Archive for April 2014

Serious Games in Education

April 22, 2014 Serious Games, Theory No comments

De Gloria, Bellotti, Berta and Lavagnino open with a coverage of the state of serious game within the field of education and training. Noting its flexibility and benefits for cost efficiency. They also note some concerns including;

  • intended learning outcomes and game objectives (features) may conflict with each other
  • ‘suspension of disbelief’ may negatively impact the learning process
  • Some socio-demographic group s my be excluded (usabilti, competition, access)
  • risk of extrinsic motivation techniques
  • with triple A title competition the term ‘game’ may not meet user expectations

De Glorria et al. note the origin of the term “serious game” and and its use around training (eg army pilots etc). Then moves onto classification of serious games, citing a variety of models before presenting the following psycho-pedagogical dimensions (by Kickmeier-Rust, 2009), developed on the foundation of Kickmeier-Rust et al.’s 2007 taxonomy. Which includes;

  • Purpose
  • Reality
  • Social Involvement
  • Activity

Serious.gamesclassification.com gets a mention for it’s collaborative approach to classification, built on Saywer & Smith’s Serious Games Taxonomy. Using the dimensions; gameplay, purpose, market, and audience. Also noted is a number of other databases who have structured similar information into description/classification, analysis of game components, pedagogy, deployment, and technology used for development.

Three Kernals of Serious Game Design (De Gloria et al., 2014)

Three Kernals of Serious Game Design (De Gloria et al., 2014)

De Gloria et al. argues for a multi-disciplinary approach to the design and production of
serious games suggesting a model “the three kernals of Serious Game design”. This figure illustrates the complexity of development and considerations a designer must make.

A few pedagogical theories are covered by Gloria et al.

  • Constructionist Learning – These serious games support the theory and allow a space “where the plryer can gain knowledge through exploration and by practice, possibly in collaboration with other people”.
  • Cognitive Load Theory – Evidence suggests that guidance from real teachers is required to direct learners, further suggesting that “learning is a complex activity” which requires steps and support with various tools
  • Flow (Csikszentmihalyi) – to measure engagement using GameFlow’s eight elements: concentration, skills, challenge, control, clear goals, feedback, immersion, and social interaction
  • Personalism – “which stresses user-centered design”, also using game data for teacher to analyse and improve upon
  • Nonaka SECI model and Kirkpatrick’s 4 levels of learning evaluation
  • Revised Blooms taxonomy (cognitive approach) & Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model – “Good SGs and simulations should allow user to make significant experiences”

Commercial Off the Shelf games (eg SimCity, Civilization) as a solution gets a s very stern warning and caution around selection. Suggesting that games are already victim of over-user, especially by “youngsters”. The authors suggest a table for judging the fitness of games for education purpose.

Examples of Serious Games that the authors explore include CancerSpace (training clinical

The Barn's Team Up. Click for source.

The Barn’s Team Up. Click for image source.

practitioners), Remission2 (assisting cancer patients with improved care), Living Worlds (for cultural training in Afghanistan), Real Lives 2010, SimVenture, GoVentureCEO, MarketPlace, The Barn’s TeamUp (fostering collaboration and leadership), and Wilson Island. Additionally, Sandbox style games are considered here, noting the benefits, such as “game forces the player to focus more strongly on problems, which favors knowledge acquisition and retention”.

Assessment, feedback and learning analytics are a key part of Serious games, requiring “appropriate metrics, analytics, tools and techniques for in-game user assessment”. “Proper assessment requires continuously tracking the user in all its game activities, allowing appropriate feedback and also supporting adaptivity and personalization”, done in real-time.

Authors note that there is little literature into the descriptions of and relationships between learning mechanics (techniques included) and game mechanics. Except for the Learning Mechanics-Game Mechanics model (Arnab et al., in press).

 

Further Reading

Prensky M., “Digital game-based learning”, ACM Computers in Entertainment, vol. 1, 2003.

