No abstract

This paper, reporting on research at an early stage, aims to analyse the impact of badges when used in conjunction with an introductory tutorial that aims to help users getting to know its most important areas and functionalities. With that in mind, a test session was designed, asking learners new to SAPO Campus platform (an institutionally supported social Web platform), to complete a tutorial, discovering the existence of badges and how they could be earned and associated with their profile page, visible to the community. Learners were also asked about the impact of badges on their desire to complete the tutorial, and their general attitude towards being rewarded for completing several actions inside and outside the platform. Preliminary data reveals that learners considered that badges had a significant positive contribute to make them feel more engaged and motivated to complete the tutorial.

No abstract

The Gamers4Nature (G4N) project aims to develop and implement a set of strategies that encourage younger audiences (i.e. upper-secondary and undergraduate students) to participate in the creation of mobile games, while promoting knowledge about environmental preservation. This paper introduces one of these strategies, the G4N portal-repository. The portal has a three-fold objective: (1) to serve as the project’s online presence, introducing its goals and objectives; (2) to host the project’s materials and main outcomes; and (3) to act as a repository for the games developed along game design and Game Jam sessions. The development of the project’s online portal was guided by the need to establish a connection with a physical toolkit that was developed in the scope of the project to help users build their games and to reflect the feeling of gaming and the non-linearity of gaming activities. Taking into consideration the importance of developing a user-friendly interface, the portal was developed following a User-Centered Design approach. Although further testing is still needed, the results of the UX Expert Review - the first testing stage - confirmed the portal’s potential of providing a meaningful and relevant experience to its users.

No abstract