I worked on this case study with Faraneh Ghabraie.
http://interactivesites.weebly.com
An example of one of the games in the Social Studies subject was the Country Toad game. This particular game helps the user learn the countries and their capitals. The lily pads that float towards the frog are in the shape of countries. The user must match the country with the correct capital city. The game provides both text as well as images that help visual learners. The interface and the content also work together to construct the meaning of the whole game. There is, of course, an educational purpose behind this game and therefore creates opportunities for different types of learners to understand the content through the different interfaces provided.
Interactive Sites for Education
Electronic literature creates innovative and exciting ways for all age groups to learn and enhance their knowledge on different topics. The way in which information is presented to the user can greatly impact the way in how they interpret and understand the information. It is crucial to understand the relationship that the interface has with the content. This relationship creates the meaning of the provided text. Rather than simply reading about the information and subjects that are normally taught in school, the interactiveness of the Interactive Sites for Education allows the user to learn different material in more effective ways. It essentially allows the user to be in control of how they can learn about the information which in turn helps with how they interpret the information. The website is a constructed space where users can easily access the content in different forms. The interface permits them to discover new ways of learning the material and creates new capabilities for understanding it. The site is very easy to access and whether the user is experienced or not, they can form better understandings of the information being presented through new ways of learning. Although the information being provided through the website itself cannot be changed by the user, the way in which the user interprets the information can change simply based on the way they choose to learn about and interact with the website.
Electronic Literature as a Hybrid
According to Katherine Hayles, electronic literature can be understood as a hybrid, due to the fact that it is composed of various parts of traditions that may not always fit neatly together. There are two generations of electronic literature. The first generation is classical, since it is text dominant and through hyperlink. The second generation is more contemporary and multimodal where there is a de-emphasis of the hyperlink. Hayles also discusses interactive fiction, which has more of a game element to it than other forms may have. The Interactive Sites for Education can be compared to interactive fiction in the sense that some of the information provided is through game structured techniques. The user becomes involved with the information being presented interactively which changes the way they interpret and understand the information, in comparison to them simply reading about it in a textbook for example. Hayles also argues that rather than being natural enemies, narrative and database are more appropriately seen as natural symbionts. A direct correlation to narrative and database are the interface and content. Together, the relation between narrative and database create their own sense of meaning while the interface and content produce the meaning of the text. She also states that different interfaces can be designed according to the particular needs of users. This is evident in the Interactive Sites for Education website. The interface layout creates a distinct appeal for the intended users, such as students and teachers. Students have the advantage of learning new concepts and facts in various subjects such as Math, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Music, and Art. They make the information available in various forms of games and simulations for each subject. They also range from Kindergarten to Grade Five levels of learning. For teachers the activities created work in compliance with the technologies they may have in their classrooms.
Digital Humanities
In Computational Turn: Thinking About the Digital Humanities, David M. Berry talks about the changes of digital technology, and the way we engage with it. He states that there are different types of digital humanities. First-wave digital humanities involved the building of structure in the studying of humanities texts through digital sources, text mark-up, etc. The second-wave digital humanities includes digital materials such as electronic literature (e-lit), interactive friction (IF), and web-based artifacts. Digital technologies are transforming our ability to use and understand information outside of traditional knowledge structures, such as Universities and classrooms. The Interactive Sites for Education allows users to choose from fun, educational, interactive games which helps them enhance their skills in subjects such as Math, Social Studies, Music, and Art. According to Berry, computer code enables new communicative processes and with the increasing social dimension of networked media the possibility of new and exciting forms of collaborative thinking arises. The games and activities on this website also give the user an opportunity to think and learn in new ways.
Assemblage
Anne Balsamo’s concept of the assemblage can easily help to define what the Interactive Sites for Education is. There is a substantial amount of information that is provided on the website through different types of educational interactive games and simulations for various subjects. The website itself collected information from numerous sources and created individual games and simulations for several different school based subjects. The information gathered to form the website is a prime example of an assemblage, since it is made up of different elements that come together to create one thing as a whole.
So What?
This website gives users an opportunity to enhance their knowledge in different subjects by allowing them to interact in games and activities. In doing so, the importance of the interface and content working together is highly emphasized. The meaning of the text is generated through this specific process of the interface and content working together. The options provided for the user to interact with on the website influences the way they interpret and understand the information. The user is not necessarily in control of the information, rather they are in control of how they interact and interpret the information. They can choose different ways of learning about the material and in doing so influence the way they understand the material itself.
