Game Based Learning: Aspen Trail

Prompt:
Continuing on the Aspen Trail, again to the right, the Almond Walkway is a breathtaking beauty. "Gaming Can Make a Better World, by Jane McGonigal" looks like a program cover stuck on a long stick pushed into the ground by the entrance to the walkway. "Better see what that is about, you think as you start down the path.

Almond Walkway

Gaming can Make a Better World by Jane McGonigal 

     Jane McGonigal believes that we can solve world problems such as hunger, poverty, obesity, and more by increasing our game play to 21 billion hours per week (it is currently at, according to her 2010 study, 3 billion hours a week). 

     Epic Win: An outcome that is so extraordinarily positive that you had no idea it was even possible until you achieved it.  Almost beyond the threshold of imagining.  McGonigal believes that problem solvers all around the world need to understand the rush, excitement, and thrill of an epic win.
     McGonigal's inspiration to study gaming rests in the questions, "What about games makes it impossible to feel that we can't achieve everything" and,  "How can we take those feelings from games and apply them to real world work."  To answer these questions McGonigal researched what makes epic wins work.

Characteristics of Epic Wins:

1. Characters (people) are willing to trust you with a world saving mission immediately. 
• This isn't any mission, this is a mission that is matched to your ability in the game.  You never have a challenge that you cannot achieve, but it is on the verge of your ability so you have to try hard. 
2. You are surrounded by collaborators. 
• Characters (people) are ready to work with YOU to achieve YOUR epic mission. 
3. There is an epic/inspiring story for why you are doing what you are doing. 
• You are constantly receiving positive feedback (e.g. experience points, extra life). 

However, the problem with the appeal of an epic win is that we spend all of our time playing games.  We need to channel this energy and drive and make it useful in the real world.  All of this sounds good, but what is it that gamers are getting so good at? 

Gaming Virtuosos

1.  Urgent Optimism
• Extreme self-motivation.
• The desire to act immediately to attack an obstacle combined with the belief that they have a reasonable hope of success. Gamers always believe that an epic win is a success; so they continue to try and try until they succeed. 
2. Social Fabric
• Research shows that we like people better after we play a game with them because it takes a lot of trust to play a game with someone. 
•  Playing a game with someone builds bonds, trust, and cooperation. 
3. Blissful Productivity
• People spend so much time playing games because they enjoy being productive over doing nothing.  Gamers view the achievements they receive as production; games are something they are willing to work hard at. 
4. Epic Meaning
• Gamers love to be attached to awe inspiring missions and to human planetary scale stories.  To demonstrate this McGonigal informed the audience that the second biggest wiki in the world (second to wikipedia) is the World of War Craft Wiki.  Gamers are so devoted to this game and understanding that there are over 80,000 articles. 

These gaming virtuosos add up to create super-empowered hopeful individuals. Devoted gamers are people who believe they are capable of changing the world. 

Review: 

     In the household I grew up in video games were not a big deal.  We didn't obtain a Wii until I was in high school and up to that point the only virtual gaming world I was exposed to was computer games such as Mahjong and Solitaire so the gaming world is not something I completely understand.  To be honest, I discounted the idea of playing video games because there was/is always something more important in my life going on.  But it is awesome to listen to a scholarly perspective on video games. 

     It is eye opening to hear about the strategies that people develop as they play games.  Also, as I mentioned in one of my other Aspen Trail posts, it is wonderful to reflect on the characteristics I built as I played board games with my mentor family.  

     Gaming is something that I am definitely considering for my future classroom.