June 13, 2006
Mining the Dissertation
My dissertation has been lying dormant for many years as I have been distracted with new research and writing projects. I've been slowly getting chapters out in article form though, and have just posted the most recent one, an article for the journal Discourse on the genre of edutainment in children's software. This will make three dissertation chapters that I have published so far. The first was a framing analysis of human-machine interaction, "Interaction, Collusion, and the Human-Machine Interface" for The International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments. The second was an article, "Mobilizing Fun in the Production and Consumption of Children's Software" for the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
I know pulling the dissertation material together needs to be the next book but I've felt daunted by the prospect of updating it. It is a study of the production, marketing, and consumption of children's software, and the fieldwork was done in the late nineties, when the industry was contracting. Almost a decade later, the situation with the industry has changed again with the growth of web-based educational games. At the same time, it seems like the basic genres of gaming have not changed radically since the nineties. So I am hoping that my analysis of game and participation genres will still hold - and this is the core analysis of the dissertation.
Posted by Mizuko Ito at June 13, 2006 9:13 AM
Comments
hey. I'm getting mine published as is, with some updating, by a nice publisher I know. Want some info? After you mine it for articles of course. Nice to have it avail and in print.
Hi Mimi!
I'm not a sociologist but again, an interesting read.
I bumped into a Steven Yang in Palo Alto about 2 months ago. He has founded and coded a website that teaches Math to elementary school children that you might be interested in.
http://www.mathscore.com/aboutUs.html
When we bumped into each other, he had brought up the concept of word problems being largely ignored by children. In response, mathscore.com keeps the leveling and gaming aspects of other software, but pares away the entertainment aspects. It seems that kids still latch onto the program, and compete at home and in the school labs to reach new achievements within the game.
Perhaps the best news is that the tendency to guess is removed -- There are penalties to your progress for excessive guessing! Yet, I'll re-emphasize that kids seemed to practice and uptake new math skills, at about 3 to 4 times the rate of other students in a recent experimental run of the system.
There's a contact link at their website if you're interested in talking to Steven. He's a very friendly and interesting guy, and can give you more specifics.
Cheers, --Ian
Dr. Ito,
I have just found your website after doing some research into future academic possibilities and I am very excited after reading over your bio and some of your studies. Your areas of interest are very close to my own and I was wondering if you could help me with a problem I am having. I have recently graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BA in Anthro and minors in Psych and Soc. For high school I attended an Arts Magnet school in Dallas and focused on visual and multimedia fine arts. Given this background, I have recently decided that I would like to help research, develop, and design educational and artistic technology for children across all cultures. I am having trouble trying to find the right graduate program and was wondering if you might have any suggestions as well as any advice as to how to get involved in such an area of research. Thank you very much for your time, any help you can offer, and for your posting your research for free as I very much enjoy reading them and discussing them with my friends in Japan. Also, I apologize if this posting is in the wrong forum.
Sincerely,
daniel acevedo
Sorry your comments got lost in comment filter land for a while. Jason and Ian thanks for the pointers.
Daniel - I am not completely up on the graduate programs in educational technology, but I know that the Stanford School of Education has a good one. Good luck with your studies!
Dear Mimi! I just read the "mobilizing fun" article. Great stuff.
I am very interested when it comes to these subjects.
I used to be in charge of some edutainment productions for "Levande Bocker", Swedens first (and for many years the dominant) publisher of games and edutainment for kids. It was a great time where I learned a lot and got some new” view angles” to look upon the world with.
I think most of your views and comments on the subject are very sharp indeed. I liked the way you used Sim City to paint the picture of the children’s way of looking at games. I often use Sid Meiers "Pirates" when I talk about learning and having fun while learning. That game actually thought both me and a lot of kids, names, locaction and years of the foundations of city’s and colonies.
Anyhow.. great article. I am looking forward to be able to read more.