Toward a Theory of Game-Media Literacy: Playing and Building as Reading and Writing

Research Into Playing Videogames

The fascination with and research on the cognitive and learning processes that occurs during videogame play is becoming increasingly prominent—so much so, that a national conference dedicated entirely to this topic was launched by Dr. James Paul Gee in 2004 as a venue for scholarly discourse (Games, Learning and Society, GLS, www.glsconference.org). In this growing field of gaming research, scholars are addressing the nature of cognitive and emotional development, literacy practices, and thinking and learning during gameplay in a range of gaming environments and genres (Barab, 2009; Gee, 2003, 2007; Shaffer, 2006; Squire, 2002, 2006, 2009; Steinkuehler, 2007, 2009a, 2009b). This line of research focuses on assessing different kinds of learning while playing games released commercially for entertainment (e.g., World of Warcraft, Grand Theft Auto, Zelda, Quake, Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, Rock Band), or edutainment games (e.g., Civilization, Quest Atlantis) in various contexts (mostly out of school, in homes, clubs and afterschool programs).