Sep 192023
 

RIDE2024: Research in Distance Education 2024

“Online, blended, and digital education are firmly established in mainstream practice in higher education. We expect that learning can take place everywhere, and that we can learn anything; but, faced with so many possibilities, what have we learned in recent years about effective ways to engage learners in successful learning in these different modes of education?”

Conference Tracks
We invite abstract submissions to our two tracks: Research and Practice.
Track 1: Research focus Conference Day 1
14 March 2024 Learning: anything, everywhere but how? Research focus

We invite abstract submission for 14 March 2024 showcasing original conceptual, methodological, empirical, or theoretical research with implications for practice in online, distance, blended, hybrid or hyflex provision.
Track 2: Practice focus Conference Day 2
15 March 2024 Learning; anything, everywhere but how? Practice focus

We invite abstract submission for 15 March 2024 showcasing research informed and scholarly practices in online, distance, blended, hybrid or hyflex provision.

+infos(oficial): https://easychair.org/cfp/RIDE2024

Sep 082023
 

Gostava de ler este artigo “Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in second language and education research: Guidelines using an applied example” d eDiego Fellipe Tondorf, e Marcelo da Silva Hounsell

“Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is an alternative method to the historically more commonly used covariance-based SEM (CB-SEM) when analyzing the data using structural equation modeling (SEM). The article starts by introducing PLS-SEM to second language and education research, followed by a discussion of situations in which PLS-SEM should be the method of choice for structural equation modeling. It is argued that PLS-SEM is appropriate when complex models are analyzed, when prediction is the focus of the research – particularly out-of-sample prediction to support external validity, when data do not meet normal distribution assumptions, when formative constructs are included, and when higher-order constructs facilitate better understanding of theoretical models. The most up-to-date guidelines for applying PLS-SEM are provided, and step-by-step guidance is offered on how to apply the method using an R statistical package (i.e., SEMinR) that is available. An example is provided that shows how the results of PLS-SEM are interpreted and reported. We also make the data publicly available for readers to start learning PLS-SEM by replicating our findings. The paper concludes with important considerations for the utilization of SEM, especially PLS-SEM, in future L2 research.”

+infos(oficial): LINK

Aug 282023
 

Gostava de ter acesso a estes livro:
Unboxed: Board Game Experience and Design por Gordon Calleja

de acordo com o autor:

An in-depth exploration of the experience of playing board games and how game designers shape that experience.

In Unboxed, Gordon Calleja explores the experience of playing board games and how game designers shape that experience. Calleja examines key aspects of board game experience—the nature of play, attention, rules, sociality, imagination, narrative, materiality, and immersion—to offer a theory of board game experience and a model for understanding game involvement that is relevant to the analysis, criticism, and design of board games. Drawing on interviews with thirty-two leading board game designers and critics, Calleja—himself a board game designer—provides the set of conceptual tools that board game design has thus far lacked.

After considering different conceptions of play, Calleja discusses the nature and role of attention and goes on to outline the key forms of involvement that make up the board game playing experience. In subsequent chapters, Calleja explores each of these forms of involvement, considering both the experience itself and the design considerations that bring it into being. Calleja brings this analysis together in a chapter that maps how these forms of involvement come together in the moment of gameplay, and how their combination shapes the flow of player affect. By tracing the processes through which players experience these moments of rule-mediated, imagination-fueled sociality, Calleja helps us understand the richness of the gameplay experience packed into the humble board game box.

+infos(oficial): LINK

Aug 222023
 


Synplant: Cymatics Visualization of Plant-Environment Interaction Based on Plants Biosignals
Synplant is an installation consisting of multiple hybrid plant sensing units. By analyzing biosignals, it can interpret the natural environment from the perspective of plants and translate their experiences into audiovisual expressions that can be experienced by humans. This work is based on a supervised learning system that analyzes the changes in biosignals when plants receive environmental stimuli. The analysis results are used to control acoustic-lighting devices to generate variable cymatics patterns. Through the utilization of wind and rain as vehicles to bridge different sensing units, it creates an immersive audiovisual field that represents the trajectories of the invisible interaction between plants and different elements in the natural environment. This work combines an intelligent machine with botanical perception to extend our understanding of the natural environment and to connect with the land from a non-human perspective.”

