richardsebastian.com

Author and prominent games & learning researcher James Paul Gee wrote an article called “What Would a State of the Art Instructional Video Game Look Like?” In the article Gee argues that many off the shelf commercial games are already state of the art learning games, citing as an example Full Spectrum Warrior. His argument is that the learning is already there, in what he calls the game’s “authentic professionalism.” So, even though players are playing a game, shooting enemies, etc., on a deeper level they are building expertise in a specific knowledge domain, learning how to behave, how to communicate, and what skills are important.

Could we ask the same hypothetical question about Alternate Reality Games? For a player fully engaging in the activities of a well-designed ARG, I think there is a similar “authentic professionalism’ taking place. Players need to contact and negotiate with the larger community that develops around the game. They need to investigate the boundaries of the game space, recognize a domain of knowledge to which they might contribute. Players need to help establish, or at least learn, the communication rules that form around the gameplay, etc. Useful stuff, if you ask me.

To play a video game, a player has to actually sit down, joystick or computer keyboard in hand, and turn it on. Otherwise, nothing happens. Not so for an ARG. The game play in an ARG is driven partly by the designers, and, perhaps more importantly, partly by the active participation of the players. In many ARGs, there are many players who sit by the sidelines, lurking, joining in only rarely, or they participate for social rather than ludic reasons. For this reason, game play in an ARG can be fairly hierarchical, with much of the game being advanced by a small number of intensely active players, are supported by a larger group of less committed, more casual players. These player participation levels move outward, in concentric rings, until you get to the far-flung players who play peripherally and rarely contribute.

While the individual path of a video game differs from player to player, the overall experience is the same. Most importantly, there is a reset button. The ARG experience is always going to differ from player to player, depending on how much he or she participates. And if individual players decide not to play, too bad. There is no reset button. The game continues.

To implement an ARG in a formal educational environment, everyone must participate at some level. If there are serious learning objectives to achieve, gameplay can’t be optional. So, unlike Full Spectrum Warrior or Civilization, the learning in an ARG is not found in some separate game structure but is distributed throughout the community of players.

So, for me, the question remains: what would an educational ARG look like?

to be continued…

Like other recent pop culture phenomena–Britney Spears, Third World adoptions, botox, Donald Trump– Second Life seems to be charting a similar trajectory of intense, overly positive cultural saturation and acceptance, closely followed by cultural exhaustion and criticism. It took a little longer with Britney and The Donald, of course, but in the end, all have followed the same sad arc. Not that SL is anywhere near as well-known as Britney or The Donald (and SL still has yet to generate a number one hit or TV show), but you could hardly tell that from the breathless nature of the SL press. Numerous articles in the past 6 months have uncritically heralded SL as the Next Big Thing, which has doubled, even tripled the interest in SL. But now, after being caught sliding out of its virtual limo without any panties on, SL is experiencing a backlash. As expected, many in the press have turned on SL, talking about the dangers of SL, the rampant, unpixelated sex, those creepy Furries, the hype, the craven quest for money and digital genitalia. Both the early acceptance of SL, and the current criticism, in the end, are unjustified, as it is all based upon hype and buzz and superficilaity. Like the current US political system, it is hard to find moderate, rational voices.

Still, in my opinion, the excitement over SL, at least it’s social and educational potential, is well-founded. Not that there is much hard evidence yet supporting that statement. But SL clearly demonstrates a new way of interacting and learning. It is exciting, and there are tons of SL research studies on SL about to happen. Including, possibly, my own.
But the jury is still out on exactly how SL can best be used as an effective educational platform. What can you do better there than in real life (RL), or using other, less complex tools? I admit finding SL a bit overwhelming. To get to a rudimentary level of basic functionality in SL you are required to dedicate a considerable amount of time and effort in-world. And truthfully, while I see so much educational potential in SL, I am not quite sure how to get from the idea stage to something I, and those in my field, can use. It is exciting to be able to ask those questions, and have the opportunity to explore what I foresee as the future of education–realistically-rendered, virtual collaboration spaces, open to anyone and everyone, including Furries, The Donald, Britney, and those with multi-colored genitalia.

