Abstract
This paper offers a case study of the design, development, and play-testing of a Flash-based Baroque music game,“Tafelkids: The Quest for Arundo Donax”, focusing on the tension between constructing an online resource that an audience aged 8–14 would find engaging, and the directive to include historical information and facts, as well as convey some of the sounds, musical structures and conventions of Baroque music, history and culture through play. We begin by setting out some basic theoretical principles around game-based learning, in particular, introducing the concept of“ludic epistemology”, in order to situate our design efforts within an emerging pedagogical paradigm. After detailing the game’s design, we document 3 play-testing sessions in which we observed, in total, over 150 students aged 12–14 play the game. We conclude with a discussion of the particular challenges in designing a bridge from propositions to play, digitally re-mediating a traditional approach to Baroque music education to address the broader epistemological question of what and how we may best learn, and learn best, from play.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Brown, A. L. (1991). Design experiments: Theoretical and methodological challenges in creating complex intervention in classroom settings. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 2(2), 141–178.
Collins, A. (1992). Toward a design of science education. In E. Scanlon & T. O’Shea (Eds.), New directions in educational technology (pp. 15–22). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Design-Based Research Collective, The. (2003). Design-based research: An emerging paradigm for educational inquiry. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 5–8.
de Castell, S., & Jenson, J. (2003). Serious play. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 35(6), 649–665.
de Castell, S., Luke, A., & Egan, K. (1986). On defining literacy. In S. de Castell, A. Luke, & K. Egan (Eds.), Literacy, society and schooling (pp. 3–14). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
de Castell, S., Bryson, M., & Jenson, J. (2001). Object lessons: Towards an educational theory of technology. First Monday 7(1). Retrieved January 1, 2010, from http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_1/castell/
Havelock, E. (1988). Instruction of preliterate cultures. In S. de Castell, A. Luke, & C. Luke (Eds.), Language, authority and criticism (pp. 223–232). London: Falmer Press.
Huizinga, J. (1960). Homo ludens: A study of the play-element in Culture. Boston: Beacon Press.
Jenson, J., & Taylor, N. (2006). (D)evaluating pedagogic interactivity: The case of ELSE. In P. Kommers & G. Richards (Eds.), Proceedings of world conference on educational multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications 2006 (pp. 2835–2840). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Jenson, J., & Taylor, N. (2007). “Lego Storyboard”: Building digital stories. In G. Richards (Ed.), Proceedings of the world conference on e-Learning in corporate, government, health care, and higher education 2007. Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Jenson, J, Taylor, N., & de Castell, S. (2007). Shifting design values: A playful approach to serious content. E-Learning, 4(4), 497–507.
Jenson, J., & de Castell, S. (2008). Theorizing gender and digital gameplay: overviews, accidents and surprises. Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture, 2(1), 15–25.
Kafai, Y. B. (2006). Playing and making games for learning: Instructionist and constructionist perspectives for game studies. Games and Culture, 1(1), 36–40.
Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new media age. London: Routledge.
Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2003). New literacies: Changing knowledge and classroom culture. Philadelphia: Open University Press.
Ito, M. (2005). Mobilizing fun in the production and consumption of children’s software. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 597(1), 82–102.
Lyotard, J. F. (1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Mateas, M., & Stern, A. (2005). Built it to understand it: Ludology meets narratology in game design space. In S. de Castell & J. Jenson (Eds.), Proceedings of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) conference. Vancouver, BC: Simon Fraser University Press.
McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media: The extensions of man. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Noble, D. F. (1998). Digital diploma mills: The automation of higher education. First Monday, 3(1). Retrieved January 1, 2010, from http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue3_1/noble/
Ong, W. (1982). Orality and literacy. Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word (pp. 36–67). London: Methuen.
Poole, S. (2000). Trigger happy: Videogames and the entertainment revolution. New York: Arcade.
Prensky, M. (2006). Don’t bother me Mom – I’m learning!: How computer and video games are preparing your kids for 21st century success and how you can help! St. Paul, MN: Paragon House.
Rieber, L. P. (1996). Seriously considering play: Designing interactive learning environments based on the blending of microworlds, simulations, and games. Educational Technology Research & Development, 44(2), 43–58.
Taylor, N. (2002). Playing by the books: Working out the dichotomy between learning and play. Unpublished Major Research Paper, York University, Toronto.
Truax, B. (2001). Acoustic communication (2nd ed.). Westport, CT: Ablex Publishing.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Sense Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jenson, J., Taylor, N., de Castell, S., Droumeva, M., Fisher, S. (2011). Baroque Baroque Revolution . In: Khine, M.S. (eds) Playful Teaching, Learning Games. Contemporary Approaches to Research in Learning Innovations, vol 5. SensePublishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-460-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-460-7_5
Publisher Name: SensePublishers
Online ISBN: 978-94-6091-460-7
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)