While browsing through Neuroanthropology.net’s blog entry entitled Gaming Roundup, which I found linked to my article Video Game Addiction: Fact or Fiction? under the addiction category, I came across an interesting article by Chris Lavigne entitled, Why Video Game Research is Flawed. Lavigne makes some interesting points, specifically about studies of violence in video games.

Lavigne’s first complaint is that researchers often do not fully understand the video games they use in their studies. Pointing to a Dutch study in the journal Aggressive Behavior that compared aggressiveness between a group playing Tekken with a group playing Crash Bandicoot 2, Lavigne points out the considerable differences between the two games. Interestingly, there is violence in the control group’s game, CB2, though it is milder than the experimental group’s game.

Saying the games differ “only on violent content” is false, but the assertion is typical of the kinds of mistakes researchers make when they’re studying videogames. Researchers often pair up completely unrelated games but act like they’re equivalents.

Studying violence in video games seems to be a common approach, since the methods of measuring violence can be agreed upon by researchers (or at least there is a foundational set of measurements, which leads to de facto agreement). Lavigne is miffed, though, when games are used interchangeably in such studies.

Most researchers assume that video games are completely interchangeable with one another, a concept any gamer would find as ludicrous as the idea that all books are the same or all movies are basically identical. One study by two American media researchers acknowledged this limitation. In an article published in the Journal of Communication in 2007, James Ivory and Sriram Kalyanaraman carefully chose to contrast violent and non-violent games with very similar gameplay styles and presentations. Probably not coincidentally, their study found no significant differences in aggression levels between the players of the different games.

Lavigne points to a study that rated game violence subjectively by ranking weapon maneuvers in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance as more violent. But, some of the most gruesome action in that game takes place bare-handed.

Another study found players of zombie-shooting game House of the Dead 2 were faster at identifying angry faces than players of a kayaking game. The study’s authors considered this evidence that violent games produce aggressive thinking. Gamers would point out that House of the Dead 2 is a reflex-oriented shooting game. Success in the game specifically relies on being able to quickly identify angry faces. Surely, that would have affected the study’s results.

Researchers also do not distinguish violence within context in a game. Violence in movies is generally understood in context, Lavigne asserts. We understand the violence in Saving Private Ryan is different than that in a horror flick. Video game researchers are guilty of lumping all violence in games together, regardless of context. Measurements of violence are also problematic. Since there is no standard, each video game must be subjected to an arbitrary measurement devised by authors of the study.

This last one is a valid complaint, as there are few standards of measurement for quantifying things like “levels of violence” or other intangibles within a game. Such measurements indeed are subjective. Often professors will enlist the help of students to go through a game and provide rankings. A thorough researcher may have many students provide rankings and average the results. In a perfect world, we would have a large population provide subjective rankings on an identical scale for several intangibles within all the popular titles. Then, researchers could draw upon the rankings, where individual biases have been averaged out, and everyone could agree with the premises ahead of time. Alas, such a huge time sink will likely never be practical, especially in the rapidly changing world of video games where titles rarely persist in popularity more than a few months.

Lavigne sums up by complaining about comparisons between graphically violent games and obscure titles, leading to questionable results in studies that are then cited in future studies and reported in the media as fact.

Many pick questionable games in their research as well, choosing titles with extreme levels of violence that were never particularly popular with gamers and contrasting them with amateurish, low-quality free games that no one’s ever heard of. And then these are supposed to represent all video games. These leaps of illogic make reading video game research like peering into a parallel universe, where everything may seem internally consistent, but nothing matches up with the real world.

Though raising many valid points, I suspect Lavigne is a little too worried about studies on violent video games. Video games are the new bugbear on the block, just as comic books were 50 years ago. There is concern this new media may be contributing to the delinquency of children, and this feeds a research frenzy centered around fuzzy measurements in the soft sciences.

Eventually, errors and false assumptions will be uncovered and rectified through repeated measurements and multiple studies. Over the years a consensus will build, be struck down, multiply into competing consensuses, argued over and hashed out in the leading journals, and eventually researchers will agree on some core issues. Or maybe not. They may agree to disagree on certain items. The point is, eventually they’ll come up with something useful. Maybe by that time there will be a new bugbear on the block and their attention may shift to it, whatever it is.

