Resources

My purpose for this page is to to collect a variety of sources (books, articles, videos, etc.) related to video games, digital literacy, education, and rhetoric (with an emphasis on the use of video games in education). Please note that I have not read every source.

This page is a work in progress, but I hope it might provide educators, and anyone else who is interested, with a starting point for researching the educational potential of video games. Sources will be listed alphabetically within each section. And just in case anyone is keeping track of the list, the most recent additions will be bolded.

Last updated: 6/23/2018.

Books & Chapters:

  • Anthropy, Anna. Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Dropouts, Queers, Housewives, and People like You are Taking Back an Art Form. Seven Stories Press, 2012.
  • Bogost, Ian. Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. The MIT P, 2010.
  • Colby, Richard, Matthew S.S. Johnson and Rebekah S. Colby, eds. Rhetoric/Composition/Play through Video Games: Reshaping Theory and Practice of Writing. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
  • Consalvo, Mia. Atari to Zelda: Japan’s Videogames in Global Contexts. The MIT Press, 2016.
  • Desrochers, Nadine and Daniel Apollon, editors. Examining Paratextual Theory and its Applications in Digital Culture. Information Science Reference, 2014.
  • Eyman, Douglas and Andrea D. Davis, eds. Play/Write Digital Rhetoric, Writing, Games. Parlor Press, 2016.
  • Ferdig, Richard. Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education (3 Volume Set), 1st ed., Information Science Reference, 2009.
  • Gee, James Paul. What Video Games Have to Teach us About Learning
    and Literacy. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2003. Print.
  • Gee, James Paul. Why Video Games are Good for Your Soul. Common Ground, 2005.
  • Gee, James Paul. Good Video Games + Good Learning: Collected Essays on Video Games, Learning and Literacy. Peter Lang Publishing, 2007.
  • Heineman, David. Thinking about Video Games: Interviews with the Experts. Indiana University Press, 2015.
  • Hodgson, Justin. “Developing and Extending Gaming Pedagogy: Designing a Course as Game.” Rhetoric/Composition/Play through Video Games. Eds.
    Richard Colby, Matthew S. S. Johnson, & Rebekah Shultz Colby. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2013. 45-60.
  • Hutchison, David. Playing to Learn: Video Games in the Classroom. Teacher Ideas Press, 2007.
  • Juul, Jesper. The art of failure: An essay on the pain of playing video games. MIT Press, 2013.
  • Kowert, Rachel. Video Games and Social Competence. Routledge, 2015.
  • Lankshear, Colin and Michele Knobel, editors. Digital Literacies: Concepts, Policies and Practices. Peter Lang Publishing, 2008.
  • Mackey, Margaret. Mapping Recreational Literacies: Contemporary Adults at Play. Peter Lang Publishing, 2007.
  • Madigan, Jamie. Getting Gamers: The Psychology of Video Games and Their Impact on the People who Play Them. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015.
  • Mangiron, Carmen, Pilar Orero and Minako O’Hagan. Fun for All: Translation and Accessibility Practices in Video Games. Peter Lang AG, 2014.
  • McGonical, Jane. Reality is Broken. Penguin, 2011.
  • Perron, Bernard, and Mark J. P. Wolf. The Video Game Theory Reader 2. Routledge, 2009.
  • Poland, Bailey. Haters: Harassment, Abuse, and Violence Online. Potomac, 2016.
  • Schrier, Karen, and David Gibson, editors. Ethics and Game Design: Teaching Values Through Play. Information Science Reference, 2010.
  • Senft, Theresa. Camgirls: Celebrity and Community in the Age of Social Networks. Peter Lang, 2008.
  • Waggoner, Zach, ed. Terms of Play: Essays on Words That Matter in Videogame Theory. McFarland & Company, 2013.
  • Wolf, Mark J. P., and Bernard Perron, eds. The Video Game Theory Reader. Routledge, 2003.

Academic Articles:

