Massimiliano Schembri

ENACT: Virtual Experiences of Negotiation

In this chapter, we will describe the methodology and the characteristics of an educational tool in the form of a 3D, single-player EduRPG to assess and train the user’s negotiation and communication skills in realistic scenarios. The tool presented in this chapter has been created in the context of the European Union-funded ENACT project (54330l-LLP-l-2013-l-UK-KA3-KA3MP). The acronym stands for Enhancing Negotiation skills through online Assessment of Competencies and interactive mobile Training, and it aims to cross the boundaries between educational games and ITSs, merging the importance of an online and dynamical learner assessment with the intrinsic and extrinsic motivating environment of serious games. ENACT is implemented by a consortium of six partners in four different countries: the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Turkey.

Building Up Serious Games with an Artificial Life Approach: Two Case Studies

Artificial Life (AL) studies how to reproduce life-like phenomena exploring the life as could be in artificial systems (software, hardware, or hybrid). This challenging scientific perspective has produced a number of programming techniques often applied to solve concrete problems (Data Analysis, Process Optimization, Social Simulations, etc.). Computer Gaming is a field where AL techniques are applied. There are many successfully Alife products for pure entertainment (e.g., Tamagotchi and Creatures) and for educational objectives (e.g., Avida-Ed). However, we notice that all AL-Based games share a general flavor: they refer in someway to biological scenarios. In other terms, they represent often a sort of popularization of AL experiments designed for non-scientists. In this paper we argue that AL programming techniques (or more basically bio-inspired computational algorithms) could be used to develop generic games (e.g., sports, adventures, business games, etc.) without any relation with a biological perspective. We describe BreedBot and Learn2Lead, two Serious Games that we think could be paradigmatic examples about how to use AL techniques in different ways and fields that could be very different from their biological roots. BreedBot and its sequels (BestBot and BrianFarm) have been developed to disseminate the core-concepts of Autonomous Robotics and Learn2Lead has been developed to teach Psychological Theories of Teamwork in Small and Medium Enterprises. In BreedBot, AL techniques are used to develop the player–game interaction and they are explicitly visible by the user (he/she has to train/evolve a population of artificial agents). At the opposite side, Lear2lead has an old style appearance but it hides an AL engine. In this case AL techniques are used to model the game mechanics (e.g., artificial team dynamics and avatars’ behavior). Both games are also able to be played online (www.nac.unina.it/bestbot2 and www.unina.l2l.it).

Learn to Lead: An Educational Game for Leaders to Be

In this chapter, we will describe Learn to Lead (L2L), an educational role-playing game to train about leadership. It has been realised within the framework of the Leonardo Lifelong Learning programme, supported by the European Commission (502903-LLP-1-2009-1-IT-LEONARDO-LMP). It involved a consortium of 6 partners from France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom with different expertise related to training in soft skills, cognitive technologies and artificial intelligence application to education, the use of ICT to affect behaviour, “serious gaming” and design of online games. Here, we will describe the design process that gave birth to Learn to Lead.

Methodology and Design of Technologically Enhanced Educational Role-Playing Games for Soft Skills Training

A wide range of information and communication technologies can be used to develop EduTechRPGs, and a number of pedagogical strategies can be applied, mainly developed for favouring different educational objectives and to meet specific technical requirements. Although formal categorisation of those approaches and models is a difficult exercise, in this chapter, we will attempt to present a rational view of the characteristics of EduTechRPGs from both technological and educational viewpoints. In particular, we will try to draw a general picture of the elements which, to different degrees, characterise the variety of models and implementations observed in modern EduTechRPGs. The categorisation that we will design in the following pages cannot be exhaustive, because such categories and denominations only aim to rationalise a complex and multifaceted panorama. Moreover, it should be noted that some of the categories might also be applied to more traditional implementations of EduRPGs and, to a certain extent, to analyse the characteristics of any type of game, especially for exploiting the educational potentiality of a given implementation and to identify the possible domain of applications. In particular, with the help of such reflections, we aim to introduce a unique methodology and the various elements to be taken into account in the process of designing and implementing an EduTechRPGs, both from technological and educational perspectives. The same categories will be used for embracing the experiences that will be discussed in the following chapters in a common framework. Such an exercise is particularly interesting when looking back to the technological and educational endeavours of the various implementations presented in Chap. 2 and looking at their characteristics from the perspective presented in the following pages.

Agent Based Modelling to Build Serious Games: The Learn to Lead Game

In the present paper we describe how to build up digital Serious Games (SG) adopting an Agent Based Modelling (ABM) approach. In particular the design of an Agent Based digital Serious Game must address two different levels: the shell and the core. To better explain this design pathway we will introduce the Learn to Lead project that developed an useful educational/training tool about leadership.

Traditional Settings and New Technologies for Role-Play Implementation

It is widely recognised that role play is particularly suited to experiential leaning. It is a powerful tool that enables participants to draw into an experience and move the learning experience from an impersonal, theoretical and notional form into interactive and participative dimensions.

DREAD-ED: Improving Communication Skills in Critical Situations

In this chapter, we will describe an example of ICT rule-based EduRPG designed to train soft skills in general and primarily focusing on communication in the context of disaster management.

Eutopia: Transferring Psycho-pedagogical Role Play to the Multiplayer Digital Stage

In this chapter, we will describe an EduTech-RPG platform called Eutopia, used to teach and develop a various range of soft skills by implementing ad hoc educational role-playing games. Results and experiences from a number of European projects that have applied the Eutopia platform will be presented and discussed, along with strengths and limitations of the tool.