+infos(oficial): LINK


Lights! Dance! Freeze!: Exploring the dance-musical filmic space using embodied search in an interactive installation
Conventionally, spectators enjoy films passively. This paper describes an interactive film installation that invites participants to use their entire body as a query to search and explore a large corpus of musical films in a novel way. Using an RGB camera, ML-based skeleton tracking technology and a unique pose and film indexing system, this installation tracks a participant’s movements and mirrors them in real-time by finding matching poses among hundreds of thousands from well-known musicals. When the participant freezes in a pose, the installation instantly plays back the short film clip that begins with that pose, immersing them in the music and dance from musicals of different eras. This approach explores themes of tangible interfaces and the new possibilities that emerge from employing embodied interaction to traverse the dance pose space, which is traditionally difficult to index and interact with in real time. The pose indexing system and whole-body interaction we propose in this paper open new pathways for cultural participation, as they lend themselves to different datasets and require no technical skills from participants.”

+infos(oficial): LINK


Streamlined approach to 2nd/3rd graders learning basic programming concepts
There is a growing need to teach schoolchildren programming at an increasingly younger age. The goal of this study is to determine if it is possible to teach schoolchildren basic programming concepts in a streamlined manner. In order to present the new knowledge in a way schoolchildren could understand easily, analogies between basic programming concepts and traffic were used. A simple video game was developed with this in mind and an effort was made to avoid design pitfalls commonly found in edutainment titles. The study involved 112 schoolchildren ages 7 to 9. Test group and control group were given a pre-test, a re-test and a post-test. The re-test and the post-test respectively showed 16% and 7% score difference in favor of the test group. Focusing on questions featuring content analogous to basic programming concepts showed 36% and 20% difference in scores.”

+infos(oficial): LINK

Aug 062023
 

“NodeXL is a template for Microsoft® Excel® (2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016) on Windows (XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10) that lets you enter a network edge list into a workbook, click a button, see a network graph, and get a detailed summary report, all in the familiar environment of the Excel® spreadsheet application. Customize the network graph’s appearance. Zoom, scale and pan the graph. Calculate basic graph metrics. Dynamically filter vertices and edges. Alter the graph’s layout. Find clusters of related vertices. The NodeXL Pro application can be licensed for a 12 month period, adding additional features. Calculate advanced graph metrics. Import and export graphs to a variety of file formats. Get social networks using built-in connections to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Wikis, Blogs, Instagram, Network Surveys, and email. Automate network graph collection and creation. If you use Excel® on Windows you can download and use NodeXL Basic now. Or license NodeXL Pro for additional features.”

+infos(oficial): https://www.smrfoundation.org/

+infos(versão basic): https://www.smrfoundation.org/nodexl/nodexl-basic/

e ainda sobre o assunto de análise de dados encontrei este grupo de investigação em PT ..

“SMART Data Sprint is an intensive hands-on work driven by digital methods-oriented research projects. We sprint with media methods; web environments, practices and vernaculars; (research) software and web-based tools – while engaging with (learning from and repurposing) the technicity of computational media.”

