In my previous post I described the different kinds of players and elaborate their behaviour in games. In this blog entry I want to dig deeper into what game types there are and which player types work best within those games.
Before going into detail it is important to know the difference between different kinds of interactions within games:
PvE: player versus environment defines the fighting interactions with the non-playable objects (NPCs) in a game. They are not other players but are objects within the game.
PvP: player versus player defines the combat of one individual player fighting another or a group of players fighting another.
First person shooter: First person shooter, also called FPS games, are mainly played by the killer and the achiever type as the whole purpose is to compete against other players or NPCs and win through the highest score, eliminating the threat or opposing team, or surviving for a certain time span.
Real time strategy: Real time strategy games, also called RTS games, focus on complex sequences or extensive planning in order to succeed. Games like Age of Empires or Warhammer are popular examples of online RTS games. Usually, competitive and persistent players such as achievers or killers are found within these types of games.
Massively multiplayer online games: Games that constantly grow in popularity due to better internet access and technology are MMO games of all sorts. While explorers and socializers are usually found among MMORPGS (role playing games), killers and achievers will prefer MMORTS (real time strategy) and MMOFPS (first person shooter)
Battle royale: battle royale games can be connected to FPS games but they do not need to. They focus on a special kind of competitive style of deathmatch where many players will be sent to an arena and need to fight to be the last man standing. Common examples of this popular genre are Apex Legends, Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone and Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUPG). Just like among other killing focused games the killer and achiever player type value these games, however as some of them are played in teams the socializer plays an important role to keeping the team together.
Sandbox: Sandbox games are one of the few games that do not have a focus on competitive aspects. The majority of the players will be explorers as the goal of these games is to be creative and spend a lot of time exploring possibilities and opportunities within the games. Some of the games can be played online as well as offline such as Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto. Another important aspect of sandbox games is the social activities. For this reason socializers feel comfortable within these games as well.
From the early 1960s until the early 1980s computers were primarily used in large organizations by typing commands with parameters on mechanical or teletype/display devices. A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a console interface to accept commands from a user in the form of text lines. [1]
Graphical user interfaces
Jakob Nielsen wrote in 1993 about purpose-driven UI. By specifying functions first and subsequently their arguments, the user had access to the system. Deleting a file on a system that is line-oriented, the user had to write the delete command first into the command-line, then add the name of the file. Graphical-User Interfaces in comparison are object-oriented. The user accesses the object first and then deletes it. He also remarkes that User had to focus on using the computer to do what they want first rather than concentrating on the task at hand. The user was constantly aware of the tool he uses, because they need to know the commands in the correct syntax before they could achieve the things they want.
Non-graphical user interfaces
As early as 1993, Jakob Nilsen wrote about non-graphical interfaces. He wrote about virtual reality as the ultimate example fornoncommand-based interfaces. The user immerses into a simulated environment which is very similar to the real world and therefore it is very intuitive to use. He invisioned playing a hockey game where the user acts like in reality by using his hands to ward off the pucks when being the goalie. The computer is controlled via gestures. [2]
WIMP Interfaces
WIMP Interfaces are the dawn of a new era, because it made the use of the computer possible to everyone. The WIMP GUI is the first raster graphics-based user interface. Consisting of windows, icons, menus and a pointing device, it works on a point- and-click concept instead of command line. The first PC where this was used was Xerox PARC. From there they got populare with the Macintosh in 1984 and was later copied by Windows. [3]
Attentive User Interface
In the beginning a few people were working on on PC, then one person was woring on one PC and today we use we use multiple ubiquitous devices every day. Every device still works isolated from the other devices, channeling and draining our attention. And because human attention is limited it is a valuable resource which should be valued and considered from user interface designers and product engineers. Attentive user Interfaces (AUI) are sensitive to user’s attention. To provide this the AUI needs additional user input such as presence of the user, proximity, orientation, is the user speaking to someone or what does he gazes at. They can present the information according to the user attention and therefore optimize the communication with the device. The interface senses were the user focus his attention and present information there. [4]
Tangible User Interface
A tangible user interface is a touchable user interface that allows a computer user to interact with the machine through physical objects. [5] In 2003 a research team in Barcelona created the Reactable. It is an electronic musical instrument.It is a table on which the user places and moves objects to create sound, inspired by modular analogue synthesizers. [6]
Voice User interfaces
In Voice user interfaces (VUIs) the user interacts with the system through his voice. IInstead of making the input via a screen, the user speaks to the system, which uses speech recognition to perform the task. According to stanford researchers Clifford Nass and Scott Brave are more natural and intuitiv for communicating with the computer, because a lot of human communication takes place via linguistic expressions. Therefore it seems more natural to apply the same concept on computer-interactions. [7]
The advantages and areas of use of vui are mainly where users cannot use their hands, such as when driving a car. Furthermore, they can be a great help in everyday life for blind people.
