CELDA 2009

Dr. Dirk Ifenthaler
Institut für Erziehungswissenschaft, Department of Educational Science
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, D-79085 Freiburg
Fon: +49-761-203-2453 | Fax: +49-761-203-2458
www.ezw.uni-freiburg.de | mailto: ifenthaler at ezw.uni-freiburg.de

                          IADIS International Conference on
             Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (CELDA 2009)
                     November 20 - 22, 2009 - Rome, Italy
                              (http://www.celda-conf.org/)

     Endorsed by the Japanese Society of Information and Systems in
Education

* Keynote Speakers (confirmed):
Professor David Jonassen, University of Missouri Columbia, USA
Professor Fred Paas, Open University of the Netherlands, The Netherlands

* Invited Speaker (confirmed):
Dr. Carmen Taran, REXI Media, USA

* Tutorial Speaker (confirmed):
Professor Fred Paas, Open University of the Netherlands, The Netherlands

* Conference background and goals
The IADIS CELDA 2009 conference aims to address the main issues
concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and
applications in the digital age. There have been advances in both
cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational
arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a fast
pace and affecting academia and professional practice in many ways.
Paradigms such as just-in-time learning, constructivism,
student-centered learning and collaborative approaches have emerged and
are being supported by technological advancements such as simulations,
virtual reality and multi-agents systems. These developments have
created both opportunities and areas of serious concerns. This
conference aims to cover both technological as well as pedagogical
issues related to these developments. Main tracks have been identified.
However innovative contributions that do not easily fit into these areas
will also be considered as long as they are directly related to the
overall theme of the conference – cognition and exploratory learning in
the digital age.

* Format of the Conference
The conference will comprise of invited talks and oral presentations for
discussion-oriented papers. The proceedings of the conference will be
published in the form of a book and CD-ROM.

Authors of the best published papers in the CELDA 2009 proceedings will
be invited to publish extended versions of their papers in a special
issue of an international journal.

* Types of submissions
Full papers, Short Papers and Reflection papers. All submissions will go
through a double-blind refereeing process with at least two
international experts.

* Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following areas:
- Acquisition of expertise
- Assessing progress of learning in complex domains
- Assessment of exploratory learning approaches
- Assessment of exploratory technologies
- Cognition in education
- Collaborative learning
- Educational psychology
- Exploratory technologies (such as simulations, VR, i-TV and so on)
- Just-in-time and Learning-on-Demand
- Learner Communities and Peer-Support
- Learning Communities & Web Service Technologies
- Pedagogical Issues Related with Learning Objects
- Learning Paradigms in Academia
- Learning Paradigms in Corporate Sector
- Life-long Learning
- Student-Centered Learning
- Technology and mental models
- Technology, learning and expertise
- Virtual University

* Important Dates:
- Submission Deadline: 24 July 2009
- Notification to Authors: 4 September 2009
- Final Camera-Ready Submission and Early Registration: Until 25
September 2009
- Late Registration: After 25 September 2009
- Conference: Rome, Italy, 20 to 22 November 2009

* Conference Location
The conference will be held in Rome, Italy.

* Secretariat
IADIS Secretariat - IADIS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CELDA 2009
Rua Sao Sebastiao da Pedreira, 100, 3
1050-209 Lisbon, Portugal
E-mail: secretariat@celda-conf.org
Web site: http://www.celda-conf.org/

* Program Committee

Conference Co-Chairs
Pedro Isaias, Universidade Aberta (Portuguese Open University), Portugal
Dirk Ifenthaler, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany

Program Co-Chairs
Kinshuk, Athabasca University, Canada
Demetrios G Sampson, University of Piraeus, Greece
J. Michael Spector, University of Georgia, USA

Committee Members: please see http://www.celda-conf.org/committees.asp
for updated list.

* Co-located Conference:
Please also check the co-located events Applied Computing 2009
(http://www.computing-conf.org/) - 19-21 November 2009 and WWW/Internet
2009 (http://www.internet-conf.org/) - 19-22 November 2009.

