From The Wired Campus, Feb. 19, 2008
Teaching Journalism Through a Role-Playing Game
Online
games have been developed to train firefighters, soldiers, and others
preparing for fast-paced jobs. So why not a game to train journalists?
Nora Paul, director of the Institute of New Media Studies at the
University of Minnesota, described to an audience of game scholars and
developers on Monday how she and a colleague, Kathleen Hansen, helped
to create such a game with a $10,000 grant from the university and
advice from some experienced gamers.
Ms. Paul and Ms. Hansen, a
journalism professor at the university, modified the computer game,
NeverWinter Nights, to develop a three-dimensional role-playing game to
teach students about the intricacies of being a journalist: coming up
with a story angle, identifying sources, preparing questions,
synthesizing information, and writing an article.
The presentation was
part of a game developers conference in San Francisco.
The
game has students assuming the role of a reporter who is responding to
a chemical spill that forces the evacuation of a neighborhood. In an
effort to show students that journalists need to treat people with
respect, for example, the game depicts a cocky journalist getting the
cold shoulder from sources.
Ms. Paul and Ms. Hansen are
fine-turning the game after testing it out on some honors students. The
students who played the game responded positively to it, Ms. Paul said.
But she noted one kink that needs to be resolved: a reporter suddenly
dies after arguing with his editor.—-Andrea L. Foster