[1] Post-WIMP User Interfaces, AndriesvanDam, 1997
[2] Non-graphical User Interfaces, Jakob Nielsen, in Communication of THE ACM/April 1993/Vol.36, No. 4, P. 83-99
[3] Post-WIMP User Interfaces, AndriesvanDam, 1997
[4] Attentive user interfaces, Roel Vertegaal, Article in Communications of the ACM, March 2003
[5] The tangible user interface and its evolution, Hiroshi Ishii, Commun. ACM 51, 6 (June 2008), 32–36. https://doi-1org-17054c7ie002d.perm.fh-joanneum.at/10.1145/1349026.1349034
Mental health problems can severely affect a person’s quality of life as well as their ability to cope with school, work or family tasks. This can also lead to physical and serious social problems.
Mental health has never occupied as much space as it does today. Even in politics, this topic is now openly discussed. In medicine, psychology, health policy and health insurance, it is generally known that mental health is the basis of a healthy life and thus a healthy society. However, mental illnesses are still associated with strong fears and stigmas, which presents a paradox in itself.
Mental illnesses are widespread diseases. More than one in four adults in Germany has the characteristics of a pronounced mental illness. Differences in the frequency of mental health problems can be observed, especially among the sexes, different age groups and socioeconomic milieus. It is assumed that only a few of those affected actually seek professional help. In recent decades, however, the number of treatments has been increasing rapidly.
Per year, more than one in four adults meets the criteria of a mental illness.
Frequency of mental illness
Epidemiological studies in Germany show that 27.8% of the adult population is affected by a mental illness every year. This is equivalent to the population of North Rhine-Westphalia with 17.8 million people. In Europe as a whole, the number of affected people is estimated at 164.8 million. Thus, mental disorders can be compared with other widespread diseases such as high blood pressure. According to the “Study on Adult Health” and its supplementary module “Mental Health” (DEGS1MH) of the Robert Koch Institute, anxiety disorders, affective disorders – which include depression – and disorders caused by alcohol or medication use are among the three most common types of illness. About half of those affected suffer from more than one disorder, with the combination of anxiety and affective disorders being the most common.
Comparing the figures of this representative survey with those of a previous study from 1998, it cannot be stated that mental illnesses have increased altogether. Nevertheless, health insurance data from the last 20 years show a noticeable increase in diagnoses, treatments and sick days due to mental illness. This contrast of facts derives from the change in the importance of mental health in our society. Mental disorders are now recognized as such due to an increasing sensitivity, a growing impairment due to the individual consequences of the disorder as well as more and better therapeutic offers, and the number of diagnoses is approaching the actual number of people suffering from disorders.
12-month prevalence of mental illness in the adult population, differentiated by gender
In order to live a balanced and healthy life, one must not only take care of one’s physical health but also of one’s mental health. The problem in our society is that mental health is still a taboo subject and therefore too few people receive or claim the help they need.
A topic that has received more and more attention in the last few years, at least in my generation, but is still not talked about enough is Mental Health. The Awareness for mental health grew over all but during the corona crises, mental health issues in young adults grew as well.
