Literacy in the digital age: Learning from computer games

The need for literacy and the English curriculum to attend to digital literacies in the twenty-first century is well established. Although studies in digital literacies have examined the inclusion of computer games in schools, there has not been an extended study of English teachers incorporating computer games into their teaching and learning through action research projects. This paper outlines the structure and progress of a research project exploring the uses of computer games in English classrooms. We argue that much can be learned about the teaching of both print and digital literacies from examining computer games and young people's engagement in online digital culture in the world beyond school.     

The difficult bridge between university and industry: a case study in computer science teaching

Recently, there has been increasing criticism concerning academic computer science education. This paper presents a new approach based on the principles of constructivist learning design as well as the ideas of knowledge transfer in communities of practice. The course ‘High‐tech Entrepreneurship and New Media’ was introduced as an interdisciplinary project management lab in which students collaborate in groups to develop software solutions for authentic problems. Main goals were the tighter integration of university and local start‐up companies, an intense knowledge transfer on software engineering methods, as well as the implementation of constructivist learning principles in academic teaching. This paper presents the background and structure of the course as well as the results of a formative evaluation. While being successful in introducing a course based on digital‐media assisted, constructivist learning arrangements, establishing lasting communities of practice between university and industry is still an open issue. After discussing several reasons, the paper concludes with a list of general recommendations on how to improve the approach and its implementation.     

Game Design Narrative for Learning: Appropriating Adventure Game Design Narrative Devices and Techniques for the Design of Interactive Learning Environments

The purpose of this conceptual analysis is to investigate how contemporary video and computer games might inform instructional design by looking at how narrative devices and techniques support problem solving within complex, multimodal environments. Specifically, this analysis presents a brief overview of game genres and the role of narrative in popular adventure game design, along with an analysis of how narrative supports problem solving in adventure games. Additionally, an analysis of the underlying structure used in game design for developing narratives is presented along with design heuristics for constructing narratives for educational purposes.     

Factors affecting teachers' adoption of educational computer games: A case study

Even though computer games hold considerable potential for engaging and facilitating learning among today's children, the adoption of modern educational computer games is still meeting significant resistance in K‐12 education. The purpose of this paper is to inform educators and instructional designers on factors affecting teachers' adoption of modern educational computer games. A case study was conducted to identify the factors affecting the adoption of Dimenxian, which was a new educational computer game designed to teach Algebra to middle school students. The diffusion of innovations theory was used as the conceptual framework of this study. The results indicated that compatibility, relative advantage, complexity and trialability played important roles in the game adoption. These findings were compared with the existing literature on (1) the adoption of educational software, and (2) the barriers in the use of educational computer games in K‐12 settings to help guide future research and practice. The comparison showed that (1) adoption attributes for the games and other educational software had a similar pattern from high to low significance: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability; and (2) the game adoption factors were more inclusive than the barriers of using the computer games.     

Investigating the relationships between informal learning and player involvement in digital games

In the last few years, digital games have become increasingly popular with both ‘hardcore’ and ‘casual’ audiences. At the same time, it has been argued that games can be powerful learning environments, since they are seen to encourage active and critical learning through participation in affinity groups and semiotic domains but there is a need for further empirical evidence to explore how this participation occurs and how prevalent it actually is. In addition the effectiveness of games within education indicates mixed results, though it has been suggested that this may indicate that learning through immersive worlds involves a more complex understanding of learning, one that is not so easy to tie to specified learning outcomes. It would seem the area would benefit from research that seeks to develop our understanding of how player involvement and learning come together in this context. This paper presents the preliminary results of a survey carried out in order to explore these issues. The initial findings suggest that how a player identifies as a gamer relates to what they think they gain from their gaming experiences with respect to learning.     

案例教学在职业学校计算机应用教学中的尝试

职业技术教育重在技能和实效．讨论了职业学校计算机应用课程尝试实施案例教学法的相关过程,以及案例教学实践的几点心得,说明了案例教学在职业技术教育中对提高学生分析和解决某一具体问题的能力,使学生对理解知识、理解行业、理解职业要求起到了积极作用．     

The digital history and pedagogy project: Creating an interpretative/pedagogical historical website

The Digital History and Pedagogy Project (DHPP) is an interpretive/pedagogical collection of Web-based historical resources designed for use in inquiry-based learning in high school and university classrooms. It has been created by faculty and graduate students at a large urban college of education. This paper provides a rationale for the project rooted in current literature; presents a theoretical framework for this and other similar projects; and describes five current digital historical resources (DHRs) within the context of our framework.     

Situations,interactions, processes and affordances: A response

This is a brief response to thecommentaries provided by Young, DePalma andGarrett and by Azevedo on our original paper(Akhras & Self, this issue). In this responsewe elaborate on the aims of ourconceptualization, focussing on the nature ofaffordances and situations.     

Inclusive work at a European level: a case study

In this article, Paul Stephenson and Glynis Rumley describe the way in which educators in Kent have developed strong links with their colleagues and neighbours from Nord Pas de Calais in France. From a variety of projects undertaken, some of which were assisted by funding from European sources, children of all abilities and needs have been able to work and learn together. The PILOTE programme, developed in Kent by the local education authority's Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) team, has been used to overcome language barriers and, by making learning fun, has enabled both adults and children alike to communicate with each other during the project work which has been undertaken. From a strong emphasis upon enjoyment and within a natural context for learning, teachers with little previous foreign language experience have been empowered to enhance their children's language skills. The approaches used have been relevant both to children in the mainstream situation as well as those in specialist provisions. The ‘Above and Beyond Barriers’ projects have enabled children to find out more about their European counterparts and communicate with them in a meaningful and enjoyable way.     