But such is research. If the research articles on video game violence are disconcerting, there are many more interesting articles on video games in education. Several young professors, even some in their 40s and 50s now, have grown up playing video games and understand their characteristics enough to come up with some interesting results.

It’s not worth getting upset every time the media trumpets the latest research article linking video games to violence or aggression. Rather, it’s more interesting to learn how video games are enhancing the education of students. Such articles won’t get as much sensational press as the ones linking video games to violence, but they are much more useful, informative, and fun to read.

References:
Lavigne, C. (2009, May 25). Why video game research is flawed. Maisonneuve. [Online.] Available: http://www.maisonneuve.org/pressroom/article/2009/may/25/why-video-game-research-is-flawed/

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

.

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.

In one of the more interesting studies to cross the transom lately, researchers indicated action adventure games are best for educational purposes thanks to their flexibility. A number of subjects can be presented in the genre, and a wide variety of educational activities can occur. The story lines in these games present multiple opportunities for teachable moments. Here is the abstract:

The use of educational games in learning environments is an increasingly relevant trend. The motivational and immersive traits of game-based learning have been deeply studied in the literature, but the systematic design and implementation of educational games remain an elusive topic. In this study some relevant requirements for the design of educational games in online education are analyzed, and a general game design method that includes adaptation and assessment features is proposed. Finally, a particular implementation of that design is described in light of its applicability to other implementations and environments.

The study was led by Pablo Moreno-Ger, over at U. Complutense de Madrid in Spain. Alas, the article is behind a pay-per-view firewall. ACM Portal has the abstract and references here. A nice write-up can be found at ScienceDaily here. Another paper by the Moreno-Ger team was published last month entitled Model Checking for Adventure Games.

References:
Moreno-Ger, P., Burgos, D., Martínez-Ortiz, I., Sierra, J. L., & Fernández-Manjón, B. (2008, September). Educational game design for online education. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(6). 2530-2540.

Update: Dr. Moreno-Ger pointed out in the comments the paper’s final draft is online at their university here.

News outlets are buzzing about a study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience indicating that playing action video games was found to help improve eyesight.

The contrast sensitivity function (CSF) is routinely assessed in clinical evaluation of vision and is the primary limiting factor in how well one sees. CSF improvements are typically brought about by correction of the optics of the eye with eyeglasses, contact lenses or surgery. We found that the very act of action video game playing also enhanced contrast sensitivity, providing a complementary route to eyesight improvement.

Therefore, action videogames help to improve eyesight, complimenting glasses, contacts, or surgery. The paper offers further elaboration here:

Expert action video game players (VGPs) were compared to gender- and age-matched non–action game players (NVGPs) in a CSF procedure… Because we were interested in the effect of gaming on everyday eyesight, participants were tested binocularly with their current eye prescription. We were interested in whether vision, which should not be far from optimal under such conditions in young adults, may be further heightened by action video game practice. The VGP group showed enhanced contrast sensitivity as compared with the NVGP group, and this population difference interacted with spatial frequency, indicating a greater group difference at intermediate and higher spatial frequencies than at the lowest spatial frequency… We propose that the changes that we observed after action game playing also reflect cortical plasticity, but for the better in this case.

So, using appropriate video screen activities can apparently “exercise the eyes” as well as reflexes. This has caught the media’s imagination as Google News indicates over 230 articles have reported the study since its online release.

Not surprisingly, Daphne Bavelier over at U. Rochester had a hand in this research. Previous work by Dr. Bavelier in this field is blogged about here.

References:
Li, R., Polat, U., Makous, W., and Bavelier, D. (2009, March 29). Enhancing the contrast sensitivity function through action video game training. Nature Neuroscience. [Online.] Retrieved April 1, 2009 from http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.2296.html

Dr. Konstantin Mitgutsch asked I post the CFP for FROG 09. I understand the previous two FROG conferences were very good.