My motivation stems from having taken therapeutic support myself, which has helped me in many areas and improved my quality of life overall. I believe that many people would feel the same way and that they would benefit from getting help. I have been an advocate for mental health since I started claiming mental health services myself and try to incorporate this into my community. However, I noticed in the discourse with my friends and family that even though they also suffered mentally, they did not want to seek the necessary support.
In my following research, I would like to prove the relevance of this topic, find out what reasons prevent people from seeking the help they need, where the biggest hurdles lie, and look into mental health Apps and services. I also would like to take a look at the possible solutions like destigmatizing mental health issues.
Quellen
Jacobi, F., Höfler, M., Strehle, J., Mack, S., Gerschler, A., Scholl, L., … Wittchen, H.-U. (2014). Psychische Störungen in der Allgemeinbevölkerung. Der Nervenarzt, 85(1), 77–87. doi:10.1007/s00115-013-3961-y
Richter, D., & Berger, K. (2013). Nehmen psychische Störungen zu? Psychiatrische Praxis, 40(04), 176–182. doi:10.1055/s-0032-1333060
Hofmann, FH., Sperth, M. & Holm-Hadulla, R.M. Psychische Belastungen und Probleme Studierender. Psychotherapeut62, 395–402 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007
We hope that by this point you are beginning to understand how important it is to include sustainability ideas in design. We must keep in mind that sustainability is a concept that may be utilized in almost all facets of daily life. Its core objective would encompass securing better alternatives in face of disaster or unprecedented damages but also serve as a guarantee that we can have a better life today and our children will still stand a chance to benefit from the same innovations. When applied to the design of everyday things and services, sustainability makes what we can call in that context sustainable design. And sustainable design has lots of benefits and advantages. we want to walk you through some of the successful sustainable designs we read.
Since the rise of sustainable design, designers have been asserting that sustainability has a much stronger case than just environmental reasons: There is also a viable economic argument for designing buildings with environmental benefits [1].
Even when no formal certification is sought, sustainability is baked into most new commercial and multifamily housing projects, but when it is (and competitors are in the field) the certification of choice for many developers is still U.S. Green Building Councils Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
Diana Mosher studies some sustainable designs relating to housing. One example of a sustainable building she wrote about is the University of California Irvine’s NET-ZERO HOUSING. The University of California (UC) is well-known for its dedication to sustainability, particularly since the implementation of its carbon-neutral policy. When Plaza Verde student housing debuted in September 2019, the net-zero project (which is still pending final LEED Platinum certification) was hailed as the greenest housing complex in the entire UC system by the Provost.
Plaza Verde features an all-electric system that eliminates the need for natural gas and employs cutting-edge technologies such as heat pump water heaters and an electric outdoor grill system, among other energy-saving equipment. “We soon decided that because natural gas is a nonrenewable energy source, this building would not have any natural gas service,” Kasdan added. A central boiler system is a common energy-efficient technique for providing hot water in large buildings, but there is currently no electric boiler system that can serve a building of this size. As a result, each apartment received its own electric water heater and heat pump.
The sustainability of Plaza Verde extends beyond building and into operations and resident behavior. Ceiling fans improve the facility’s comfort and efficiency while lowering the campus’s overall energy consumption. Water-saving plumbing fixtures contribute to significant reductions in potable water consumption. Students are also encouraged to use alternate modes of transportation; bike storage holds over 760 bikes, and the Irvine site provides access to many public transportation lines as well as near walking proximity to community facilities.
David Lancor, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is an architect and associate principal with Clark Nexsen. He conducted a case study with the redesign of Rhodedes Hall, UNC Asheville’s 1950s Academic Building, Rhodedes Hall, UNC Asheville’s 1950s Academic Building, serves as a case study of the economic value of sustainable design: it achieved an annual 46.8 percent decrease in energy use and a nearly 25 percent decrease in energy costs.
