Τίτλος:
Towards an Online 3D Gaming and Simulation Environment for Teachers in
Special Education
Γλώσσες Τεκμηρίου:
Αγγλικά
Περίληψη:
A recent report by the Social Protection Committee on the social
dimension in the EU 2020 strategy, stated that greater emphasis must be
put on innovating the training of human capital to be responsible for
improving the quality of life for vulnerable people throughout Europe,
including persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Education plays a pivotal role in this process and presents many
challenges, especially with regard to the practice learning. However,
arranging practice learning for students carries the challenge of
finding qualified mentors/practice assessors, finding sufficient numbers
of placements for all students, and addressing the risks associated with
the safety and well-being of students and trainees. An innovative
approach to experiencing practice learning is through simulation- and
game-based education where students engage in an imitation of a
real-world scenario in playful ways. An immediate advantage of
interactive simulations and games is the provision of risk-free
environments in cases where consequences are too costly or hazardous in
real life; with a simulated practice game there are no consequences
outside the boundaries of the game environment. Responding to the above
challenges, the Play2Do project (http://www.play2do.eu) develops a 3D
gaming environment that provides a safe and readily accessible
environment where students studying to become teachers of people with
intellectual disabilities can learn by interacting with non player
characters in a simulation of real world scenarios. The approach uses a
more modern, constructivist approach to education and represents an
example of innovative education in a digital era, particularly a
computer-games era. The core constituent of the gaming/simulation
environment are the real-world scenarios. In our work, we engaged
special education experts from the UK, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria and
Cyprus and created first a sound understanding of what exact needs are
addressed by the simulation environment and second a set of six
well-defined scenarios. For instance, dealing with a case in the autism
spectrum, the player faces certain behaviour patterns in a simulation
setting and finds his/her way through the scenes by interpreting the
situation and responding appropriately. A key research finding is that
gaming and virtual simulations in practice learning may be better used
as a tool to give teachers a certain level of confidence and knowledge
but not as a replacement of actual practice.
Συγγραφείς:
Milis, George
Gregoriou, Marianna
Mandenaki, Katerina and
Tsvetkova, Nina
Goranova, Maria
Di Concetto, Francesca and
Connolly, Thomas
Εκδότης:
CAROL I NATL DEFENCE UNIV PUBLISHING HOUSE
Τίτλος συνεδρίου:
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 14TH INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE ELEARNING
AND SOFTWARE FOR EDUCATION: ELEARNING CHALLENGES AND NEW HORIZONS, VOL 2
Λέξεις-κλειδιά:
3D games; simulation environment; virtual practice learning; teachers
training; intellectual disabilities
DOI:
10.12753/2066-026X-18-100
