ARGs in Education

I quote:

During the fall term of 2007, a team of faculty, librarians, instructional
designers and student volunteers will be hosting an internet-based
alternate-reality game (or ARG) designed to teach critical thinking and
information literacy skill. The game will be targeted to college students,
yet will be freely open and promoted in order to attract a broad range of
participants.

I’m definately going to folow up on this one, if I can find out more.

Source

It seems that Jamie Kane’s chatbot is broken so analysis of the game is stalled for a while, I’m afraid. Hopefully not for good. This is one of the highlights of the game.

However, it does raise an interesting point about supporting materials for an Educational ARG. While a standard ARG wouldn’t need to have these, I think an EARG would need to have some to ensure its use, especially if the game was closely aligned to the curriculum.

Jamie Kane offers help and supporting advice from the viewpoint on the main supporting character, Jess. Here is the help file on the Jamierules blog. It’s quite technical, but written in quite an accessible way. In an EARG I do think this file would actually be of more use to the teacher – I’m sure most of the TA (who are often more technically advanced than their teachers) would know exactly how to stop pop-ups being blocked.

Jess is also used when you email the actual site (by that I mean the rabbit hole) for help, which is not technically correct. By emailing help, you have already broken the magic circle – is communication from a character the best way to mend it, or does that further subvert the ‘realness’ of the game. I’m not sure, but here is the correspondance I received anyway.

Subj: Chat problems

Hey Sharna,

Sorry about all those problems with the chat. Did it go weird for you as well? I think my messenger software was playing up. It’d be good to finish the chat, do you want to try again:

Click here: http://www.jamierules.co.uk/mb/index.html?iJi47D9vsXGzXifW4ym7iQ

and then launch the messenger as before.

Thanx and speak soon.

Jess
x

Three hours and 15 minutes after receiving the initial email from Jess (without clicking the link supplied). I get this.

Subj: quick chat

Hey Sharna,Did you get my last email? Sometimes the server goes a bit wonky:-( Wondered if you fancied a quick natter.

Click here: http://www.jamierules.co.uk/mb/index.html?iJi47D9vsXGzXifW4ym7iQ

and then scroll to the bottom of the page. You need to click on the flashing ‘launch instant messenger’  button to open it up.

See you soon.

Jess
x
————————————————————

Although not strictly ARG (which, if you miss, you miss), this could be a good device to ensure all participants are following the same path. This game has an eposodic structure, which can be mapped on school lessons structure. Teacher could set the first part of the task during the lesson, and the students could realistically follow this up for homework…I like.

Jamie Kane is an ARG that the BBC developed for, I think 11-18 girls.  The game is named after a sucessful singer who has ‘died’ in mysterious circumstances. The player has get to the bottom of the situation, by playing a number of games that gets them closer to the truth by working in cohorts with other Jamie Kane fanatics/conspiracists.

The key to a sucessful ARG is one that keeps the created reality ‘real’, and authentic. This concept is known as TINAG, or This Is Not A Game: ‘Developers and players involved in an ARG will preserve the curtain by maintaining that the events happening within it are real. This concept is summarized by the phrase This Is Not A Game.’

The BBC use their output to their advantage, with Jamie Kane-related content appearing on their other websites for their internal brands -Top of the Pops (both website and magazine) and BBC News (Broadcasting). It also used its status to use involve other brands that are very popular, important and relevant to the intended audience – NME, Heat and Bliss.

While there may be debate to whether this is a true ARG (it can be contested because you can sign in and start it at any time, many ARGs occur over a discreet persiod of time), I think this model is one that can be used in an educational context. I am going to analyse Jamie Kane in terms of its:

• use of Web 2.0 techniques
• possible use or reappropriation in an educational context
• ludic structures