The findings from the research presented help the design community to implement strategies that not only achieve the building energy-savings goals, but also address occupants’ needs regarding comfort and utilization of the space, creating a total system of efficiency for users and building managers, and thereby achieving all three components of sustainability: reductions in environmental impacts, increased societal outcomes, and lowered financial costs [2].
The design team was able to find the most cost-effective alternative for the project by conducting a comparative life cycle cost study of different grades of glazing and their impact on the tonnage required for the mechanical system. This option provided immediate cost savings while also saving the owner money over the life of the building.
Water-efficiency techniques in green buildings help to reduce water use by encouraging stormwater capture and the use of non-potable sources.
One of the biggest benefits of green buildings is the lower cost of upkeep: With specifically engineered design elements helping reduce power and water bills, these energy-efficient structures can save the business and residential owners a bundle. All these categories can benefit from having a building certified as Green and increasing operating efficiencies. In addition to UNC Asheville’s interest in reduced operational costs and energy use, UNC Asheville values water management and conservation, making reducing water usage central to our design process [2].
It is already common knowledge that placing a green roof on a building helps to reduce energy use, absorb runoff, and combat air pollution. Green roofing benefits go beyond aesthetics, from reduced stormwater runoff and urban dust to energy-efficient cooling.
It is important to stipulate here that ecological design does not address the core issue of whether the product is needed within the context of total sustainability. Designing for reusability and recyclability is generally seen as an easier choice where increasing energy efficiency or decreasing emissions might lead to fewer environmental impacts (Goggin and Dewberry, 1997).
Andrew Sadler, a renewable energy specialist, presents seven criteria for sustainable construction. Principles that we believe are important to mention. Constructions certainly have consequential impacts on the environment. They are accounted to be causing 45% of total UK carbon emissions for example. To ensure that building projects are as sustainable as feasible, environmental factors such as the 7 principles of sustainable construction must be considered from the very beginning of the construction process. The seven principles of sustainable construction proposed by Andrew Sadler are a technique for contributing to a better built environment while reducing our overall carbon footprint. They cover areas like sustainable design, durability, energy efficiency, waste reduction, indoor air quality, water conservation, sustainable building materials.
To sum Andrew Sadler’s 7 principles up, we can say that :
The early planning and design of a building have a significant impact on lowering energy consumption and pollution. The earlier you incorporate sustainable construction into your design, the more sustainable the building will be.
Referring to durability, the astonishing antiquity of Austrian structures demonstrates the longevity of construction materials. These structures are excellent examples of how to construct modern, sustainable structures.
Increasing energy efficiency will help you save money by cutting fuel usage, which reduces CO2 emissions. This allows us to reduce our contribution to climate change.
Improving the energy efficiency of technology has the potential to drastically cut energy usage and emissions. Switching to environmentally friendly energy technology will transform your sources into services such as illumination, transportation, and heat.
Developers can now choose from a wide range of energy-efficient building materials. Insulating concrete forms, low-emissivity windows, structural insulated panels, and many other materials are available.
To be successful, you must execute your goal of producing an energy-efficient building throughout the concept/design stage.
Bad air quality, which is often produced by indoor pollution that emits dangerous particles, can have a severe impact on interior settings and people’s health.
Water is becoming an increasingly valuable resource, with pollution and climate change having a significant impact on freshwater supplies. You can recall this in the case study with the redesign of Rhodedes Hall, UNC Asheville’s 1950s Academic Building, Rhodedes Hall, UNC Asheville’s 1950s Academic Building where the designers made reducing water usage central to their design process and it worked. And finally, sustainable materials can be explained as materials that have no direct impact on the environment and do not use non-renewable resources
We also suggest having a look at the top 10 eco-friendly design trends of 2022 published by Srishti Mitra, a junior editor and a social media marketer at Yanko Design.
