This article is meant to directly describe the ways a game—in this case, Valve’s Dota 2—teaches and to point out what that might tell us about teaching more generally. Dota 2 is a well- designed and well executed game, and like many other games includes features like a tutorial and in-game library which are relatively clear instances of teaching. What differentiates Dota 2—and what makes it so illuminating in terms of broader themes in teaching—is the way Valve has designed additional teaching “channels” which leverage the affordances of the game client and work together to teach the complexity of the game. These channels utilize other players as teachers; that is, Valve includes features which are “activated” by other players who perform the role of teacher using affordances of the game itself. For example, the game includes a “coach” mode where a player can invite another player into their game and the “coach” can mark up the player’s map, control their camera, and has a dedicated chat channel. Dota 2 is made up of multiple designed teaching systems which use the tools of the game to teach (like the tutorial) as well as other “designed-for-emergent” teaching systems which invite players to be participant teachers.
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