developing innovative educational settings through sport video games

IDENTITY & PERFORMANCE: DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS THROUGH SPORT VIDEO GAMES Héctor del Castillo, David Herrero, Natalia Monjelat, Ana Belén García-Varela, Mirian Checa-Romero Universidad de Alcalá (SPAIN) [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract In this paper we analyze how sports video games can become a relevant artifact for the development and improvement of cognitive skills by teenagers. Both sport and games have an important role in the lives of children and teenagers: as active participants or spectators, the interest of both activities plays an important role in their leisure. Sport video games provide a setting that combines different aspects of game and sport as the entertainment, the physical, the psychological boost and the competition & collaboration (Wolf, 2003). The analysis that concerns us is focused on the ethnography (Pink, 2006). We worked with a Secondary School teacher in the field of Physical Education inside the classroom developing an innovative educational setting by using video games as an educational tool. In this context, we use team-sports video games to join real and virtual sports in the classroom setting, thus contributing to the development of cognitive skills that allow teens to actively reflect on the relationship between game content and contexts of everyday activity (Gee, 2008). One of these skills is what Jenkins (2006b) defined as performance, as the ability to adopt alternative identities in a process that encourages improvisation and discovery and allows the player to develop a richer understanding of the character and himself. We show how this projected identity allows the player to live the character and therefore have an immersion experience in the game, while using the character as a mirror to reflect their own values and choices. Our findings show how, through the sports video games, teenagers develop new comprehension skills that enable them to master the different multimedia resources available in their everyday life (Jenkins, 2006a). Learning with the support of video games involves taking and playing with different identities, so the learner has to make "real" choices (in the development of virtual identity), having multiple opportunities to reflect on the relationship between new and existing identities (Gee, 2003). The educational relevance of this perspective implies that students relate to and reflect on their multiple identities in real and virtual worlds. That is, learners participate fully committed (with much effort and dedication) because they feel their real identity has been extended into a virtual identity that commits them. Keywords: Identity, Education, New Literacies, Sport Video games.

1

THE ROLE OF VIDEO GAMES INSIDE THE CLASSROOM

This paper explores innovative educational settings created when commercial video games are introduced into the classrooms as educational tools. The increasing presence of virtual universes in children’s life and the ever more frequent opportunities to take part in them offer repeated challenges to educators. Children and young people need to be capable of approaching reflectively and critically these new leisure-time situations. The main aim of this paper is to explore how commercial video games can help to construct innovative educational opportunities in the classroom that bring children and adults into these new digital spaces. We will examine relationships between real and virtual universes as situated cognition processes involving game situations based on the video game EA Sports FIFA 11. In very general terms, “real” and “virtual” worlds refer to the physical environment of the game and to the gamers’ activities on the screen. Our specific aims the following:

Proceedings of ICERI2011 Conference. 14th-16th November 2011, Madrid, Spain.

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ISBN: 978-84-615-3324-4

1. To analyze the process of design and development of an educational innovative and multimedia setting based on a sport video game: EA Sports FIFA 11. Children’s activities of playing, talking, and thinking are considered as situated and cultural practices (Gee, 2007) 2. To examine the relationships between real and virtual game as present in the classroom conversations (Laird & Lent, 2005). Treating video games as cultural and educational tools, we consider how the rules of the game are represented by children and adults in both virtual and real worlds.

2

SITUATED COGNITION PROCESSES IN REAL & VIRTUAL CONTEXTS

In this paper we analyze how sports video games can become a relevant artifact for the development and improvement of cognitive skills by teenagers. Both sport and games have an important role in the lives of children and teenagers: as active participants or spectators, the interest of both activities plays an important role in their leisure. Sport video games provide a setting that combines different aspects of game and sport as the entertainment, the physical, the psychological boost and the competition & collaboration (Wolf, 2003).