Gee J. P., What Video Game Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy, New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2003.
Bellotti F., Berta R. and De Gloria A., “Designing Effictive Serious Games: Opportunities and Challanges for Research”, Special Issue: Creative Learning with Serious Games Vol. 5, 2010, pp. 22-35.
Klopfer E., Oterwiel S., and Salen K., Moving Learning Games Forward, Obstacles Opportunities & Openness, The Education Arcade, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009. http://education.mit.edu/papers/MovingLearningGamesForward_EdArcade.pdf.
Connolly, T.M., Boyle, E.A., Stansfield, M.H. and Hainey, T., “The potential of Online Games as a Collaborative Learning Environment”, Journal of Advanced Technology for Learning, 2007
Parsons, D., Petrova, K., Hokyoung Ryu, “Mobile Gaming – A Serious Business!” Wireless, Mobile and Ubiquitous Technology in Education (WMUTE), 2012 IEEE Seventh International Conference, pp.27-10, 2012.
Pew Research Center, The future of Gamification. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Future-of-Gamification.aspx
Garner, “Gartner Predicts Over 70 Percent of Global 2000 Organisations Will HAve at Least One Gamified Application by 2014″, press release, http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1844115
Clark D., Learning by playing: can computer games and simulations support teaching and learning for post-16 learners in formal, workplace and informal learning contexts? Computer games in education and training. Presentation at LSDA Seminar London, November 2003.
Sawyer B., Smith P., “Serious Games Taxonomy”, Paper presented at the meeting of Serious Game Summit 2008, Game Developer Conference, 2008.
Kickmeier-Rust, M. D., Peirce, N., Conlan, O., Schwarz, D., Verpoorten, D., Albert, D. Immersive Digital Games: The Interfaces for Next-Generation E-Learning? In C. Stephanidis (Ed.), Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Application and Services (pp. 647-656). Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 45556/2007. Berlin: Springer, 2007.
Kickmeier-Rust, M. D. Talking digital educational games. In M. D. Kickmeier-Rust (ED.), Proceedings of the 1st International open workshop on intelligent personalization and adaptation in digital educational games (pp.55-66). October, 2009, Graz, Austria.
Pellegrino, J. W., Hilton, M. L., (2012) Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century. Washinton, DC: The National Academies Press.
Chen, J., “Flow in games (and everything else)” Communications of the ACM 50, 4 (April 2007), 31-34.
Lopes R., Bidarra R., “Adaptivity Challenges in Games and Simulations: A Survey” Computational Intelligence and AI in Games, IEEE Transactions on vol.3, no.2, pp.85-99, June 2011.
Liu C., Agrawal P., Sarker N., Chen S., “Dynamic difficulty adjustment in computer games through real-time anxiety-based affective feedback,” Int. J. Human-Comput. Interact., vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 506-529, Aug. 2009.
Chiang Y. T., Cheng C. Y., and Lin S. S. J., “The Effects of Digital Games on Undergraduate Players’ Flow Experiences and Affect,” in proceedings of the Second IEEE International Conference on Digital Game and Intelligent Toy Enhanced Learning (DIGITEL ’08).
Baalsrud Hauge J., Bellotti F., Berta R., Carvalho M. B., De Gloria A., Lavagnino E., Nadolski R., Ott M., Field assessment of Serious Games for Entrepreneurship in Higher Education, Journal of Convergence Information Technology, pp. 1-12, volumes 8, number 13, August 2013.
Bellotti F., Berta R., De Gloria A., Lavagnino E., Antonaci A., Dagnino F., Ott M., (2013a) “A Gamified SHort Course for Promoting Entrepreneurship among ICT Engineering Students”, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT) 2013, Beijing, China, July 2013.
Bachen, C. M., Hernandez-Ramos, P. F., & Raphael, C. (2012) Simulating REAL LIVES: Promoting global empathy and interest in learning through simulation games. Simulation and Gaming, 43(4).
Angehrn A., Maxwell K., Luccini M., Rajola F., Designing Effective Collaboration, Learning and Innovation Systems for Education Professionals, International Journal of Knowledge and Learning (IJKL), vol. 5, No. 2, 2009.
Bellotti F., Berta R., De Gloria A., D’Ursi A., and Fiore V., 2012. A serious game model for cultural heritage. ACM J. Comput. Cult. Herit. 5, 4, 2012.
Howell K., E. Glinert, L. Holding, C. Swain “How to build serious games” Communications of the ACM, v 50, issue 7, 2007, pp.44-49.
Arnab S., Lim T., Carvalho M. B., Bellotti F., de Freitas S., Louchart S., Suttie N., Berta R. and De Gloria A., “Mapping Learning and Game Mechanics for Serious Games Analysis”, British Journal of Educational Technology, in press.