One of the reasons I created this blog was to establish a place to warehouse my thoughts on my research, namely educational alternate reality games (ARGs), virtual learning environments (such as Second Life), and participatory media and its possibilities for learning. During the day my concerns mostly involve the political, financial and technical minutiae of setting up a web-based learning program for adults, and I get little time to think about other things. Don’t get me wrong: while adult basic education can be very different from K12 and post-secondary learning, in many ways I think it could benefit from being included in the conversation on using such novel approaches as games and virtual worlds in the classroom. But the field of adult education is, I am sorry to say, a technological backwater. There are reasons for this: adult ed is typically the red-headed stepchild of K12 programs, and there aren’t enough full-time teaching or administrative positions to make it an attractive career option for younger (and more innovative) teachers. Typically, adult ed teachers work as K12 teachers during the day, or are retired K12 teachers. Also there isn’t much money to invest in technology. So, there are so many more basic, proven technological innovations that need to be incorporated into adult ed that considering something like Second Life or an ARG would just be too much of a jump forward.

Perhaps I am wrong about this. But when I suggest looking more closely at these new tools during meetings with my colleagues, who, compared to much of the field, are pretty forward-thinking, technologically, I get a pretty tepid response.

Well, I will have time to devote some more thought to my research when I formally begin working part-time next week. In preparation for this, I have been making contact with many of the people active in the ARG community about my interest in studying the use of ARGs for pedagogical purposes. Everyone has been very encouraging, and very enthusiastic about this topic. Especially helpful was the release of the ARG Sig Whitepaper on ARGs. There was an entire section of ARGs in academia, both as a topic of study and a tool being used to teach. But I can’t seem to find anyone currently using (or planning to use) an ARG in this way. I have also been making connections with folks on the campus where I work (VCU) to propose creating an independent study ARG design class to create an educational ARG. There has been nominal interest, but not enough for any signatures to be applied to the necessary forms to make it happen in the next year.

As I am able to spend more time tracking possible research subjects, perhaps I will have more luck finding someone (anyone) producing an ARG with some kind of pedagogical goal.

Film & video

7 Second Delay (2004, digital video, 2.2 min)
Final project for a digital video class in UVA’s School of Architecture. To my credit, I shot this (almost) completely by myself in the television studio at the Curry School of Education. It was a pain in the ass. Tapdancing courtesy of Ryan Looney. Skinny arm courtesy of Tom Rose. Music by the grrrls in Le Tigre.

The Airplane (2005, 16mm & DV, B&W, 2 min.)
Part of the Addendum project for Brooklyn-based band, One Ring Zero. The band made their songs available to the general public and asked anyone to select a song and make music videos for it. I chose The Airplane a) because I like that particular song and b) it was one of their shortest. I was grad school and didn’t have too much free time to spare. Much of the footage I used was from the Prelinger Archives. I shot footage of ORZ at Mojo’s in Richmond, VA. Many of the resulting 20 or so videos are incredibly well-done. All of the videos are available on the DVD Addendum, which you can purchase at the One Ring Zero website.

Signal (2004, DV, 1.4 min)
Shot at night in the winter at the busy intersection outside of my apartment in Charlottesville. I found when I waved the camera around, the video image blurred and bled in an interesting way. The image here is of a traffic light. Music is from Godspeed! You Black Emperor (or is it Godspeed You! Black Emperor, or is it…).

The Twin (2005, DV, 3 min)
This video emerged out of an earlier failed idea I had. The original idea was to shoot a steamy bathroom mirror and overlay the “steaminess” on my face throughout the video. Instead, I began shooting a conversation with myself in the bathroom, which developed into The Twin.

