The impact of video gaming on managers\u27 adaptive leadership skills: do millennials have an advantage?

The aging Baby Boomer Generation, coupled with the large coming of age Millennial Generation and the need for more adaptive and flexible employees in business, is presenting companies with a challenge of how to develop individuals in leadership positions within their organizations to properly demonstrate and implement adaptive leadership attributes. This study compared data previously gathered by the participating organization from individuals composed of multiple generations currently in leadership positions attending a leadership orientation course. Data were collected using a selected instrument measuring adaptive leadership skills. The focus of this study was to determine if the Millennial Generation has gained more experience with situations playing video games and, if so, if this resulted in enhanced adaptive leadership skills. Potentially acquiring leadership, organizational, and social skills, while learning to accomplish tasks in a rapidly changing and volatile simulated environment in a video game, could have a positive impact on the Millennials’ ability to employ adaptive leadership. The learning outcomes from video game play are accomplished either as a part of the individual video game design or via Internet games for multiple players. The applicability of this study could provide direction on how to better prepare more appropriate learning solutions to develop individuals as they move into leadership roles. The resulting analysis generated data finding no significant relationship between birth generations and scores from an instrument measuring adaptive leadership, or with the amount of video game play by generation. There was a positive relationship found between birth generation and the amount of video game play

E Is for Everyone: The Case for Inclusive Game Design

Part of the Volume on the Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning In this chapter I examine the accessibility of today's games, or rather the lack of. Even common medical conditions such as arthritis, repetitive stress injuries, and diminished vision may prevent individuals from playing today's top software titles, not to speak of the barriers that these titles pose to the blind, deaf, and immobile. The clearest and most disheartening manifestation can be found when examining the special-needs sector. There we find children who cannot partake in their most coveted play activities, due to inconsiderate (and therefore inflexible) game design. I chose this sector to both define the problem and explore its solutions. Written from the perspective of a designer, the chapter first describes the lack-of-play and its residual impact as perceived in a school that caters to over 200 children with special needs. In an attempt to create the "ultimate-accessible" game, I demonstrate how games can be designed to be intrinsically accessible while retaining their original playability. Lastly, I show how normalization-of-play may improve upon the social, educational, and therapeutic aspects of the children's daily lives. Tying this fringe-case with the grander ecology of games, I discusses how better accessibility may encourage more people to enjoy games -- be they gamers, students, or patients

Long-term use of motion-based video games in care home settings

Recent research suggests that motion-based video games have the potential to provide both mental and physical stimulation for older adults in residential care. However, little research has explored the practical challenges and opportunities that arise from integrating these games within existing schedules of activities in these contexts. In our work, we report on a qualitative enquiry that was conducted over a three month period at two long-term care facilities. Findings suggest that older adults enjoyed playing video games, and that games can be a valuable means of re-introducing challenge in late life, but that the impact of age-related changes and impairment can influence people’s ability to engage with games in a group setting. We outline core challenges in the design for care context and discuss implications of our work regarding the suitability of games as a self-directed leisure activity

Sense-making of consumer wellbeing in information technology-enabled services from a relational ontology position

Information technology (IT) built into products and services have become the key drivers for service innovation. How information technology-enabled services (ITESs) affect consumer wellbeing has increasingly become a concern to service scholars. In response to this, transformative service research (TSR) has emerged as a new stream in service research. This paper investigates consumer wellbeing derived from the consumption of ITESs in consumers’ daily lives. A mixed-method approach was employed in our study, including self-reflective reports, in-depth interviews and visual artistic methods. We demonstrated that a relational ontology, drawing on the ‘focal things’ concept (Borgmann, 1984) and sociomateriality (Orlikowski, 2009), could be used as a lens for us to understand consumer wellbeing in ITESs. We used four vignettes to demonstrate how relational ontology can enhance our understanding of consumer wellbeing in ITESs. Theoretically, this paper contributes to TSR by proposing and demonstrating the need to shift or at least extend the extant predominant technology ontology in marketing literature to make sense of consumer experiences and wellbeing in ITESs. In practice, this research encourages ITESs designers to emphasise the relational entanglement of technology with consumer routine practices in their service innovations for the purposes of consumer wellbeing

