Games Teachers Play: An investigation of upper secondary EFL teachers’ practices, beliefs, and attitudes regarding digital game-based language learning in Norway.

This master's thesis examined the attitudes, beliefs and practices of upper secondary school English (EFL) teachers in Norway towards digital game-based language learning (DGBLL). Additionally, it explored the current state of digital game utilization, particularly focusing on the games and genres employed. Digital games, which are games played using an electronic device, are combined with educational content, or learning principles through digital game-based learning (DGBL). DGBLL is a form of DGBL specifically tailored for language learning. The study that is part of this master’s thesis not only focuses on EFL teachers' use of and attitudes towards digital games but also recognizes the importance of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theories in relation to DGBLL and teacher cognitions (i.e., what teachers know, believe, and think regarding the use of digital games in their EFL classrooms) as essential components. Data was collected through an online, mixed-methods questionnaire. The questions targeted information about attitudes towards and use of digital games in English as a foreign language (EFL) in formal learning contexts and were designed to collect information to answer the three research questions that guided the study which focused on the use of DGBLL, the attitudes towards DGBLL and the games and game genres employed in EFL instruction in the context of Norwegian upper secondary EFL classrooms, respectively. The questionnaire was comprised of three parts across a total of five pages with a total of 48 questions. A total of 219 upper secondary EFL teachers with diverse educational backgrounds from all parts of Norway participated in the study. Among them, women comprised the majority of respondents at 68.5%. Data analysis involved a combination of descriptive statistics and inductive content analysis, facilitating a comprehensive examination of both quantitative and qualitative data. Findings revealed that while only about half of the teachers in this study were familiar with the term DGBLL, a large majority believed digital games could be effectively used for teaching EFL. Almost 75% reported using digital games in their EFL instruction, mostly to target vocabulary, listening, speaking, and reading skills. Comparisons with previous studies suggests an increasing trend in the utilization of digital games for EFL education. Furthermore, the results suggested that the reported use of games in instruction varied by age and gender, with younger teachers and possibly female teachers being more likely to use games in the context of EFL. Also, EFL teachers in this study expressed generally positive attitudes towards DGBLL. Specifically, a large majority of the teachers believed that digital games could be used to meet the Norwegian curriculum and core pedagogical standards, serve as useful teaching and learning tools, and play a supporting role in EFL education. Despite the positive outlook, obstacles to DGBLL integration were also identified, including lack of time and inadequate knowledge and skills, the latter ascribed to insufficient or outdated teacher training. Additionally, a potential link between playing games for leisure and perceived competence for implementing DGBLL was also noted. However, personal gaming interest did not appear to be a deciding factor for the instructional use of DGBLL for EFL. Finally, the study revealed that teachers employed a variety of digital games in their EFL instruction, mostly from the Serious Games and Puzzle/Quiz genres. The most popular games included Spent, Fake News, Minecraft, Quizlet and Kahoot!. More than half of the twenty most popular games used by the teachers in this study are listed either on the Norwegian Digital Learning Arena or Statsped websites, along with supporting resources. The choice of games seems to reflect the beliefs and concerns about DGBLL expressed by the EFL teachers in this study, as the games were suitable for upper secondary students and EFL, their use was economical and time-efficient, and teachers possibly benefited from the availability of supporting resources from reliable sources. Moreover, the games did not require specialized technical expertise on the part of the teacher. In conclusion, the findings of this study contributed to the broader understanding of Norwegian EFL teachers' beliefs and practices, while also informing future teacher development in DGBLL in order to contribute to the effective implementation of Digital Games in EFL education

Minecrafting Bar Mitzvah: Two Rabbis Negotiating and Cultivating Learner-Driven Inclusion through New Media.

