Digital Game-Based Learning MOOC (gMOOC) for Rhetoric and Composition

Primary Presenter: Sherry Jones

Organization: Arapahoe Community College

Role: Instructor

Track: General Presentation

Topic: MOOCs

Level: Advanced

Abstract: gMOOC, or a Digital Game-Based Learning MOOC, is a new form of MOOC based on "play" and "interactivity" that we are introducing to the MOOC universe. Our presentation will feature: 1) an Advanced English Composition gMOOC that we have created for Arapahoe Community College, 2) the course website, games, and lecture videos, and 3) theories from game design, rhetoric, and textual strategies incorporated into course design. The gMOOC will be released in Summer and Fall 2013.

Bio: Sherry Jones is a Philosophy, Rhetoric, and Composition Instructor. Her pedagogy is an integration of theories from philosophy of mind, classical and contemporary rhetoric, writing composition, game design, and new media, implemented via disruptive technology. Her pedagogical purpose is to prepare students to create rhetorically compelling digital compositions for the global audience. Sherry has presented sessions and workshops for over 20 Ed-Tech Conferences (COLTT, eLCC, FETC, EDUCAUSE, Metro State U, UC Denver, CCCS, and others) on how she has successfully implemented the following models in course designs: Game-Based Learning (GBL), Multi-Modal Text, Flipped Classroom/Blended Learning, Digital Storytelling, and Project-Based Learning (PBL).

Description: A Game-Based Learning MOOC, herein defined as “gMOOC,” is a type of MOOC that incorporates digital games into the MOOC participants’ experience for learning almost any content area through the lens of digital games. We perceive digital games as paratexts, a type of text of which its meaning is influenced by the physical world, as well as extends beyond itself to exert influence on the physical world. In this sense, digital games are a form of transmedia, and can be studied within digital humanities for their compositional complexity and social implications. In our Advanced English Composition gMOOC, students will play a series of digital games, specifically narrative-based role-playing games (RPG), and analyze the rhetorical strategies used by the games to influence player’s game decisions, ultimately leading the gamer to experience certain game outcomes. Game mechanics and game dynamics present in the digital game design contribute to a game’s overall rhetorical effectiveness. It is in a digital game’s “possibility spaces” (as defined by rhetorician and game designer, Ian Bogost), that students can experience and reflect on the rhetorical strategies present in simulated environments. *gMOOC is a term coined by Sherry Jones and Jack Park (Founder of the Knowledge Garden theory).

Presenter Presentation Materials URL (Web Address):

http://bit.ly/gamer12