2.1

Developing situated cognition processes: playing video games in and outside of the classroom

To understand the role of sport games as cultural and educational tools we found the concept of “situated cognition” developed by the anthropologist Jean Leave and his colleagues (Holland & Lave, 2001; Lave, 1997). Adopting that perspective, cognition is engaged with environment, action, and expertise. Furthermore, knowledge is not only embodied through the agent's ability to perform an action (with his/her hands) but is also embedded in the opportunities provided by the environment and which are meaningful in specific contexts. Looking at the games, these opportunities are present in specific settings and related to precise rules that define the dynamics of the game. This is the perspective from which we analyze conversations among adults and children. We will show how the way in which children interpret their own activities during the game, or those of the characters acting on the screen, depend on the features of the game that they are playing, the specific contexts in which children refer to these activities –when they converse with adults or peers- and even on their own expertise as players.

2.1.1

Real and virtual life based on video games

Sport is a field of particular interest for an understanding of how players manage to be aware not only of their own activity during the game, but also of the way in which video games represent real life; in particular, how rules control players’ activity (Juul, 2005; Laird & Lent, 2005). It is clear that the idea of virtual environment has evolved among analysts. Let us, for example, focus on the following text written almost twenty years ago “(…) Video games allow the viewers to engage actively in the scenarios presented (…) Adolescents are temporarily transported from lives’ problems by their playing, they experience a sense of self involvement in the action when they work the controls, and they perceive the video games as not only a source of companionship, but possibly as a substitute for it!” (Provenzo, 1991, pp. 64-65 cited by McMahan, 2003, p. 67) Here, virtual reality seems to be presented as a substitute for the real world. Such a perspective may still be presented by certain mass media, video game opponents and even occasionally by educators. But specific phases of a process of conceptual change can be seen. For example, Alison McMahan (2003) approaches virtual reality by establishing relationships between the game and specific experiences of the player; i.e. immersion, engagement and presence. Through a close reading of the paper, we notice the author’s efforts to precisely define these three main concepts. The idea of presence is perhaps what is most relevant for her, which we may synthesize in just one sentence: presence is “the perceptual illusion of no mediation”. Developing this approach, and considering games as a field of research in which ideas are developing very fast, we may pause for a moment at another description of the universes of these virtual games: “What is unique to computer games is that we now have the technology to create games where the change of playing against another intellect is not restricted to playing another human. Computers can not only create challenging environments; they can also create challenging

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artificially intelligent (AI) characters (Woodcook, 2000). AI characters allow us to create games where the challenges stem not just from competition, but also from the social interactions with characters in populated virtual worlds” (Laird & Lent, 2005, p. 204) In this text, games are not just a “possible substitute” for real life, but a challenging environment for “playing against another intellect”. We remember here a very similar approach taken by Gee (2007), where he progresses even further from a simple cognitive perspective when he relates this environment to the “affordance” concept, and by doing so refers to the motives that orient the player’s activities.

2.1.2

Identity & performance…

In real and virtual contexts children and teenagers have to develop skills that help them to be actively involved in what Jenkins (2006a) call participatory cultures. According to Jenkins (2006b), schools as institutions have to involve more consciously in this new participatory culture, because the greatest opportunity for change is currently found in afterschool programs and informal learning communities. Based on that, the author poses that they could do it by paying more attention to fostering new media literacies, described as a set of cultural competencies and social skills that young people need in the new media landscape. These new literacies involve social skills developed through collaboration and networking and based on the foundation of traditional literacy, research skills, technical skills, and critical analysis skills taught in the classroom. “Fostering such social skills and cultural competencies requires a more systemic approach to media education. Everyone involved in preparing young people to go out into the world has contributions to make in helping students acquire the skills they need to become full participants in our society. Schools, afterschool programs, and parents have distinctive roles to play as they do what they can in their own spaces to encourage and nurture these skills.” (Jenkins et al. 2006b, p. 4) These new skills include performance, considered as the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery. The game play is usually approached as a mode of problemsolving that involves modeling the world and acting on those models. But it is also a contemporary form of youth popular culture that encourages young people to assume fictive identities and through this process develop a richer understanding of themselves and their social roles (Jenkins, 2006). Close to this ideas, Gee (2003) refer to the fusion that occurs between game players and their avatars using the concept of ‘projective identities’. Gee explain that he tries to consider the two senses of the word project: “to project one’s values and desires onto the virtual character” and “seeing the virtual character as one’s own project in the making” (p. 55).This projected identity allows the player to strongly identify with the character and thus have an immersive experience within the game, and at the same time to use the character as a mirror to reflect on his or her own values and choices. From this perspective, Jenkins highlight that performance brings capacities ‘to understand problems from multiple viewpoints, to assimilate information, to exert mastery over core cultural materials, and to improvise in response to a changing environment’ (2006b, p.31). Same as occurs with other skills as play or simulation, performance places a new stress on learning processes, it means: on how we learn more than what we learn. These learning processes are likely to sustain growth and learning well beyond the school years.

