Summary of an article - Essay Example

Summary of an Article An Assignment Submitted by of Establishment XXXX, Section XXXX, Fall Summary of an Article The article is focused on using computer games in learning. The authors cautiously support the view that games provide useful opportunities for interactive learning and re-contextualization of place. Augmented reality games are defined through the framework of space/place, performativity, and game design (Squire et. al., 2007, p. 268). The study consists of 3 parts: the brief outline of the approaches in contemporary game theory, the description and analysis of 3 augmented reality games for learning (Mad City Mystery, Dow Day, and The Greenbush Game), and the summary of principles of augmented reality game design.

It is remarkable that all 3 games reviewed by the authors are strictly place-specific (namely, they are about the city of Madison and its surroundings) and with the domination of reality over fantasy. The ludological analysis and the positive feedback from the pupils, the users and even the designers of the games, testify that such augmented reality simulations actively engage learners in their present-day environment and develop awareness of surrounding space by locating the cognition in social and spatial contexts (Squire et. al., 2007, p. 269). Several key challenges and principles of interactive games of this kind are defined: firstly, the notion of space as contested (when the interaction with space is undermined by certain conflict that has to be resolved, be this the conflict of past and present, as in The Greenbush Game, or the one that is based on “the political control over space”) (Squire et. al., 2007, p. 287); secondly, role-playing narration, or interactive storytelling (p. 288); thirdly, the usage of memorable moments and experiences (when knowledge is gained through the active absorption of the strategies that have worked in certain contexts, which, by the way, makes game-based learning radically different from more traditional ways of transmitting knowledge) (p. 289); and last, the “potential of linking games-for-learning into other inquiry activities” (p. 270), like in the case when the students have collected the information and brain-stormed for the design of The Greenbush Game.

Overall, the article is full of pedagogical insights, as it offers an optimistic outlook on the game-based learning with the emphasis on interactivity and the role of place. However, game theory covers much more aspects that need to be addressed in the context of learning. One of them is the limits of the ideological construction of games (Squire et. al., 2007, p. 267), as all games have conventions and limitations that carry in themselves the ideologies of game creators. This issue, as well of many others, is both problematic and positively challenging for contemporary pedagogy.

ReferencesSquire, K. D., Mingfong, I., Matthews, J., Wagler, M., Martin, J., Devane, B., & Holden, C. (2007). Wherever You Go, There You Are: Place Based Augmented Reality Games for Learning. In: Place-based augmented reality games for learning. In B. E. Shelton & D. Wiley (Eds.), The Design and Use of Simulation Computer Games in Education (265-294). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.