International Serious Games Event

1. The Future is Here!
What Current Trends in Online
Gaming Can Tell Us About
the Future of Learning
Lisa Galarneau
Microsoft Games User Research
Ph.D. Candidate, The University of Waikato,
New Zealand
lisa@socialstudygames.com
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

2. A brief history of me…
 Web/e-learning producer
 Academic game
researcher: social learning
in virtual worlds
(anthropology/education/
media studies)
 Game researcher at
Microsoft: usability and
playtesting
 Gamer
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

3. The
future
seldom
looks
like we
expect it
to…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

4. Or
hope…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

5. International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

6. The future
is often
imagined
within
existing
paradigms
…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

7. International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

8. International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

9. And yes,
the future
is written
in the
present…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

10. But hints often
come from
surprising
corners…
Pop culture…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

11. Sub-
culture
…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

12. Technological
innovations…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

13. Early
adoption…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

14. Apparently
bad ideas…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

15. Perhaps
just before
their
time…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

16. So what
does our
present
say about
our
future?
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

17. International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

18. The face
of work is
changing
…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

19. What
skills do
we need?
How do
we learn
them?
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

20. International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

21. What about
schools?
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

22. Knowledge
workers…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

23. We most often learn
without meaning to…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

24. Collateral
learning…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

25. Perhaps
there are
seeds in
virtual
worlds
(not-so-
serious
games)
…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

26. International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

27. Can games
help us
develop so-  Soft skills, emotional
called 21st intelligence, enterprise skills
 Problem-solving, decision-
century making, team-work,
skills? communication,
collaboration, managing self,
information literacy, relating
to others, entrepreneurship
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

28. Social play is
particularly
good for
learning…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

29. Even single
player games
are often
played
cooperatively
…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

30. Because
games have
always been
primarily
social…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

31. How can
online games
Dede’s critical skills:
facilitate 21st
century skill  Thrive on chaos
development?  Comfort with
diversity
 Manage information
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

32. Thriving on chaos…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

33. Comfort with diversity…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

34. Managing information…
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

35. Who believes?
 The U.S. Military (Massive Multiplayer Online Gaming: A Research
Framework for Military Training and Education, 2005) -
http://www.strategicleader.us/ExperientalLearningPapers/Gam
eReport_Bonk_final.pdf
 Researchers: Katie Livingston Vale, Constance Steinkuehler, Toru Fujimoto,
Nick Yee, Aaron Delwiche, James Paul Gee, Marc Prensky
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

36. Periodic
 Storypath/story-based curricula
How (content)
 Team-building/cooperation/
might it communication (skills)
 Research (skills)
look?  Simulation/synthetic worlds
(systems thinking)
Ongoing
 Communities of practice united
around play (content/skills/
sociocultural literacy)
 Lifelong learning (content/skills)
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

37. Principles (Bonk and Dennen)
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

38.  Join an existing group of at least 4
Leadership members. After gaining their trust and
loyalty, persuade the group to hunt at a
Training (as different spot.
imagined by  Start a group, and then get the group to
a designated location deep within a
level-appropriate dungeon to get a drop
Nick Yee*) from a specific mob.
 The leader of a guild that is about to
fracture over a long-standing issue has
just stepped down from the position.
Keep this leaderless guild together while
keeping attrition to a minimum.
 Create a guild of at least 50 active
members with a weekly attrition of not
more than 5%.
* http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/000515.php?page=3
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

39. To  Will online games/virtual
ponder… worlds become
mainstream activities?
 Will we all inhabit a variety
of worlds?
 Will we sign up for lifelong
learning? Like sports, will
online games be not only
fun but good for us, too?
 Might our educational
systems develop an
appreciation for informal,
collateral learning?
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

40. Much,
much more Galarneau, Lisa and Melanie Zibit.
(In Press)
in The future is written in the present:
Online games for 21st century
competency.
forthcoming In Games and simulations in online learning:
Research and development frameworks.
book
David Gibson, Clark Aldrich, Marc Prensky
chapter! (Eds.)
Draft available at:
http://lisa.socialstudygames.com/
Galarneau_Zibit_OnlineGames.pdf
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006

41. Thanks!
Slides at:
http://www.socialstudygames.com
Vintage Images from Tales of Future Past: http://davidszondy.com
International Serious Games Event Birmingham, UK, June 5th & 6th, 2006