 

References

De Gloria, A., Bellotti, F., & Berta, R. (2014). Serious Games for education and training. International Journal of Serious Games, 1(1).

Passion and Motivation in MMORPGs

April 20, 2014 Motivation, Theory No comments

Fuster, Chamarro, Carbonell, and Vallerand investigate the relationship between passion and motivation. They note that it is unclear how passion affects MMORPG(massively multiplayer online role-playing games) players motivations. In their study “results indicated that passionate gamers were interesting in relating with others through the game and exhibited a high degree of interest in discovery of the game, gaining leadership, and prestige but little interest in escape from reality”. This study was a questionnaire of 410 MMORPG players. They identify some motivations upon which the study is based. “Demetrovics et al. [2011] identified seven motivations: social, escape, competition, coping, skill development, fantasy and recreation. These dimensions overlap with those found by Yee. A subsequent study by Fuster et al. identified four interpersonal and interpersonal motives: socialization, exploration, achievement, and dissociation”.

Fuster et al. (2014) use the Duelistic model of Passion, which identifies harmonious passion (HP) and obsessive passion (OP). Responses were sort by posting on MMORPG community forums. There was a low response rate among women (20 females, 410 males), so these responses were removed. With women now representing almost 50% of the gaming market it means these results and conclusion really need to be carefully considered and generalized. The following games were listed as the most popular:

  • World of Warcraft – 32%
  • Lord of the Rings Online – 22%
  • Rift – 16.6%
  • EVE Online – 11.5%
  • Aion – 5.1%
  • DC Universe Online – 4.1%

In their findings, “These results suggest that both constructs- motivation and passion- can be integrated into an explanatory model of gaming behaviour, in which HP and OP guide the various motivations experienced while playing online gaming”. These findings align with Wang et al.’s (2008) social interactions within guilds, Shen & Williams ideas on socialization, and confirms the duelistic model of passion as in Stoeber et al.(2010) and Wang & Chu (2007). The author also admits the limitations of the study, noting the need for coss-sectional study and the examination of OP and addictive behaviours. While this particular study isn’t that useful since in completely omits female data, it is still useful. It does prove correlation between Passion and motivation when linked to MMORPGs. It has also provided some additional material to examine (listed below).

 

Further Reading

Boyle EA, Connolly TM, Hainy T, et al. Engagement in digital entertainment games: a systematic review. Computers in Human Behaviour 2012; 28:771-780

Demetrovics Z, Urdan R, Nagygyorgy K, et al. Why do you play? The development of the motives for online gaming questionnaire (MOGQ). Behaviour Research Methods. 2011; 43:814-825.

Ducheneaut N, Yee N. (2008) Collective Solitude and social networks in World of Warcraft. In Romm-Livermore C, Setzekorn S, eds. Social networking communities and e-dating services: concepts and implications. New York: Information Science Reference, pp. 78-100.

Graham KT, Gosling SD. Personality profiles associated with different motivations for playing World of Warcraft. Cyberpsycology, Behaviour, & Social Networking; 2013; 16:1-5.

Van Gee I. (2012) MMOData Charts version 3.3. www.mmodata.net Meredith A, Hussain Z, Griffiths M. Online gaming: a scoping study of massively multi-player online role-playing games. Electronic Commerce Research 2009; 9:3-26.

Yee N. The demographics, motivations, and derived experiences of users of massively-multiplayer online graphical environments. Presence: Teleoperators & Visual Environments. 2006; 15:309-329.

Stoeber J, Harvey M, Ward JA, et al. Passion, craving and affect in online gaming: predicting how gamers feel when playing and when preventing from playing. Personality & Individual Differences 2011; 5:991-995.

