The aim of this research was to examine the impact of using traditional games with the purpose of decreasing violent behavior among pupils in elementary schools as well as improving their mutual relationships. The research was conducted among second-, third- and fourth-graders in elementary schools in Karlovac (a total of 232 pupils). In order to…

Although digital technologies have become commonplace among people who grew up around them, little is known about the effect that such technology will have on learners or its impact on traditional methods of educational delivery. This dissertation examines how certain technologies affect digital natives and seeks to understand specific…

If one wants to learn about the role that games play in education, then the University of Wisconsin at Madison is the place to go. It's home to the Games, Learning, and Society Initiative and its current director Dr. Kurt Squire. In this interview, Squire talks about his research and how libraries can embrace gaming as a tool for learning.

This article introduces a recently developed haptic glove system and describes how the participants used a video game that was purposely designed to train them in skills that are needed for the efficient use of the haptic glove. Assessed skills included speed, efficiency, embodied skill, and engagement. The findings and implications for future…

Today's youth are situated in a complex information ecology that includes video games and print texts. At the basic level, video game play itself is a form of digital literacy practice. If we widen our focus from the "individual player + technology" to the online communities that play them, we find that video games also lie at the nexus of a…

Experimental research in business and economics has exploded in recent years in both laboratory and field settings. The generality of findings from field experiments is limited by the specificity of the experimental environment. Laboratory studies, on the other hand, are criticized for being devoid of the contextual cues that may indicate to…

Currently casual games feature as the most dynamically developing section of the videogames industry and compared to the more complicated and technologically advanced hardcore games, are characterized by simple rules and game play, do not require long time commitment or special skills on the part of the player. They also have comparatively low…

The appearance of collaboration tools such as blogs, wikis, social media, and video games has altered the way individuals and organizations relate to one another. There is no longer any need to wait on professionals to share material and report on new developments. Today, people communicate directly in an unmediated and unfiltered manner. These…

Discussions of "game literacy" focus on the informal learning and literacies associated with games but seldom address the diversity in young people's gaming practices, and the highly differentiated technologies of digital gaming in use. We use available survey data to show how, in South Africa, income inequalities influence consumption…

Anecdotal reports indicate that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are often preoccupied with television, computers, and video games (screen-based media). However, few studies have examined this issue. The current study examined screen-based media use among a large, nationally representative sample of youths participating in the…

Digital technology empowers one to access vast amounts of on-line data. From a learning perspective, however, it is difficult to access meaningful on-site information within a given context. The Hypercontextualized Game (HCG) design model interweaves on-site resources, translated as content, and the digital game. As a local game design process,…

Instructional games fluctuate between "restricted play" and "free play." Highly structured games with lots of corrective feedback can be less engaging, whereas unstructured games with minimal feedback can lead to frustration. This mixed methods, formative evaluation study investigated how designers might find the balance between too much and too…

Digital games can be powerful learning environments because they encourage active learning and participation within "affinity groups" (Gee, 2004). However, the use of games in formal educational environments is not always successful (O'Neil et al., 2005). There is a need to update existing theories of motivation and engagement in order…

Video gaming is prevalent among college students, and researchers have documented negative consequences from some students' excessive video gaming, but the study of past and current parental influence on college student video gaming is limited. This study collected data from college students from several Midwestern U.S. universities using an…

The authors review several case studies of children engaged in rule-governed play and conclude that the process of learning rules--and of breaking them and making new ones--promotes what they call gamesmanship. They link the development of gamesmanship to the theory of Machiavellian intelligence, which considers social interaction primary in the…