Video Games, Literacy & Struggling Learners

Abstract

My Capstone examines video games, literacy and struggling readers. It is based on my coursework in Digital Literacies, readings, fieldwork with SURGE, and a case study of a twelve-year-old boy with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) named Edgar. My lens is the work of one of the New London Group members James Paul Gee and his 36 Principles of Learning from his book What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. I look at the following questions: What do we know about struggling readers, particularly minority urban middle school boys? What do we know about video games as a learning environment and their space in the larger learning environment? What makes an educational video game effective for learning and engagement? How is assessment embedded into video games and what makes that type of assessment useful? For each section of the paper, I look at both the broader view of video games for urban boys and the specific case of Edgar.