There is considerable interest in leveraging video games to support students’ motivation. This involves employment of educational (serious) and entertainment games. However, while evidence indicates that games can enhance learning outcomes, doubts persist about whether they retain their enjoyable character in formal learning contexts. This study was carried out within the H2020 Gaming Horizons project, which involved a review of academic literature on the role of games in society, as well as 73 semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders, including players and educators, investigating their positions on game-related issues. The interviews suggested that players tend to view game-based learning – and specifically serious games at school – with scepticism. This is partly attributable to the perception that serious games have lower production values than entertainment games, and that gaming, as a voluntary, self-driven activity, clashes with the structured nature of school. Some educators reported individual and gender differences in the motivating power of games. However, the use of entertainment games to foster learning outcomes was seen favourably. Two focus groups devoted to the issue highlighted the need for carefully tailoring the gaming experience to both context and student, and the importance of developing a sustainable business model for enhancing serious games quality.
There are huge opportunities to use commercial, artistic video games as educational tools. This talks about one example where a commercial artistic/entertainment video game was created that also addressed content with both societal and educational impact. The game ‘Fragments of Him’ touches on topics of gay/bisexual relationships, love, family, intergenerational conflict, mourning, and more. It has been used as a teaching tool for both the content and the processes of creation, and has been released commercially on multiple gaming platforms. It proves that, with sufficient investment and quality in the interface, art, and interaction design, commercial video games can have significant pro-social and educational applications.
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In de afgelopen jaren is de belangstelling voor gebruik van open leermaterialen en open online cursussen sterk gegroeid. Met name de Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC’s) hebben deze belangstelling aangewakkerd. Medio 2015 heeft minister Bussemaker in haar strategische agenda “HO2025, de waarde(n) van weten” als ambities uitgesproken dat in 2025 alle docenten in het hoger onderwijs hun leermaterialen delen en dat instellingen elkaars MOOC’s gaan erkennen. Om deze ambities realiteit te maken zal nog veel werk verricht moeten worden, zowel door instellingen als door de overheid en instellingsoverstijgende organisaties als SURF. Om beter te kunnen bepalen welke activiteiten daarvoor moeten worden gestart is een beeld van de huidige stand van zaken rondom publiceren en gebruik van zowel Open Educational Resources (OER) als MOOC’s nuttig. Deze survey is bedoeld om inzicht krijgen in de stand van zaken rond gebruik en hergebruik van Open Educational Resources en MOOC´s bij bekostigde hogeronderwijsinstellingen in Nederland.
A research theme encompassing educational collaborations, external collaborations, publications, and conference talks on the general topics of UI, UX, interface design, and world readability in video games.Beyond addressing interfaces as only menus and icons ('UI'), the research approaches all contents of a video game as an interface, examining how whole systems are read by, and communicate with, players.
