Learning in Video Game Affinity Spaces

by Sean C. Duncan (Editor), Elisabeth R. Hayes (Editor)

As video games have become an important economic and cultural force, scholars are increasingly trying to better understand the ways that engagement with games may drive learning, literacy, and social participation in the twenty-first century. In this book, the authors consider games and just as importantly, the social interactions around games, not in terms of how they should be managed or incorporated into existing educational structures, but for what they tell us about the forms of learning and literacy that are already instantiated within the use of these media. To this end, this book delves deeply into James Paul Gee’s (2004) productive and influential concept of the affinity space – the physical or virtual locations (or some combination of the two) where people come together around a shared interest or «affinity.» By explicating how and why engaged fans of digital media do what they do in online spaces, the authors cast a light, as Gee did, on the promise of these media and the problems facing current educational systems.

254 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2012

Reviews

[Margaret Robbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a helpful and solid read for scholars who are interested in the concept of affinity spaces and also an interesting read for fans of gaming and fanfiction. I learned a lot about theory and methodology from reading it.

[Sterling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of research on how individuals participate in and learn from affinity spaces.