Shen C, Wiliams D. Unpacking time online: connecting Internet and massively multiplayer online game use with psychosocial well-being. Communication Research 2012; 38:123-149.

 

References

Fuster, H., Chamarro, A., Carbonell, X., & Vallerand, R. J. (2014). Relationship Between Passion and Motivation for Gaming in Players of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

Looking into Badges – University of Washington

April 20, 2014 Badges, Theory No comments

When the University of Washington moved to a skill-based promotion system (from seniority-based), they looked int piloting a bagdes program to encourage skill development for student employees. Student employees make a a 50+ person team that manage IT labs, and assist in technology related help services. State introduced legislature in 2009 meant a freeze on wage increases, and the only options for these student staff were moving to jobs with increased pay and responsibilities. This meant those starting in freshman year may never have seen a pay rise over the course of their employment.University of Washington Logo

UW implemented a tier-based system upon where each level indicated an increased degree of skill and responsibility. Promotion up the chain required justification and documentation of skills. As a result they identified that there was inconsistency around how a student achieved the skills needed for the promotion. Thus UW investigated digital badges as a solution to show that a group of skills could represent expertise within the team.

Wallis and Martinez acknowledge that informal learning is not recognized, and degrees and certificates do not represent a complete picture of a learners skills and abilities. They identify the Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure as a potential framework solution. UW-IT “started to investigate badges primarily as a way of measuring and documenting their [student staff] skills, and encouraging them to continue to improve their skills”.

Wallis and Martinez then launch into a discussion about the options for a badge system, in particular the division between Open source and commercials solutions. Open examples such as Badg.us and BadgeOS, and commercial solutions such as Credly. In reviewing Seton Hall’s code for a badge system they UW identified the priorities for integration, adn flaw in using an open source method. Seton Hall’s (pre-GitHub Release version) had inelegant coding implementations (such as individual modules for authentication), while badg.us did not accommodate functions such as meta-badges.

Wallis and Martinez conclude that more exploration of options is required. Noting that there was further interest in pilot participation from other units on campus and that students enjoyed the Code Academy model. The authors also note their concerns about ad-hoc badge issuing for informal learning, leaderboards and student inflexibility, and note that “we want to be cautious that badges do not become a completely extrinsic motivator”. Intrinsically motivated students will seek learning, badge system or not. They also note the key points of Ryan and Deci’s Self-determination theory, Autonomy, competence and relatedness. Then mentions the historical perspectives of badges as either representation of expertise/experience or power/authority (Alexander Halavais, 2012, “A genealogy of Badges: Inherited meaning and monstrous moral hybrids”).

 

References

Wallis, P., & Martinez, M. S. (2013, November). Motivating skill-based promotion with badges. In Proceedings of the 2013 ACM annual conference on Special interest group on university and college computing services (pp. 175-180). ACM.

 

Gamification, Games-based learning, and Serious games

April 20, 2014 Theory No comments

In Gamification, Games-based Learning, and Serious Games – Any difference? Bhasin argues that there is no difference between the three. Suggesting that “gamification, games-based learning, and serious games are effectively the same thing, because in a corporate environment, all learning relates to strategic objectives and has serious purpose”. Bhasin then attributes this to the rise in popularity of games, and attributes the following to its traction:

  • Marketplaces forces
  • The connection between games and learning in children (noting “brain scientists the world over agree that the games’ challenge-achievement-reward loop promotes the production of dopamine in the brain, reinforcing our desire to play”)
  • Rising interest among adults in games (reports on statistics about gamer demographics)

Bhasin then moves on to discuss the design of gamification. He opens with “it is the mechanics of the game – not the theme – that make it fun (Zichermann and cunningham)” However from experience in the boardgames community theme can be the deciding factor in engagement with the game, and it is well noted that pasted-on themes provide for a less engaging experience.

