Situated Meanings
“Meanings are not general or decontextualized” but are actually connected to personal experience (Gee 108). Virtual environments directly teach us what tools and strategies are used to overcome various problems. By contrast, the typical classroom withholds real-world applications of its material.Learning By Doing
Much like in a good science classroom, players need to “probe the virtual world, … form a hypothesis about what something might mean in a usefully situated way,” and rethink the hypothesis based on feedback (Gee 90). In this way, games encourage lateral thinking and adaptive problem-solving.Projective Identities
Games allow us to establish a unique “form of identification with the virtual character’s world, story, and perspectives that [becomes] a strong learning device at a number of different levels” (Gee 199). In many games, this allows players to explore the following:
- Ethical decisions: What is right and what is wrong?
- Alternate viewpoints: What are different ways of approaching an issue?
- Definitions of selfhood: Who am I? What do I think of myself?
The branching plotline of BioWare’s Jade Empire, for example, requires players to embrace one of two conflicting moral philosophies, a feature detailed on its Wikipedia page.
Symmetrical Distribution of Knowledge
Players aren’t treated as passive “consumers” of knowledge (as students are in classrooms), but are encouraged to become as competent in the domain as the designers themselves. Many players go on to tinker with their favorite games and produce new modifications and add-ons. For instance, Bethesda’s popular Elder Scrolls series has spawned an impressive library of user-made content on its GameSpy page. In effect, many players become critical producers—people who have so mastered a semiotic domain that they can now evaluate it and make design decisions within its boundaries.
