Toward an Ecology of Gaming

In her introduction to the Ecology of Games, Salen argues for the need for an increasingly complex and informed awareness of the meaning, significance, and practicalities of games in young people's lives. The language of the media is replete with references to the devil (and heavy metal) when it comes to the ill-found virtues of videogames, while a growing movement in K-12 education casts them as a Holy Grail in the uphill battle to keep kids learning. Her essay explores the different ways the volume's contributors add shades of grey to this often black-and-white mix, pointing toward a more sophisticated understanding of the myriad ways in which gaming could and should matter to those considering the future of learning

Interview with Katie Salen Tekinbas: Sonia Livingstone and Kate Cowan interview with Katie Salen Tekinbas

To understand how play is designed in the digital world, Sonia Livingstone OBE and Kate Cowan spoke to Katie Salen Tekinbas, as part of our interview series on play in the digital world

Quest to Learn

The design for Quest to Learn, an innovative school in New York City that offers a “game-like” approach to learning. Quest to Learn, an innovative school for grades 6 to 12 in New York City, grew out of the idea that gaming and game design offer a promising new paradigm for curriculum and learning. The designers of Quest to Learn developed an approach to learning that draws from what games do best: drop kids into inquiry-based, complex problem spaces that are built to help players understand how they are doing, what they need to work on, and where to go next. Content is not treated as dry information but as a living resource; students are encouraged to interact with the larger world in ways that feel relevant, exciting, and empowering. Quest to Learn opened in the fall of 2009 with 76 sixth graders. In their first semester, these students learned—among other things—to convert fractions into decimals in order to break a piece of code found in a library book; to use atlases and read maps to create a location guide for a reality television series; and to create video tutorials for a hapless group of fictional inventors. This research and development document outlines the learning framework for the school, making the original design available to others in the field. Elements in development include a detailed curriculum map, a budget, and samples of student and teacher handbooks

Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals

Sebagai budaya pop, permainan sama pentingnya dengan film atau televisi - namun desain game belum mengembangkan kerangka teoritis atau kosa kata kritis. Dalam Aturan Bermain Katie Salen dan Eric Zimmerman menyajikan sebuah primer yang sangat dibutuhkan untuk bidang yang baru muncul ini. Mereka menawarkan model terpadu untuk melihat semua jenis permainan, mulai dari permainan papan dan olahraga hingga permainan komputer dan video. Sebagai peserta aktif dalam budaya permainan, penulis telah menulis Rules of Play sebagai katalis untuk inovasi, diisi dengan konsep, strategi, dan metodologi baru untuk menciptakan dan memahami permainan. Membangun estetika sistem interaktif, Salen dan Zimmerman mendefinisikan konsep inti seperti "permainan", "desain", dan "interaktivitas." Mereka melihat permainan melalui serangkaian delapan belas "skema desain permainan", atau kerangka kerja konseptual, termasuk permainan sebagai sistem kemunculan dan informasi, sebagai konteks permainan sosial, sebagai media pendongeng, dan sebagai tempat perlawanan budaya. Ditulis untuk para ilmuwan game, pengembang game, dan perancang interaktif, Rules of Play adalah buku teks, buku referensi, dan panduan teoritis. Ini adalah usaha komprehensif pertama untuk membangun kerangka teoritis yang solid untuk munculnya disiplin dalam desain gamexv, 672 hal. : il. ; 22 c

Designing a Place Called School: A Case Study of the Public School Quest to Learn

This case study will delve into the organization and engagement models developed to bring game-like learning to the New York City public school sector. It will explore design’s capacity to transform artificial systems, in this case a public school operating within the context of the US Department of Education (DOE). The case explores the role played by Mission Lab, a design studio embedded in the school and staffed by game designers and learning specialists. It then goes on to look at the school’s grade format (6–12) and its non-selective enrollment policy. Each defined a key aspect of the school model, from its innovative approach to collaboration, to it emphasis on continuity and diversity

Child-Centered Design in the Digital World: Investigating the Implications of the Age-Appropriate Design Code for Interactive Digital Media

In this paper, we conduct a content analysis to investigate the implications of the "Age-Appropriate Design Code" for the design of interactive digital media children are likely to use. The "Age-Appropriate Design Code" policy framework, implemented in the United Kingdom in 2021 with a modified version later signed into law in California in 2022, shifts the focus beyond just the protection of children’s data to a broader focus on how the interaction with digital technologies might affect or even harm children. Our content analysis of both the UK and California codes identifies a number of design considerations framed around four main categories namely design values, communication of information, interactions with technology, and data management. While recognizing the robustness of the Age-Appropriate Design Codes, we also identify certain uncertainties and challenges in implementing guidelines in the context of interactive digital media. Our findings contribute to the ongoing conversation about designing safe and age-appropriate online spaces for children