massively Multi-User Online Graphical Environments , 2006, PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.

[44]  Mary Jo Dondlinger,et al.  Educational Video Game Design: A Review of the Literature , 2007 .

[45]  J. Lave,et al.  Understanding Practice: Perspectives on Activity and Context , 1996 .