Exploring New Technological Tools for Education: Some Prototypes and Their Pragmatical Classification

The aim of this chapter is to introduce at exploring the potential of games in educational sector. More in depth, in this chapter we’ll describe: two European projects (Proactive11 and T31) with a specific focus on use of technology in formative sector; and a platform (Eutopia) experimented in both the projects with which educators can create virtual scenarios where students play a role and simulate a specific situation. Both Proactive and T3 projects have used an experimental approach in which trainings were implemented in order to test the efficacy of the formation planned. Preliminary results of the projects will be presented and discussed. The evidence supports the utility of using new technology in non-ordinary contexts, in order to foster learning process

Living and Learning With New Media: Summary of Findings From the Digital Youth Project

Summarizes findings from a three-year study of how new media have been integrated into youth behaviors and have changed the dynamics of media literacy, learning, and authoritative knowledge. Outlines implications for educators, parents, and policy makers

Communicating the Past in the Digital Age: Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Methods in Teaching and Learning in Archaeology (12-13 October 2018)

Recent developments in the field of archaeology are not only progressing archaeological fieldwork but also changing the way we practise and present archaeology today. As these digital technologies are being used more and more every day on excavations or in museums, this also means that we must change the way we approach teaching and communicating archaeology as a discipline. This volume presents the outcome of a two-day international symposium on digital methods in teaching and learning in archaeology held at the University of Cologne in October 2018. Specialists from around the world share their views on the newest developments in the field of archaeology and the way we teach these with the help of archaeogaming, augmented and virtual reality, 3D reconstruction and many more

Meeple Centred Design: A Heuristic Toolkit for Evaluating the Accessibility of Tabletop Games

Evaluation of accessibility within a tabletop context is much more complicated than it is within a video game environment. There is a considerable amount of variation in game systems, game mechanisms, and interaction regimes. Games may be entirely verbal, or completely non-verbal. They might be real-time or turn based, or based on simultaneous actions. They can be competitive or co-operative, or shift from one to the other during a single game session. They might involve visual pattern recognition or force players to memorise game state without visual cues. They may involve touch, or smell. They might involve social deduction or betrayal. They can encompass all sensory faculties, in differing degrees. Almost all games have accessibility considerations that should be taken into account, but there is currently no comprehensive tool by which this can be done that encompasses the rich variety of tabletop gaming interaction metaphors. In this paper, the authors discuss the heuristic lens that is used by the Meeple Centred Design tabletop accessibility project. This is a tool that has been applied to one hundred and sixteen games to date, and the full results of these have been published for analysis and consideration within the wider tabletop gaming community

The Impostor: Exploring narrative game design for learning Korean as a foreign language

In recent years, digital language learning games and applications have proliferated. However, most existing apps employ methods and theoretical approaches that are not designed to teach learners practical language competence. Additionally, commercial apps tend to focus on languages with large markets, leaving smaller languages like Korean unsupported. The objective of this thesis is to explore language learning and second language acquisition (SLA) theories and their practical applications to find teaching methods that are best suited for improving practical language competence of Korean. Having identified such methods grounded in socio-cultural and ecological SLA theory, the thesis further integrates the teaching methods into a conceptual design of a digital language learning game for learning Korean as a foreign language. This thesis demonstrates that a grounding the fundamentally messy digital language learning game design process in SLA theory is not only viable but a good starting point. Key findings indicate that the designers need to identify the targeted learning objectives, learning experiences and game experiences as clear design goals early on, to efficiently guide the inherently messy design process. Furthermore, the thesis highlights that digital language learning game designers need to develop and nurture knowledge both in the target language instructional domain and in game design.Viime vuosina digitaalisten kielten oppimista varten luotujen pelien ja applikaatioiden määrä on lisääntynyt voimakkaasti. Valtaosa olemassa olevista applikaatioista soveltaa kuitenkin käytäntöjä ja teoreettisia lähestymistapoja, jotka eivät opeta käytännön kielitaitoja. Lisäksi kaupalliset applikaatiot keskittyvät lähinnä kieliin, joilla on suuret markkinat ja eivätkä tue pienempiä kieliä kuten Koreaa. Tämän opinnäytetyön päämääränä on tutkia kielten oppimisen ja vieraan kielen omaksumisen teoriaa sekä niiden käytännön sovelluksia ja löytää opetusmenetelmiä, jotka soveltuvat parhaiten käytännöllisen Korean kielen taidon opiskeluun. Työn tuloksena löytyi sosiokulttuurilliseen ja ekologiseen kielten omaksumisteoriaan pohjautuvia menetelmiä, jotka integroitiin osaksi opinnäytetyön osana suunniteltua oppimispelikonseptia. Tämä opinnäytetyö havainnollistaa, että pohjimmiltaan sekavan digitaalisten kieltenopiskelupelien suunnitteluprosessin pohjaaminen kieltenoppimisteoriaan on paitsi mahdollista myös erinomainen lähtökohta suunnittelutyölle. Työn päälöydökset osoittavat, että suunnittelijoiden tulee tunnistaa tavoitellut oppimistavoitteet, oppimiskokemukset ja pelikokemukset ajoissa, jotta suunnittelutyö etenisi tehokkaammin. Lisäksi tämä opinnäytetyö korostaa, että digitaalisten kieltenopiskelupelien suunnittelijoiden tulee perehtyä syvällisesti sekä opiskelun kohteena olevaan kieleen että pelisuunnitteluun

UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF NEW LITERACIES THROUGH VIDEO GAME PLAY AND DESIGN

In this article, we provide the results of our examination of the range of multiliteracy activities that engage boys’ time and attention, and the types of literacy skills and understandings they learn through their engagement with alternative texts. We focus particularly on video game play and creation/composition as a learning activity that consumes a great deal of their out‐of‐school time. Our observations and conversations with adolescent boys suggest that significant, powerful learning is happening through video game play and creation, and calls into question claims that boys are not succeeding at literacy, instead suggesting the potential for critical engagement with new literacies. Key words: multiliteracies, technology, video games, composing, alternative texts Dans cet article, les auteures présentent les résultats de leur analyse d’un vaste éventail d’activités de multilittératie auxquelles se consacrent les garçons à l’adolescence et des types d’aptitudes et compréhensions qu’ils apprennent à maîtriser au moyen de textes alternatifs. Les auteures se sont penchées tout particulièrement sur les jeux vidéo et la création/composition comme activité d’apprentissage occupant une très grande partie des heures passées en dehors de l’école. Leurs observations et les conversations qu’elles ont eues avec des garçons semblent indiquer qu’un apprentissage important a lieu à travers les jeux vidéo et leur création, ce qui remet en question l’affirmation selon laquelle les garçons ont des lacunes en littératie et suggère plutôt que les nouvelles littératies offrent un potentiel sur lequel il y a lieu de réfléchir. Mots clés : multilittératies, technologie, jeux vidéo, composition, textes alternatifs