Utilizing a Modular Approach to Gamification to Improve Nutrition and Fitness in Children

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic that affects adults and children, impacts over 30% of the population in several states of the U.S., damages national economies, and is a factor in four out of the six of the leading causes of death, including diabetes and heart disease. Obesity is preventable: solution approaches include better education, more exercise, better nutrition, and changing eating habits. Still, it is difficult for many people to remain interested enough to educate themselves and to learn new behaviors to change their eating and exercise habits. Gamification is a relatively new research area that involves using video game mechanisms to make applications such as work, education, and behavior change seem less like a job and more like entertainment. The objective of this thesis is to develop a system for gamifying the process of education and behavior change aimed at reducing obesity in children. The approach involved identifying requirements, developing a methodology, implementing a suite of games, developing a common application program interface and integration framework so that metrics from the games could form a user progress model that is securely sharable with parents, educators, and health professionals. The idea is that as users get better at playing the game, they will get healthier. We specified the following requirements for the framework and suite of games: large domain coverage in the areas of nutrition and fitness; extensibility and scalability; user diversity; measurability and metrics; and security and privacy. A working prototype at http://www.edufitment.com demonstrates the framework and the games developed so far. Future work will involve refining the game content coverage with the help of domain experts, adding more games, and deploying and testing the framework on the Internet

Improving School Improvement

PREFACEIn opening this volume, you might be thinking:Is another book on school improvement really needed?Clearly our answer is yes. Our analyses of prevailing school improvement legislation, planning, and literature indicates fundamental deficiencies, especially with respect to enhancing equity of opportunity and closing the achievement gap.Here is what our work uniquely brings to policy and planning tables:(1) An expanded framework for school improvement – We highlight that moving from a two- to a three-component policy and practice framework is essential for closing the opportunity and achievement gaps. (That is, expanding from focusing primarily on instruction and management/government concerns by establishing a third primary component to improve how schools address barriers to learning and teaching.)(2) An emphasis on integrating a deep understanding of motivation – We underscore that concerns about engagement, management of behavior, school climate, equity of opportunity, and student outcomes require an up-to-date grasp of motivation and especially intrinsic motivation.(3) Clarification of the nature and scope of personalized teaching – We define personalization as the process of matching learner motivation and capabilities and stress that it is the learner's perception that determines whether the match is a good one.(4) A reframing of remediation and special education – We formulate these processes as personalized special assistance that is applied in and out of classrooms and practiced in a sequential and hierarchical manner.(5) A prototype for transforming student and learning supports – We provide a framework for a unified, comprehensive, and equitable system designed to address barriers to learning and teaching and re-engage disconnected students and families.(6) A reworking of the leadership structure for whole school improvement --We outline how the operational infrastructure can and must be realigned in keeping with a three component school improvement framework.(7) A systemic approach to enhancing school-community collaboration – We delineate a leadership role for schools in outreaching to communities in order to work on shared concerns through a formal collaborative operational infrastructure that enables weaving together resources to advance the work.(8) An expanded framework for school accountability – We reframe school accountability to ensure a balanced approach that accounts for a shift to a three component school improvement policy.(9) Guidance for substantive, scalable, and sustainable systemic changes –We frame mechanisms and discuss lessons learned related to facilitating fundamental systemic changes and replicating and sustaining them across a district.The frameworks and practices presented are based on our many years of work in schools and from efforts to enhance school-community collaboration. We incorporate insights from various theories and the large body of relevant research and from lessons learned and shared by many school leaders and staff who strive everyday to do their best for children.Our emphasis on new directions in no way is meant to demean current efforts. We know that the demands placed on those working in schools go well beyond what anyone should be asked to do. Given the current working conditions in many schools, our intent is to help make the hard work generate better results. To this end, we highlight new directions and systemic pathways for improving school outcomes.Some of what we propose is difficult to accomplish. Hopefully, the fact that there are schools, districts, and state agencies already trailblazing the way will engender a sense of hope and encouragement to those committed to innovation.It will be obvious that our work owes much to many. We are especially grateful to those who are pioneering major systemic changes across the country. These leaders and so many in the field have generously offered their insights and wisdom. And, of course, we are indebted to hundreds of scholars whose research and writing is a shared treasure. As always, we take this opportunity to thank Perry Nelson and the host of graduate and undergraduate students at UCLA who contribute so much to our work each day, and to the many young people and their families who continue to teach us all.Respectfully submitted for your consideration,Howard Adelman & Linda Taylo

THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY IN GAMIFICATION AND GAME BASED LEARNING FOR ELDERLY PEOPLE IN THAILAND

Purpose: This study aims to review the literature of the therapeutic strategies in gamification and a game-based learning for elderly people. During the increasing of the aging city in Thailand, how to prepare and how to live up the society are challenged. Gamification as a Game-based learning is a key issue in terms of conception. The conception of the game focuses on establishing trust with players and finding the right way to motivate the players to care for their health and to encourage the players to set goals. Methodology:A survey of healthcare for aging people was conducted in regard to technology-driven gamification.Gamified training appears to be highly engaging and does boost participant motivation.The survey attempts to examine Thai culture in terms of game technology and family networks and supports the influence the health-promoting behaviors among older persons. Main Findings:The reviews illustrate the role of game-based learning in therapeutic strategies. In accordance with the Gamification Concept, the concepts of games are broad in scope,encompassing various contexts, such as training. The results of this findings may influence Thai elderly to care their healthy by using gamification. The game design shows the Health Care Training Game and Gamification prototype. Implications:Gamification strategies may contribute to sustainable healthcare in Thailand.The designing game examines the therapeutic strategy game by establishing a technology-driven trust relationship with players, and then determining the best way to motivate the players to care for their health. Originality:Knowledge and skills can be improved by using game-based learning. A learning game is a self-contained unit with start, game play and ending activities. The games are based on a combination of well-known game-design principles and principles of task-oriented training and involve the manipulation of everyday physical objects

Development and User Satisfaction of “Plan-It Commander,” a Serious Game for Children with ADHD

The need for engaging treatment approaches within mental health care has led to the application of gaming approaches to existing behavioral training programs (i.e., gamification). Because children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) tend to have fewer problems with concentration and engagement when playing digital games, applying game technologies and design approaches to complement treatment may be a useful means to engage this population in their treatment. Unfortunately, gamified training programs currently available for ADHD have been limited in their ability to demonstrate in-game behavior skills that generalize to daily life situations. Therefore, we developed a new serious game (called “Plan-It Commander”) that was specifically designed to promote behavioral learning and promotes strategy use in domains of daily life functioning such as time management, planning/organizing, and prosocial skills that are known to be problematic for children with ADHD. An interdisciplinary team contributed to the development of the game. The game's content and approach are based on psychological principles from the Self-Regulation Model, Social Cognitive Theory, and Learning Theory. In this article, game development and the scientific background of the behavioral approach are described, as well as results of a survey (n = 42) to gather user feedback on the first prototype of the game. The findings suggest that participants were satisfied with this game and provided the basis for further development and research to the game. Implications for developing serious games and applying user feedback in game development are discussed

Design for (every)one: co-creation as a bridge between universal design and rehabilitation engineering

In this paper the authors describe a general framework for co-designing assistive devices in a horizontal user innovation network [1] by and for disabled users. This framework attempts to identify, share and use “hidden solutions” in rehabilitation contexts and translate them into disruptive assistive devices build with local resources. Within healthcare contexts local solutions are frequently more effective, as they reflect the physical, emotional and cognitive needs of specific patients and engage all the stakeholders in a specific local context. By using an open horizontal innovation network, where assistive devices can be easily shared and physically hacked by other paramedics, general patterns can be detected and translated into standard universal design objects. This generative design thinking approach [2] is more than feasible with digital trends like crowd sourcing, user-generated content and peer production [3]. Cheap and powerful prototyping tools have become easier to use by non-engineers; it turns them into users as well as self manufactures [4]. We discuss the different aspects of this open innovation process within a ‘design for disability’ context and suggest the first steps of an iterative co-design methodology bringing together professional designers, occupational therapists and patients. In this paper the authors sketch the holistic framework which starts with the innovation development and the co-creation process between these disciplines