{"id":22953,"date":"2017-05-11T01:26:44","date_gmt":"2017-05-11T01:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rkenny.org\/kennypress\/?p=22953"},"modified":"2017-05-12T13:30:52","modified_gmt":"2017-05-12T13:30:52","slug":"eme-6465-consequence-remediation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emeclasses.org\/?p=22953","title":{"rendered":"EME 6465 – Consequence Remediation & Interactive Design"},"content":{"rendered":"
What does the Term ‘Interaction<\/a>‘ really mean?<\/div><\/div>\n

Defining Interactivity in terms of Remediation
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Interactivity is an overused term that has had multiple and shifting meanings across time. Margaret Morse notes that in England in the late 18th century the noun \u201cinteract\u201d was used to describe theatrical entertainment that occurred between the acts of a play and that by the early Victorian period interactivity was also used as a verb to include the ideas of reciprocity and influence between two forces.<\/span><\/div> By contrast the term is used now almost exclusively to identify a mode of engagement between people and machines, with the exception of its use in reception theory<\/a> to refer to the cognitive interaction of book reader, theater and film spectator with a text by filling in the gaps (2003). Regarding new media applications, Sally McMillan (2002)classifies different models of interactivity in terms of their respective emphasis on user-to-user, user-to-documents or user-to-system.<\/p>\n

In Hamlet on the Holodeck <\/a>(1997) Janet Murray explores ideas of interactivity in terms of user control and participation (McMillan, 2002:164, 173). Murray considers the essential properties of digital environments to be that they are procedural, participatory spatial and encyclopedic, the first two properties composing what is usually understood by the term interactive, and the last two comprising what is meant by immersive. She notes that procedural environments are appealing not only because they display rule generated behavior but because the user can induce the behavior. She states \u201c\u2026the primary representational property of the computer is the codified rendering of responsive behaviors. This is what is most often meant when we say that computers are interactive\u201d<\/p>\n

M<\/span>urray coins the term \u201cinteractor\u201d to describe the relation of the user to a narrative in computer games… By choosing a set of alternatives from a fixed menu, the user believes he or she is collaborating in the invention (p.78-79). She distinguishes between playing a creative role in an authored environment such as in a simulation game and being author of the environment itself, describing the pleasure the interactor feels not as one of authorship but of agency (152-53). To demonstrate the difference between agency and activity Murray provides examples from different media. For the first she cites board games where the user throws dice, turns a dial or moves counters or in a digital environment clicks a mouse or moves a joystick. In both cases the player\u2019s actions achieve an effect but these actions are not chosen by the player nor are they related to the player\u2019s intentions. By contrast, agency occurs in a game such as chess when the player\u2019s actions are autonomous, selected from a wide range of choices and determine the course of events.<\/p>\n

Since Murray considers agency to go beyond participation and activity to include aesthetic pleasure, she believes that a successful digital storytelling environment needs to possess this quality. In \u201cFrom Game-Story to Cyberdrama\u201d Murray extends this notion of agency to include dramatic effect or \u201cdramatic agency.\u201d The examples she gives are from playing the SIMS. If altering an actor\u2019s clothing alters the mood of a scene, or navigating from a different point of view reveals a change in physical or emotional perspective (as a director might do so with a stage play or film) then the player is experiencing dramatic agency.<\/p>\n

The idea of remediation initially referred to a process whereby new media technologies improve or correct earlier technologies in a linear vision of technological development and progress. I use the term as defined by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin to be \u201cthe formal logic by which new media refashion prior media forms<\/em><\/strong>\u201d the two main strategies being hyper-mediacy (where the viewer is reminded of the medium) and transparency (where the viewer can forget the presence of the medium). They are not interested in linear history but in tracing historical affiliations or resonances (1999: 21). While their definition focuses on formal design, they also discuss how remediation reworks implied use patterns and ideological assumptions by refashioning economic, social and political beliefs (1999, p.77).
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Go to top<\/a><\/div><\/p>\n

What not to do<\/h2>\n

One of the most difficult aspects of designing instruction (regardless as to whether or not it is mediated by digital media) is how to remediate incorrect responses, answer, attitudes, or behaviors. A ‘knee jerk’ reaction is to simply state that the response was incorrect without regards to leading the student\/participant to the correct solution. All too often the instructor\/discussion leader\/instructional designer will inject invective<\/strong> into the mix and\/or lose focus as to where the question\/comment\/discussion should be leading.
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\nTake a look at this exemplar scenario to demonstrate the point:
remediation<\/a>
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Go to top<\/a><\/div><\/p>\n

Remediation in Gameplay<\/h2>\n

Ever notice an avid video player will play the game continuously for hours even though he or she is ‘killed off’ repeatedly during gameplay? In this case the player\/learner will not be deterred by failure. In fact, the way the game is construed consequences for one’s actions are direct but in many ways emotionless.<\/span><\/div> The thing that game developers know and many teachers do not it how to remediate failure through remediation techniques that seem to remove the fear of being wrong. Just think about how you as a teacher might be conducting a review for a test. You ask a question and then seek out those who have raised their hands\u00a0 because they think they know the correct answer. These are exactly the person you do NOT want to call on. Nothing is gained by setting up those who might not know the answer for public failure (unless you use this technique because you simply NEED TO GET THROUGH THE MATERIALS IN THE TIME ALLOTTED).<\/p>\n

In an ideal world, you call on the person who you suspect DOES NOT KNOW the correct response and work it through with them to lead them to a correct response. These are tr tricks of entertainers known as interactive actors<\/strong>…. those who do improve on stage with the audience instead of with other professionals on stage. These are the exact techniques game developers use. <\/p>\n

To further explain what I am getting at here, you need to read an article I published a couple of years ago with a professional interactor, Jeff Wirth<\/a>. We utilized his book “Interactive Acting” to devise a series of prescriptive concepts to help with consequence remediation as an alternative.Kenny-wirth<\/a><\/p>\n

Go to top<\/a><\/div>\n

Interactive Design and Pedagogical Practice<\/h2>\n

Take a look at this article. It should help you formulate your ideas for your reflection\/written activity for this module.
\n interactiondesigandpedologicalpractice<\/a>
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Box title<\/div>

\"dothis\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\nThere is a lot to absorb in this module. The reflection you are being asked to write is intended to determine whether you understand the basic premises behind game design and its relationship to our main focus (defining what the term ‘interactivity’ means). You do not need to write a term paper or fully cited white paper. On the other hand, you need to be precise in your responses:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • List in bullet form at least 5-6 elements identified in gamification and consequence remediation readings that you believe to be the most important\/influential when designing a unit of instruction.<\/li>\n
  • Follow with a rational as to why you chose these in terms of instructional design principles or learning theories. (You may need to look up a few or offer some that you are already familiar with). Think: mediated\/interactive learning environments as they relate to consequence remediation, motivational models, and critical thinking. The unit does not have to contain an actual game but should rely on some of the gamification principles described in the readings provided in this cycle.\n

    Post your entries in the drop box set up on Canvas.<\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Defining Interactivity in terms of Remediation By contrast the term is used now almost exclusively to identify a mode of engagement between people and machines, with the exception of its use in reception theory to refer to the cognitive interaction of book reader, theater and film spectator with a text by filling in the gaps […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lessons-6413"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emeclasses.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emeclasses.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emeclasses.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emeclasses.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emeclasses.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22953"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/emeclasses.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44278,"href":"https:\/\/emeclasses.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22953\/revisions\/44278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emeclasses.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emeclasses.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emeclasses.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}