What technological device are you currently reading this article with: your computer, your phone, or maybe your tablet? You may even have a plugin installed that reads it aloud to you while you’re driving in your car or shopping, because that way you can do two things at once. Let’s forget this particular article for a second, can you say exactly how much time in your life is spent surrounded by various devices, or would it be easier for you to answer how much time you spend without them? Before answering, think carefully about whether you wear a smart watch or a device that helps your heart beat, or perhaps helps you hear better? For many people today, life is so intertwined with technology that they have trouble answering these questions, and why should they?
As a student of Interaction Design, I understand that as no one else in my profession will be associated not only with high and modern technology, but also with their implementation in the lives of other people. That’s why I wanted to ask myself at the very beginning of my career, “how much technology do people need? It’s great if they can help people make better diagnoses or make their lives safer, and if they can help increase education, but I also started to hear more and more about the flipside of technology: it can reduce the safety of driving if not used correctly (maybe you heard about the time that the captain of the vehicle lost control because his analog device was replaced with a touchscreen), or it can completely displace people from creative professions that they enjoy (like right now I’ll tell you this). So, given these trends, it is not hard to see that there is a certain boundary between the right level of technology and the alarming level of it, which is unspoken and which nobody marked before we entered the age of information technology. It is this line that is the subject of my interest for this blog.
First of all, I want to briefly outline the advantages and disadvantages of technology in relation to certain industry sectors, because in my opinion, the need for technology is equally distributed between different areas.
Medicine: Technology has made huge breakthroughs in this field over the past decades. Innovations such as AR, 3D printing, AI, robotic assistants and virtual healthcare have surely saved and improved the quality of more than one life. Recently, an experiment was conducted in which 15 experienced doctors from China and an artificial intelligence called BioMind AI competed against each other in making diagnoses related to neurological pathologies. While the AI could find 87% of pathologies in 225 cases, the team of doctors could achieve only 66% accuracy. Similar results were obtained in a competition to identify brain hematomas. And despite the fact that it is already clear that such technology will displace many extremely talented diagnosticians from the working market, many will say “I do not care who diagnoses me, human or machine, as long as the disease is found”. Since we are talking about human lives, in my opinion, in this case high technology is appropriate and necessary, if it can work more accurately than humans or increase the success of treatment. Naturally, this also requires patience, adaptability and teachability in the medical profession.
Education: In my opinion, things are more complicated in this field. On the one hand, if every student had a tablet with a complete school program, which would also adjust to the abilities of the learner, it would be great: students could decide at what pace to study and when they could try to pass exams, their cognitive abilities and interests could be taken into account in setting homework, teachers could concentrate on supporting their class and would be freed from the monotonous routine work. However, this sounds utopian enough, and any utopia always inevitably leads to various dystopian scenarios. During the coronavirus, it became clear that students, contrary to all expectations of the adult generation, were not delighted with long sessions with computers and tablets: they complained of back pain, lack of communication and even depressive states. All this points to the fact that in education technology should not be used thoughtlessly and count on it in every aspect.
Art: This is probably the most difficult area. The vast majority of designers working in the industry use technology for their work, be it Figma or Adobe Suite. In recent years the appearance of new plugins in Figma or brushes for Photoshop has excited the community of illustrators and designers, but after the appearance of Mid Journey, many have become very skeptical of the development of technology in this area, even to the point of asking for the ” cancellation of AI in art “. This kind of antipathy to progress has not been seen since the Industrial Revolution, so it seems to me that this topic is vast and will remain an open question for a long time to come.
(“The cover illustrations for our blog posts created by human designers are on the left, and those generated with Midjourney on the right”, Source: Kirdina, 2022)
As you can see, the topic of technology is totally controversial and can be approached from different perspectives when it comes to different areas. That is why I find it interesting and fascinating, so in my next articles I plan to explore it from different angles.
Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Austrian Government made a point of saying that they would aid Ukrainian refugees, who are trying to flee from the war. Every country has different rules for what you need to do, have, and get in order to stay in the country as a refugee. In some cases, it can affect the decision-making of which country to choose (if there is a possibility to choose or to have time to think about that).
