Midterm Self-Evaluation

My self-directed learning over the course of this semester has relied on consuming from class lectures and discussions as well as online resources; creating via brainstorming, moments of inspiration, and flexibility in synthesizing ideas; and connecting with the social proof of others.

The influence and role of other students has been essential to my learning process and project selection. For example, my literary work (A Hazard of New Fortunes, by William Dean Howells) and subsequent blog post touched briefly on the idea of echo chambers. I became more interested in the idea after receiving feedback from Professor Burton and several classmates who seemed to connect with echo chambers more than the other ideas in my post. Subsequent blog posts on echo chambers benefited from the input of Nyssa Silvester (an enthusiast or expert on the subject), which got me really excited to learn more.

My excitement over the feedback I was getting combined with more self-directed interests in virtual reality and cyborgs (initially stemming from my nonfiction book review of How We Became Posthuman), which led to my blog post about the potential benefits of video gaming, particularly with the connective capabilities of new games. All of this culminated in my choice to participate in the Little Big Planet 2 project.

The ideas that have most intrigued me and which I'd like to continue to learn about are echo chambers, virtual reality, crowd sourcing, regulation (or deregulation), corporate influence, and production bias, specifically as these concepts relate to Little Big Planet 2, of which I'm a big fan.

Little Big Planet 2 Project Proposal

Description: Little Big Planet 2 is a game with the slogan "Play, Create, and Share." Using the unique medium of Little Big Planet 2, we propose to create a level immersing users in a sort of learning environment. Our LBP level will teach users the study-based benefits of video gaming in a fun, friendly manner. The level will show how video games are in a position to promote creation and collaboration, now more than ever. It will also encourage users to make creation and collaboration a more fundamental part of their gaming experiences. Throughout the level, we plan to use digital culture vocabulary and concepts (these we'll explain in simple terms).

Project Members: Casey Deans (group leader), Grace Kim, and Brandon Healy. Heather Andersen is an advisory member.

Social Proof: The evidence of social proof for this project will come from our classmates, peers, and enthusiasts and experts in the gaming industry, including Martin Andersen, Evan Andersen, and others.

Literature Review: See Heather Andersen's blog and Brandon Healy's blog for a discussion about the benefits and consequences of gaming.
Casey: Reality is Broken, Persuasion
Grace: Cybernetics, Howl's Moving Castle
Brandon: How We Became Posthuman, A Hazard of New Fortunes
Heather: Personal Connections in the Digital Age, Northanger Abbey

Format and Audience: Our project will be formalized as a published level on Little Big Planet 2 with an accompanying YouTube video walking users through our literature-based, digital culture world. The audience will be our peers and classmates, enthusiasts and experts who offered social proof, academic literary communities, and those who play or would like to play LBP in the future.

Success Criteria:

1. Number of users who access our level online
2. Amount of social proof we obtain
3. Number of YouTube hits our LBP walkthrough generates

Prototype: All of our prototyping has taken place in Little Big Planet itself. Our group is currently testing the game's limits and unlocking increasing flexibility for the game environment. Screenshots will be forthcoming.

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