3

APPROACHING ACTUAL EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS THROUGH ETHNOGRAPHY

The analysis that concerns us is focused on the ethnography (Pink, 2006). In this framework, this study is based on a qualitative analytical perspective based on narrative and ethnographic approaches (Anderson-Levitt, 2006; Connelly & Clandinin, 2006; Hollinngsworth & Dybdahl, 2007) and includes a micro-ethnographic analysis of multimodal discourses (Gee & Green, 1998). In this project we act as participant observers, using both classical techniques (field/work diary, photography, compilation of materials produced by participants) and other methods (audio and video recordings, digitalization of all the recordings), and computer programs during the process of information processing (Nudist 8.0; Atlas.ti). We also emphasize the importance of organizing the data according to temporal criteria.

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3.1

Designing the activity

This project was developed in a Secondary School at Coslada (Madrid) during the school year 2009/2010. The project involved 204 students aged between 11 and 16 and their teachers. Students used a variety of commercial video games in workshops coordinated by teachers and related to different subjects: Biology, English, Literature, Physical Education and Sociolinguistic Area. These games were selected among researchers, teachers and students themselves, resulting in the following: Spore, The Sims 3, The Beatles Rock Band, FIFA 10 and NBA 10. The workshop discussed in this paper was carried out with a group of fourth grade students of Secondary Education and their Physical Education teacher developing, in the classroom an innovative educational setting by using video games as an educational tool. The project was organized in two stages: a previous ‘setting up’ work with the teacher and the development of the workshop. The design of classroom activities was performed together with the teacher, and developed in eight 50 minutes sessions in which we use the video games NBA 10 and FIFA 10 (for Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3) as a tool for playing, analyzing, reflecting and learning. The workshop involved 18 students (10 boys and 8 girls) and their teacher.

3.2

Data sources for the analysis

The process of collecting, and generating the data that will be the heart of the research, is mediated by an infinite number of instruments. Some of them are unanticipated, so that once inside the classroom, we try to record everything that is observed considering the relevance of unexpected phenomena. In this sense, there are many tools that have helped us to record and analyze the density of the data: audio and video recordings, pictures, materials handled and generated by the participants in each session, summaries of the sessions, etc. Once the workshops had been completed, all the video recordings were segmented using NVivo 8.0 and Atlas.ti. This allowed successive moments in the classroom to be defined; these were subsequently transcribed in order to explore the activities of the children and adults as related to specific practices, and supporting several pedagogical strategies.

4

SPORTS VIDEO GAMES: PERFORMING SITUATED IDENTITIES

One of the most interesting features of the sports' video games as a particular attribute is the way in which players identify with the characters in the game. This issue is especially relevant if we look at two games that relate to team sports, specifically soccer and basketball. In both cases, the game begins with the selection of a team or player (depending on the game) to face different opponents. What we wonder then are: How do they make that choice? What criteria do the players use? How they identify with the teams they choose? The data analyzed, considering the different classrooms in which sports' video games have been present, allow us to understand the identity construction processes which emphasize both personal and collective dimensions of the players.

