Post on 24-Mar-2023
Perspectives on Playing WoW in a Graduate English Seminar
! Jennifer Stone ! Shanna Allen ! Jathan Day ! Brianna Dym ! Hannah Johnson ! Katie Kahlenbeck ! Zebadiah Kraft ! Laine Parish ! September Reynaga ! LaVon Shearer-Ihrig ! Elizabeth Waetjen
image source: http://www.ign.com/games/world-of-warcraft/pc-16985
“You want Us to do What?!,” “I hate this game and can’t wait to delete it from my computer,” and “This is the best game ever!” ~ Perspectives on Playing WoW
in a Graduate English Seminar
The Class ! ENGL A613: Digital Literacies
! How are digital literacies developed and disseminated?
! Who benefits (or not) from these changing ways of using language and other modes of representation?
! What similarities and differences exist between the ways that young people and adults engage with digital texts?
! How might digital literacies inform more traditional understandings of literacy?
! What theoretical and methodological avenues might be productive for unpacking these literacies?
! What implications do digital literacies have for how we teach composition and literacy?
! Range of experience with playing games ! Played WoW as 1 of 3 shared digital literacies
experiences ! Grounded theoretical and methodological discussions in
shared experience
Why WoW?
! Free to play ! Mac & PC compatible ! Most popular
MMORPG ever ! Relatively accessible
compared to other MMORPGs
! 7.8 million subscribers as of February 2014
image source: http://shipon.free.fr/WoW/interface.jpg
Structuring The WoW Experience
! Game preview ! Organize group & create
characters ! Newcomers & mentors ! Troubleshoot issues ! Level up ! In-class dungeon run,
gradual increased physical distance
image source: http://wowpedia.org/Deadmines_walkthrough
Panel Discussion
! How did you construct your identity in playing WoW?
! How did other people respond to you playing WoW for a university class?
! What struggles did you face in learning to play WoW? How did you overcome them?
! What did you learn about language and online communication? How did your communication experiences differ between playing alone, playing with a mentor, playing together in the same room, playing in separate spaces, and playing with strangers?
! How did you engage with WoW as a text? ! What other classes could this game be used
for? ! What did you take away from the experience?
image source: http://www.almarsguides.com/wow/instances/deadmines.cfm