regardingjohn

Into the Woods: Fear, Masculinity, and Video Games Hit the Trail

Link to paper [256KB PDF]

Last week was the College and University Faculty Assembly (CUFA) and National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) in Houston, TX (link). Proposed by Steve Camicia of Utah State, the symposium I was on included Simone Schweber of UW-Madison, Jeremy Stoddard from the College of William and Mary. The Discussant was Diana Hess of UW-Madison.This is a video of the slides I presented. Someday when I’m not working on finishing my final dissertation chapters, I’d like to do a proper “voice-over” version of my presentations, but until then Count Basie and others will have to provide backup to the visuals.

Abstract: This paper discusses the introduction of a location-based handheld video game in the curriculum of a primitive deep woods summer camp for boys. Controversies simmer over this geography and outdoor curriculum. Stakeholders on both sides of the issue struggle over ideologies over human connections to the environment. This paper examines the game and the battle over a ‘tip’ toward technology in the social studies curriculum.

Played throughout a 4-day hiking trip, the Augmented Reality (AR) game triggered the display of place-specific just-in-time information leading campers through a game narrative “to save the camp” while directing them to explore areas on and off established trails. Findings indicate that the game narrative motivated deeper participation in the trip, and navigational assistance from the game’s Global Positioning System (GPS) eased players’ fears, reassuring them as they ventured beyond their comfort zone.

The study also raises issues regarding masculinity, environmentalism, and tradition, as embedded in the camp community culture. Foremost, as a video game at a “primitive” deep woods camp for boys that has no electricity and telephone, it bucks a culture that is sometimes disdainful of certain manifestations of technology (e.g. LED flashlights and high-tech garments are good, but iPods are bad). Additionally, in encouraging players to go off main trails in order to avoid enemy scouts, the game narrative contradicts a basic tenet of environmental Leave-No-Trace guidelines — to stay on trails.

Furthermore, while some boys attributed the addition of GPS and games to opening up the possibility of “more hard-core” trip, some felt the high-tech navigational aids (v.s map and compass on a typical trip) emasculated them. Finally, framing the hiking trip through a “silly” game narrative trivialized their experience.Beyond the culture of the camp, the video game-based curriculum broaches larger contentious questions. For example, do the ecological costs of the extra traffic off trail in the local mountains outweigh the pollution and gas costs to van the trip to a state park? Is this type of woods-based informal education safe enough in the nation’s current culture of fear where parents are reluctant to be disconnected from their children, even beyond the tether of the mobile phone, for 2-7 weeks? If this sort of place-based AR game makes for good learning, then where is the equity for families who cannot afford to send their kids to camps where it occurs?