So I decided to do research on how Austria helps refugees, how it provides them with the important/needed information and about the path a refugee takes from the beginning of their arrival in Austria.
What to my mind was done really well is this illustration, which was provided by the Federal Ministry Republic of Austria:
Unfortunately it is only in Ukrainian language but provides a refugee with two types of ways they could take:
The first one (the blue one) is for people who don’t plan to stay in Austria and want to travel further. And the person instantly gets the info that he doesn’t need to register, and the arrows indicate possible needs that may arise (such as accommodation for one or several nights) and where to find the right help for this type of situation.
Another one (the green one) is for people who want to stay in Austria. A refugee gets instant information that they have to find accommodation in order to register, where to do that, and the information about how exactly they will receive their documents in Austria.
Also, there are QR codes with additional information + phone numbers. [1]
The Federal Ministry Republic of Austria also created a PDF document with questions and answers regarding staying in Austria, registration, and finding accommodation [5]. What helps a lot is that in this PDF refugees can find the offices they need for a specific type of problem in different regions of Austria, their addresses, emails, and phone numbers, and most importantly working hours and if a refugee would need to make an appointment for that or not. This is very important because in Ukraine we don’t really have a culture of making appointments, we just find the working hours of a certain office and go whenever suits us. Because of this mentality difference, the culture of making an appointment is unfamiliar and strange to many Ukrainians, especially those who have never been to other countries before. I found this out by going through and analysing some messages in online group chats created by Ukrainian refugees, who are now staying in Austria. A lot of people just get confused and surprised by that information.
In order to have access to the Austrian labor market, one must first register at the place of residence, then register with the police as a temporarily displaced person – and receive a “blue card”(«Ausweis für Vertriebene») about two weeks later. Having such a card, Ukrainians receive the same rights as EU citizens. The card is still valid until March 2023. And as I researched through messages I found out that most people prefer this, instead of registering as a refugee because this will allow them to move between countries, visit people they know in other countries, and work. [2] [3]
Therefore, there are different paths/opportunities for a refugee in Austria. If one is only travelling through Austria to another country, he can receive needed help and doesn’t need to register. But if he wants to stay in Austria, then there are two ways:
Getting a blue “blue card”, which allows a refugee to move between countries, opens the door to the labor market in Austria.
Registering as a refugee, which will require to register at Caritas and allow receiving a minimum support from Caritas in the amount of 200 euros.
The European Union Agency for Asylum created a PDF file as well for Ukrainian refugees about not only refugee protection, entry and staying in Austria, etc but also the general information about Austria itself, its administrative settings, language, population, and emergency contacts [4]. They also added information about the Ukrainian diaspora in Austria. Moreover, refugees are also able to find information about what everyday life in Austria looks like, when most shops are open/closed (by the way, the working hours of the shops completely differ from those in Ukraine), how schools and universities work and overall access to education.
This kind of information is crucial because a lot of things are different in terms of how everything works, cultural and administrative differences, which can make staying as a refugee either easier and smoother or more complicated and stressful. This can also affect how easy it will be for a refugee to integrate into a new environment and start life from scratch.
Routine kann sich positiv auf den Menschen auswirken, indem sie dazu beiträgt, dass er sich sicherer und souveräner fühlt, da er weiß, was er erwartet. Es kann auch helfen, Ziele zu erreichen, da man durch Routinen leichter an die erforderlichen Aufgaben erinnert wird. So entwickelt der Mensch Gewohnheiten, welche, je intensiver diese werden, körperliche Reaktionen hervorbringen. Zum Beispiel das Stellen des Weckers. Steht man morgens immer zur selben Zeit auf, wird man früher oder später auch ohne Wecker zur gleichen Zeit aufwachen. Dieses Prinzip wird im Gamedesign genutzt, um Menschen zu Daily-Log-Ins zu bewegen, wo Spieler*innen tägliche kleine Aufgaben absolvieren müssen, nichts aufwendiges, um gewisse Belohnungen zu erhalten. [1]
Durch die Umwandlung von regelmäßigen Terminen in interaktive Events, wie beispielsweise Adventkalender oder saisonale Aktionen auf einer Website, kann man die User*innen dazu animieren, immer wieder auf die Website zurückzukehren, um ihre kleine Belohnung abzuholen. Jedes Türchen im Dezember bietet eine neue Interaktion und einen Anreiz, um die Website zu besuchen und die Aktion zu verfolgen.
