MACE Mobile Client for Windows Mobile 1.0

Slootmaker, A. (2009). MACE Mobile Client for Windows Mobile. Presentation given at ICT developers group of CELSTEC. June, 8, 2009, Heerlen, The Netherlands: Open University of the Netherlands.A presentation of MACE Mobile Client for Windows Mobile given to the ICT developers group of CELSTEC.MACE-projec

Shoctool

For descriptive article see: <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1820/117">http://hdl.handle.net/1820/117</a>A tool that supports the learning design of educational software. The tool stimulates the re-use of existing design and code segments. Resulting designs can be accessed for completeness, allow for comparisons among designs and are relatively easy to read for others than the designer himself. The idea is that the use of such a tool can make the development process more efficient and can lead to a more professional approach of the didactic design of educational software in general

Evaluating the usability of authoring environments for serious games

Background. The EMERGO method and online platform enable the development and delivery of scenario-based serious games that foster students to acquire professional competence. One of the main goals of the platform is to provide a user-friendly authoring environment for creating virtual environments where students can perform authentic tasks. Aim. We present the findings of an in-depth qualitative case study of the platform´s authoring environment and compare our findings on usability with those found for comparable environments in literature. Method. We carried out semi-structured interviews, with two experienced game developers who have authored a game for higher education, and a literature review of comparable environments. Findings. The analysis shows that the usability of the authoring environment is problematic, especially regarding understandability and learnability, which is in line with findings of comparable environments. Other findings are that authoring is well integrated with the EMERGO method and that functionality and reliability of the authoring environment are valued. Practical implications. The lessons learned are presented in the form of general guidelines to improve the understandability and learnability of authoring environments for serious games

The Playground Game:: Inquiry‐Based Learning About Research Methods and Statistics

The Playground Game is a web-based game that was developed for teaching research methods and statistics to nursing and social sciences students in higher education and vocational training. The complexity and abstract nature of research methods and statistics poses many challenges for students. The Playground Game aims to address this issue and bridge the gap between theory and practice by providing students with a playful practical problem case that they have to analyse and evaluate: the player’s task is to make substantiated judgements about a study that was carried out to decide upon the most suitable location for laying out a children’s playground in a fictitious town. This paper reports about the evaluation of the Playground Game among 103 students of the bachelor psychology programme from Leuven University. A pre-questionnaire preceding the game was used to collect information about the students´ individual characteristics and included a self-assessment. A post-questionnaire collected the students´ appreciations and comments, and included the same self-assessment as well as five additional test questions. This set-up allowed us to not only collect the players’ judgements and appreciations about the game, but also to assess achieved learning gains. All student activities were carried out online. As an additional step we have set up a quasi-experiment for exploring to what extent score mechanisms and audio cueing could be used for influencing (reducing) the players’ trial-and-error behaviours. The students were randomly distributed over 4 groups each of which was linked to a different version of the game. We implemented two different game score mechanisms and either used short audio cues indicating a correct or incorrect decision, or omitted these. Technically the Playground Game was implemented on the EMERGO platform, which is an open source educational gaming platform developed by the Open University of the Netherlands (www.emergo.cc). The game (so far only a Dutch language version is available) is an outcome of the CHERMUG project (Continuing and Higher Education in Research Methods Using Games), which was sponsored by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission

Developing scenario-based serious games for complex cognitive skills acquisition::Design, development and evaluation of the EMERGO platform

Serious games are considered to provide powerful and attractive ways to acquire complex cognitive skills for education and training. But existing platforms for development of game-based e-learning often appear either not to be very user-friendly or too rigid or costly. This article addresses the design, development and evaluation of a generic platform for fast and flexible development and delivery of a wide variety of scenario-based games that enables complex cognitive skills acquisition. We present the requirements for the EMERGO platform and which common components it offers to cater for most of the needed functionalities within scenario-based games. We explain how users in various roles can use the platform to manage, develop, deliver and play a broad variety of scenario-based games. Evaluation data are presented to back up the claim that the platform indeed allows for faster, more user-friendly and less costly development and delivery of scenario-based games. Seven years after the platform has been launched, it until now has proven successful and still continues to evolve. We close off with some conclusions and needs for further development

Developing scenario-based serious games for complex cognitive skills acquisition::Design, development and evaluation of the EMERGO platform

Serious games are considered to provide powerful and attractive ways to acquire complex cognitive skills for education and training. But existing platforms for development of game-based e-learning often appear either not to be very user-friendly or too rigid or costly. This article addresses the design, development and evaluation of a generic platform for fast and flexible development and delivery of a wide variety of scenario-based games that enables complex cognitive skills acquisition. We present the requirements for the EMERGO platform and which common components it offers to cater for most of the needed functionalities within scenario-based games. We explain how users in various roles can use the platform to manage, develop, deliver and play a broad variety of scenario-based games. Evaluation data are presented to back up the claim that the platform indeed allows for faster, more user-friendly and less costly development and delivery of scenario-based games. Seven years after the platform has been launched, it until now has proven successful and still continues to evolve. We close off with some conclusions and needs for further development

Architectures for developing multiuser, immersive learning scenarios

Nadolski, R. J., Hummel, H. G. K., Slootmaker, A., & Van der Vegt, W. (2012). Architectures for developing multiuser, immersive learning scenarios. Simulation & Gaming, 43(6), 825-852.Multi-user immersive learning scenarios hold strong potential for life long learning as they can support the acquisition of higher order skills in an effective, efficient and attractive way. Existing virtual worlds, game development platforms, and game engines only partly cater for the proliferation of such learning scenarios as they are often inadequately tuned for learning. First, this study aims to identify architectures that more effectively support the development of multi-user immersive learning scenarios. Second, this study takes up the challenge to define and assemble more flexible architectures that cater for fast and easy development, which will become important in the current period of economic breakdown. Third, this study describes how such architectures should enable research into guidelines for multi-user immersive learning scenario design and development. This study outlines a method for defining and setting up such architectures by using experts and existing literature

Skills Labs - Deliverable 3.3: Standaarddraaiboek voor docent professionalisering

Hummel, H. G. K., Nadolski, R. J., & Slootmaker, A. (2010). Skills Labs - Deliverable 3.3: Standaarddraaiboek voor docent professionalisering. Working document Skills Labs (project sponsored by SURF foundation). Heerlen, The Netherlands: Open University of the Netherlands. SURFFoundation.Een standaard draaiboek bij de ontwikkeling van hoogwaardige e-practica is nodig om toekomstige ontwikkeling effectief en efficiënt te kunnen laten verlopen, en door docenten grotendeels onafhankelijk van experts te laten plaatsvinden. Dit draaiboek richt zich vooral op de daarvoor benodigde (onderwijstechnologische) professionalisering van docenten die als casusontwikkelaars een casus (leermateriaal) met behulp van EMERGO zullen gaan ontwikkelen. Deze deliverable bevat daartoe een beschrijving van het professionaliseringsaanbod (een set van workshops, aangevuld met on-the-job training) zoals dat binnen Skills Labs is ontwikkeld, uitgevoerd, en geëvalueerd.SURFFoundation (deliverable within Skills Labs project