Call for Papers: 3rd Vienna Games Conference –  Future and Reality of Games (F.R.O.G.) 2009

“Exploring the Edge of Gaming”
Vienna, Austria, Friday 25 to Sunday 27 September 2009; www.bupp.at/frog

Vienna’s annual Games Conference FROG brings together leading game studies researchers, game designers, players, and education professionals from around the world. The main objective of FROG 09 is to explore the edge of gaming and discuss insights into how to reach beyond the limits of theory and practice of game play.

In 2009 the City of Vienna hosts the high profile event “Game City” for the third time, bringing together representatives of the games industry, non-profit organizations, academia and the general public to discuss the current state of computer games, digital youth cultures and games research. The Vienna Games Conference is a key element of the “Game City” roadshow and offers the unique opportunity for researchers from different disciplines and countries, game designers, educators and gamers to meet and discuss in the magnificent Vienna city hall. FROG 2009 is jointly organized by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth, the City of Vienna, wienXtra, the University of Vienna and the Danube-University Krems.

Conference Theme: “Exploring the Edge of Gaming”

Recent discussion in the field of game studies has focused on exploring the phenomenon of play, concepts of game theory, cultural aspects of play and its problematic aspects such as violence and addiction, questions of game design and many more. This year the FROG Conference will focus on questions, challenges, and innovation exploring the edge of gaming, as well as on insights reaching beyond limitations of theories, concepts and models of practice. Therefore not just disciplinary difficulties, methodological obstacles and cultural border crossings shall be investigated, but also new ideas and visions of how to overcome such limitations. The organizers seek proposals covering all aspects of cutting-edge research on digital gaming, gaming culture and game studies within or across academic disciplines that focus on innovation exploring the edges of gaming. All theoretical and methodological approaches that explore the edge of gaming are welcome.

We encourage participation from a wide range of disciplines including Education, Cognitive Psychology, Computer Science, Cultural Anthropology, Fine Arts, Human-Computer Interaction, Media and Communication Studies, Philosophy and Social Science. The FROG Conference facilitates the exchange of ideas and current research findings in an engaging and convivial atmosphere. Submissions are welcome on a wide range of topics, such as:

Exploring the Edges of … Game Studies, Game Design & Game Industry
·    Methods in game research & new frontiers in game studies
·    Border cases: from entertainment to simulation, from … to ….
·    Applied game studies
·    Innovative forms of gaming (e.g. Alternative Reality Games)
·    Innovations in game design, development and production
·    New forms of interactivity and revolutionary game interfaces
·    The rise of independent games (e.g. casual games, art games)

Exploring the Edges of … Learning & Education
·    Methodology of exploring learning
·    New challenges of media literacy
·    Teaching through digital games

Exploring the Edges of … Consumption, Use & Society
·    Gaming cultures (e.g. eSports)
·    Community building
·    Games as Social Software (e.g. XBox Live, Facebook)
·    Playing across generations
·    Barrier-free playing and learning / Inclusion and exclusion
·    Protection of minors & youth policies
·    Questions of violence and addiction

Abstract Submission:
All authors are invited to submit an abstract of research work relating to the FROG 09 subject “Exploring the Edge of Gaming” in either German or English. Authors are required to submit an extended abstract (1500-2000 words) by e-mail no later than 31 May 2009 to the following address: frog@bupp.at.

Extended abstracts should contain:
1. The title of the presentation.
2. Name(s) of the author(s) and affiliation of each author(s).
3. Assignment to the topics (a) Game Studies, Game Design & Game Industry, (b) Learning & Education, (c)  Consumption, Use & Society.
4. Reference to the subject of the FROG 09 Conference “Exploring the Edge of Gaming”.
5. Profound extended abstract outlining the thesis and methodology of the paper.

Workshop sessions: There will also be time slots for workshop sessions for playful brainstorming and the development of new research ideas and projects. Abstracts for the FROG workshop sessions should outline a specific idea or research question (200-300 words).
Reviewing: All abstracts will be reviewed and judged on originality, quality and relevance to the Conference. All accepted abstracts will be printed in a book of abstracts, which will be distributed during the Conference.
Proceedings: Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to prepare a full paper for publication in the printed proceedings of FROG

Important Dates:
Abstract submission: 31 May 2009
Notification: 25 June 2009
Conference: 25-27 September 2009
Full paper: October 2009

Registration for the Conference & Conference Fee:
·    Early bird: 25 April – 27 July 2009
·    Registration: 25 July – 25 September 2009
·    Conference fee: € 120,- / Early bird: € 100,-
·    Conference fee for students & staff members of youth organizations: € 50,- / Early Bird: € 35,-
·    The registration fees includes admission to all sessions, a printed copy of the Conference Programme, coffee breaks and daily lunch, the Conference Dinner and the Players’ Party.