4. Level und Fortschrittsbalken
Die Verwendung von Fortschrittsbalken oder ähnlichen Visualisierungen können dazu beitragen, um den Fortschritt von Nutzer*innen anzuzeigen und ihnen Feedback zu geben.
Sie können anhand von diesen Balken nicht nur ihre Aktionen verfolgen, wie weit sie in ihrer User-Journey gekommen sind, sondern auch einschätzen, ob sie sich die Mühe antun möchten weiterzugehen, da sie die Länge eines Weges durch die Fortschrittsbalken kennen. Das verleiht eine gewisse Transparenz und Vorstellung wo sie stehen und wie weit sie noch von ihrem Ziel entfernt sind, und ermöglicht es ihnen dadurch, ihre Anstrengungen besser zu planen.[2]
Auf Websites trifft man gerne auf Fortschrittsbalken bei der Anmeldung eines Newsletters oder dem Onlinekauferlebnis vom Warenkorb bis zum Check Out. Käufer*innen bekommen damit einen schnellen Überblick, wie weit wie bereits gekommen sind, um den Vorgang abzuschließen. Wenn Nutzer*innen eine Aufgabe oder ein Ziel erfolgreich abschließen, kann ein voller Fortschrittsbalken ein sehr befriedigendes Erfolgserlebnis sein, was sie wiederum motiviert, weiterzumachen oder im besten Fall wiederzukommen.
Die Festlegung von bestimmten Zielen oder Aufgaben, die erfüllt werden müssen, um virtuelle Auszeichnungen oder Trophäen zu erhalten. Es ist wichtig darauf zu achten, dass die Darstellung der Erfolge und Trophäen ansprechend und benutzerfreundlich ist, um die Motivation und das Engagement der Nutzer*innen zu erhöhen.
Eine Trophäe ist ein „Siegeszeichen“ und repräsentiert ein Objekt als Zeichens des Triumphes. Trophäen werden oftmals mit Stolz präsentiert und ausgestellt. [3]
So können auch Abzeichen als Trophäen herhalten, wo beispielsweise Autoplaketten ein arbiträres Statussymbol repräsentieren. Diese zeigen an, welche Art von Motor in einem Fahrzeug verbaut ist und welches Preisschild beim Händler angebracht war. Diese Plaketten werden gerne an prominenter Stelle am Fahrzeug montiert. Menschen haben unterschiedliche Gründe, solche Plaketten beziehungsweise Autos zu präsentieren. Das Prinzip von Stolz und Freude wird im Kontext von Gamification angewandt, um die Nutzer*innen mit Abzeichen zu belohnen, wenn gewisse Aktionen von ihnen durchgeführt wurden. Für Spieldesigner*innen sind Plaketten und Abzeichen eine gute Möglichkeit, soziale Förderung zu erreichen und Ziele und den Fortschritt im Spiel darzustellen.[4]
Eine beliebte App und Website zum Lernen von Sprachen ist https://de.duolingo.com/ auf der man Abzeichen für das Erreichen bestimmter Meilensteine im Lernprozess verdient. So geben die Abzeichen Anreiz die Nutzer*innen zu motivieren, weiterzumachen und ihre Ziele zu erreichen. Jedes Abzeichen hat eine eigene Farbe und ein eigenes Symbol, und sie werden auf einer eigenen Abzeichensammlungs-seite angezeigt, wo man sie betrachten und teilen kann. Es sind oft auch noch weitere Belohnungen, wie z.B. Trophäen oder Extras die man gewinnen kann. Tägliche Abzeichen, Streak-Abzeichen oder beispielsweise Wettbewerbsabzeichen von Duolingo zeigen den Lernenden, aber auch anderen User*innen, wie gut oder brav die Teilnehmer*innen von Duolingo lernen.
