Claire Dormann

Humour in game‐based learning

This paper focuses on the benefits and utilisation of humour in digital game‐based learning. Through the activity theory framework, we emphasise the role of humour as a mediating tool which helps resolve contradictions within the activity system from conjoining educational objectives within the computer game. We then discuss the role of humour within the digital game and its advantages for the learning process, in sustaining emotional and cognitive engagement, as well as stimulating social presence. We argue that humour makes the game experience more enjoyable, through emotional and persuasive arguments and characters that are more believable and interesting, thus in turn stimulating affective learning. We hope that through designing an engaging role‐play, we can sustain personalised knowledge that encourages critical thinking.

Humorous Maps: Explorations of an Alternative Cartography

Maps are generally viewed as functional artefacts. They are considered accurate and useful conveyors of information, helping individuals find their way, understand environments, and inform decisions. However, maps also have a strongly pleasurable component. They generate and support narratives, they are tied to emotions, memories and adventures, and sometimes they make people laugh. In this paper, we engage with a very specific form of alternative cartography: humorous maps. We begin with an interdisciplinary review of the general theories and functions of humor to discuss the three major impediments of the use of humor in cartography: (1) the lack of recognition of the potential of humor; (2) the complexity of humor creation; and (3) the scientific orientation of modern cartography. We then turn to alternative forms of cartography to emphasize the function of humor in mapmaking through a chronological review of some examples of humorous maps. Through this review, we demonstrate that humorous maps caricature scientific cartography by drawing on the latters persuasive power. In this sense, humorous maps can destabilize the scientific and technological bases of contemporary cartography. Freed from scientific constraints, humorous maps provide societal commentaries rather than geospatial facts. We conclude by arguing that humor—along with other forms of expression—can be combined with scientific maps to generate hybrid forms of cartography; these new representations could help us to represent anew the worlds we inhabit.

Live Hypernarrative and Cybercartography: You Are Here, Now

AbstractThis article explores some of the potentialities of narration in the context of cybercartography. We have developed a new kind of dynamic or “live” form of hypernarrative, in which the content and structure of stories is determined by live information. This system would ultimately allow the creation of hypermedia narratives capable of mining public databases on the fly in order to customize and integrate narrative material appropriate to the users particular temporal and geospatial context. Unlike other forms of hypermedia, a live hypertext narrative can actually be different every time it is read. More akin to an improvised performance than to a recorded one, a live hypertext changes depending on where and when it is accessed, and on what is happening in the world and on the Web. Live hypertext thus presents a new development in the history of writing that challenges our inherited notions of the stability, fixity, and even authority of printed text. The role of live data and the spatial and temp...

Cultural Representations in Web Design: Differences in Emotions and Values

Understanding cultural characteristics of websites is becoming increasingly important in a global context. Hofstede’s theories are proposed as a framework for studying cultural differences in websites. An exploratory study based on Hofstede’s Masculine-Feminine (MAS) dimension was conducted. We wanted to investigate differences in emotional expressions and values between homepages from countries with different MAS orientations. As emotion is an important aspect of Web design and subject to cultural differences, we wanted to see if users did perceive emotion variations between those homepages. Results from the study emphasize differences between sites belonging to the two MAS poles, both for values and emotions and, in particular, that different types of emotions were identified in relation to homepages.

Role-Playing Games in Cybercartography: Multiple Perspectives and Critical Thinking

This article discusses the use of computer games in cybercartography and how computer game characteristics can enhance the design of cybercartographic products. We focus on investigating multiple perspectives through role play in a geospatial virtual environment. The ways in which literature and film support multiple perspectives can guide us in our design efforts for developing cybercatographic atlases. We explore the potential of games for presenting multiple points of view in an environmental context through the modification of an existing computer game that includes quest narratives and character interaction as well as role play. Active engagement with different characters and the environment in role-playing games encourages exploration and learning, and these interactions give a player the opportunity to discover diverse points of view and develop different ways of solving problems. Multiple points of view in cybercartography can offer a plurality of voices on critical issues. In particular, information presented in maps can stimulate ideas and encourage critical thinking. This leads us to conclude that the engaging and emotional dimensions of computer games can be combined with the multiple perspectives they offer to attract new atlas users and to provide them with a more critical perspective on geographic and environmental information.

COMPUTER GAMES AS HOMEWORK

We are interested in exploring how entertainment in games can be combined with educational goals to make a compelling experience. In this paper we present our design study for the development of a mod game, Antarctic NWN. We first present the background for the game, objectives, and then discuss the gameplay of Antarctic NWN. We then explore issues that influence the design of a gripping game. One important issue is the relation between reality, simulation and game word. Then we focus on enhancing emotional involvement. Emotion is especially relevant to role-play game as it draws players into the story, and supports aesthetic understanding. We also look more specifically at the role of humour in this context. Humour enhances learning as well as providing a more pleasurable experience. In our quest to understand how games can both delight and instruct, we review the environment in which our game might be played, within the classroom or as family entertainment and describe different scenarios of use.

Making players laugh: the value of humour in computer games

Humour is an important aspect of human communication and interaction, and it has cognitive, social, and affective functions. Yet there seems little humour in videogames, even while Machinima draws strongly on comical principles. Humour seems to be an important source of pleasure for game players, and its importance in videogames should be re-evaluated. This brief paper introduces our study of the experience of humour in videogames, and explores the value of humour for design.