Designing for digital playing out

We report on a design-led study in the UK that aimed to understand barriers to children (aged 5 to 14 years) 'playing out' in their neighbourhood and explore the potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) for supporting children's free play that extends outdoors. The study forms a design ethnography, combining observational fieldwork with design prototyping and co-creative activities across four linked workshops, where we used BBC micro:bit devices to co-create new IoT designs with the participating children. Our collective account contributes new insights about the physical and interactive features of micro:bits that shaped play, gameplay, and social interaction in the workshops, illuminating an emerging design space for supporting 'digital playing out' that is grounded in empirical instances. We highlight opportunities for designing for digital playing out in ways that promote social negotiation, supports varying participation, allows for integrating cultural influences, and accounts for the weaving together of placemaking and play

Designing for Digital Playing Out

We report on a design-led study in the UK that aimed to understand barriers to children (aged 5 to 14 years) ‘playing out’ in their neighbourhood and explore the potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) for supporting children’s free play that extends outdoors. The study forms a design ethnography, combining observational fieldwork with design prototyping and co-creative activities across four linked workshops, where we used BBC micro:bit devices to co-create new IoT designs with the participating children. Our collective account contributes new insights about the physical and interactive features of micro:bits that shaped play, gameplay, and social interaction in the workshops, illuminating an emerging design space for supporting ‘digital playing out’ that is grounded in empirical instances. We highlight opportunities for designing for digital playing out in ways that promote social negotiation, supports varying participation, allows for integrating cultural influences, and accounts for the weaving together of placemaking and play

DESIGNING BETTER EXERGAMES: APPLICATION OF FLOW CONCEPTS AND THE FITT PRINCIPLE TO FULL BODY EXERTION VIDEO GAMES AND FLEXIBLE CHALLENGE SYSTEMS

Exercise video games have a recognized potential for widespread use as tools for effective exercise. Current exergames do not consistently strike a successful balance between the “fun gameplay” and “effective exercise” aspects of the ideal exergame. Our research into the design of better exergames applies existing gameflow research and established exercise guidelines, such as those published by the American College of Sports Medicine, to a collection of four custom exergames: Astrojumper, Washboard, Sweet Harvest and Legerdemain implement full-body motion mechanics that support different types of exercise, and vary in intended duration of play, game complexity, and level of physical challenge. Each game also implements a difficulty adjustment system that detects player performance from in-game data and dynamically adjusts game difficulty, in order to balance between a player’s fitness level and the physical challenge presented by the game. We have evaluated the games produced by our design approach through a series of user studies on players’ physiological and psychological responses to gameplay, finding that balance between challenge types (cognitive or physical) is an important consideration along with challenge-skill balance, and further, that game mechanics able to support creativity of movement are an effective means of bridging between gameplay and exercise in order to improve the player experience

Raising awareness on sustainability issues through a mobile game

The paper presents a review on, and analysis of, the design, development and evaluation of experiences of learning through the 'Sustainability Serious Game'. The mobile game has been developed as means of helping public authorities to collect information and feedback on how public spaces could be improved based on collective intelligence procedures. Furthermore, as part of enhancing learning, the game intends to provide knowledge and awareness on sustainability issues for public constructions relevant to engineering and architectural disciplines. Deployed targeted questionnaires with thirty-three (33) computer science students in UK and analysed through a Likert Scale findings from evaluation demonstrate that a conceptual change may be achieved in relation to how sustainability has been perceived. A questionnaire with 20 questions was distributed to students for evaluating various elements of the game such as usability characteristics, accumulation, assimilation and consolidation of new knowledge patterns related to the learning-oriented benefits of the game with an implicit focus on whether the game can be integrated within an academic setting. The fundamental conclusion from the analysis of the game uptake is that it enhances student's engagement with sustainability issues, especially in blended learning contexts for 'blending' different pedagogical approaches with game-oriented features as means of improving educational practice

Evaluation of learning outcomes using an educational iPhone game vs. traditional game