* Registered participants in the CELDA conference may attend the Applied
Computing and WWW/Internet conferences’ sessions free of charge.

World of Warcraft Goes to School

Lucas Gillespie, whose EduRealms site has long been on my blogroll, has started a wiki for teachers on using World of Warcraft in the classroom. In a recent entry, Gillespie notes that several educators use WoW, and the responses from those he’s shared the wiki with have been very positive.

Gillespie leads a guild with other teachers he works with along with several students, and he has long noted that enthusiasm for the game can be translated into increased educational moments of opportunity. Since MMORPGs are essentially dynamic databases of ever-changing statistics, math becomes a reasonable subject to explore in-game. Creative writing has long been a staple of gaming, and now machinima adds to that by introducing 21st Century skills to student assignments. Opportunities abound for critical thinking, too.

Read more on his article about using WoW in school here, and visit the wiki here.

Update: GameSetWatch has a better write-up here. Thanks, Eric!

CNNMoney on Retailing Educational Video Games

This blog got some nice publicity recently when CNNMoney posted an article offering advice to entrepreneurs on entering the educational video game market. Kathleen Ryan O’Connor interviewed me a while back on the industry, and I was quoted in her piece with a link to this blog. The article is loaded with good advice for the one person shop just starting out.

Slot Cars Race in Vain Against Video Games

I’ve written before about the last American pinball manufacturer, the continued popularity of electric football, and efforts to preserve old Soviet arcade consoles. Now comes a story about the dying sport of slot car racing.

Like many kids of the 60s and 70s, I had a slot car track, powered by electricity, that allowed me and my friends to race tiny cars. The biggest problem was in keeping the cars on the tracks as they zoomed around the curves. There was something spectacular, though, about watching a tiny car fly off the track and across the room. It definitely taught us that control was more important than speed.

Mark Yost has an article in this morning’s Wall Street Journal (he also wrote about electric football in 2008) about the United Slot Racers Association’s Scale Division National Championships. Yes, there is a formal organization devoted to racing slot cars, on custom tracks up to 165 feet long. Control is still an issue; even on these gargantuan tracks, racers must take care to slow down on curves. Cost is considerably higher, too, as the joysticks used are customized for trigger pull and allow the tiny cars (1/24 scale to the real Indy racers) to actually brake around curves. The cars themselves can cost $600 or more.

Although there is considerable math and engineering in this upper echelon of a once popular hobby, providing a potential entryway to relay some pedagogical concepts to kids if they could only be interested, few pay the hobby much attention since its heyday 40 years ago.

“I think that kids who are into math and science or who like to build things in the garage might like our sport, because there’s a lot to calculate with gear ratios and things like that,” said [one of the racers]. “But it’s clear that most of the kids today prefer video games.”

Indeed, most aficionados are 50 or older. Only one teen competitor was mentioned, and he came in second in the competition. He was introduced to the sport by his father. The players lamented that videogames now are dominant in such competitive forays. One said: “Xbox is our enemy.” The older folks suggested that when they pass on, competitive slot car racing will, too.

References:
Yost, M. (2009, June 4). Gentlemen, slot your engines. The Wall Street Journal, D6.

Video Game Addiction: Fact or Fiction?

A New Study Rekindles the Debate in a War on Terms

Parents are often concerned their children are playing addicting games. A new study offers clues to help determine if video games can be truly “addictive,” or are simply a preferred entertainment venue that crowds out other activities.

[For reprinting rights, contact John Rice.]

Another salvo has been fired in the war over video game addiction. In one camp are non-believers, who feel video games players may be impulsive but never truly addicted in the traditional sense. Their argument goes something like this: drug addicts are addicted because they have chemical dependencies. Video game players do not have a chemical dependency with the games, therefore they cannot be addicted in the sense most people define the word.

On the other side are true believers in video game addiction. They postulate an addiction can occur without drugs when the action involved harms the persons and/or those around them. Their strongest argument for video game addiction has revolved around linking video games with online gambling.