In 2013, a boy with special needs used the video game Minecraft to deliver the sermon at his bar mitzvah at a Reform synagogue, an apparently unique ritual phenomenon to this day. Using a narrative inquiry approach, this article examines two rabbis’ negotiations with new media, leading up to, during, and upon reflection after the event. The article explores acceptance, innovation, and validation of new media in religious practice, drawing on Campbell’s (2010) framework for negotiation of new media in religious communities. Clergy biography, philosophy, and institutional context all impact the negotiations with new media. By providing context of a set of factors influencing a particular negotiation and validation of a ritual and educational innovation using new media, the article intends to demonstrate the importance of clergy narrative for understanding new media negotiations in religious settings, and in particular in progressive religious communities

MAIA: The role of innate behaviors when picking flowers in Minecraft with Q-learning

Recent advances in reinforcement learning research has achieved human level performance in playing video games (Mnih et al., 2015). This inspired me to understand the methods of reinforcement learning (RL) and investigate whether there is any basis for those methods in neurobiology and animal learning theories. The current study shows how RL is based on theories of animal conditioning and that there is solid evidence for neurobiological correlates with RL algorithms, primarily in the basal ganglia complex. This motivated a simple perceptron-based model of the basal ganglia called Q-tron, which utilizes the Q-learning algorithm. Additionally, I wanted to explore the hypothesis that adding an innate behavior to a Q-learning agent would increase performance. Thus four different agents were tasked with picking red flowers in the video game Minecraft where performance was measured as quantity of actions needed to pick a flower. A “pure” Q-learner called PQ used only the Q- tron model. MAIA (Minecraft Artificial Intelligence Agent) used the Q-tron model together with an innate behavior causing it to try picking when it saw red. Two mechanisms of the innate behavior were tested, creating MAIA1 and MAIA2, respectively. The fourth agent called random walker (RW) chose actions at random and acted as a baseline performance measure. We show that both MAIA versions have better performance than PQ, and MAIA1 has performance comparable to RW. Additionally, we show a difference in performance between MAIA1 and MAIA2 and argue that this shows the importance of investigations into the precise mechanisms underlying innate behaviors in animals in order to understand learning in general

Rethinking Pedagogy: Exploring the Potential of Digital Technology in Achieving Quality Education

(First Paragraph) The Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) is UNESCO’s Category 1 education Institute in the Asia-Pacific region devoted to education for peace and sustainable development, as enshrined in SDG Target 4.7. UNESCO MGIEP promotes the use of digital learning platforms where teachers and students can co-create and share a highly interactive learning experience. With the rise of the internet, there has been a proliferation of online content and digital resources intended to support teaching and learning, albeit widely varying in quality. Digital education media and resources, if carefully designed and implemented, have a significant potential to be mobilized on a massive scale to support transformative learning for building sustainable, flourishing societies

Emergent realities for social wellbeing : environmental, spatial and social pathways

In contrast to popular notion, spatial planning does not belong solely within the privileged realm of spatial planners. Spatial planners constitute just one link in a chain of stakeholders who may use the tools provided by the planners with a view to achieve sustainable development objectives (Karlenzig, 2012). The success or otherwise of spatially oriented plans and policies greatly depends on each link within this imaginary chain.peer-reviewe

Literacy for digital futures : Mind, body, text

The unprecedented rate of global, technological, and societal change calls for a radical, new understanding of literacy. This book offers a nuanced framework for making sense of literacy by addressing knowledge as contextualised, embodied, multimodal, and digitally mediated. In today’s world of technological breakthroughs, social shifts, and rapid changes to the educational landscape, literacy can no longer be understood through established curriculum and static text structures. To prepare teachers, scholars, and researchers for the digital future, the book is organised around three themes – Mind and Materiality; Body and Senses; and Texts and Digital Semiotics – to shape readers’ understanding of literacy. Opening up new interdisciplinary themes, Mills, Unsworth, and Scholes confront emerging issues for next-generation digital literacy practices. The volume helps new and established researchers rethink dynamic changes in the materiality of texts and their implications for the mind and body, and features recommendations for educational and professional practice