Curse (2005, digital video, 3 min)
I set-up a little backdrop on the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville and, like some kind of circus busker, invited people over to be interviewed about their favorite “curse” word. Not surprisingly, I was turned down by quite a few folks, maybe because it was Easter Sunday and folks were feeling pious. One of the interviewees, I found out later, was a Lutheren pastor.

Photobooth (2002, Super 8 to DV, 3. 3 min)
Shot on Super-8 for “Attack of the 50-foot Reels”, a yearly event put on by Flicker, Richmond’s independent film outfit. You get a cartridge of Super-8, shoot it (editing it in camera) and see it for the first time during the show. I played a manipulated King Kong song, “Old Man on the Bridge,” to accompany the movie when it was shown. Features friends George, Lee, Dave, Alex, Elaine, Tim, Petra, John, Sarah and my old dog Soup.

Bigfoot vs. The Indian vs. ZZ Top (2000, Super 8, 15 min.)
Coming soon…

Websites

Ekoji Buddhist Sangha
http://www.ekojirichmond.org

This was my first web site. At the time I built it, all I knew was a bit of HTML I learned in a class at a local community college. It is in need of updating, which I will get around to one day.
EDLF 546: Software Applications
http://richardsebastian.com/546/

This website–and the others I used for my Curry classes– is based on a design by Dr. Steve Whitaker, who was a doctoral student at Curry and had previously taught several of the technology classes I took over, including Teaching with Technology and Digital Media Development. The php coding was all his, although I did know enough to “borrow and repurpose” for my own database. Anyway, credit where credit is due: thanks, Steve.

EDLF 703: Educational Game Design
http://richardsebastian.com/703/

This site supported the Educational Games class I co-taught with Dr. Mable Kinzie in the fall of 2005. I added a security page that allowed only enrolled students to access the class files.
EDLF 707: Digital Media Development
http://richardsebastian.com/707/

This site supported the summer class I taught in 2004 and 2005.
Curry School of Education
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu

I was part of a 4-5 person web management team in the Educational Technology office that helped maintain and update the Curry site.

Elaine & Richard’s Wedding site (2006)
http://richardsebastian.com/wedding

I built this site for my 2006 wedding.

Photographs

Barcelona, Spain (2004)
Spain & Portugal (2004)
London & Barcelona (2005)
Flickr

Flash & PHP

Soup the Dog Puzzle
Striptease Banana
What’s your favorite song?

Education

PhD. in Instructional Technology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (2008)
My research interests include the educational applications of digital, mobile and pervasive games, and the potential use of virtual learning environments for beginning readers.

BA in English, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA (1991)
Minor in Religious Studies. Graduated magna cum laude

Employment History

Instructional Technology Specialist (2005-present)
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center

• Project Manager for the PlugGED In initiative, a proposed contextualized GED/technology curriculum to transition high school drop outs into technology sector jobs.Spearheaded statewide project, in coordination with the Office of the Secretary of Technology of Virginia and local cable companies, to provide powerful GED-related broadcast content to digital cable subscribers across the state of Virginia.
• Manage budgetary, personnel, instructional, and administrative aspects of eLearn Virginia, a statewide distance education program that provides web-based GED and workplace instruction to adult Virginians.
• Research, identify and recommend emergent technologies to use to expand and improve educational services to eLEARN Va students.
• Provide technology leadership and guidance to professional staff and faculty of the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center and to the adult education field at large.
• Initiated partnerships with statewide Virginia Employment Commission offices and social service agencies to offer on-site computer-based assessments and education to Food Stamp Employment and Training (FSET) clients.
• Directed partnership with Institute for Connecting Science Research to the Classroom (ICSRC) and NASA Center for Distance Learning (CDL) to develop online curriculum for low-level adult readers.

Educational Technology Office Graduate Assistant, 2003-2005
Educational Technology Office, Ruffner Hall, Curry School of Education, Charlottesville, VA

• Trained School of Education faculty and students in various software and hardware applications.
• Assisted with migration of Curry Admissions Office to electronic application system.
• Identified effective ways for faculty to incorporate instructional technologies into existing curricula.
• Built and maintained faculty web sites and database applications.
• Researched new technologies to determine their applicability to faculty and staff projects.

