Initial+Questions+and+Plans

**I. Questions**

 * 1.** Why are games directed so exclusively towards boys and men?
 * 2.** How are women portrayed in these games?
 * 3.** When does the digital divide between boys and girls start happening: As soon as children are introduced to computers? When they start playing and owning games? Later on in life?
 * 4.** How does this affect women vs. men in terms of digital education and experience?
 * 5.** Are there statistics to back up this theory?
 * 6.** How can we start tailoring gaming to a less gender specific audience**,** especially in a learning environment?

**II. I Wonder**
I wonder if video games have been specifically tailored to a male audience because males have heightened spacial/reasoning skills. I wonder if girls have anxiety towards computers in general because they have not grown up becoming accustomed to computer jargon and systems. Is the lack of emotional content in video games a deciding factor in female interest? I wonder how the ratio of girl players varies between simulation games like Second Life and The Sims as opposed to goal-based games like Halo and Gears of War. I suspect that girls are more attracted to games that are geared towards "sustaining" instead of "attaining." What kinds of games are being integrated into schools? I wonder if gaming schools are attended by a male majority or if they're attended equally by both genders? I wonder if learning through gaming removes a level of human intimacy that young girls crave.

**III. My Plan**
My plan is to do preliminary research on Katie Salen who helped launch Quest to Learn school and is a noted game designer and design educator. I will then try to secure an interview with her as well as Yasmin Kafai who is the founder of "e-textiles" and leading researcher in areas relating to the gender gap in education. With supplementary research and hopefully a trip to Quest to Learn school, I will then compose my paper.

**IV. What I Want to Learn**
I want to learn if and how girls are disadvantaged in technology-driven learning environments, how male and female brains differ, and how people are working to remedy this gender inequality.