4.1

The individual side: ‘being’ a player

Identity is an important issue for teachers working with teenagers and can be developed from sports video games. James Paul Gee (2008), perhaps the most important author to support theories on why to use commercial games in the classroom, explains that learning involves taking these instruments and play with different identities. This means that Learning with the support of video games involves taking and playing with different identities, so the learner has to make "real" choices (in the development of virtual identity), having multiple opportunities to reflect on the relationship between new and existing identities (Gee, 2003). This approach makes students relate to and reflect on their multiple identities in real and virtual worlds. That is, learners participate fully committed (putting much effort and dedication) because they feel their real identity has been extended into a virtual identity that commits. Let see an example of how such identification can appear…

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Quote 1. Handling the video game controls. IES Manuel de Falla. 4º ESO. Session 2. 2011 02 24 4-students group Students (E1, E2, E3 & E4 from left to right) are sitting in front of the screen (in this case, the image projected on the wall). The session begins and there are two students (E2 & E3) playing; each one has a pad in his hand. On the screen is shown the initial stage of the game: a player with the ball at his feet in the middle of an empty football stadium. The student starts to move the player. 1. E3: Look, look, look, look!!!... (As he handles the controls) 2. E4: But that is not you! 3. E3: Yes, it's me!!... Look, look!!... I swear! ... (While E4 shakes his head, pointing to the screen and keep talking) 4. E1: Press ... Press the ‘X’ button... 5. E3: Look!... forward... back ... (moving the directional control on the pad) 6. E1: Okay, well ... Press, press 'start game' or something like that... 7. E3: Look, wait ... you press 'Start' and here we go ... (The display shows the game options menu). 'Quick Match' (an option). 8. E4: Yeah... yes, 'quick match'. We note in the text above how players identify with one of the virtual characters that appear on screen and attributed his actions to him. This identification explains, perhaps, one of many motivating game elements, become their favorite hero and act like him.

4.2

The social side: ‘being’ a club

Sports video games also create conditions that facilitate the identification with a group. From this perspective, Castells (1997) explains the process of social construction of identity. In his opinion all identities are constructed and to analyze how different types of identities are built, by whom and with what results, is not something that can be addressed in general and abstract terms: depends on the social context in which people develop their activity. Also Gee (2001) defines socially situated identity as a way of acting, interacting, believing, valuing and using signs, symbols, objects and technologies to build and enact a particular socially recognizable identity as a ‘certain type person’ doing a ‘certain kind of things’, ie, identity as a gamer, soccer player, supporter of Real Madrid or fan of Messi. This relates to the idea that identities are formed within the group, that means, is constructed as a member of various groups to which a person belongs, or in which a person participate. In this sense, each person has different socially situated identities, and throughout life, and sometimes you create or lose some of those identities (Holland et al, 1998). Here is a quotation from the summary of one of the researchers who observed this process of identities construction when the students were playing in small groups with FIFA10: Quote 2. Identifying with the team they are playing. IES Manuel de Falla. 4º ESO (PCPI). Session 2. 2011 11 10. Researcher summary “It is interesting for me that students always speak using first-person when referring to the teams they are handling in the video game. In group 1, for example, they are playing a match with Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona, and when I asked them they answer: 'I am Real Madrid' or 'I am FC Barcelona'. Even considering that my question was: 'Which teams did you choose?... Their most expected answer could be 'I chose ‘X’...' or 'I am playing with ‘X’...'. But they always refer to the team that they are handling saying 'I am ‘X’...’” “In other group the students are playing together on the same computer. In this case, they play with the Spanish national team. I ask them the same question and they say (almost at the same time) 'We are Spain'. Also, in this moment, a student from another group approached us and asked: 'Who are you? They talk about themselves, not about the team ... if they play with Real Madrid, they say 'we are

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Real Madrid’ and not ‘we play with Real Madrid’ or ‘we choose Real Madrid'. Even when others ask them, the question is 'who are you?’ and not ‘Who are you playing with?’” The researcher is already interpreting their observations. The reflection shows how individual students are identified with a group. It is especially significant considering that they talk using first-person. The researcher’ question was formulated in an impersonal way, then he would expect an answer that involved a higher distance from the virtual character, for example, “the team we chose is Real Madrid” and not "we are Real Madrid”.