艺术设计专业计算机辅助设计课程特殊性与教学方法

本文针对艺术设计专业的计算机辅助设计课程的特点进行了分析,并对该课程的教学方法提出了实例示范、知识讲解和任务驱动相结合的观点。     

计算机教学评价的设计技术

计算机教学评价的实质是“应会”的评价,是对学生技能点的掌握与熟练程度的评价,它构建了突出技能点考核的“任务式”教学模式。文中还分析了计算机教学评价的设计技术的七个方面组成。     

The computer in the classroom: a medium for enhancing social interaction with young people with autistic spectrum disorders?

Angela Jacklin is a senior lecturer in education and director of student support at the University of Sussex. William Farr is a teacher at a primary school in Sussex, and a former MA student at Sussex University. In the project reported in this article, they worked together to consider how valuable the computer may be as a medium to enhance social interaction with pupils with autistic spectrum disorders. The research took place in a special school for pupils with severe learning difficulties in the South East of England and involved 12 children from the school's unit for pupils with autism. From this initial group, three pupils were selected for more focused study. Using a mix of qualitative data gathering and analysis stragegies, the research highlighted the importance of social interaction a round the computer and indicated that the computer could be a useful tool for enhancing social interaction. This was found to relate in part to the adult's ability to follow the child's lead, as well as the complex intermingling of events known as 'tricky mixes'. Where this happened, use of the computer appeared to result in more sustained and more positive interactions for young people with autistic spectrum disorders.     

Teaching collaborative skills with a group leader computer tutor

This paper discusses how a group leader computer tutor may aid students in learning collaborative skills in a co-operative learning environment. However, students need to learn collaborative skills and practice using them. The group leader computer tutor discussed in this paper is designed on the principles of co-operative learning, intelligent tutoring systems and computer-supported collaborative work within an intelligent collaborative learning system (ICLS). The group leader aims to facilitate group work on the task level and to teach students how to use collaborative skills in the discussion level as students work on networked computers in the Jigsaw method of co-operative learning. The ICLS and its group leader were used by two classes at a liberal arts university. Qualitative research shows that the students' co-operative attitudes changed and academic achievement improved from pre- to post-treatment. Students, especially, used the communication skill of openness in comment type discussions. The students enjoyed working collaboratively through the ICLS and their teachers thought that the experience was valuable for them.     

计算机机房工程电气设计的探讨

配电柜配置原则,线缆选型原则,配电系统设计方案注意事项,机房接地系统具体实施措施。     

Measuring learning in serious games: a case study with structural assessment

The effectiveness of serious games is often measured with verbal assessment. As an alternative we propose Pathfinder structural assessment (defined as measuring the learners’ knowledge organization and compare this with a referent structure) which comprises three steps: knowledge elicitation, knowledge representation and knowledge evaluation. We discuss practical and theoretical considerations for the use of structural assessment and showcase its application with the game Code Red: Triage. Results suggest that structural assessment measures an individual’s understanding of a domain at least differently from verbal assessment. While verbal assessment may provide a more nuanced picture regarding declarative and procedural knowledge, structural assessment may add an in-depth understanding of the concepts that are regarded important in a domain. In the Discussion we propose four guidelines to effectively use structural assessment in serious games: (1) Determine the appropriateness of the domain for structural assessment, (2) select an appropriate referent for the target group(s), (3) select the number of concepts needed for structural assessment, and (4) consider the analysis of the graphical knowledge representations to obtain in-depth information about the quality of the knowledge structures.     

从“工作流”到“学习流”：E-learning系统设计的新视角

目前大多数E-learning支持系统基于内容对象设计,由此造成的学习者控制、网络迷失和认知超载等问题已成为制约E—learning发展的瓶颈。本文借鉴“工作流”的理念,结合学习活动的流程化特性,提出了“学习流”的概念,并建立了学习流的数学模型——ATC模型,在此基础上分析了学习流的构成要素和控制策略设计,试图为E—learning系统的设计和开发提供新的思路和视角。最后简要介绍了本研究开发的基于“学习流”理念的管理系统功能架构,该系统已于2006年成功地应用于一项由教育部主持的面向全国的教师培训项目。研究结果表明,学习者对于“学习流”管理系统支持下的培训有着很高的评价和认同度;采用基于“学习流”的方式组织和管理学习活动,可以大大提高系统的易用性和学习活动的组织效率,避免学习者网络迷航,从而为实施有效教学、促进有意义的学习创造了条件。     

幼儿游戏与创造力发展

游戏作为幼儿的主导活动，是幼儿创造力发展的源泉，而创造力作为一种特殊的能力，其发展与游戏紧密相连。     

河北省体育赛事品牌开发研究与分析

河北省品牌赛事较少,但却有发展体育产业的优越条件.河北省要开发体育品牌赛事,必须选择一些具有浓郁特色的、传统的体育项目,如永年太极拳、沧州武术、吴桥杂技等;改革竞技体育管理体制;提高赛事质量,增强比赛的观赏性;培养体育赛事观众;注重宣传并多渠道筹措资金.     

健美运动首次进入亚运会的比赛综述与发展对策

健美运动首次进入亚运会具有划时代的意义,通过男子健美比赛的调查,了解亚洲健美运动的最高水平及我国运动员与亚洲强队之间的差距。发现了比赛中出现的问题,对亚洲健美有序发展和中国加快赶超亚洲诸强所采取的措施提出了自己的看法．     

改革高校校运动会的思考

在终身体育、体育文化、体育素养等新观念形成的今天,高校传统的校运会已远不能适应新时期高校体育改革与发展的需要,现已成为学校体育工作中亟待解决的问题,从文化的、生活的、课程的角度来改革高校校运会,不仅十分迫切和必要,而且切实可行。它不仅能极大地丰富高校校园体育文化的内涵和外延,同时对高校体育改革也将产生积极的影响。