Resources

Stealth learning

This supplement for the Guardian newspaper was produced in June 2008 and looks at informal learning, innovative teaching and curriculum innovation.

Issues impacting games-based learning in formal secondary education

This paper proposes a model for analysing the ways in which teachers negotiate the tensions between games narratives and curriculum objectives in incorporating commercial off-the-shelf computer games into formal educational practice. Draft paper accepted by IJATL.

• pdf version   (pdf, 410KB)

Simulations, learning and the metaverse: changing cultures in legal education

Simulation is one of the major applications of the web in entertainment and training, but has so far received little attention from HE and FE. It is becoming increasingly clear that simulations can be used for educational purposes, but how can they be used most effectively with students? Draft paper accepted by JILT.

• pdf version   (pdf, 1MB)

Citizenship and new technology

One of citizED's series of briefing papers for student teachers, this paper suggests ways of using ICT that address both the implications of ICT use for individuals and society, as well as to allow children and young people to produce materials by using new digital tools. Briefing paper for citizED website.

Interdisciplinary collaboration: academia, research, industry and policy relations in the development of Wireless Sensing Networks in the US

Within US organisations and institutions emphasis is continually placed on multidisciplinary team collaboration, where the merging of interdisciplinary skills and expertise are considered driving forces of innovation and development. Draft chapter for report on DTI Global Watch Mission on Wireless Sensing Networks.

• pdf version   (pdf, 150KB)

Astroversity: an investigation into whether a computer game can provide a collaborative learning environment

This paper addresses the question: how effectively can one combine the features of a mainstream computer game with scaffolding to encourage reflection on collaboration, planning and analytic processes? Paper submitted to IFIP WCCE 2005.

• pdf version   (pdf, 202KB)

Hail to the thief: the appropriation of music in the digital age

Within the 21st century new digital technologies are reinventing how we create, distribute and share music. This chapter attempts to explore how digital technologies are used and repurposed by people to create new forms of musical expression and connection. In: O'Hara, K and Brown, B (forthcoming in 2005). Consuming Music Together: social and collaborative aspects of music consumption technologies. Springer

• pdf version   (pdf, 181KB)

Life on the edge: supporting collaboration in location-based experiences

The authors study a collaborative location-based game in which groups of 'lions' hunt together on a virtual savannah that is overlaid on an open playing field, propose techniques for extending locales to support more flexible grouping and also discuss the broader implications for location-based applications in general. Paper presented at CHI 2005 (April 2-7, Portland, Oregon, USA).

• pdf version   (pdf, 521KB)

Astroversity: the development of a network learning game that teaches collaborative techniques

This paper describes the design and development of a networked learning game: Astroversity. The paper discusses the game's objectives and the iterative design approach, including the ways in which early collaboration with users impacted on the development. Draft paper accepted by CELDA 2004.

• pdf version   (pdf, 110KB)

Savannah: mobile gaming and learning?

This paper reports a study which attempts to explore how using mobile technologies in direct physical interaction with space and with other players can be combined with principles of engagement and self-motivation to create a powerful and engaging learning experience. Published in JCAL, Vol 20, pp399-409.

• pdf version   (pdf, 373KB)

Different worlds? A comparison of young people's home and school ICT use

This paper explores young people's access to and use of computers in the home and at school, discussing: children's current use of computers in the home and in school; changing patterns of computer use in home and school between 2001 and 2003; and the impact of age, gender and socio-economic area on young people's computer use in home and school. Published in JCAL, Vol 20, pp440-455.

• pdf version   (pdf, 227KB)

'It's in the mix baby': exploring how meaning is created within music technology collaborations

Across all subject areas, the proliferation of ICTs has changed the nature of learning. Music education now includes the use of tools such as programmable keyboards and computers, as key learning and music making instruments. Despite such usage there is relatively little understanding of the kinds of musical experiences and interactions such instruments might support. To be published in Collaborative Creativity (forthcoming 2004/5), edited by Dorothy Miell and Karen Littleton (The Open University), Free Association Books.

• pdf version   (pdf, 239KB)

"How did it know we weren't talking?": an investigation into the impact of self-assessments & feedback in a group activity

This paper describes a model designed to support the development of children's group skills by explicitly scaffolding reflection on collaboration and providing feedback using the children's self-assessment of these skills. Published in JCAL, Vol 20, pp205-211.

• pdf version   (pdf, 168KB)

Appropriating educational new media: ventriloquism in Virtual Puppeteers and parody in Tableaux

The proliferation of digital technologies in recent years has changed the conventional notion of what 'literacy' means, and led to much speculation on an educational future in which children grow up 'multiliterate'. This draft paper examines two Futurelab prototypes and asks what literacy practices were mobilised by the young people who used them.

• pdf version   (pdf, 165KB)

Screenplay: Children and computing in the home

Current school-age children are seen as the first 'net generation' with the resources of the world at their fingertips. This book, based on one of the most in-depth research projects ever carried out on the use of children's technologies in the home, questions this assumption. Published by Routledge (2003).

More than 'just a game': the implications for schools of children's computer games communities

At the present time there is significant interest in the application of games technology within educational settings. Much of this attention, however, is focused on the games interface. This paper argues that formal education settings might also benefit from understanding the social practices that develop around computer games play outside school. Published in Education, Communication and Information, Vol 4, pp 253-268.

• pdf version   (pdf, 187KB)

Bridging or broadening the digital divide: interfacing the experience of learning for the next decade

This paper looks at the barriers to learning that children may encounter in an online environment and discusses how interface design aesthetics can promote inclusivity and accessibility. A research paper for the Becta website.

What do we mean by the digital divide? Exploring the roles of access, relevance and resource networks

This paper focuses on the question; 'what are some of the factors that may contribute to regular computer use?'. It then goes on to examine the ways in which these different factors may inter-relate to disadvantage or privilege different sectors of the population. One of a collection of papers from the Toshiba/Becta Digital Divide Seminar held in August 2002.

Beyond language: exploring the potential of multi-modal research

Studies of literacy in the digital age increasingly highlight the need to pay attention to the multi-modality of children's meaning-making activities. The research techniques that will be discussed in this paper derive from two major ESRC projects - ScreenPlay and InterActive Education. Draft discussion paper presented at IFIP conference, Manchester, July 2002.

• pdf version   (pdf, 293KB)