  • Annetta, Leonard A. “Video Games in Education: Why They Should Be Used and How They Are Being Used.” Theory Into Practice, vol. 47, no. 3, Summer 2008, pp. 229-239.
  • Burroughs, Benjamin and Paul Rama. “The eSports Trojan Horse: Twitch and Streaming Futures.” Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, vol. 8, no. 2, Oct. 2015, pp. 1-5.
  • Colby, Rebekah S., Richard Colby and Matthew S.S. Johnson. “Response to Jonathan
    Alexander’s ‘Gaming, Student Literacies, and the Composition Classroom: Some
    Possibilities for Transformation’.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 61, no. 4, Jun. 2010, pp. 761-67. JSTOR.
  • Consalvo, Mia. “Player One, Playing with Others Virtually: What’s Next in Game and Player Studies.” Critical Studies in Media Communication, vol. 34, no. 1, 2017, pp. 84-87.
  • Consalvo, Mia. “When Paratexts Become Texts: De-centering the Game-as-text.” Critical Studies in Media Communication, vol. 34, no. 2, 2017, pp. 177-183.
  • Gerber, Hannah R. and Debra P. Price. “Twenty-First-Century Adolescents, Writing, and New Media: Meeting the Challenge with Game Controllers and Laptops.” The English Journal, vol. 101, no. 2, Nov. 2011, pp. 68-73.
  • Graham, Sage. “Politeness and Impoliteness.” Pragmatics of Social Media, edited by W. Bublitz & C. R. Hoffman, De Gruyter Mouton, 2017, pp. 459-491.
  • Hayes, Elisabeth,  and Maryellen Ohrnberger. “The Gamer Generation Teaches School: The Gaming Practices and Attitudes towards Technology of Pre-Service Teachers.” Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, vol. 21, no. 2, Apr. 2013, pp. 154-177.
  • Jolley, Kristie. “Video Games to Reading: Reaching out to Reluctant Readers.” English Journal, vol. 97, no. 4, Mar. 2008, pp. 81-86.
  • MacKenzie, Ann Haley. “The Brain, the Biology Classroom & Kids with Video Games.” The American Biology Teacher, vol. 67, no. 9, Nov. – Dec. 2005), pp. 517-518.
  • Mayo, Merrilea J. “Video Games: A Route to Large-Scale STEM Education?” Science, New Series, vol. 323, no. 5910, Jan. 2, 2009, pp. 79-82.
  • Okagaki, L., & Frensch, P.A. “Effects of Video Game Playing on Measures of Spatial Performance: Gender Effects in Late Adolescence.” Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, vol. 15, 1994, pp. 33-58.
  • Opel, Anthony, and Jason Smith. “Zootycoon: Capitalism, Nature, and the Pursuit of
    Happiness.” Ethics and the Environment, vol. 9, no. 2, Fall-Winter, 2004, pp. 103-20. JSTOR.
  • Ostenson, Jonathan. “Exploring the Boundaries of Narrative: Video Games in the English Classroom.” The English Journal, vol. 102, no. 6, 2013, pp. 71-78.
  • Rockwell, Geoffrey. “Gore Galore: Literary Theory and Computer Games.” Computers and the Humanities, vol. 36, no.3, Aug. 2012, pp. 345-58. JSTOR. 
  • Sanford, Kathy and Leanna Madill. “Understanding the Power of New Literacies through Video Game Play and Design.” Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation, vol. 30, no. 2, 2007, pp. 432-455.
  • Shaffer, David Williamson., Kurt R. Squire, Richard Halverson, and James P. Gee. “Video Games and the Future of Learning.” The Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 87, no. 2, Oct. 2005, pp. 104-11. JSTOR.
  • Schleiner, Anne-Marie. “Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons? Gender and Gender-Role Subversion in Computer Video Games.” Leonardo, vol. 34, no. 3, 2001, pp. 221-226.
  • Sherman, Sharon R. “Perils of the Princess: Gender and Genre in Video Games.” Western Folklore, vol. 56, no. 3/4, Summer – Autumn 1997, pp. 243-258.
  • Young, Michael F., Stephen Slota, Andrew B. Cutter, Gerard Jalette, Greg Mullin,
    Benedict Lai, Zeus Simeoni, Matthew Tran and Mariya Yukhymenko. “Our Princess is in Another Castle: A Review of Trends in Serious Gaming for Education.” Review of Educational Research. vol. 82., no 1, Mar. 2012, pp. 61-89.

Newspaper Articles:

  • Finley, Klint. “New Minecraft Mod Teaches You Code as You Play.” Wired, 18 August 2014, https://www.wired.com/2014/08/learntomod/
  • Magee, Maureen. “School district taps Minecraft game.” The San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 May 2015, http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/sdut-Cajon-Valley-Schools-use-minecraft-2015may01-story.html
  • Thompson, Clive. “The Minecraft Generation.” The New York Times, 14 April 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/magazine/the-minecraft-generation.html?_r=0

Other:

  • Center for Games & Impact (Arizona State University): https://gamesandimpact.org/
  • Lenhart, A., Kahne, J., Middaugh, E., Macgill, E.R., Evans, C., & Vitak, J. “Teens, Video Games, and Civics.” Washington, DC: Pew Internet; American Life Project (2008, September 16).
  • https://education.minecraft.net/
  • http://www.nymgamer.com/

Videos:

  • “Kurt Squire & Constance Steinkuehler C4 Public Lecture the Science of Play Februart 18 2015.” vimeo,  https://vimeo.com/120400527.