Lightning Bugs & Spectacle Cleaning

Lightning Bugs & Spectacle Cleaning: Language Barriers in Serious Game Design Katrin Becker, PhD

Step 1: HUH? ,[object Object],[object Object]

Step 2: about that title... The difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and lightning bug. Mark Twain

Step 3: ,[object Object],Sir Karl Popper

What does this have to do with us? ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Games for Education is now. ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Ben Sawyer http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_121/2575-Ten-Myths-About-Serious-Games

[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Game design is interdisciplinary.

Whorf-Sapir and Game Design ‘ Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.’ ... ‘We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native language. Language is not simply a reporting device for experience but a defining framework for it.’ ~ Benjamin Whorf

Definitions are important. "We cannot define anything precisely! If we attempt to, we get into that paralysis of thought that comes to philosophers, who sit opposite each other, one saying to the other, Richard Feynman (1963) 'You don't know what you are talking about!' The second one says 'What do you mean by know? What do you mean by talking? What do you mean by you?', and so on."

What is a game? ,[object Object],[object Object]

Digital games require: ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

[object Object],[object Object],It’s All in How You Look at Things Norton Juster, p.107-108, “The Phantom Toll Booth” For instance, from here that looks like a bucket of water,” he said pointing to a bucket of water; “but from an ant’s point of view it’s a vast ocean, from an elephant’s just a cool drink, and to a fish, of course, it’s home. So, you see, the way you see things depends a great deal on where you look at them from. Now, come along and I’ll show you the rest of the forest.” “ Of course not,” replied Alec, sitting himself down on nothing. “It’s only mine, and you certainly can’t always look at things from someone else’s Point of View. All Images © Jules Feiffer

Simulation vs Game ,[object Object],~ Richard Feynman

My definitions are different from yours. Simulation is an implementation of a model: which could be a mathematical construct that bounds the possible properties and activities of the hypothetical objects being described. Which need not be restricted by the bounds of the known universe – but which still must have integral consistency.

[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Simulations vs. Games according to Gredler (AECT), Alessi & Trollip Alessi, S. M., & Trollip, S. R. (2001). Multimedia for learning : methods and development (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Gredler, M. E. (2004). Games and Simulations and Their Relationships to Learning. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (2nd ed.). Mahwah, N.J.: Association for Educational Communications and Technology., Lawrence Erlbaum.

[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Games vs. Simulations according to Gredler (AECT), Alessi & Trollip

Communication fails if we mean different things while using the same words. Comparing Conceptual Structures Terminology Attributes Same Different Same Different Consensus Experts use terminology and concepts in the same way Correspondence Experts use different terminology for the same concepts Conflict Experts use same terminology for different concepts. Contrast Experts use different terminology and different concepts Shaw, M.L.G. & Gaines, B. (1989)

[object Object],~Thomas Earnest Hulme, Speculations, 1923

The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished. George Bernard Shaw

Suggestions: ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Sengers, P., How-To Tips for Interdisciplinary Communication. in Society for Literature and Science, 1996 , (Atlanta, Georgia, 1996).

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