Games and Interactive Medialearning just by doingNelson Zagalo

Universidade do Minho

European Congress on Media LiteracyBellaria, Italie, 21-24 October 2009

Problems

Videogame Literacy has the same problems that we had with Film Literacy. They are for sure a language, on their own, a media but also an art form, and so not reducible to the synthesis we have made with linguistics.

There is no Grammar for Cinema (we discovered this in the 60’s) as there is no Grammar for Videogames.

The basics

Consume, Critic and Create

Audio and Visual Communication – critic

Representation (drama and narrative) - create

Interactivity - create

Programming - create

Communication

Critic

Visual and Musical Arts

Representation

Create

InteractiveStorytelling

Interactivity

Inject interactivity within the representation

Choices

Obstacles

Rules

Branching

Emergence

Sandbox

Programming In Games, to create is to program

If… then… else…

and…or…not…

case… while… for…

We have software to produce accessible games since 1985 with Apple Hypercard, then since 1988 with Director, and the most knowed Flash since 1993.

Videogame as an Art FormConsume, Critic and Create

In the end if you want to comply with the 3 axes of literacy, being able to create will mean being able to perform multidisciplinary work.

Using communication, arts, psychology and computer science very effectively.

A set of knowledge, that normally is not suitable to find in only one person.

There is no language or grammar - you learn by doing, by trying, by experimenting mixing different sets of knowledge – this is the quintessential of game interactivity.

Interact is to experimentWhat is the goal of teaching

Interactive Media and Games?

Is to use the powerful methodology of “learning by doing” not reducing it to anything related to describing or verbalizing syntaxes.

The “thing” here is – experiencing through simulation - imprinting somatic sensations into the learner body and mind.