Gaming the General Consequences of Learning

This paper illustrates how videogames can productively support general consequences of learning beyond play spaces and inform alternative perspectives on the idea of learning transfer. As the empirical and conceptual adequacy of game-based and -infused models evolve, new opportunities emerge for understanding and supporting learners between and beyond play experiences. Because games foster empathy for, if not embody, meaningful social relations (Gee, 2003), they can organize and illuminate the general consequences of learning with respect to a broader nexus of factors implicated in social practice. Three complementary cases enlist the concept of consequential transitions (Beach, 1999) to towards these ends.