How to combine writing, transmedial skills, and gaming? Conducting systematic review of research, implementing a pilot study, and designing a digital learning platform
Submitted by:
Johanna Pentikainen
Abstract:
Writing is traditionally learned by teacher-selected assignments with pen and paper or a digital writing device in a classroom, where the writer draws from one’s discourse resources acquired by reading. Due to rapid digital development and changes in textual cultures, such learning settings do not necessarily convey the overall importance of writing skills in today's society. Writing consists of a necessary set of skills for self-expression, studying, working, and social interaction in various and ever-evolving contexts. Respectively, weak reading and writing skills may affect one’s life-long development, career plans, and general well-being, potentially leading to marginalization. At the same time, video and digital games are popular amongst today’s youth; gaming as a medium allows gamers to develop agency, be drawn to exciting problem-solving or plot lines, and join communities meaningful to them — all features that are significant parts of efficient writing, too (Jackson et al. 2022). To improve writing education, we ask how such an agency could be used and transferred to writing education, willing to learn from the adolescents agency-building textual practices (see Stornaiuolo & Monea, 2023), and relying on the current research that combines gaming and writing activities (Lawrence & Sherry, 2021) To apply our findings, we are designing and implementing writing pedagogy that relies on the interaction between a video game-like digital learning platform and pupils´ textual production. Our research project consists of several parts. 1) A systematic review of research discussing digital (video) games in writing learning. 2) Planning and conducting pilot research with 5th and 9th graders in Sm4rt LOC Educational Escape Room Laboratory (Joensuu campus, University of Eastern Finland in 2023). 3) Planning and conducting a digital learning platform with another Finnish research team that studies and implements XR technology (2023-2024). In our presentation, we will discuss our process for a research-based pedagogical application focusing on agency, transfer, and transmedial literacy skills. We are combining findings from a systematic review, pilot games, and collected research data (questionnaires, pupils´ written texts, analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively). We will also present a demo for our digital learning platform that will be published by the end of 2024.
Sarah W. Beck & Karis Jones (2023). Fostering agency through dialogue in classroom writing assessment. Teaching and Teacher Education 124.
Luke C. Jackson, Joanne O’Mara, Julianne Moss & Alun C. Jackson (2022). Expert writers on how to achieve narrative immersion in digital games. New Writing 19:2.
Anne M. Lawrence & Michael B. Sherry (2021). How feedback from an online video game teaches argument writing for environmental action. Journal of Literacy Research 53:1.
Amy Stornaiuolo & Bettany Monea (2023). Pocket writing: How adolescents’ self-sponsored writing circulates in school. Written Communication 40:3.