4.3

The cultural side: ‘being’ a national team

The sports video games not only allow identification with the group but also with the culture of a specific nation. We stated that identity is something dynamic, that is forming and changing constantly. In addition to real and virtual identity Gee (2003) highlighted a projective identity, linked with the wishes of the players. In addition, a particular individual or a group can have multiple identities, but this plurality is a source of tensions and contradictions both in the representation of oneself as in the social action. Here's an example of this projective identity, perhaps related to the wishes of the player, in this case an immigrant student whose family is from Ecuador. Again the data comes from a summary of the researcher... Quote 3. Choosing a National Team. IES Manuel de Falla. 4º ESO (PCPI). Session 2. 2011 11 17. Researcher summary ”I approach a group in which there are two girls and a boy, and I ask them which team they're playing with. The girl who has the pad in her hands say: 'Well... I'm playing with Ecuador... I feel very bad, because it is not Peru and I cannot choose it. I wanted to be Peru’. It is interesting because she refers to Ecuador saying: ‘I'm playing with Ecuador...', but when talking about Peru she said: 'I want to be Peru’ (the girl is from Peru). She told us the reason of her choice: ‘I choose Ecuador because considering the national teams that are available in the video game which are close to my country, they are who I find more friendly’'' 'The guy who is playing against her is from Morocco, and he chose the Netherlands for playing. I just ask him why he chose this team and he told me ‘Morocco is not a very good team, so I chose the Netherlands because they have a good team, and I wanted to handle a good team but not great, because I don’t want to abuse...'”. For the students, the criteria for choosing a team can be very varied, depending on the objective of the game, but almost always the starting point seems to be related to their identification with their team or their country. " There is always needed to pick a team to play. Not always choose the own national team or the favorite club. So, what makes someone choose one team or another? Sometimes, as we can see, the reason is that the team plays better... or worse. The choice is related to the player's skill level and the challenge that he is achieving, ie, choose a less skillful team to see if you can win with it. But there are more reasons beyond: our whishes and who we would be represented inside the game.

5

EDUCATIONAL RELEVANCE: SOME THOUGHTS...

First of all, In this paper we wished to demonstrate how commercial games can be used in the classroom to create innovative educational settings in which children and adults develop new digital literacies. By “literacy” we understand, in this context, the process whereby people become conscious of the discourses they use and, by doing so, control it in communicative situations; in particular, using it in a reflective and critical way in order to achieve their own goals. This kind of literacy supposes that people, both individually and collectively, use discourses in cultural and historical contexts with specific purposes. When we focus on digital literacies and video games, one of the most challenging topics for us has been to understand how games become a meaningful object, not only for designers but also for their users in specific contexts. Moreover, we look at how this meaning can be shared with other people, not always players, by using oral, written and audiovisual discourses.

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As a result of a exploratory conversational analysis we suggest that the fact of grasping consciousness of the rules of the game is part of a situated cognition process, dependent on at least two dimensions of the context: a) adult-child relationships, when adults help children to be literate with regard to the game; b) the specific characteristics of the game as interpreted by the gamer and interacting with his/her expertise. Related to the development of situated identities, we reflect on the sports video games as excellent artifacts for teenagers’ development of new comprehension skills that enable them to master the different multimedia resources available in their everyday life (Jenkins, 2006). Learning with the support of video games involves taking and playing with different identities, so the learner has to make "real" choices (in the development of virtual identity), having multiple opportunities to reflect on the relationship between new and existing identities (Gee, 2003). The educational relevance of this perspective essentially implies that students relate to and reflect on their multiple identities in real and virtual worlds. That is, learners participate fully committed (with much effort and dedication) because they feel their real identity has been extended into a virtual identity that commits them. When children and adults are aware of a dynamic system in a collective sport video game, two kinds of rules are interwoven; those defining the soccer as a sport and those controlling the game on the screen. How people understand the interactions between these two sets of rules is a question that we need to explore in further studies in order to clarify the meaning that both those sets of rules have for the player.

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