Virtual collaborative gaming as social skills training for high‐functioning autistic children

Abstract

Using OpenSimulator, we constructed a 3D virtual playground that affords competition‐themed social gaming, role‐play gaming and design‐themed architectural gaming among high‐functioning autistic (HFA) children. A mixed‐method, multi‐case study was conducted to examine the association between the game task and setting features, learners' participation patterns, and their game‐based social interaction performance. Eight 10–14‐year‐old HFA children participated in the study. Data were collected via screen recording and observation of participants' gaming actions and reactions. We conducted a behavioral analysis with the recorded social interaction performance of participants in the virtual gaming sessions. The study found that virtual reality‐based gameplay promoted the social interaction performance of HFA children. The study findings also suggested that gameplay should be adapted based on the competencies and in‐situ reactions of learners.

Comparing videos and a 3D virtual environment for teaching school-related functional skills and behaviors to students with ADHD or developmental dyslexia, displaying challenging behaviors: a case study

“…Then again, further analysis of the results provided evidence that the VE was more effective than videos. Thus, the study's findings provide additional support to previous research which suggested that VEs do contribute to the improvement of behaviors/skills related to the school environment (e.g., Didehbani et al 2016;Ke and Moon 2018;Lan et al 2018;Stichter et al 2014;Wang et al 2017). On the other hand, most of the above-cited studies targeted children with ASD.…”

“…As for why VEs are considered effective in the context of special education, researchers have hypothesized that training in realistic VEs can foster the acquisition of skills as well as the transfer and application of these skills to real-life (Blume et al 2017;Ke and Moon, 2018). In fact, realist VEs were found to produce equally good results with therapies exposing participants to real-life conditions, as both expose subjects to similar sensory stimuli such as visual impressions and sounds, eliciting similar psychological responses (Bohil et al 2011).…”

“…Motivation is also a key feature of VEs. Individuals with special needs find the use of VEs a motivating as well as a rewarding experience (Didehbani et al 2016;Ke and Moon 2018), thus, a cycle of continuous use and practice is initiated. The enjoyment they feel also adds to the above (Ke and Moon 2018;Lan et al 2018).…”

“…Students with ASD also face severe challenges in their everyday school life. As a result, VEs simulating school environments have been effectively used for enhancing communication and social perception skills (e.g., Ke and Moon 2018;Stichter et al 2014), social understanding (Cheng et al 2015), how to make friends, confront abusers/bullies, and deal with social dilemmas (Didehbani et al 2016). The development of communication skills was the goal of another VE in which typical students collaborated with students with ASD (Parsons 2015).…”

The Influence of Game Character Appearance on Empathy and Immersion: Virtual Non-Robotic Versus Robotic Animals

“…Past research showed that simulation games can be used as powerful tools to develop learning and social skills through virtual characters (Hofstede et al, 2010; Ke & Moon, 2018). Moreover, simulation games are typically considered well-suited to support educational programs fostering empathy, because they allow players to adopt new perspectives in an immersive way (Bachen et al, 2012; Belman & Flanagan, 2010).…”