Persuasive Gaming in Context

The rapid developments in new communication technologies have facilitated the popularization of digital games, which has translated into an exponential growth of the game industry in recent decades. The ubiquitous presence of digital games has resulted in an expansion of the applications of these games from mere entertainment purposes to a great variety of serious purposes. In this edited volume, we narrow the scope of attention by focusing on what game theorist Ian Bogost has called 'persuasive games', that is, gaming practices that combine the dissemination of information with attempts to engage players in particular attitudes and behaviors.This volume offers a multifaceted reflection on persuasive gaming, that is, on the process of these particular games being played by players. The purpose is to better understand when and how digital games can be used for persuasion by further exploring persuasive games and some other kinds of persuasive playful interaction as well. The book critically integrates what has been accomplished in separate research traditions to offer a multidisciplinary approach to understanding persuasive gaming that is closely linked to developments in the industry by including the exploration of relevant case studies

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - (Volume 1)

Studies on location-based games ubiquitously report positive learning outcomes for the players. Particularly these games are shown to promote exercise, encourage to social interaction and increase geographical and cartographical knowledge. To find out whether these positive effects are game-specific or characteristic to all location-based games, we conduct a software search for available location-based games on iOS and Android platforms and evaluate if and how exercise, cartographical training and social interaction are supported. Based on our results we were able to identify six sub-genres of location-based games, and the positive effects associated with each genre. The most popular category in terms of number of games was scavenger hunts and the most popular category in terms of active installs on Android and iOS was location-based MMORPG’s. Presence of factors associated with immersion and mixed reality were paired with the popularity and positive outcomes of the games. Cartographi cal practise, social interaction and exercise were supported the most in the location-based MMORPG sub-genre, to which, for example, Pokémon GO belongs to</p

Pastplay: Teaching and Learning History with Technology

In the field of history, the Web and other technologies have become important tools in research and teaching of the past. Yet the use of these tools is limited—many historians and history educators have resisted adopting them because they fail to see how digital tools supplement and even improve upon conventional tools (such as books). In Pastplay, a collection of essays by leading history and humanities researchers and teachers, editor Kevin Kee works to address these concerns head-on. How should we use technology? Playfully, Kee contends. Why? Because doing so helps us think about the past in new ways; through the act of creating technologies, our understanding of the past is re-imagined and developed. From the insights of numerous scholars and teachers, Pastplay argues that we should play with technology in history because doing so enables us to see the past in new ways by helping us understand how history is created; honoring the roots of research, teaching, and technology development; requiring us to model our thoughts; and then allowing us to build our own understanding