Date: Wednesday, April 18; 4:00p - 5:30p

Location: Sage Hall B09

Note: 3:30 - 4:00p will be our social gathering with refreshments – in the Sage Hall Atrium

Abstract:

Gee: The argument that video games carry great potential for learning—that, in fact, games design is itself a form of design for learning and problem solving—is now, I believe, widely accepted. At the same time, many people are attempting to take this insight in the direction of making so-called “serious games” that largely replicate the skill-and-drill now so prevalent in some of our schools. Video games hold out the potential for much deeper conceptual, identity-changing and innovative learning.

Jenkins: The generation that grew up playing computer games in the 1980s are now entering adult responsibilities. They are the ones who are taking on roles as parents, teachers, workers for nonprofits and foundations, and so forth. They have a real appreciation of what has captivated them about this medium; they want to find a way to connect with it through their jobs; and they want to use its power to deliver their messages. There has been a growing body of research suggesting that games may indeed represent a powerful instructional medium; there is also clear signs that the ability to interpret and manipulate simulations is going to be a central skill across a range of academic disciplines.

Longtime collaborators Jim Gee and Henry Jenkins will engage in a public conversation and Q&A around what our newly emergent “participatory culture” – an everyday social reality grounded in and inspired by new media and network technologies including digital games, virtual worlds, blogs, wikis, and the multitude of online social computing platforms like MySpace, YouTube, and Facebook – means for teaching and learning.

Bio:

James Paul Gee is the Tashia Morgridge Professor of Reading at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his PhD in linguistics in 1975 from Stanford University and has been published widely in linguistics and education. His most recent books both deal with video games, language, and learning.   What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (2003) offers 36 reasons why good video games produce better learning conditions than many of today’s schools.   Situated Language and Learning (2004) places video games within an overall theory of learning and literacy and shows how they can help us in thinking about the reform of schools.  His new book, Why Video Games Are Good for Your Soul, shows how good video games marry pleasure and learning and have the capacity to empower people.

Henry Jenkins is the Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program and
the Peter de Florez Professor of Humanities. He is the author and/or editor of
nine books on various aspects of media and popular culture, including Textual
Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture, Hop on Pop: The Politics
and Pleasures of Popular Culture and From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and
Computer Games. His newest books include Convergence Culture: Where Old
and New Media Collide and Fans, Bloggers and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture.

Jenkins recently developed a white paper on the future of media literacy
education for the MacArthur Foundation, which is leading to a three year
project to develop curricular materials to help teachers and parents better
prepare young people for full participation in contemporary culture. He is one
of the principal investigators for The Education Arcade, a consortium of
educators and business leaders working to promote the educational use of
computer and video games. He is one of the leaders of the Convergence Culture
Consortium, which consults with leading players in the branded entertainment
sector in hopes of helping them adjust to shifts in the media environment.
Jenkins also plays a significant role as a public advocate for fans, gamers,
and bloggers: testifying before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee
investigation into "Marketing Violence to Youth" following the Columbine
shootings; advocating for media literacy education before the Federal
Communications Commission; calling for a more consumer-oriented approach to
intellectual property at a closed door meeting of the governing body of the
World Economic Forum; signing amicus briefs in opposition to games censorship;
and regularly speaking to the press and other media about aspects of media
change and popular culture.

"Welcome to Convergence Culture"

Convergence Culture maps a new territory: where old and new media intersect,
where grassroots and corporate media collide, where the power of the media
producer and the power of the consumer interact in unpredictable ways.
Convergence is a word that manages to describe technological, industrial,
cultural, and social changes, depending on who's speaking and what they think
they are talking about. In the world of media convergence, every important
story gets told, every brand gets sold, every consumer gets courted across
multiple media platforms. Right now, convergence culture is getting defined
top-down by decisions being made in corporate boardrooms and bottom-up by
decisions made in teenagers' bedrooms. It is shaped by the desires of media
conglomerates to expand their empires across multiple platforms and by the
desires of consumers to have the media they want where they want it, when they
want it, and in the format they want. This talk will explore contemporary
examples of the tension and collaboration that exists between media producers
and consumers around issues of participatory culture and will suggest ways
these same principles are moving from fan communities into education,
religion, and politics as we learn to apply new skills at processing information in new
contexts.

[handout]

For more information, including Jim and Henry's schedule for their visit Tuesday, April 17 - Thursday, April 19, please contact Jen Wofford. If you need to reach her urgently, please call her cell phone at: (607) 279-0018.

4-16-2007 Sarah