Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 13, No. 557.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
<http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/>
<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/>
[1] From: pat gudridge <pgudridg@law.miami.edu> (14)
Subject: games and teaching
[2] From: "Mary Dee Harris" <mdharris@acm.org> (74)
Subject: Re: 13.0554 come out to play?
[3] From: "Osher Doctorow" <osher@ix.netcom.com> (7)
Subject: Re: 13.0554 come out to play?
--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 20:44:52 +0100
From: pat gudridge <pgudridg@law.miami.edu>
Subject: games and teaching
Dear Professor McCarty:
I can't answer either of your questions, but it seems to me that there's a
prior question. How can those of us who are already teaching and writing,
and whose education mostly took place before visual presentation of
information escaped the limits of television and movies, acquire enough of a
sense of game dynamics to be able to make use of the new medium? We could,
I suppose, devote time to Tomb Raider or whatever. But it must be the case
that someone has tried to explore, in some traditional analytic way, the
computer/video game form. So too, someone must already have moved beyond
user manuals, and considered in depth the differences presentation graphics
make -- perhaps especially when created and displayed "live" in the
classroom -- for argument and analysis. I suspect that where we are headed
-- fast -- is interactive, joint student-faculty use of presentation
software, some of it no doubt in game format.
Pat Gudridge
--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 20:45:18 +0100
From: "Mary Dee Harris" <mdharris@acm.org>
Subject: Re: 13.0554 come out to play?
When my son was a teenager, he and a group of friends played Dungeons and
Dragons every Saturday at one house or another. It was fascinating to watch
them develop over the years from the early days when they followed the
pre-defined games through the years when they imitated those original games,
and later when they became quite innovative in their game designs. They
took turns at being Dungeon Master who leads the game and each boy had his
own style. But they all seem to try out real world roles in various ways.
One interesting point that I noticed when they were about 14 or 15 was that
each boy had at least one female character in his repertoire -- not as
physically strong but smart and beautiful, reflecting the fact (in my
opinion) that all the boys had educated talented mothers.
Clearly these boys who started out rather geeky and turned out to be
charming young men, learned from their role playing. They were able to try
on different personae and test themselves in many situations. I felt that
it was a valuable tool for their character development!
My son is now 30 and the father of a beautiful baby daughter but still plays
computer role playing games (when he can find the time). I'm sure that he
expects his daughter to grow up to be smart and beautiful and talented!
Mary Dee
--[3]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 20:48:44 +0100
From: "Osher Doctorow" <osher@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: 13.0554 come out to play?
From: Osher Doctorow, osher@ix.netcom.com, April 25, 2000, 1:37PM
Dear Colleagues:
Willard's question is quite interesting. I'll try to say something about
what Doctorow Consultants is doing about it if I can find out what happened
to the Hawaiian internet conference. Did I have the wrong year, or the
wrong date? I'll be back "after a word from the sponsor."
Cheers
Osher
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