Supportive Online Gaming Communities as Models of Inclusive Communities of Practice and Informal Learning Within Game Culture Across Game Genres

• In Event: 35.028 - Communities of Practice, Game-Based Environments, and Online Learning Spaces That Transcend Across Formal and Informal Learning Environments

Abstract

The pioneering work of Lave and Wenger (1991) underscored the importance of communities of practice in the learning process. Communities of practice are defined by a shared domain that the group identifies with (which may or may not be valued by the larger culture), and which they invest time learning about, and building shared practices and resources around (Wenger, 2006). Literature continues to demonstrate that digital, mediated and online spaces offer opportunities for learning and developing interest-driven competencies, and emerging and necessary 21st century literacies (e.g., Gee, 2004; Halverson, 2012; Hayes & Duncan, 2012; Ito, et. al, 2010; Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robinson & Weigel, 2006; Kafai, Peppler & Chapman, 2009; Squire, 2011; Thomas & Brown, 2011). Not surprisingly, research has shifted to focus on what has traditionally been seen as informal learning in informal spaces specifically because of the kinds of skills and interests that can form in these communities of practice.

Increasingly, online multiplayer game environments are being used as exemplary models of authentic learning communities from which motivation can be fostered (e.g., Dickey, 2007), and collaborative and constructivist learning has been documented (e.g., Squire, 2011; Steinkuehler, 2004; Voulgari & Komis, 2010). However, there is a desire to understand how interest-driven, informal learning of entertainment-based content through communities of practice can serve as a model in formal contexts. In order to have and experience meaningful and legitimate learning and development mediated by communities of practice, located in the social and political realities of culture, one must be able to gain access and engage at certain levels of participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991). With concerns over equal access and support, particularly for females and ethnic minorities, who are often not as socially supported in gaming contexts, supportive communities serve as a model for inclusive learning (Richard & Hoadley, 2013).

This presentation will focus on how a large, female-supportive (yet co-ed) gaming community, with divisions across game genres and systems, serves as a model for inclusive communities of practice. The primary data sources for this presentation are observations of community activities, over the course of a 3-year ethnography, forum posts and interviews with community members, which were analyzed for themes. Further, I include survey data demonstrating that domain self-efficacy and identification were strongly supported by community structures compared to members in communities not explicitly inclusive. I will discuss how community members engage in situated learning, at various levels of community membership, as well as the practices that reinforce shared knowledge and participation, more generally. I will further discuss how the community fosters the development of “non-cognitive” factors (e.g., Farrington, Roderick, Allensworth, Nagaoka, Keyes, Johnson & Beechum, 2012), such as domain self-efficacy, which are crucial to learning and legitimate participation, particularly for marginalized groups. Finally, I will offer a framework for formal learning with serious games through inclusive communities of practice.

Author

• Gabriela T. Richard, The Pennsylvania State University