This is the strongest point the pro-video game addiction crowd has, that like gambling too much game play can be detrimental. But from there the argument loses steam. Someone addicted to gambling suffers clear detrimental consequences, mainly extreme loss of money. Gambling addicts have been known to lose their homes, jobs, spouses, and every dime that comes their way chasing the next opportunity to wager. Kids, or even adults, who like to while away their time on the latest video game rarely come close to that level of detrimental effect.

Nonetheless, many parents worry their kids are “addicted” to video games. Their children may get hold of a new title and disappear behind a monitor for hours on end. In some cases, grades and social opportunities may suffer due to intense game play, especially among adolescent boys.

But is this a true addiction? Does the overuse of video games lead to such negative life consequences that it should rank with gambling, nicotine, heroin and other drugs? Someone can overdose on heroin and die. Is it easy for someone to overdo a night of game play to the point it kills them? Should we be equating heavy video game playing with heroin addiction? Or is this simply a parental issue, something parents can simply pull the plug on if they feel their children play too much?

Ultimately, this is simply a war on terms. Using the proper term helps us to understand exactly what is being discussed. And to help nervous parents answer the above questions: no, a heavy video game player does not sink to the same level of addiction as a heroin addict.

The latest round in this ongoing discussion comes from a paper soon to be published in the journal Psychological Science by Douglas A. Gentile at Iowa State University. Dr. Gentile’s specialty is studying the effects of media. He has written or co-written several papers examining both the benefits and detrimental effects of videogames. Recently he co-authored a book, Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy, examining how violent video games may lead to proclivities in players for real life violence.

His latest study tackles a national survey of more than 1,100 youths by Harris Polls and looks at their self-reported video gaming habits. The survey used sets of questions, including one published in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) designed to measure pathological gambling that had been modified for video games. This set included 11 questions such as, “Have you tried to play video games less often or for shorter periods of time, but are unsuccessful?” and, “Do you sometimes skip household chores in order to spend more time playing video games?” and, “Have you ever needed friends or family to give you extra money because you spent too much money on video-game equipment, software, or game/Internet fees?” Respondents replied with “yes,” “no,” or, “sometimes.”

Of course, answering yes or sometimes to one or a few of these questions did not automatically shunt a respondent into the pathological column. The bar was set at six positive replies, with “sometimes” counting as a half “yes.” Using that measurement, Genitle found almost 12% of boys surveyed qualified as “pathological” video game players, and almost 3% of girls, for a grand total of 8.5% of all respondents. There also seemed to be a correlation with students who performed poorly in school being more likely to rate as pathological game players.

Gentile reasoned video game players with pathological playing tendencies may be “behaviorally addicted.” Ultimately, he noted there is strong debate as to whether or not video games can be truly considered a behavioral addiction or not, and readily admitted his study would not resolve the question. The survey’s strongest element was its national scope, he wrote, but both the survey and his study were far from resolving the question of video game “addiction.”

Reaction in the media was swift. In light of the fact a national survey apparently indicated 8.5% of American children are “addicted” to video games, headlines quickly trumpeted the news. A backlash also developed. Renowned video game research blogger Wai Yen Tang noted the Harris Polls product was a self-reported Internet survey. The “yes,” “no,” or “sometimes” response on the modified scale seemed to be simplistic as a diagnostic tool and suggested professional follow up would be needed before any individual could be properly diagnosed. Jerald Block at Oregon Health Science University was quoted by USA Today, cautioning that the respondents placed in the pathological category were placed there without physician interviews. Nancy Shute at US News and World Report wrote that if avoiding chores and homework were signs of video game addiction, then she was definitely addicted to reading.

Despite proponents’ comparisons, there is no accepted diagnosis for video game addiction as there is for pathological gambling. Therefore, as far as the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is concerned, it does not officially exist. This has not stopped members from debating the issue, though, as efforts on the newest revisions to the DSM continue. In the APA’s 2007 annual meeting, a subcommittee studying the research on video games recommended using the term “overuse,” rather than “addiction,” and called for much more research before including excess video game playing as a diagnosable disorder.

