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    This book review summarizes David Williamson Shaffer's book "How Computer Games Help Children Learn". The book argues that games should have real-life relevance by allowing kids to think and act like professionals. It introduces the concept of "epistemic games" that require thinking in a particular way about the world. Epistemic games provide learners with a "tool kit" of knowledge, skills, and values to look at and act on the world. Commercial games may not accurately portray the real world, while epistemic games can help develop important skills and innovative thinking needed for the digital age.

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    Book Review

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    This book review summarizes David Williamson Shaffer's book "How Computer Games Help Children Learn". The book argues that games should have real-life relevance by allowing kids to think and act like professionals. It introduces the concept of "epistemic games" that require thinking in a particular way about the world. Epistemic games provide learners with a "tool kit" of knowledge, skills, and values to look at and act on the world. Commercial games may not accurately portray the real world, while epistemic games can help develop important skills and innovative thinking needed for the digital age.

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    This book review summarizes David Williamson Shaffer's book "How Computer Games Help Children Learn". The book argues that games should have real-life relevance by allowing kids to think and act like professionals. It introduces the concept of "epistemic games" that require thinking in a particular way about the world. Epistemic games provide learners with a "tool kit" of knowledge, skills, and values to look at and act on the world. Commercial games may not accurately portray the real world, while epistemic games can help develop important skills and innovative thinking needed for the digital age.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    788 views18 pages

    Book Review

    Uploaded by

    api-310932620
    This book review summarizes David Williamson Shaffer's book "How Computer Games Help Children Learn". The book argues that games should have real-life relevance by allowing kids to think and act like professionals. It introduces the concept of "epistemic games" that require thinking in a particular way about the world. Epistemic games provide learners with a "tool kit" of knowledge, skills, and values to look at and act on the world. Commercial games may not accurately portray the real world, while epistemic games can help develop important skills and innovative thinking needed for the digital age.

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    You are on page 1of 18

    Technology & Change Book Review:

    How Computer Games Help


    Children Learn
    Cong-Kai Jin
    EDCI 888: ProSeminar 2

    Book Author:

    David Williamson Shaffer


    Professor, Department of Educational Psychology,
    University of Wisconsin
    PhD, Media Arts and Sciences, MIT

    Book foreword by:

    James Paul Gee


    Professor of Literacy Studies, Arizona State
    University
    Faculty affiliate of the Games, Learning, and Society
    group, University of WisconsinMadison

    Gees words:
    Technology of any sort is not adequate all by
    itself for deep learning;
    Technology must be built into rich and welldesigned learning systems. (p. xi)

    Shaffer examed games such as:


    The Debating Game for Epistemology.
    Digital Zoo for Knowledge
    Eschers World for Skills
    The Pandora Project for Values
    Science.net for Identity
    Urban Science for future urban planning.

    Shaffers argument:
    Game must have real-life relevance.
    Game design should allow kids to act and
    think like professionals in the real world.

    Shaffers argument: (cont.)


    Game should allow learning beyond the basics and
    beyond standardized skills;
    Epistemic game could enable learning for real
    problem solving and innovation.

    What is Epistemic Game?


    Epistemic game requires you to think in a
    particular way about the world (p. 34)
    Players are acting and thinking like the professional
    in the real world.

    Game with Epistemic frame:


    A practicum which allows
    learners to own and operate
    a tool kit of knowledge,
    skills, and valueswhat
    Shaffer calls its epistemic
    framethat it uses to look
    at and act on the world in a
    distinctive way.

    Skills
    Values

    Knowledge

    Goal

    Game with Epistemic frame: (cont.)


    Epistemic games offer a
    new way of thinking about
    learningone that is critical
    to education in the hightech, digital world of global
    competition. (p. 167)

    Skills
    Values

    Knowledge

    Goal

    Commercial games vs. Epistemic games:


    Helping young people develop important skills,
    knowledge, identities, values, and ways of
    innovative thinking.
    There are many games out there that are fun to play
    and that can help children learn.

    Commercial games vs. Epistemic games:


    (cont.)
    Fun and learning can be quite compatible.
    But the focus of a game matters in the end.
    In the most extreme cases, commercial games can
    give dangerously inaccurate portrayals of the way
    things work in the real world.

    Seymour Papert:
    When it comes to learning:
    What can be done is a technological question;
    What should be done is a pedagogical question, and ;
    What will be done is a political question. (p. 191)

    The best hope for a better way:


    The future of education depends not only on whether
    epistemic games work, but on whether we have the will to
    change how we think about thinking and learning in a
    changing society. (p. 191).
    The best hope for a better way of educating children for
    life in the digital age is for adults to think about learning
    in a new way: to think about helping young people develop
    the epistemic frames of professional innovation. (p. 192).

    The take-home messages:


    Game matters!
    Think about the skills, knowledge, identities,
    values, and especially the epistemology of the
    games you play and the games your children play.

    Questions & Criteria:


    What is worth doing in the world? What kinds of
    thinking will matter to young peoples success,
    happiness, and ability to make the world a better
    place?
    These are the things worth learningand thus the
    games worth playing.

    My Evaluations:
    Pro:
    Setting knowledge, skills, and values as ideal criteria for
    educational game design.

    Con:
    Epistemic games are much like professional practicum,
    which are not necessary fun to play unless players
    already have genuine interests in this regard.

    Thank you!

    Reference:
    Shaffer, D. W. (2006).How computer games
    help children learn.New York: Palgrave
    Macmillan.

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