+infos(oficial): https://metodosdigitais.fcsh.unl.pt/

Jul 082023
 

A Springer tem uma série de livros “International Series on Computer, Entertainment and Media Technology” que este ano vai publicar o livro “The Structure of Game Design” com as secções de:
Part I
Front Matter
Creating a Game Idea
Defining a Game Idea
The Appeal of Games
Game Design Elements
Understanding Game Loops
Randomness in Games
Psychology in Games
Game Balance
Part II
Front Matter
Understanding Fun
Fun in Movement
Fun in Puzzles
Fun in Combat
Fun in Strategy
Fun in Economics
Fun in Storytelling
Part III
Front Matter
Turning a Game Idea into a Real Game

O resumo:
“The Structure of Game Design is designed to help aspiring and existing game designers turn their ideas into working games. Creating a game involves understanding the core foundational elements of all types of games from paper-based games to the latest video games. By understanding how these core principles work in all types of games, you can apply these same principles to design your own game.

Games are about goals, structure, play and fun. While everyone will always have their own idea of what might be “fun”, any game designer can maximize player enjoyment through meaningful choices that offer various risks and rewards. Such challenges, combined with rules and limitations, force players to overcome obstacles and problems using a variety of skills including dexterity, puzzle solving, intelligence, and strategy. Essentially games allow players to venture forth into new worlds and overcome problems in a safe but exciting environment that allows them to triumph in the end.
Just as playing games have proven popular around the world to all ages, genders, and cultures, so has game designing proven equally popular. Games can challenge players to make the best move, solve puzzles, engage in combat, manage resources, and tell stories. By understanding how randomness, psychology, and balance can change the way games play, readers can decide what game elements are best for their own game creation.

Whether your goal is to make money, learn something new, make a social statement, improve on an existing game idea, or challenge your artistic, programming, or design skills, game design can be just as much fun as game playing. By knowing the parts of a game, how they work, how they interact, and why they’re fun, you can use your knowledge to turn any idea into a game that others can play and enjoy.”

+infos(oficial): https://www.springer.com/series/13820/

Jul 082023
 

Uma malta de Harvard USA tem um repositório com algumas coisas interessantes e relacionadas com o “Pedagogy of Play“.  Alguns dos destaques vão para:
“WHY play is a core resource for learning
WHAT play looks and feels like in different cultural contexts
HOW educators can promote play and playful learning in schools, including practices and strategies for teaching and assessing learning through play
To understand and address social justice and equity issues associated with learning through play with teacher research and equity-centered teaching
To advocate for play as critical to children’s development and learning in schools
To use Playful Participatory Research to reflect on and deepen learning through play”

Deste projeto também surge o livro “A Pedagogy of Play: Supporting playful learning in classrooms and schools” com o resumo de:
“Play is at the heart of childhood. Through play, children learn how to collaborate, how to negotiate rules and relationships, and how to imagine and create. They learn to find and solve problems, think flexibly and critically, and communicate effectively. This book, written by researchers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, draws on cross-cultural, empirical research to explore what it means to embrace play as a core part of learning in school. The authors address three questions: Why do educators need a pedagogy of play? What does playful learning in schools look and feel like? and How can educators promote playful learning? The book includes practices and strategies from the classroom to the staffroom, eight pictures of classroom practice from four countries, and 18 tools for teachers, school leaders, and professional development providers to support playful learning across content areas and age groups.”

+infos(oficial): https://pz.harvard.edu/projects/pedagogy-of-play

Jul 012023
 

“A Mixed Method Approach for Evaluating and Improving the Design of Learning in Puzzle Games”
resumo: “Despite the acknowledgment that learning is a necessary part of all gameplay, the area of Games User Research lacks an established evidence based method through which designers and researchers can understand, assess, and improve how commercial games teach players game-specific skills and information. In this paper, we propose a mixed method procedure that draws together both quantitative and experiential approaches to examine the extent to which players are supported in learning about the game world and mechanics. We demonstrate the method through presenting a case study of the game Portal involving 14 participants, who differed in terms of their gaming expertise. By comparing optimum solutions to puzzles against observed player performance, we illustrate how the method can indicate particular problems with how learning is structured within a game. We argue that the method can highlight where major breakdowns occur and yield design insights that can improve the player experience with puzzle games.”
+infos(oficial): LINK