Wearables at work:preferences from an employee’s perspective

This exploratory study aims to obtain a first impression of the wishes and needs of employees on the use of wearables at work for health promotion. 76 employ-ees with a mean age of 40 years old (SD ±11.7) filled in a survey after trying out a wearable. Most employees see the potential of using wearable devices for workplace health promotion. However, according to employees, some negative aspects should be overcome before wearables can effectively contribute to health promotion. The most mentioned negative aspects were poor visualization and un-pleasantness of wearing. Specifically for the workplace, employees were con-cerned about the privacy of data collection

Exploring The Risk Factors of Interactive E-health Interventions for Digital Addiction

Digital Addiction refers to a problematic usage of digital devices characterised by being excessive, compulsive, impulsive and hasty. It is often associated with negative life experience such as anxiety and depression. To combat Digital Addiction, interactive e-health intervention applications started to appear to aid users adjust their usage style. The present study aims to understand the risks related to such e-health interventions. The authors conducted an empirical research to investigate such risks from users’ perspectives through a diary study. Fourteen participants were recruited and asked to install popular “digital diet” applications and use them for two weeks and record their significant moments. The authors then interviewed the participants to discuss their experience. Self-governed interactive e-health intervention for digital addiction could lead to adverse side effects such as lower self-esteem, misconception of the healthy usage and creating an alternative addictive experience. Thus, there is a need for theory-based development and rigorous testing for such e-health solution

Using a Game-Like Task as an Assessment of Concept Formation in Children

This study aimed to develop Pavitt’s (2017) newly developed game-based measure of concept formation and provide a practical scoring system for the Alien Game, with neurotypical children aged 8 to 11 years. Cross-sectional correlational design was used to compare the performance of participants on the Alien Game to established measures of concept formation (i.e., WISC-IV Similarities and Matrix Reasoning) and objective measure of executive function in everyday behaviour (i.e., Childhood Executive Function Inventory). Spearman’s rank correlations indicated that the Alien Game was found to be a valid measure of non-verbal abstract reasoning. There were no associations found between the objective measure of adaptive function. There were also no group differences found based on sex and language. The Game was rated highly enjoyable by participants, and suggestions were made regarding how the game could be developed further. Results suggest that the updated Alien Game has the potential to be a suitable measure of concept formation for young children. Future research could develop the Alien Game based on the ideas given by the participants, and aim to recruit a more diverse sample of children with varying abilities

A Phenomenological Study into How Early Childhood Educators Experience Gamification as an Employee Motivational Tool

The purpose of this study was to explore how early childhood educators (ECE) experience gamification as a motivational tool. The study was grounded in self-efficacy theory and used the transcendental phenomenological methodology to uncover the lived experiences of the participants. The researcher used questionnaires, journals, and interviews to gather data from respondents. The interview utilized open-ended questions to provide respondents the opportunity to give a detailed account of their shared experiences while operating the gamified technology used in their program. Data was collected from 8 ECE teachers working at a private preschool in a mid-Atlantic state. Participant accounts described a lack of consistency during the onboarding phase when each application was introduced to the teaching staff. The most successful gamified application allowed for regular communication between teaching staff and parents. Participants noted the training application was an asset, as it aligned with participants’ educational and professional goals. The curriculum development application was found to be an unreliable lesson planning tool due to inaccuracies in data tracking. Participants felt the monthly rewards systems did not accurately reflect the work completed by teachers. The ECE teachers preferred a clear indicator of how the technology can be used to improve the lives of their students and positively impact the trajectory of their career. Greater consideration should be taken to ensure the applications provide incentives that are appropriate for the users. More research should be conducted to uncover the methods school leaders employ to determine applications used with in schools

A meta-analysis: Gamification in education

“Gamification has been used in a variety of contexts including education. In order to understand the effects of gamification in education, a meta-analysis was conducted. A bottom-up approach was used to analyze the effects of game design elements on learning outcomes found in the literature search. The result suggests that gamification can enhance student learning outcomes. Elements such as points, leaderboards, competitions, progress bars, feedback, and collaboration have medium to large effect sizes. Gamification also has larger effects on young children in elementary education than learners at other education levels. The study offers suggestions and guidelines for educators on the use of design elements in gamification”--Abstract, page iii

A Single-Subject Study on Listening to Student-Selected Music through Headphones for Students with ADHD

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects that self-selected music have on the working memory of fifth grade students with an ADHD diagnosis. A single-subject ABACAC design was used, and a convenience sample of five fifth-grade students from a rural central Virginia middle school participated in the study. An on-line working memory N-back task (Cognitive Fun!, 2008) was used to measure the working memory of each participant under the conditions of no music, teacher-selected music listened to through headphones, and self-selected music listened to through headphones. The results of this study found that one participant experienced a significant increase in working memory while listening to teacher-selected (classical) music. No other significant effect on the working memory of fifth grade students while listening to self-selected music as compared to no music or teacher-selected music were found. However, further research is necessary to determine if self-selected music might affect working memory in older students

Designing for Care Ecosystems: a Literature Review of Technologies for Children with ADHD

This paper presents a systematic review of HCI literature focusing on children with ADHD, the prevailing mental health diagnosis in children. Its aim is to (i) chart the state-of-the-art in this domain (e.g. methods used), (ii) identify the ways the HCI community has addressed the needs of children with ADHD (e.g. technologies deployed), and (iii) describe the involvement of the various stakeholders playing a role in their everyday experiences (i.e. their care ecosystem). Our findings show limited engagement of the care ecosystem in the design, development and user studies of current technologies, and shortcomings in designing for multiple ecosystem stakeholders, despite their crucial role. We also find that most HCI contributions are systems aiming to address ADHD-related symptoms. Based on our findings, we provide suggestions for further research and design considerations for future systems that empower and promote the well-being of children with ADHD, while considering their care ecosystem