I en kontext där svenska elevers läsförståelse och motivation till läsning av böcker sjunker vill jag med den här studien undersöka huruvida fritidshemmen är en del av problemet med att barn och ungdomar läser allt mindre – eller en del av lösningen. Studien utgår från intervjuer med fritidshemspersonal och observationer av fritidshems inomhusmiljö. Materialet har sedan analyserats utifrån sociokulturella och miljöpsykologiska utgångspunkter. Dessa teorier grundar sig i antaganden om att språklig utveckling skapas via interaktion mellan människor i en kulturell kontext samt att elevers handlingar och identitetsskapande även skapas utifrån de miljöer de vistas i. Övergripande kan man säga att min studie bekräftar en del av det som tidigare forskning har kommit fram till. Personalen på fritidshemmen arbetar inte så medvetet och strategiskt med läsning vilket troligtvis leder till ett oförändrat intresse för läsning hos eleverna. Elevernas lästradition hemma får således styra vilket gör att klyftor mellan socioekonomiska grupper generellt förstärks. Samtidigt visar min undersökning att mina respondenter är väl införstådda i både styrdokumenten och relevant forskning kring vikten av läsning. Orsaken till att de inte arbetar aktivt med att intressera elever för läsning har enligt dem att göra med miljömässiga faktorer som bland annat barngruppernas storlek och lokalernas utformning. / In a context where Swedish students reading comprehension and motivation for reading books are in decline this study examines whether after school centers are part of the problem - or a part of the solution. The study is based on interviews with recreation staff and observations of the after school centers environment. The material is then analyzed on the basis of socio-cultural and environmental psychological starting points. These theories are based on assumptions that language development is created through the interaction between people in a cultural context and that pupils identification process is also created from the environments they inhabit. Overall, one can say that this study confirms some of what previous research has concluded. The employees at the recreation centers is not working so consciously and strategically with reading which probably leads to an unchanged interest in reading among pupils. Pupils reading habits at home thus control who becomes most avid readers which generally strengthens the gap between socio-economic groups. This investigation shows that the respondents are well aware of both policy documents and relevant research on the importance of reading. The reason they do not work actively to interest students in reading, according to them has to do with environmental factors such as group sizes and problems with the layout of rooms.

<p>Abstract</p><p>Title: The game of playing: A media ethnographic study of children playing videogames on a Swedish after school recreation centre. Spelet om spelandet: En medieetnografisk studie av barns dataspelande på en fritidsklubb.</p><p>Number of pages: 46</p><p>Author: Peter Brandberg</p><p>Tutor: Amelie Hössjer</p><p>Period: Spring term 2008</p><p>Course: Media and Communication studies D</p><p>University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University</p><p>Purpose/Aim: The aim with this study is to describe how children play video games in an everyday context. In this study this context consists of a Swedish after school recreation centre. By combining three different aspects on the activity this study tries to understand how both the video game and the social and cultural context in which the activity takes place in influences it. This by taking one analyse of the specific game that the children played at the time of the study and how the overall environment is structured into account. Together these two perspectives contribute to the understanding of the playing as a complex and dynamic activity.</p><p>Material/Method: The material and method consists primary of a participatory observation which were conducted for eight days in an after school recreation centre. The analyse of the video game uses specific parts from the ludologist Aki Järvinens “applied ludology” to understand the game Guitar Hero.</p><p>Main results: The main results of this study shows how the social context influences the play activity in which the children needs to negotiate about the resources needed to play. They used different strategies to try to gain control over the interfaces to the game. The study also shows how the children didn’t relate to the fact that these interfaces looked like guitars in their use of them. Instead the children used knowledge about other interfaces and played the game by “pressing buttons in the right time”.</p><p>Keywords: media ethnographic, participatory observation, ludology, applied ludology, video game, game studies, guitar hero, children, after school recreation centre, situated play</p>

Abstract Title: The game of playing: A media ethnographic study of children playing videogames on a Swedish after school recreation centre. Spelet om spelandet: En medieetnografisk studie av barns dataspelande på en fritidsklubb. Number of pages: 46 Author: Peter Brandberg Tutor: Amelie Hössjer Period: Spring term 2008 Course: Media and Communication studies D University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University Purpose/Aim: The aim with this study is to describe how children play video games in an everyday context. In this study this context consists of a Swedish after school recreation centre. By combining three different aspects on the activity this study tries to understand how both the video game and the social and cultural context in which the activity takes place in influences it. This by taking one analyse of the specific game that the children played at the time of the study and how the overall environment is structured into account. Together these two perspectives contribute to the understanding of the playing as a complex and dynamic activity. Material/Method: The material and method consists primary of a participatory observation which were conducted for eight days in an after school recreation centre. The analyse of the video game uses specific parts from the ludologist Aki Järvinens “applied ludology” to understand the game Guitar Hero. Main results: The main results of this study shows how the social context influences the play activity in which the children needs to negotiate about the resources needed to play. They used different strategies to try to gain control over the interfaces to the game. The study also shows how the children didn’t relate to the fact that these interfaces looked like guitars in their use of them. Instead the children used knowledge about other interfaces and played the game by “pressing buttons in the right time”. Keywords: media ethnographic, participatory observation, ludology, applied ludology, video game, game studies, guitar hero, children, after school recreation centre, situated play