Clearly there is a difference between behavioral addictions and chemical dependencies, and here is where terms matter. If a person can be chemically addicted to heroin, and behaviorally addicted to gambling, we should differentiate. Thus, the term “addiction” should be reserved for chemical dependencies. Gambling problems should fall under the term “pathological.” Playing video games to excess should be termed “overuse.” The overuse of videogames may result in lost sleep and delayed homework, but will usually not result in mortgaging the house for the next round of bets (e.g., pathological gambling) or in accidental overdoses resulting in death (e.g., heroin addiction).

Understanding the differences between the terms and resolving to use them in discussions about these issues should go a long way toward eliminating misunderstandings about players and their occasional overuse of video games.

Facebook Study Demonstrates Relationship of Media and Research

I don’t normally stray too far from the focus of this blog, which is research and media commentary about educational video games. However, one study which has focused on Facebook received a lot of publicity lately, and The Wall Street Journal has a nice piece that touches on how the media can misconstrue research and findings. Facebook and other social sites have been compared to video games before, so this is at least partially on topic.

First, a researcher will not come out and say their findings proved anything. Perhaps that is the biggest disconnect between researchers and the press. Journalists often seem to present studies in such a way to suggest they are the final word on the matter, and this is simply almost never the case. On the other hand, researchers and their institutions do make use of press releases in efforts to gin up interest in their work. So, the relationship between media and the academy is definitely a two-way street.

Aryn Karpinski, a doc student over at Ohio State, and Adam Duberstein at Ohio Dominican presented a paper on a survey of 219 students to AERA last week. The survey found those students who spent more time on Facebook had lower GPAs. Carl Bialik at The Wall Street Journal notes what happened when word of their work got out:

The study triggered frightening headlines such as, “Study finds Facebook goofing hurts grades,” “Study says Facebook can impact studies” and “Research finds the website is damaging students’ academic performance.”

However, researchers … didn’t examine the influence of Facebook on grades. Facebook may be a symptom of a big procrastination habit, not a cause. Should Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg pull the plug, chronic users of his site may just procrastinate elsewhere.

Others in the press, as often happens, blamed the researchers without first reading the research:

Coverage that implicated Facebook for the lower grades sparked a backlash to the findings, particularly in the technology press, so much so that Ms. Karpinski was expecting “media with tomatoes” when she presented her study in San Diego. Instead, she met fellow researchers who told her that “this is an interesting topic and they need to research it more.”

Bialik notes that papers presented at conferences are accepted faster than peer-reviewed journals. He wonders if Karpinski regrets the media maelstrom over the study and quotes her as noting the study can’t be “taken back,” but more could have been done before its findings were released. Camille Rutherford over at Brock University in Canada notes the study was seized by the anti-technology crowd. She said, “This is very counterproductive when we should be looking for ways to capitalize on the power of social media to enhance teaching and learning.” Amen to that. I would also say, same for video games.

Earle Holland, assistant VP of research communications at Ohio State had the final quote, stating his expectations for journalists were to get their stories “70 percent accurate.”

It was a good read. You can find Bialik’s article here.

References:
Bialik, C. (2009, April 22). Facebook users — and research — need further study. The Wall Street Journal, A11.

New Issue: Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

A new issue of Journal of Virtual Worlds Research is out. This issue’s focus: Pedagogy, Education, and Innovation in Virtual Worlds. Click here for the journal’s home page, where you can access current and past articles. James Paul Gee has a paper in this issue entitled Games, Learning, and 21st Century Survival Skills. Many of the other articles focus on Second Life in education. There is one on Quest Atlantis. JVWR is published by the Virtual Worlds Research Consortium, a Texas non-profit.

What Can We Learn from The Settlers of Catan?