Conference Programme Co-Chairs:
Jennifer Berger (University of Vienna)
Christoph Klimmt (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)
Konstantin Mitgutsch (University of Vienna)
Claus Pias (University of Vienna)
Martin Pichlmair (Vienna University of Technology)
Maja Pivec (University of Applied Sciences FH Joanneum)
Herbert Rosenstingl (Austrian Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth)
Doris Rusch (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Christian Swertz (University of Vienna)
Michael Wagner (Danube-University Krems)

For any questions, please contact the programme chairs at Konstantin.Mitgutsch(at)univie.ac.at or visit the Conference website www.bupp.at/frog.

Game researchers are talking about a new study out of France regarding Nintendo’s Brain Training line of mind-stimulating games for the DS. Alain Lieury over at University of Rennes, Brittany, conducted a study of 67 ten year old players. The students were divided into four groups and given pre and post tests on memory and mathematics. Two groups used the Nintendo DS games for seven weeks. Another group used traditional paper puzzles like Soduko while the fourth group was offered no intervention. Adam Sage with The Times Online details the results:

Researchers found that children using the Nintendo DS system failed to show any significant improvement in memory tests. They did do 19 per cent better in mathematics – but so did the pencil-and-paper group, while the fourth group did 18 per cent better. When it came to memorising, the pencil-and-paper group recorded a 33 per cent improvement, while the Nintendo children were 17 per cent worse. In logic tests the Nintendo children registered a 10 per cent improvement, as did the pencil-and-paper group. The children who had no specific training improved 20 per cent.

The variety of results comes as no surprise. Researchers have long known that all things being equal, the media in which content is delivered does not affect test results. For instance, if one student attended a lecture in person while another student watched a video recording of the same lecture and a third student read a transcript of the lecture, then all things being equal the three students will likely offer identical answers when queried on the lecture’s content. The reason for this is, the content is identical despite the different delivery methods (Clark’s delivery truck metaphor).

Therefore, it seems reasonable that the same or similar exercises performed on digital devices will yield similar benefits for students as exercises performed on paper. Other variables play into the equation, however, when technology is used. For instance, a computing device on which to perform the exercises may offer a novelty effect for students, resulting in an initial increase in exercises performed. After the novelty wears off, the number of exercises between groups may level out. On the other hand, a program may be poorly written so that students using it obtain an inaccurate representation of the facts leading to lower scores in the post test.

In short, it does not appear this study either hurts or helps the notion of improving cognitive abilities through the use of handheld games. However, it can be portrayed negatively in the press since it does not fully support the notion. Anyhow, according to Sage’s news report the study will be detailed in Prof. Lieury’s new book, Stimulate Your Neurones, (his spelling) due out soon.

References:
Sage, A. (2009, January 26). Nintendo brain-trainer ‘no better than pencil and paper’. The Times Online. [Online.] Retrieved January 30, 2009 from http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article5587314.ece

Here’s an interesting factoid posted by Don Reisinger over at CNET: last year about half a billion was invested in 63 different virtual worlds. These game-like online environments are used for work, socialization, play, and education.

Reisinger says venture funding tapered off a little for new virtual worlds in the fourth quarter, just as funding for everything else slowed down.

… are kids going to get hurt playing anyway? Such are the potential research questions stemming from a new report via British medical doctors who maintain that up to 10 folks a week in the UK are hospitalized from rough game play on the Wii.

The physicians have taken to calling tennis elbow from playing Wii Tennis “Wii-itis,” and injuries resulting from bending too much on the Wii Fit are called “Wii-knee.” More on the story here.

