Does the game metaphor work with students?

I just introduced the notion of "Journalism the video game" to my journalism class - introducing them to the levels and the challenges. Most seemed to tune into the metaphor.... value adding it. I am hoping now to use it as a shared story about assessment which I can build on and refer back to. I am feeling very optimistic that this might be a powerful metaphor.

I had a good conversation with the two editors, Lewis and Bo, about it ... they both said they really liked the game metaphor and could identify with it. Lewis talked about his own LAN experiences - he is leader of a "clan" of 20 people around the world in the Warcraft game and he strategises and manages their assaults or invasions. I asked him that if he was already doing that there, then was he being challenged enough here in class and what the next level might be like for him in journalism to keep him in the zone. He said he wished Journalism could be offered as a pre-tertiary class because he really would like to do it again next year but operating at higher level.

We then started talking about the Jecador online magazine and I asked Lewis if he felt he could get out an issue on Friday. He didn't think so. I say, "well I know of one story already blogged and two just about ready to be blogged." He said, "what... I didn't know that" ... and then he got cross "I went around and asked everyone and I really didn't get any useful response - Rowan said he wasn't working on anything at the moment - he didn't tell me had a story blogged, ready to be connected! Why didn't he tell me? Did he email the link to us and why not!"

"Hmmm," I went, "What do you need to do to ensure Rowan knows what to tell you and when? Did you make it clear what you needed to know? Is it your responsibility as team manager or is it his? How can you make the responsibilities clear? Perhaps this is your current "game challenge" to improve the communication, help people understand their role... you can't get to the next level without mastering this!"

Lewis looked at me nodding his head as if a light bulb had gone off. Had I somehow put it in terms that he could identify with ... making the "challenge" clear and making it worthwhile aiming for... beginning to unpack the hidden rules in organization management? It will be interesting to see how committed he is to mastering this new challenge.

Meanwhile Bo is very interested in the design challenges, deciding to concentrate in this area rather than than management of staff. He still wants to "Mwahahaha change the world" but now through effective design using powerful images. Both Lewis and Bo are reconceptualising the look and technical structure of the magazine to suit these new design considerations. Hopefully they will come to realise that they need to share this vision with the other students in the class and ensure a sense of ownership.

I am well aware that the game metaphor is problematic and simplistic, yet it seems already to be a very useful device for helping students clarify their goals and their strategies.