Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) in the new media classroom
Educational Technology & Society, 9 (3):
160-172 (2006)Abstract
Recent research demonstrates that videogames enhance literacy, attention, reaction time, and higher-level
thinking. Several scholars have suggested that massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) such as
Everquest and Second Life have educational potential, but we have little data about what happens when
such tools are introduced in the classroom. This paper reports findings from two MMO-based courses in the
context of situated learning theory. The first course, focused on the ethnography of on-line games, used the
game Everquest as a vehicle for teaching research methods to 36 students in an undergraduate
communication course. The second course used the game Second Life to teach the fundamentals of videogame design and criticism. Synthesizing comments from student web logs with data collected from followup surveys, the paper highlights key findings and offers concrete suggestions for instructors contemplating
the use of multiplayer games in their own courses. Recommending that potential virtual environments be
selected on the basis of genre, accessibility, and extensibility, it is suggested that game-based assignments
are most effective when they build bridges between the domain of the game world and an overlapping
domain of professional practice.