I’ve been catching up with my paper copy of the April issue of Wired, and came across a great article by Andrew Curry on what is widely considered the world’s greatest board game: Die Siedler von Catan, or in English, The Settlers of Catan.

The story Curry weaves is fascinating. Germany is the world’s epicenter for boardgames, selling hundreds of thousands every year and drawing fierce competition for the annual Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year), the Pulitzer Prize of German boardgaming.

Master gamesmith Klaus Teuber spent four years perfecting Settlers, running beta versions past his family and tweaking the competitive elements. Released at the Essen Game Convention in 1995, it was an instant hit, and has gone on to sell over 15 million copies in 30 languages.

Derk Solko of Boardgamegeek.com and Jesper Juul both have nice quotes. Pete Fenlon of Mayfair Games, the company distributing English versions of Settlers, helps to fill in details regarding its popularity:

“When a lot of us saw it, we thought this was the definition of a great game … In every turn you’re engaged, and even better, you’re engaged in other people’s turns. There are lots of little victories—as opposed to defeats—and perpetual hope. Settlers is one of those perfect storms.”

A hint at the educational potential of the game could be found in a comment by Russ Roberts, an economist over at George Mason, who indicated Settlers was perfect for teaching the free market system to his children. Settling the game’s island requires the administration and trading of resources. Different resources become scarce or plentiful and require skills to manage and barter.

The next frontier the game has to conquer is the American marketplace, where traditional titles hold sway. Herr Tauber indicates the plan is to introduce video game versions for the Xbox and PC. The hope is this will provide the boardgame version of The Settlers of Catan a stronger foothold in the American marketplace (nearly a quarter million copies have sold in North America since last January).

German boardgames in general are showing impressive gains in popularity over here. Jay Tummelson of Rio Grande Games estimated his company sold a half million licensed copies of German games for American markets last year. Meanwhile, Herr Tauber has launched PlayCatan.com to introduce the game to audiences online.

References:
Curry, A. (2009, April). Monopoly killer: Perfect German board game redefines genre. Wired, 17(4). 60-72.

Latest Nielsen Findings Show Interesting Video Game Statistics

We’re always hungry for more data on video games, the more recent the better. The good folks over at Nielsen have been recording console use for some time. They figure if an activity is taking place with a television set, they’d better collect that data. Also, they have monitoring software for computers that collects gaming and software usage from volunteers.

This newest report from Nielsen on video gaming, for both console and computer use for 4Q 2008 has some interesting info. Read my write-up for Associated Content here.

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SIGGRAPH Announces Game Competition

SIGGRAPH 09 will have an on the spot videogame competition. Here are the relevant bits from their press release:

SIGGRAPH announces the launch of GameJam!, a new international videogame competition to be held at SIGGRAPH 2009, the 36th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques.

Teams of three people will compete for 24-consecutive hours to create, design, and implement their best effort at a comprehensive videogame in the allotted timeframe. Each team must contain at least one Programmer, Artist, and Sound Designer. Individuals and teams are welcome to apply. Contestants will be provided with a pre-designated theme as well as the necessary tools and software to complete the challenge. All work must take place on site within the 24-hour period.

Videogames will be judged by a panel of industry experts with prizes awarded in several categories including Best Game Play, Best Sound Design, Best Appearance, Best of Show, Crowd Favorite and Epic Failure. GameJam! will be produced in conjunction with The Sandbox, an area at SIGGRAPH 2009 focused specifically on the gaming industry.

SIGGRAPH 2009 will bring an anticipated 20,000 computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from six continents to New Orleans, Louisiana, USA for the industry’s most respected technical and creative programs focusing on research, science, art, animation, music, gaming, interactivity, education, and the web from Monday, 3 August through Friday, 7 August 2009 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. SIGGRAPH 2009 includes a three-day exhibition of products and services from the computer graphics and interactive marketplace from 4-6 August 2009. More than 200 international exhibiting companies are expected. More details are available at www.siggraph.org/s2009.