Conceptual Play and Multiuser Virtual Worlds: Worked Examples from the Quest Atlantis Project

Sasha Barab · Melissa Gresalfi

Our work over the last decade has focused on reconnecting content with context, and doing so in a way that bears legitimacy and value in schools. In particular, we have used videogame technologies and methodologies to narratize disciplinary content and, at the same time, provide the necessary scaffolding and situational affordances such that the player is likely to disciplinize the game narrative — meaning that player success is dependent on effectively applying disciplinary concepts to transform the game context. It is in advancing a new form of curriculum for K–12 schools that we have been experimenting with conceptual play. In this interactive Chat ’n’ Frag, we will outline the theoretical perspective around conceptual play that motivates our work, followed by interaction with three worked examples that we have developed. To gain first-hand experience with the actual work, participants might apply for a guest account to the Quest Atlantis project to experience the designs directly.