This Disruptive Byte will showcase approaches and outcomes from key game and gamification projects; Beaconing, Rage and Magellan

Each 10 minute presentation will discuss:
• Reusable components
• New ways of developing gamified lesson planning
• Use of pervasive and location based technologies

Dr Sylvester Arnab

Reader in Game Science
Disruptive Media Learning Lab (DMLL), Coventry University, UK

Dr. Sylvester Arnab is a Reader in Game Science at Coventry University, co-leading research at the Disruptive Media Learning Lab (DMLL). With more than 10 years research experience in simulation, serious games and gamification combined, his research interests include gameful, playful and persuasive designs that transform ordinary tasks into extraordinary experiences. Sylvester is currently coordinating projects funded by the EU Commission, HEFCE and NEWTON, such as the Horizon 2020 BEACONING project, HEFCE GameChangers and NEWTON CreativeCulture. He is also leading DMLL’s contribution to the H2020 C4Rs project. He currently has over 80 publications and has a portfolio with a total value of in excess of £7 million research funding. He is consistently ranked in the top 10 of the Gamification Guru Power 100 (Rise.Global). He delivers regular keynotes at national and international events related to serious games, gamification and technology-enhanced learning. https://sylvesterarnab.wordpress.com/speaking/

BEACONING stands for Breaking Educational Barriers with Contextualised, Pervasive and Gameful Learning and focuses on ‘anytime anywhere’ learning by exploiting pervasive, context-aware and gamified techniques and technologies, framed under the Problem-Based Learning approach.

Main objectives
1. Integrate technologies, pedagogical and social perspectives
2. Develop, implement and validate the BEACONING platform
3. Explore and measure the level of engagement, effectiveness and impact

Professor Paul Hollins leads work on the Realising and Applied Gaming EcoSystem (RAGE) project fro the University of Bolton. Paul was Director of the institute of Educational Cybernetics (IEC) and the innovation support Centre fro Jisc the Centre for Educational Technology and Interoperability Standards (CETIS) and has worked in Educational technology for the last two decades. Prior to this Paul was a Director for an international Digital Games Publisher . He has written and presented on themes sound digital games, educational Technology and the Arts.

Evolution or Revolution? The future of the European Games Based Learning Industry

RAGE, Realising an Applied Gaming Eco-system, aims to develop, transform and enrich advanced technologies from the leisure games industry into self-contained gaming assets that support game studios at developing applied games easier, faster and more cost-effectively. These assets will be available along with a large volume of high-quality knowledge resources through a self-sustainable Ecosystem, which is a social space that connects research, gaming industries, intermediaries, education providers, policy makers and end-users.

The presentation will discuss some initial findings of the project and how these might inform, shedding new light on the future development of Applied Games industry in Europe. In a follow up discussion, we will explore possible business models and the possibilities and issues for developing and sustaining the RAGE Eco-system.

Petros Lameras

Petros is a Senior Lecturer in Serious Games at the School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics, Coventry University and he co-leads the School’s games tech / serious game research group. He is also a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Education Arcade lab. Petros is leading the EU-FP7 project MAGELLAN for developing location-based experiences, the Erasmus + projects: STEAM for multimodal teacher training through serious games and GOAL for developing gamified learning experiences for dual career athletes. He is also leading an industrial research project with Pfizer for developing a board game for children with haemophilia. His research interests span the areas of games science research in general and within the research strand of investigating how learning and teaching in Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) may be enhanced with the use of games. Teaching and learning aspects in relation to measuring, visualising and analysing data (in-game learning analytics) on student’s deeper learning distinctive approaches as well as exploring metrics and indicators of tracking and monitoring teacher’s ways of guiding learning and enhancing in-game assessment (teaching analytics). Petros is currently delivering at Coventry University the module mobile games development in undergraduate computer science students where they learn how to ideate, design, develop, market and commercialise mobile games. Petros has been awarded the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) award in UK for currying out research on features of serious games design encompassing an attempt to match game categories / mechanics with learning attributes. He has also been awarded a Collaborative Research Fellowship award from Coventry University for conducting inter-disciplinary research with the MIT. He has also been granted the Study Visits Programme part of the LLP for exploring the theme of gamification in education and training with a group of specialists and policy makers across Europe. He is currently supervising four PhD students, one at University of Warwick and three at Coventry University in the field of game science research in various domains. He has published over 30 scientific journal and conference papers, he has reviewed journal papers from high-impact journals in educational technology and he is member of scientific committees of high-impact technology-enhanced learning and gamification conferences. Finally, he has received recognition as Fellow of the Higher Education Academy for driving improvement in teaching quality.

MAGELLAN’s overall vision is to enhance the creativity of game designers by establishing a web platform for cost-effectively authoring, publishing, executing, and experiencing location based games. This unique integrated web-based infrastructure will be targeted at both skilled professional authors, but also at everyday authors without deep technical skills. MAGELLAN will be underpinned by scientific research into the principles and technologies of creative and location-based experiences in order to ensure that the platform is innovative while also extending our broader scientific understanding of creativity.