August 28, 2006: Gee, Hinton

Let me begin by saying that these two articles are the most interesting I have read to date in library school. I agree with Gee's thoughts on using video games as models for learning in our schools. He states that "something about how games are designed to trigger learning...makes them so deeply motivating." (Gee 2001, [2]). Motivation seems to be a gross oversight of our schools, even at the university level. Rote memorization is something I remember from my elementary and secondary (and even post secondary) school days. The only motivator with such a practice is the final grade handed down by the instructor - not much of a tool for instilling in someone the actual desire to learn and understand a concept. Gee lists 13 principles taken from video games and explains how they could be applied in education. For example, one that I thought was quite important was Principle 2: Customize, which states that "[d]ifferent styles of learning work better for different people" (Gee 2001, [7]). The author explains how certain video games allow players to customize their game play to fit their needs. He explains how this principle would let students find their own style of learning as well as try new styles without being afraid. I also wholeheartedly agree with Gee's take on professional practice. He states, "Professional practice is crucial here, because, remember, real learning in science, for example, is constituted by being a type of scientist doing a type of science not reciting a fact you don't understand" (Gee 2001, [11]). Gee uses the example of Galileo experimenting with pendulums and applying to it the principles of geometry. In our schools, however, students are expected to understand things like why the pendulum swings as it does before they have had any practical experience with geometry. This is no doubt quite frustrating to those less mathematically inclined students. I think Gee is definitely on to something with his video game learning theory. Games use subtle techniques to motivate and teach without the user being aware that s/he is learning. Imagine the possibilities if school made learning - all learning - fun...

Hinton's article explores online game environments and other online communities as "third places;" virtual stations where people spend large amounts of time outside of real life and work life. He discusses Quake, " the first three-dimensional computer game to use a set of open standards that allowed anyone to host a game server and create content and modifications for the game engine" (Hinton 2006, [1]). Users of online games and communities create meaning by being able to oversee certain aspects of its creation. With regard to libraries, users of catalogs and databases might be granted the opportunity to create keyword searches from which other users may benefit. Hinton mentions Wikipedia and Craigslist as two examples of "emergent spaces where user activity and interaction create meaning and relevance" (Hinton 2006, [8]). Some might even say that OCLC's WorldCat is a sort of "third place," although it doesn't exactly fit Hinton's definition. Catalogers in libraries around the world have the power to enter books, videos, journals, and many other kinds of resources into WorldCat's interface. Something I've noticed in working with WorldCat on a daily basis is that items are often either duplicate entries, cataloged slightly differently than one another, or, strangely, someone will catalog an article title and the person searching for its location will have to have an awareness of the fact that it is an article and not the journal title in which the article can be found. However, WorldCat as a "third place" might not be exactly appropriate as catalogers are hopefully at work (the "second place") when they are "living" in WorldCat.

Hinton also discusses social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Digg as "third places." I can say from experience that many people do indeed "live" on MySpace. I see it as a sort of 21st century hybrid of the telephone, note-passing, and school yearbooks. It is even more than that, however. Now one can play videos of all kinds, view, listen to (and sometimes download songs), and "befriend" unsigned and signed bands, and keep current with new movie releases and other media. So, I might say that MySpace is a sort of telephone/note-passing/yearbook/television/newspaper hybrid, although I think the term "social network" is easier to remember... Hinton's memory of a Quake player saying, "we live here" is quite apropos of online social communities. Like the saloons, pubs, and nightclubs of the past and present, they are yet another "place" where people can share ideas, make friends, and get information.

Hinton's article came to mind when I was reading a post on boing boing, a website of weird things, tech news, and other sundries (you'll just have to look at it if you've never seen it). I check this site pretty regularly, as I like offbeat news, and I came across this article, which originally appeared in Wired, about a Canadian record label giving away ProTools files of popular music on MySpace. This is something that would allow DJs and others familiar with ProTools to tweak the music files and use them however they see fit. But the idea, which some think is outrageous because of intellectual property issues and others pertinent to the music industry, might revolutionize the way musicians and record labels make their money. By using social networking sites like MySpace, the record label seeks to attract attention to certain bands at certain times in hopes of, I assume, making money in the end. I found the site on MySpace where one can supposedly download these ProTools files but I was not able to locate them. Maybe the promotion is over. I did, however, see where the songs are for sale, or maybe they are the files, I don't know... I don't particularly care for this band, so I didn't pursue it further. Regardless, the Wired article explains how this record label is experimenting with music promotion with this particular band. The CEO of the label calls the record industry "antiquated" (as do many others in the industry and on the outside) and speaks of "collapsed copyright" in terms of intellectual property of music. By allowing its fans to download and edit or recreate their songs, the band and the record label might just revolutionize the music industry. I personally think it's a brilliant idea that will just serve to sell more CDs, mp3s and concert tickets. People like new and different ways of doing things. Just like iTunes has transformed the sale of songs and albums, so might giving away a band's musical secrets do the same for its individual sales.

Gee, James Paul. 2001. Learning by design: Good video games as learning machines. E-Learning 2(1):5-16.

Hinton, Andrew. (July-August 2006). We live here: Games, third places and the information architecture of the future. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science & Technology. Available at http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Aug-06/hinton.html