Gaming Lives in the Twenty-First Century: Literate Connections

by Cynthia L. Selfe (Editor), James Paul Gee (Foreword), G. Hawisher (Editor)

This volume examines the claim that computer games can provide better literacy and learning environments than schools. Using case-studies in the US at the beginning of the twenty-first century and the words and observations of individual gamers, the book offers historical and cultural analyses of their literacy development, practices and values.

Genres: Education

286 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2007

Reviews

[Jonathan Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly explores the notions of literacies (alphabetic and digital) through an assortment of essays often using deep, long interview research with a few subjects to make the point. "Computer Gaming and Literacy" serves as an excellent introductory piece on the way digital literacies develop, why they matter and how they differ from traditional literacy. Chapter 3, about game localization and culture was especially fascinating. I'd experienced this as a gamer, of course, but it was good to read about this as a valid area of study. For personal reasons, Jonathan Alexander's essay (chapter 9) on computer gaming and sexuality was worth reading as it begins to explore the theoretical space in which gay sexualities can be expressed, understood and studied in a game context.