Adolescents Media Experiences in the Classroom: SimCity as a Cultural Model

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to analyze adolescents' experiences when they play SimCity (EA, 2008), a commercial videogame, in an innovative learning environment designed around the concept of participatory culture. By using this video game in the classroom and machinima productions created in relation to the game, we sought to generate a critical and reflective approach, related both to the content of the game and to the audiovisual discourse through which its messages are formulated. Adopting an ethnographic, action research and discourse analysis approach, we analyze the practices, conversations and multimedia productions generated in a workshop where the teacher and the research team worked together. The students were in their third year of high school, and the group comprised boys and girls in a language compensatory program. All sessions were video recorded. The analysis of the conversations and activities in the classroom revealed a process in which the teacher and the researcher shared difficulties and participated to facilitate the students' learning through the use of digital instruments. From this perspective, this article aims to provide educational strategies that help foster critical thinking by using commercial video games in the classroom.