The Higher Education of Gaming

Games and simulations are increasingly of interest to educators. Technologically, games function as learning machines, designed for creating enriching experiences. Sociologically, games are important sites for enculturation into digital discourses, the consequences of which seem to create lasting changes in participants’ beliefs and values toward institutions such as school. This presentation draws from research on digital communities organized to support learning to show how these communities function and suggests principles for designing e-learning environments.