The MacArthur Foundation released a study indicating teens’ online socialization skills are nurtured and developed through exposure to social sites and other online places where socializing may occur such as in massively multiple online role playing games (MMORPGs). On the other hand, the study found teens are not using Internet resources to their full potential for scholastic purposes. But, teens do engage heavily in “peer-based, self-directed learning online” in topics that interest them.

The study lasted three years, included 800 subjects, and 5000 hours observation of online behavior. The research was led by Mizuko Ito over at UC Irvine. The New York Times reported on the study here. The executive summary can be found here.

References:
Lewin, T. (2008, November 18). Teenagers’ internet socializing not a bad thing. The New York Times. [Online]. Retrieved November 23, 2008 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/us/20internet.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

The folks over at the Educational Technology by IQity blog are at the T+L Conference in Seattle. They’re doing a bang-up job of reporting on presentations and workshops, which are leaning heavily on the interactive, high-tech approach.

The National School Boards Association (NSBA) is presenting the conference. The folks at IQity noted the NSBA’s top 3 educational trends were: Online learning opportunities; Access to school related software and projects anywhere on the network tied with unlimited Internet access; and Online communication tools, notably global social networks. There has long been a convergence of social sites with gaming. Many social sites offer games which members can play together with friends. Meanwhile, many online games serve the same functions as social sites, allowing friends to play together while socializing. A lot of interest is percolating around the idea of harnessing social networks for education, as we saw recently with the development news of a MMORPG for SAT studies.

Another interesting post at the IQity blog centered on virtual science lab software from Toolworks. Virtualizing lab experiments has always been a good idea, and I was impressed by a presentation on Virtual Chemlab earlier this year at FETC. It’s heartening to see the concept produced by a variety of companies aiming at the whole of spectrum of age and grade groups.

You can keep up with all the great posts over at the IQity blog by checking in on their October archive here. I’ve also added them to the blog roll.

>> Call for Participation Deadline: December 19th <<

ED-MEDIA 2009–
World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications

* Please forward to a colleague *

http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/call.htm
_______________________________________________________________

ED-MEDIA 2009

World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications

June 22-26, 2009  *  Honolulu, Hawaii

(Sheraton Waikiki Beach Resort)

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

** Submissions Due: Dec. 19, 2008 **

Hosted by the University of Hawaii

Organized by
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
http://www.aace.org

Co-sponsored by:
Education & Information Technology Digital Library
(htttp://www.EdITLib.org)
______________________________________________________________

** What are your colleagues saying about ED-MEDIA conferences? **
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/testimonials.htm

COLOR POSTER–ED-MEDIA 2009 CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Available to Print & Distribute (PDF to print; 200kb)
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/ed09poster.pdf

>> CONTENTS & LINKS  (details below) <<

1. Call for Papers and Submission & Presenter Guidelines, Deadline Dec. 19th:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/call.htm
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/submitguide.htm
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/PresenterLounge

2. Major Topics:  http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/topics.htm
3. Presentation Categories: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/categories.htm

4. Corporate Showcases & Demonstrations: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/corporate.htm
5. Proceedings & Paper Awards: http://www.aace.org/pubs
6. For Budgeting Purposes: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/rates.htm

7. Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii http://www.aace.org/conf/Cities/Honolulu
8. Deadlines: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/deadlines.htm

INVITATION:
ED-MEDIA 2009–World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications is an international conference, sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). This annual conference serves as a multi-disciplinary forum for the discussion and exchange of information on the research, development, and applications on all topics related to multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications/distance education.

ED-MEDIA, the premiere international conference in the field, spans all disciplines and levels of education and attracts more than 1,500 attendees from over 60 countries. We invite you to attend ED-MEDIA and submit proposals for presentations.

All presentation proposals are peer reviewed and selected by three reviewers on the respected international Program Committee for inclusion in the conference program, proceedings book, and CD-ROM proceedings.