After discussing the best use of leaderboards he outlines some other gamification elements that could be used. The focus on leaderboards and competition shows the authors hasn’t really considered the benefits on other elements in a meaningful way. The other game mechanics listed include, pattern recognition, collecting, surprise and unexpected delight, organizing and creating order, gifting, recognition of achievements, leading others, being the hero, and gaining status.

by the end of the post I feel like Bhasin has just cherry-picked some of Brenda Enders work to focus on. Further investigation of Brenda Enders work (noted as “Gamification, Games and Learning: What Managers and Practitioners Need to Know”, 2013). When discussing interactivity and feedback Bhasin focuses on Enders best practice for challenges. He then expands on this with James Paul Gee’s ideas on risk taking, challenges and consolidation, story telling and briefly touches on motivation. Then finishes off the the SAPS model of rewards (Status, Access, Power, Stuff).

 

References
Bhasin, K., (2014) Gamification, Games-based Learning, and Serious Games – Any difference?, Learning Solutions Magazine. 27th January, 2014. http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1337/gamification-game-based-learning-serious-games-any-difference. Accessed 16/04/2014.

 

Conventions – PAX East

April 17, 2014 Industry No comments
Japanime Games - Krosmaster Arena at PAX East

Japanime Games – Krosmaster Arena at PAX East

In keeping up-to-date with the gaming industry I’m currently reading all about the Awesomeness of PAX East. PAX East is a Geek convention, held over three days in Boston, MA. PAX is a convention that can satisfy every geek from board and table top games, to video games, to cosplay. PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) is the brain child of Penny Arcade, it has been growing since 2004. 2013 marked the first year PAX expanded its convention beyond the USA, to Australia, in fact. Which naturally excited Aussie fans, who often feel they get the short end of the stick when it comes the gaming industry.

Greenbrier Games at PAX East 2014

Greenbrier Games at PAX East 2014

For those of you who PAX is unfamiliar, is it on opportunity for industry bodies (publishers, producers, developers, marketers, etc) to exhibit wares, release new products, market to a new demographic, and mingle with their audience, and end-product consumers. It is also an opportunity for fans and consumers to immerse themselves in the culture over a few days, meet new friends, and see what is happening in the industry. While exhibitions serve as a major part of the convention it is also a place of learning and sharing, with a full schedule of panels and talks, given by a variety of speakers including developers, artists and prominent people in the gaming media.

Soda Pop Minis @PAX East 2014

Soda Pop Minis @PAX East 2014

There are some great things happening in table top gaming. The Escapist Magazine covered most of the Tabletop exhibitors (link). It is really good to hear that indie developers are getting as much attention as some of the bigger guns in the board gaming industry (like Iello and Mayfair Games). The slew of successful Kickstarter campaigns have obviously helped in boosting the variety of products entering the market. These kickstarted companies included Soda Pop Minatures (Publisher of Super Dungeon Explore), Japanime Games (well known for Krosmaster Arena), and Cool Mini or Not (famous for the Zombicide Series). While other indie developers seek to develop without the assistance of Kickstarter, with a wide variety of themes and games (link).

PAX 2014 Cosplayer: A hulking Space Marine from Warhammer 40K (click for source).

There were lots of video games, and video game announcements at PAX, naturally as a main stay of the convention. The one for which I found myself most excited is Blizzard‘s announcement of a Story Mode for Hearthstone – Curse of Naxxramas, coming in US Fall 2014. Blizzard had only just recently released an iPad version of Hearthstone for Canadian and Australia (&NZ) iPad users, which I imagine brought back more than a few players to the game. Hearthstone is a free-to-play electronic card game designed by Blizzard Entertainment based off the popular World of Warcraft story line. This online only card game features one on one battles against different live players in real time. Each player choosing a different class to play, which has inherently different play styles (Mage, Warrior, Shaman, Priest, etc), so there is something to suit everyone.

To encourage diversity in a somewhat controversial more PAX introduced the Roll for Diversity Hub and Lounge. News is still coming out about how this helped or hindered PAX. One brave trans person shared their experience in a new blog about diversity issues in the gaming industry. As I write this their is a ragging conversation happening on Reddit. I’m sure more experiences will be shared over the next week or so as the glow and high of the convention dies down.

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