Post # 7, Gee Chapters 3-4

Learning and Identiy




The cover for Arcanum


Gee opens chapter 3 by saying, "All learning in all semiotic domains requires taking on a new identity and forming bridges from one's old identities to the new one." (45). To that end, he writes of how he took on the virtual identity of a female half-elf named Bead-Bead in the game, Arcanum. Videogames like this promote identity work and reflection, a trait that would make modern schools much more successful. What makes these games such great tools for learning is that you basically put yourself in the role of someone else and have to successfully navigate the virtual world as this other person. It is a very good example of the aphorism, walk a mile in another man's shoes and you will truly know him (other variations say "before you criticize him"). While I've never played Arcanum, I have played a very similar game that Gee also mentions, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Oblivion is a game that so engrosses the player in its world that I can't think of a more apt name for it; I am figuratively oblivious to just about everything that's around me while I'm playing it, particularly time. But what makes a game like this so compelling is the multiple identities at work while playing it.

Gee speaks of three identities at play in a role playing game: virtual, real, and projective. As I play Oblivion, my three identities are part of what make the experience so rewarding for me. First, there is my virtual identity, Zion, a Breton who is by racial virtue, not only adept at magic, but resistant to it as well. Because I wanted Breton to be more versatile than the average mage, I split his class (skill set) between a mage and a knight. As such, Zion is proficient in magic and combat. The second identity, the real Antonio, lives vicariously through Zion. I am able to experience and do things as Zion that I could not in my real world. Finally, the third identity is something like a projection. This projection is what I expect Zion to do, how I imagine he should act and behave, and everything that I hope to accomplish with him (I've already accomplished a lot. Within this virtual world, I am not only the leader of the mages guild and the most powerful mage in the world, I am also the savior of the land, and the god of chaos, Sheogorath.) How is something like multiple identities good for learning? It allows students to take on various roles in their learning. By putting themselves in different roles--doctor, lawyer, scientist, etc.--there are better able to appropriate the knowledge a skill set of each role. They can also harness their pre-existing identies when learning, thus making the experience deeper and more rewarding.



In-game screenshots for a mage and knight in
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. My character was, Zion,
was a hybrid of these two classes.


It is very important that a student identify with the role they are being asked to play within a semiotic domain. If a student does not identify with what they are being asked to be (i.e., a good student) then he or she will not strive to be what is asked of them. They have to have the desire in order to put forth the effort. One way that video games create this desire in players is the amplification of input principle. This is basically the principle that what ever effort is put into something becomes amplified in the results. With just a few pushes of some buttons, a gamer's effort is amplified in the corresponding actions of the character on the screen. Another way videogames create the desire to learn/play  in gamers is by operating within the player's regime of competence. In short, a goal must be difficult to achieve, yet rewarding. A student will not benefit from a teaching program that has easy goals, likewise, a program with goals that are too far outside the realm of a student's abilities will fail to produce the desired result.

Situated Meaning and Learning





When I was in high school I hated math. I particularly hated having to learn drawn out theorems in order to solve equations on tests. I have since avoided math to the best of my ability, so I'm not exactly sure on the particulars of these theorems, but I do remember that there was always a long way to get the answer my teacher was seeking and a shorter, easier way. Of course, she always insisted on the longer way. I always wanted to know why she cared which method I used as long as I got to the same conclusion (I also wished my teacher subscribed to Gee's "material intelligence principal" and would let me use my calculator on tests). When Gee points out in chapter 4 that good videogames allow for multiple ways of getting to the same goal, I could relate. Learning should also allow for multiple methods to get to the same goal.

Past experiences, says Gee, are what guide humans in how to proceed through new situations. When we learn, our thinking is rooted in embodied experiences. We can sometimes just use recall of a particular situation and apply it to a new one in order to deal with a new situation. Other times, however, we need to be able to adapt and modify our experiences in order to find the solution to a new problem. Gee spends the vast majority of chapter 4 talking about the game, Deus Ex, which requires using multiple routes, and experience, and adaptation to beat the game. In order to navigate through a game like Deus Ex gamers must first learn to deconstruct the meaning of the various signs within the game, likewise with learning, students must learn to take the various signs they are presented with and desconstruct them in a meaningful way. Finally, texts that students read are not only understood verbally. They are embodied in the students' experiences.

Questions:
1) Kids are often discouraged from having imaginary friends, but if we apply Gee's ideas on identity and learning, shouldn't they be incouraged to have imaginary friends, at least when younger?

2) Is Gee's "Material Intelligence" principle cheating?

3) If a student doesn't believe that he is capable of succeeding in a particular subject then he likely won't. I frequently made C's and D's in math class because I just didn't think I a mathematically capable student. To this very day, I feel incapable of doing anything but very basic arithmetic. If I were to suffer a head injury that caused me to forget how bad I am at math and had someone tell me that I was actually very talented at it, would I suddenly be better with numbers?