In this paper, we present an initial study to determine the subject preferences for educational computer games for children, in which 150 education professionals participated. From the results of this first study, we have developed an iPhone game for transmitting knowledge as part of multiculturalism, solidarity and tolerance following established learning theories, several design principles, and the objectives and competences of the Spanish law for primary education. We also report on a second study to determine whether the iPhone game has better learning outcomes than a traditional game by analyzing the participation of 84 children ranging in age from 8 to 10 years old. The frequency of playing with consoles or computer games was also taken into account in this second study, and the worldwide trend of previous studies has been corroborated. For learning outcomes, the results did not show significant differences between the two groups. However, 96% of the children indicated that they would like to play with the iPhone game again, and 90% indicated that they preferred the experience with the iPhone game over the traditional one. From these results, we can conclude that the children achieved similar knowledge improvements using both the autonomous game (iPhone game) and the custom, guided game (traditional game). This could facilitate versatility in the learning process since the learning activity could be performed at any place and time without requiring supervision. Therefore, it could be a useful tool in the learning process and help teachers to fulfill students' training needs. 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This work was funded by the Spanish APRENDRA project (TIN2009-14319-C02).Furió Ferri, D.; González Gancedo, S.; Juan, M.; Seguí, I.; Rando, N. (2013). Evaluation of learning outcomes using an educational iPhone game vs. traditional game. Computers and Education. 64:1-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.12.001S1236

What children do on the playground: a Rasch analysis approach to measurement on the playground

2018 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Given the many benefits of play and children's right to play, as established by the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990), researchers interested in play have designed a multitude of interventions that aim to support children's engagement in this primary occupation. The school playground is a natural context for these play interventions. Because of the play deficits often associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID), many interventions target these populations. However, review of current literature suggests that researchers are limited by the lack of measurement tools to quantitatively analyze what children do together during a playground session. In this study, I present a Rasch analysis-based measure of what children do on the playground. In this measure, the playground session itself is the unit of analysis – this allows play promoters to compare playground sessions before and after an intervention, under different weather conditions, or with different groups of children. This measure was developed based on observation data collected in the context of a larger study aimed to promote playground play for children with ASD and ID. Through Rasch analysis, I demonstrate preliminary validity and reliability of data collected using this observation-based instrument. The findings of this study suggest that observation-based playground measurement tools can effectively quantify play and non-play sophistication

Understanding the Importance of Context:A Qualitative Study of a Location-Based Exergame to Enhance School Childrens Physical Activity

Many public health interventions are less effective than expected in 'real life settings', yet little work is undertaken to understand the reasons why. The effectiveness of complex public health interventions can often be traced back to a robust programme theory (how and why an intervention brings about a change in outcome(s)) and assumptions that are made about the context in which it is implemented. Understanding whether effectiveness (or lack thereof) is due to the intervention or the context is hugely helpful in decisions about whether to a) modify the intervention; b) modify the context; c) stop providing the intervention. Exergames-also known as Active Video Games or AVGS-are video games which use the player's bodily movements as input and have potential to increase physical activity in children. However, the results of a recent pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a location-based exergame (FitQuest) in a school setting were inconclusive; no significant effect was detected for any of the outcome measures. The aim of this study was to explore whether the programme theory for FitQuest was correct with respect to how and why it would change children's perceptions of physical activity (PA) and exercise self-efficacy in the school setting. A further aim was to investigate the features of the school setting (context) that may impact on FitQuest's implementation and effectiveness. Qualitative data (gathered during the RCT) were gathered from interviews with teachers and children, and observation of sessions using FitQuest. Thematic analysis indicated that whilst children enjoyed playing the game, engaged with goal setting within the game context and undertook low to vigorous physical activity, there were significant contextual factors that prevented it from being played as often as intended. These included environmental factors (e.g. size of the playground), school factors (cancellations due to other activities), school technology policy (rules relating to mobile phone usage) and teacher factors (engagement with the intervention). A revised logic model for the FitQuest intervention indicates how both the design of exergame technology (intervention) and features of the school environment (context) could be improved to increase chances of effectiveness in the future