Your Game Puppet

Flickr Photo by Mark CoffeeGeek from Vancouver

Tweeted yesterday that during a pilot project in Portugal involving 8 and 9 year olds setting up virtual businesses in Active Worlds, they were encouraged to call their avatars, their “toys.”

I just discovered a Tweet-reply from VWassessments (Kathy Landerson).

Interesting -in SL -“avatar”, in WoW players call them “toons” & have main & alts, in Muxlim Pal -it’s ur “pal”, in Spore ur “creature” (Landerson)

I wonder how your term for your game puppet affects your relationship with the player identity and/or the player’s relationship with the game?  I’m sure somebody’s researching that.

For that matter, how does the students relationship with a end product affect his or her relationship with what’s being learned — or how well it’s being learned?

I always preferred being the race car.

Landerson, Kathy. 11 Apr 2009. Online Posting. Twitter. Web: 13 Apr 2009.

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4 thoughts on “Your Game Puppet”

  1. There is nothing more gratifying for a teacher than to design an assignment in which students are enthused about their products and take ownership and pride. I have seen mind maps, podcasts, RAFT’s, scripts become an extension of their emotional, physical, and intellectual energies.

  2. FWIW, I grabbed the nearest handy 13 y/o (who just happened to be my son), and put this question to him. He prefers “avatar” (or “avi”, as he calls it). He says that using “toys” or “pals” would be too childish. One data point.

    And yes, he recognized the Monopoly pieces ;-). We play old-fashioned board games, too.

    Be well, Hadass.

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