The diversity of participants in the gaming discussion Tuesday morning at the iConference paralleled the broad range of research interests related to gaming.
Gaming enthusiasts and researchers representing geographic areas from Croatia to China to State College, Pennsylvania, gathered together to discover what others are doing in advancing gaming as increasingly significant field within iSchools.
Syracuse Professor Scott Nicholson and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Ian MacInnes led the discussion and described their recent research interests as they relate to gaming.
Nicholson heads a $1 million project that is examining the use of gaming in libraries to attract new patrons, mainly teen-agers and adults without children, and create a community hub. He and his research team are creating tools to assess the use of games in libraries and will make those assessment tools available to librarians across the globe through an online form.
Their responses will feed the data pool, which then can be analyzed and returned to game developers and others about the demographics of gamers in libraries.
Nicholson reported how a local Syracuse library instituted 14 new gaming events over the course of a year and how that activity not only attracted teens to the library, but also how those young people formed relationships with senior citizens who also took up gaming at the library.
MacInnes said his interest in gaming stemmed from the monetization of virtual worlds and the business model that was developing for companies to participate in these new spaces. One such idea was the development of paid advertising within virtual worlds—avatars drinking Coca-Cola or wearing Ralph Lauren, for example.
Others, such Ph.D. student Joey Lee from Penn State were interested in designing games for education use. One of his projects involved creating a game that would educate people about Asian American identities and fighting stereotypes.
Another researcher created serious games about health issues, such as getting college bound students to get their shots by showing a dorm filled with creepy crawlers ready to infect them. The idea, she said, was to ridicule the gamers who had not gotten their shots and creating peer pressure to do so.
The group also brainstormed ways in which the iSchools could bring something unique to gaming that other disciplines might not be able to do. Ideas ranged from educational uses to collaborative design to influencing game development and other areas that bring together multiple disciplines and perspectives.
Gaming enthusiasts and researchers representing geographic areas from Croatia to China to State College, Pennsylvania, gathered together to discover what others are doing in advancing gaming as increasingly significant field within iSchools.
Syracuse Professor Scott Nicholson and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Ian MacInnes led the discussion and described their recent research interests as they relate to gaming.
Nicholson heads a $1 million project that is examining the use of gaming in libraries to attract new patrons, mainly teen-agers and adults without children, and create a community hub. He and his research team are creating tools to assess the use of games in libraries and will make those assessment tools available to librarians across the globe through an online form.
Their responses will feed the data pool, which then can be analyzed and returned to game developers and others about the demographics of gamers in libraries.
Nicholson reported how a local Syracuse library instituted 14 new gaming events over the course of a year and how that activity not only attracted teens to the library, but also how those young people formed relationships with senior citizens who also took up gaming at the library.
MacInnes said his interest in gaming stemmed from the monetization of virtual worlds and the business model that was developing for companies to participate in these new spaces. One such idea was the development of paid advertising within virtual worlds—avatars drinking Coca-Cola or wearing Ralph Lauren, for example.
Others, such Ph.D. student Joey Lee from Penn State were interested in designing games for education use. One of his projects involved creating a game that would educate people about Asian American identities and fighting stereotypes.
Another researcher created serious games about health issues, such as getting college bound students to get their shots by showing a dorm filled with creepy crawlers ready to infect them. The idea, she said, was to ridicule the gamers who had not gotten their shots and creating peer pressure to do so.
The group also brainstormed ways in which the iSchools could bring something unique to gaming that other disciplines might not be able to do. Ideas ranged from educational uses to collaborative design to influencing game development and other areas that bring together multiple disciplines and perspectives.
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