My participants are an 8 year old girl (Rosie) and a 10 year old boy(Bob).  They are siblings and related to the interviewer. Real names are not being used.

The universe is Roblox, an online multiplayer gaming site that allows one to play on various types of games (ex. Horror, RPG, Comedy, Building) which are created by other players. It is an interface that also allows the members (players) to create their own worlds and games for others. When one joins you are asked to create a character, or avatar, by choosing their name, sex, hair style/colour and body colour. Robloxia, as the world of Roblox is called, is inhabited by Robloxians (the users) and it is a 3D world made up of blocks (ex. envision a world of Lego homes, roads and objects).

The game of choice is "Slender: Mansion", where the object of the game is to survive being caught by Slender Man while trying to collect as many "pages" as possible. Slender Man is based on the legend of "Der Grossman/Tall Man" from 16th Century Germany. His newer incarnation is that of a faceless man in a business suit who lives in the woods, can teleport, hunts kids, and sucks their souls out. This game is listed under the "Horror" section of the Roblox games.

For this project I explored the following questions: Can learning happen playing an online game? (Gee, 2007)  What is it about playing these games that captures one's imagination and makes the experience "real" for the user? What do these games do in order to teach its' users? Do these games create spaces of learning? What is it that makes these games inherently social?

Here I only provide you with the first four pages of my project.

Photographs and graphic art by Adriana Boffa.