Instructor, 2001-2003
Henrico County Jail East Educational Services, Barhamsville, VA

• Instructed Pre-GED, literacy and ESOL classes to inmates
• Administered and evaluated the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE)
• Designed and implemented an improved curriculum in response to students educational needs
• Oversaw implementation of technology into ABE and GED curriculum

Instructor, 2002-2003
Henrico County Adult Education Center, Highland Springs, VA

• Taught evening Accelerated GED classes to adults
• Instructed semester-long computer classes in Excel, Word, FrontPage and other software applications
• Coordinated with the Department of Social Services to instruct the Learning, Employment & Training (LEAP), an employment and education class for low-income mothers on public assistance
• Responsible for gathering and inputting class and student data for federal NRS funding report

Workplace Instructor, 1998-2002
Philip Morris Employee Development Center (EDC), Richmond, VA

• Created, updated and revised training manuals and course curricula
• Taught Math & Measurement training courses for hourly employees in Fixer program
• Trained new staff members and students on educational software and supervised a small staff of professional teachers
• Coordinated teacher schedules and quarterly class offerings
• Maintained computer lab, updated lab software and set-up presentation equipment for workshops and classroom demonstrations

Teaching Experienc

EDLF 345: Teaching with Technology-Special Education
Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

This course provides an introduction of effective, standards-based ways of integrating technology into classrooms, focusing the Special Education content area. Students learn how to evaluate and use basic hardware and software applications, identify best practices, and effectively apply these tools into lesson plans. Students also develop an electronic portfolio of their class work.

EDLF 546: Software Applications
http://richardsebastian.com/546
Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Software Applications in Education (EDLF 546) is a graduate-level course that introduces students to various software applications and their educational uses; fosters discussion on best uses and practices of technology in education; and allows students to produce an electronic portfolio demonstrating his/her technical competencies to current or future employers.

EDLF 707: Digital Media Development
http://richardsebastian.com/707
Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

This class provides undergraduate and graduate students a hands-on introduction to current methods of producing various forms of digital multimedia, including digital photo editing, digital video production, podcasting, and web design. Each class includes introductory lectures, hands-on assignments, reading discussions and, time permitting, supervised lab time.

EDLF 703: Educational Game Design (co-instructor )
http://richardsebastian.com/703
Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Building on instructional design, video production, and computer-based development skills, this course explores various aspects of educational game design, including fundamentals of game design and game evaluation, as well as the opportunity for students to use these concepts to design their own educational game.

Presentations, Workshops, & Awards

*peer reviewed

Presentations

• *Sebastian, R. (2007). eLEARN Virginia: A new e-learning program for adult Virginians in need of GED and Workplace Education. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Ed-Media 2007 World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, & Telecommunications, Vancouver, British Columbia.
• *Sebastian, Richard (2006). Development of Social Problem-solving Networks in the Interactive Web-based Game The Beast. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Proceedings, E-Learn 2006 World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education, Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Sebastian, Richard (2005). Development of Social Problem-solving Networks in the Interactive Web-based Game The Beast (Proposed Research). Fifth Educational Multimedia Congress, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Workshops

• Sebastian, Richard (2007). Distance Learning in Adult Education. Regional Commission of Adult Basic Education, Williamsburg, VA.
• Sebastian, Richard and Jason Guard (2007). Blogs, Wikis, & Podcasts. 2007 Literacy Fair, Southside Virginia Community College, Keysville, Virginia.
• Sebastian, R. (2004). Digital Storytelling in the Classroom. International Leadership for Educational Technology (ILET) Visiting Scholor Program. Grupo de Investigación Enseñanza y Aprendizaje Multimedia (GREAM), Universidad de Barcelona.
• Fanning, E., Sebastian, R., & Warren, K. (2003). Digital Storytelling Workshop. Center for Multicultural & Human Services (CMHS), Falls Church, VA.

