“Resonant games are also designed for learning with others. Paradigms like cognitive apprenticeship, communities of practice, and communities of learners emphasize not only learning by doing, but by doing things together with others, often in carefully designed activities that balance the agency and self-direction of learners with an egalitarian spirit that encourages all to learn and to learn together.”
– Eric Klopfer, Jason Haas, Scot Osterweil, and Louisa Rosenheck, Resonant Games: Design Principles for Learning Games that Connect Hearts, Minds, and the Everyday, 2019, Chapter 2
I just attended the first class of Eric Klopfer’s Design and Development of Games for Learning at MIT (11.127)! I really hope I get to take the class – it’s completely over-enrolled, so it’s unlikely – but I’m excited about it regardless. The quote above is part of a book the instructor has co-authored, and it addresses exactly the type of game I am trying to design for my thesis!
Existing participatory design practices, aren’t fully collaborative nor participatory. The game I intend to develop will facilitate learning and achieving consensus with others, and “balance the agency” among players.
our way home 