Hands-on exhibits are interactive experiences that are designed to engage visitors and facilitate learning through exploration and experimentation. These exhibits can be found in museums, science centers, and other educational settings and often use a variety of technologies, such as computer displays, sensors and robotics to create interactive experiences.
In my opinion, one approach to designing and implementing hands-on exhibits is the principle of Lifelong Kindergarten, developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten group from the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This approach is based on the idea that learning is most effective when it is an active process of constructing knowledge instead of a passive process of receiving information. The principle of Lifelong Kindergarten emphasizes hands-on, experiential learning, and encourages learners to actively construct their own understanding of new concepts and ideas through exploration, experimentation, and problem-solving. Mitch Resnick who is leading the Lifelong Kindergarten group says that school and the rest of life should become more like Froebel’s kindergarten – driven by what he calls the “Four Ps”: Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play. More details of his theory can be found in his book called Lifelong Kindergarten, Cultivating Creativity through Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play and maybe I will write a separate blog post on his principles in the future.[1][2][3]
In the context of hands-on exhibits, the principle of Lifelong Kindergarten can be used to design interactive experiences that are engaging and effective in making learning more fun and exciting. This might involve using technologies such as openFrameworks, Processing, Unity3D or vvvv – toolkits and programs that can be used to create interactive media and visualizations. [4][5][6]
Another related concept is the philosophy of serious games, which refers to the use of games and game-like approaches for the purposes beyond entertainment. In the context of hands-on exhibits, this philosophy can be used to create interactive exhibits that use game-like elements to teach specific concepts, engage visitors in problem-solving or decision-making activities. [7]
In my opinion the principles of Lifelong Kindergarten from MIT and the philosophy of serious games can be combined and a useful approach when designing and implementing hands-on exhibits. Especially in the context of science, technology and society, which I want to focus on, one can develop exhibits that are engaging and effective for playful learning to raise awareness and explain complex problems, difficult to talk about.
References:
[1] Lifelong Kindergarten, Cultivating Creativity through Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play; Mitchel Resnick MIT Media Lab; 2017
In this blog article I want to find out more about gamification and it’s implementation in learning environments.
What is gamification?
The most known definition of gamification was created by Deterding et al in the year 2011. The authors explained the term as “the use of game design elements in non-game contexts”. [1] The aim of the concept is to improve the participation, motivation, engagement and loyalty. [2] Also Gartner Hype Cycle included it in their annual Trends in the year 2013 and 2014 as “the business buzz-word” of the year. [3]
How is gamification implemented in learning environments?
Gamification of education is a tactic for boosting participation by including game components in a learning setting. The aim is to achieve levels of engagement comparable to those that games can typically produce. Gamification’s primary objectives are to improve certain skills, introduce learning objectives, engage students, maximize learning, assist behavior change, and socialize.[4]
In reality, there is a wide variety of aspects that games can include, and various players are drawn to different elements. Dr. Nick Yee, a researcher, suggested the following method for modeling the components of what drives gamers:
Action (e.g., objectives)
Social (e.g., competition)
Mastery (e.g., scoring)
Achievement (e.g., awards)
Immersion (e.g., roleplaying)
Creativity (e.g., customisation)
Even if the final product isn’t technically a game, a lesson has been gamified when educators incorporate characteristics like those listed into it. Some features, like scoring and badges, are often used.[5]
Bibliography
[1] Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., & Nacke, L. (2011). From game design elements to gamefulness: defining “Gamification”. MindTrek ’11, Proceedings from the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments, (pp. 9-15).