For Call for Presentations, connect to:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/call.htm

All authors MUST follow the submission guidelines and complete the Web form at:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/submitguide.htm

For Presentation and AV Guidelines, see:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/PresenterLounge

PROGRAM ACTIVITIES:
* Keynote Speakers
* Invited Panels/Speakers
* Papers
* Panels
* Demonstrations/Posters
* Corporate Showcases & Demonstrations
* Tutorials/Workshops
* Roundtables

TOPICS:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/topics.htm

The scope of the conference includes, but is not limited to, the following major topics as they relate to the educational and developmental aspects of multimedia/hypermedia and telecommunications:

1. Infrastructure: (in the large)
- Architectures for Educational Technology Systems
- Design of Distance Learning Systems
- Distributed Learning Environments
- Methodologies for system design
- Multimedia/Hypermedia Systems
- WWW-based course-support systems

2. Tools & Content-oriented Applications:
- Agents
- Authoring tools
- Evaluation of impact
- Interactive Learning Environments
- Groupware tools
- Multimedia/Hypermedia Applications
- Research perspectives
- Virtual Reality
- WWW-based course sites
- WWW-based learning resources
- WWW-based tools

3. New Roles of the Instructor & Learner:
- Constructivist perspectives
- Cooperative/collaborative learning
- Implementation experiences
- Improving Classroom Teaching
- Instructor networking
- Instructor training and support
- Pedagogical Issues
- Teaching/Learning Strategies

4. Human-computer Interaction (HCI/CHI):
- Computer-Mediated Communication
- Design principles
- Usability/user studies
- User interface design

5. Cases & Projects:
- Country-Specific Developments
- Exemplary projects
- Institution-specific cases
- Virtual universities

6. Special Strand:  ** Universal Web Accessibility  **

PRESENTATION CATEGORIES:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/categories.htm
The Technical Program includes a wide range of interesting and useful activities designed to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information.

CORPORATE SHOWCASES & DEMONSTRATIONS:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/corporate.htm

Companies have the opportunity to demonstrate and discuss their educational technology products and services in through Corporate Showcases and Demonstrations/Literature.

PROCEEDINGS & PAPER AWARDS:
http://www.aace.org/pubs
Accepted papers will be published by AACE in the Proceedings Book and on CD-ROM. Proceedings in this series serve as major resources in the multimedia/hypermedia/telecommunications community, reflecting the current state of the art in the discipline.

In addition, the Proceedings also are internationally distributed through and archived in the Education and Information Technology Digital Library, http://www.EdITLib.org Do You Subscribe?

Papers with high review scores will be invited for publication consideration by AACE’s respected journals, especially for:
- Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia (JEMH),
- International Journal on E-Learning (IJEJ), or
- Journal of Interactive Learning Research (JILR).

All presented papers will be considered for Best Paper Awards within several categories. Award winning papers may be invited for publication in the AACE journals.

FOR BUDGETING PURPOSES:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/rates.htm

The conference registration fee for all presenters and participants will be approximately $395 U.S. (AACE members), $450 U.S. (non-members). Registration includes proceedings on CD, receptions, and all sessions
except tutorials.

All conference sessions will be held at the Sheraton Waikiki Resort ( http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/hotel.htm) located on the famous Waikiki Beach and in walking distance to the city’s shopping district – with magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean.  Special discount hotel have been obtained for ED-MEDIA participants!

WAIKIKI BEACH, HONOLULU, HAWAII
http://www.aace.org/conf/Cities/Honolulu

Whether your idea of fun is soaking up the sun on a pristine, white sand beach or nightclubbing in Waikiki, hiking the trails or sampling some of the fantastic Hawaiian Regional Cuisine, we know that you’re going to enjoy yourself on O’ahu.

Explore Hawaii online at:  http://www.gohawaii.com * http://www.visit-oahu.com

DEADLINES:
http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/deadlines.htm

Submissions Due:          December 19, 2008
Authors Notified:             February 23, 2009
Proceedings File Due:    May 1, 2009
Early Registration:          May 1, 2009
Hotel Reservations:        May 20, 2009
Conference:                   June 22-26, 2009

—————————————————————————-
To be added to the mailing list for this conference, link
to  http://www.aace.org/info.htm

If you have a question about ED-MEDIA, please send an e-mail to AACE Conference Services, conf at aace.org

Contact:
AACE–Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education
P.O. Box 1545
Chesapeake, Virginia 23327  USA
Phone: 757-366-5606 * Fax: 703-997-8760
E-mail: conf at aace.org  *  http://www.AACE.org
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