Learning and reading come in all forms and I have found that to be especially true over the past couple of nights.
Last night I became the Orc, Vrigka, in World of War Craft, and tonight I inhabited the body of an assassin in the PS3 game Assassin's Creed. So what could I have possibly read and learned by playing games you might ask?
Well, it's been a while since I've been in any gaming environment. Many want to call Second Life a game, but it's not, and it is nothing like WoW or Assiassin's Creed. In WoW, once you have made your character, the reading begins. You are expected to be able to read and follow directions to learn how to survive in this world and how to adapt to that culture. Luckily, with WoW, the directions remain on the screen until you complete the task at hand, making it easy for the gamer to learn. I haven't yet played long enough to know what my retention might be, but for a first time experience, I was impressed.
Last night I became the Orc, Vrigka, in World of War Craft, and tonight I inhabited the body of an assassin in the PS3 game Assassin's Creed. So what could I have possibly read and learned by playing games you might ask?
Well, it's been a while since I've been in any gaming environment. Many want to call Second Life a game, but it's not, and it is nothing like WoW or Assiassin's Creed. In WoW, once you have made your character, the reading begins. You are expected to be able to read and follow directions to learn how to survive in this world and how to adapt to that culture. Luckily, with WoW, the directions remain on the screen until you complete the task at hand, making it easy for the gamer to learn. I haven't yet played long enough to know what my retention might be, but for a first time experience, I was impressed.
Picture from ign.com
Assassin's Creed is even more reading than WoW. And I found myself struggling to keep up with the speed of the game. Even though I was playing on a big screen tv, I found the in-game written tutorials to be extremely small in comparison and difficult to read because of that. After some initial frustration, I finally started to get the hang of the game play and began to make some progress. The in-game tutorials are comprehensive, and once I re-familiarized myself with the literacy of game tutorials, I was feeling pretty good.
After I quit the game after only an hour of play, I decided to look much more closely at the manual that came with the game. The booklet was written in typical font, nothing special, but then I started noticing a hand-written type font and started to pay closer attention. Much to my surprise, these snippets were commentary on the actual written instructions. At one point the respondent wrote "doesn't this belong in the fight section? You should add a note that attacking is easier if you are locked on a target . . ." (8). Amazing. I never thought I would find a game instruction booklet that included revision comments. I'm already envisioning how to include this text the next time I teach first-year writing. A lesson in revision and critical reading.
So yes, I truly believe I lead a charmed life. I have a job that I love and hobbies that inform my job in surprising ways.
After I quit the game after only an hour of play, I decided to look much more closely at the manual that came with the game. The booklet was written in typical font, nothing special, but then I started noticing a hand-written type font and started to pay closer attention. Much to my surprise, these snippets were commentary on the actual written instructions. At one point the respondent wrote "doesn't this belong in the fight section? You should add a note that attacking is easier if you are locked on a target . . ." (8). Amazing. I never thought I would find a game instruction booklet that included revision comments. I'm already envisioning how to include this text the next time I teach first-year writing. A lesson in revision and critical reading.
So yes, I truly believe I lead a charmed life. I have a job that I love and hobbies that inform my job in surprising ways.
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