- Keynote:
- Play to learn: How mobile games can be good for our kids? (Topic changed)
- Speaker:
- Dr. Ji-Lung Hsieh, Associate Professor of Graduate Institute of Library and Information Studies, National Taiwan Normal University
- Time:
- 14:30-15:30, 3 June 2016 (Friday)
- Venue:
- Rayson Huang Theatre, The University of Hong Kong
- Medium of instruction:
- English 英語
- Sub-theme:
- Effects of games or gamification
- Chair:
- Dr. Samuel Chu, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, HKU
Abstract
Video games have evolved strikingly over the past few decades. Tens of thousands of apps and games are developed every year. The uses of mobile phones have become closely tied to family daily life. Under these circumstances, we propose to select proper game apps for our kids, who are considered “digital natives” today, based on an analytic framework of fun. Fun and learning associated with digital game playing vary from genre to genre. There are clear goals, fixed rules and progressive skill challenges in puzzle games, while action-adventure games contain more elaborate backgrounds, more sophisticated rewards and leveling mechanisms, and complicated storylines for virtual role-playing and adventuring. By doing game analysis carefully and systematically, we believe that, with the participation of parents, playing games can facilitate the development of kids’ knowledge, eye-hand coordination, cognition, and creativity.
About the speaker
Ji-Lung Hsieh is an associate professor of Graduate Library and Information Studies in National Taiwan Normal University. He received his BS, MS, and PhD from Department of Computer Science in National Chiao-Tung University in Taiwan. He has a longstanding interest in applying computation methods in social science issues such as epidemic simulation, online community formation and network structure, public opinion polarization, time and society, video gamer modeling, and cyberpcyhology. For example, his PhD dissertation discussed about how to collect player behavior data in video games as a basis to model player behaviors to investigate in-game group dynamics (Chen, Sun, & Hsieh, 2008) and player strategies (Hsieh & Sun, 2008). More recently, he extends his interest to use human physiological signals to model their intentions and behaviors. For example, he used a cheap eye-tracking device to study way-finding and self-allocation behaviors via google map (funded by Ministry of Science and Technology, R.O.C.). He also collected individuals’ mobile phone sensors data to model routinely behaviors in their daily life.