Awards

• Visiting Scholar (2004). International Leadership for Educational Technology (ILET), Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
• Finalist (2004), Adrenaline Film Project, Virginia Film Festival, Charlottesville, VA.
• Film selection (2004), Vinegar Hill Film Festival, Charlottesville, VA

Publications

*peer reviewed

• *Sebastian, R. (2007). eLEARN Virginia: A new e-learning program for adult Virginians in need of GED and Workplace Education. Proceedings. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Ed-Media 2007 World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, & Telecommunications, Vancouver, British Columbia.
• *Sebastian, R. & Kinzie, M. (2006). Development of Social Problem-solving Networks in the Interactive Web-based Game The Beast. Proceedings. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). E-Learn 2006 World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education, Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Sebastian, R., video for “The Airplane” by One Ring Zero (2005). Addendum DVD. B&W, 16 mm film & digital video. 2 min.
• Hammond, T. & Sebastian, R. (2005). Digital Image and Video Editing Software. Teaching with digital images: Acquire, analyze, create, communicate. Editors: Bull, G.L., & Bell, L. Published by the International Society for Technology in Education

Technology Skills

Learning/content management system experience

• Blackboard support and use
• Moodle
• Joomla & Drupal

Web design (including HTML hand coding and CSS)

• Macromedia DreamWeaver
• HomeSite, FTP, SSH
• experience withh CSS & JavaScript

Graphic design

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign
• Macromedia Fireworks
• Macromedia Flash

Digital video production and editing

• Super 8, 16mm film, VHS, digital video
• FinalDraft
• FinalCut Pro
• iMovie
• Adobe Premiere

Digital audio production and editing

• digital recording
• Amadeus
• Audacity
• podcasting

Video streaming compression and delivery

• QuickTime real streaming server experience
• MakeRefMovie
• QuickTime Pro

Programming & database

• Flash/Action Script familiarity
• PHP/MySQL web database experience
• Access/SQL

I have had a brief email exchange with Bryan Alexander today, who works at NITLE, an organization I haven’t come across before but, from an initial look at their site, seems to do some interesting work.

Bryan, like others I have recently contacted about my interest in studying the educational potential of ARGs, thinks using ARGs in this way is a good idea, but doesn’t know of anyone actually doing it, at least on a regular basis.
Still, this is another interesting resource.

There is an article in the September issue of Harper’s (not online) called “Grand Theft Education” about using video games to teach reading. Actually, according to the article’s introduction, it is a panel discussion “based on a discussion that took place this summer at the New School.” The panelists include Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad is Good for You, game designer and Theory of Fun author Raph Koster, and two reading teachers from the New York City area. It was moderated by Harper’s editor Bill Wasik.
Lately I have been talking with my colleagues at the VALRC teaching low-literacy adults how to read using video games. While this article is oriented toward teaching kids to read, I think it definitely informs using a similar approach with adults.

Of special interest in the article to me was this exchange between Koster and teacher Jane Avrich, about using an ARG to teach reading:

Avrich: My friend Griffin suggested an idea for a game to teach writing. I thought it was very clever, considering that he’s ten. He said, “What about a detective game, with questions and real clues?” Such a game would involve finding patterns and discovering evidence. It could be a great way to learn narrative…

Wasik: Could you modify a game like that to include real reading?

Avrich: Yes, my idea would basically be a hybrid. In order to move to the next phase of the game, you would have to read literary texts and answer questions about them..

Koster: That’s a great idea. Have you ever heard of alternate-reality gaming?

Avrich: I don’t think so, no.

Koster: It’s a relatively new genre of game , in which the play links up with the real world in some way. The first well-known one was actually made as a promotional campaign for AI, the Spielberg/Kubrick movie…The game you’re describing sounds a lot like that. It’s an exercise in a form of literacy.

Any teacher’s out there willing to give this a try?