Henry Jenkins interviews David Williamson Shaffer

Professor Henry Jenkins interviewed David about his book How Computer Games Help Children Learn, and epistemic games in general. Professor Jenkins, currently at UCLA, was the Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies for Program for a decade. He posted the interview to his blog:

I’ve known David Williamson Shaffer for more than a decade. I was lucky enough to have him as a student in my media theory and methods proseminar back when he was finishing up his PhD at the MIT Media Lab. where he was doing work with Seymor Papert. I’ve reconnected in recent years with Shaffer through his work on games and education.

Shaffer has come out this month with a very important book, How Computer Games Help Children Learn. A colleague of James Paul Gee, Kurt Squire, and Constance Steinkuehler at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Shaffer has long contributed to our conversations about the pedagogical potentials of computer and video games.

He has especially promoted the idea of epistemic games, which he discusses at some length, in the interview that follows. He is interested in the ways that we can use computer-based games (including games that involve interacting with real people in real spaces) to introduce children to the basic conceptual frameworks that govern various professional practices. For him, this is the most powerful aspect of games-based learning.

For the full interview, in two parts, click on the links below.

Interview, Part One
Interview, Part Two