This week we return to one of our favorite themes: gamification.
We talk to Britain Postdoctoral Fellow at Georgia Tech, Chris Ritter. He shares his approach to teaching technical communications using a service learning project geared toward his local community. Listen for some great insights on how gaming and learning interact, along with details of another game studies dissertation.
We also share some feedback on our gaming family episode from listener, Jayme, and talk about some of our favorite games growing up, including board and card games.
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Until next time, game on!
Regina & Rhonda
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Published by Regina McMenomy
Regina is a gamer, writer, teacher, and podcaster living in the Pacific Northwest. She completed her Ph.D. in 2011 from Washington State University in Vancouver and continues to teach there part time. Regina’s research interests focus on women and technology, and her dissertation discusses female gamers and identity in digital role playing games. A lifelong geek and technology enthusiast, Regina recently started a Girls Who Code club in support of their mission to close the gender gap in technology.
To continue the conversations about gender and gaming that Regina started during her research, she started a podcast called Game on Girl. Called the “NPR of game podcasts” by Chris Brown of The Married Gamers, the podcast features women involved in the game industry, and tackles some of the complicated issues in the gaming community. Season 2 began in the spring of 2018 and will premiere new episodes monthly.
View all posts by Regina McMenomy
RE: Skylanders. I think it's an RFID in the base for each character and it saves your progress with that character's level and unlocked skills. So you can take your own Skylanders over to your friend's house, if they also have the game, and continue working on your own guys. It's a really neat concept. It does get pricey. Most Skylanders are around $8 (USD) a piece, if you can find them in the store. Some of them are difficult to find and there are people selling them on ebay for over $100, which is insane. If I remember correctly, there are 36 original Skylanders, with a few that have "Legendary" and/or alternate color schemes. So, it is a big money suck for parents as well as collectors. My husband is the collector type (to my frustration), so our son benefits. I hope neither one of them ever get into Pokemon. 🙂
The sequel is coming out next week? I think.
Family gaming is something I'm really into. I have this grandiose dream to create a website/forum for families that game together. I have the domain. Some day I'll find the time to finish launching it.
Thanks for your comments, Jayme! I only have a brief knowledge of Skylanders from Christmas with my nephews. 🙂 I totally forgot about the fact that they can "travel" to other people's games as well. That really pulls in the social nature of gaming and allows a lot more interaction than kids might get from a traditional game.
As we mention in the show, for both me and Rhonda gaming was a BIG part of family life. I can't quite imagine any family event that didn't involve gaming. A site for recommendations and bringing gaming families together would be seriously awesome. 🙂