Children’s Sense of Self: Learning and Meaning in the Digital Age

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Dodge, T., Barab, S., Stuckey, B., Warren, S., Heiselt, C. & Stein, R. (2008). Children’s Sense of Self: Learning and Meaning in the Digital Age. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 19(2), 225-249. Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/22982.

Journal Information

Journal of Interactive Learning Research
ISSN 1093-023X
Volume 19, Issue 2, April 2008
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)  Chesapeake, VA

More Information on JILR

Authors

Tyler Dodge, Sasha Barab, Bronwyn Stuckey, Indiana University, USA; Scott Warren, University of North Texas, USA; Conan Heiselt, Richard Stein, Indiana University, USA

Abstract

This research began with the premise that video game play, especially as it relates to participation in persistent virtual worlds, provides fictional spaces where players engage in cognitive and communicative practices that can be personally transformative in prosocial ways. Players' experiences with these worlds are as much defined by the technical design and construction of these spaces as they are influenced by the socio-cultural arrangements that develop. In support of this belief, we collected data on children's experiences with a range of technologies germane to the Digital Age, including their participation in the Quest Atlantis environment, an immersive space for learning that is intended to engage children ages 9-12 in a form of dramatic play comprising both online and real-world learning activities. By enlisting this innovation to nonintrusively collect data about children's participation as well as their engagement with media more generally, the research team was able to move beyond an ethnographic study of what already exists in the world and develop a grounded appreciation for what an innovative technology-rich context might make possible in the future.

Keywords

• Elementary Education
• Virtual Environments
• Culture
• Children
• Educational Technology
• Games

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