Applied Games and Gamification Drivers for Change

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1 July 2015 Applied Games and Gamification Drivers for Change Editorial Applied Games and Gamification Drivers for Change In-depth Computerized Simulations of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Attitude Change: PeaceMaker vs. Global Conflicts Collaborative Digital Games as Mediation Tool to Foster Intercultural Integration in Primary Dutch Schools A Room With a Green View Using and Creating Games for Sustainability Education To Game or not to Game a pilot study on the use of gamification for team allocation in entrepreneurship education From the field An Experiment to Assess Students Engagement in a Gamified Social Learning Environment What really works in gamification? Short answer: we don t know, so let s start thinking like experimenters. The JamToday Network Well-being Focused Gaming : Individualized Engagement with Plush Toys, Avatars, and Personal Robots Design paper Design Principles for Social Impact Games is a digital publication on by openeducationeuropa.eu, a portal created by the European Commission to promote the use of ICT in education and training. Edited by P.A.U. Education, S.L.. editorialteam[at]openeducationeuropa[dot]eu, ISSN An initiative of the The texts published in this journal, unless otherwise indicated, are subject to a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial-NoDerivativeWorks 3.0 Unported licence. They may be copied, distributed and broadcast provided that the author and the e-journal that publishes them,, are cited. Commercial use and derivative works are not permitted. The full licence can be consulted on

2 Editorial Applied Games and Gamification Drivers for Change In this issue of we explore different approaches and models that spark creative potential of people and bring together interdisciplinary teams to collaborate and produce applied games and gamified apps. This issue is a collaboration with the ECGBL mini track on the same theme (Pivec & Torrent, 2015). The selected papers explore the basic requirements and success factors for applied games and gamified approaches. We open with Kampf, who compares two games designed to promote a better understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is followed by De la Hera et al., who consider the potential of games for multicultural education. Both of these papers illustrate the use of existing commercial games for education with the purpose of driving change in perception, understanding and behaviour. By contrast, Coakley et al. describe the design and development of a purpose built game and the associated pedagogy aimed at promoting sustainable living; Green Games (Green Games, 2015) is another EU funded project to develop skills and competences and areas of food, waste water and energy management in tourism and hospitality area. The next three papers focus on gamification. Basaiawmoit et al. demonstrate the value of gamification for allocating students to teams - a hard problem in collaborative learning. Simões et al. consider the impact of gamification on engagement in an online course. Lieberoth asks what really works in gamification and comes up with some provocative answers. Crombie presents the Jam Today network (JamToday, 2015), an initiative of 25 European Universities, Innovation Centers, Learning Labs and Business Incubators financed by the EU ICT PSP programme. In 48 hour game jams Jam Today activates creative potential of different stakeholders to produce games for learning and resources for teachers on themes like eskills, Health & Wellbeing and Maths. Libin presents examples of the therapeutic potential of playful interaction for the elderly. We conclude with Kayali et al., who offer design guidance for creating social impact games. These papers demonstrate the potential of applied games and gamified approaches as drivers of change in various organizations, in the field of education as well as in the society as whole. REFERENCES: Green Games (2015). URL: [ ]. JamToday (2015). URL: accessed Pivec, M. (Ed.) (2014): Serious Game Design Summer School. FH JOANNEUM Pivec, M.; Torrent, J. (2015), ECGBL Conference Mini track on Applied Games and Gamification Drivers for Change, Pivec_Torrent.pdf accessed: SGDSS14 (2014). URL: accessed: Maja Pivec, Guest Editor, FH JOANNEUM, University of Applied Sciences, Graz (Austria) Yishay Mor,, Editor in Chief Tapio Koskinen,, Director of the Editorial Board ISSN: n.º July

3 Computerized Simulations of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Attitude Change: PeaceMaker vs. Global Conflicts Authors Ronit Kampf Tel Aviv University Ph.D. Tel Aviv, Israel Two cross-cultural experimental studies examined the effects of PeaceMaker (PM) and Global Conflicts (GC) on attitude change regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. PM and GC are role-playing computerized simulations of this conflict. 248 undergraduate students from Turkey, Israel, Palestine and the US participated in the two studies. They filled in questionnaires measuring attitudes before and after playing the games. Results suggested that participants playing GC became more impartial toward the 2012 Gaza operation than those playing PM. Second, participants playing GC became more impartial regarding long lasting historical issues in the conflict (e.g., Jerusalem, settlements, refugees) compared to those playing PM. Finally, stronger effects were found in attitude change for secondary/third parties (i.e., Turks and Americans) compared to directly involved parties (i.e., Israeli-Jews and Palestinians). The results show that computerized simulations are useful as part of peace education training, but the game characteristics may be crucial in determining whether the players gain the perspective of both sides or not. Tags PeaceMaker, Global Conflicts, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Peace Education, Computerized Simulations I don t know what an Israeli of my age thinks about the situation This game opened my mind to see other viewpoints concerning the conflict. (Palestinian participant) I have a definite attitude toward the other side.that`s interesting. I can`t say that my views have changed completely but this game has raised many questions It is impossible to regard all Palestinians as one and the same, I suppose.once when I heard Arabs mentioned I became afraid, but now I remember the enjoyable game I have a dilemma. (Israeli-Jewish participant) 1. Introduction Intractable inter-group conflicts are highly resistant to resolution, involve well-entrenched hostile perceptions of the out-group, drag on for an extended period of time, and are prone to escalation over and over again (Bar-Tal, 2013; Coleman 2000; Kriesberg, Northrup and Thorson, 1989). In such conflicts, hostile attitudes and images of the enemy are passed on from one generation to the next with the learning of the conflict narratives embedded in various socialization agents. Conflict narratives often promote an ethnocentric view of past or present events and people on the two sides hardly communicate with each other directly (Bar-Tal, 1997). Peace education is one of the key theories of change and practical tools that have been developed by conflict resolution and political psychology disciplines to change attitudes ISSN: n.º July

4 and reframe conflict narratives in order to resolve conflicts (Salomon, 2008; Salomon and Cairns, 2009). Peace education often has the goals of reducing inter-group prejudice and negative stereotyping, promoting inter-group empathy and understanding, building trust, and creating awareness about the root causes of the conflict and about non-violence. Promoting and facilitating inter-group contact and educating the participants on various aspects of conflicts and peace-building are among the common activities used in peace education initiatives in order to attain these goals (Salomon, 2008). The prevalence of the Internet in the last two decades has added a new dimension to peace education activities, and provided a new set of tools intended to reduce inter-group conflict. Web based role-playing games, computer chat rooms and social media began to be used as another potential venue to educate members of adversarial groups about one another. These new tools can be an alternative medium to accomplish the goals of peace education, as articulated by Salomon (2008). With the help of computer mediated games and forums it may be that people can learn to legitimate the other s collective narrative and see events through both lenses; critically examine their in-group s contribution to the conflict and challenge their perception of sole victimhood; and perhaps develop empathy in order to appreciate the other s pain and loss and generate mutual humanization. The present studies examined the use and effectiveness of technology in educating about peace building. There is very little research on this question, and very few assessments have involved cross-cultural experimental studies (e.g., Bhappu et al, 2009; Ebner, 2008; Matz and Ebner, 2010). Two cross-cultural experiments were conducted using PeaceMaker (PM) and Global Conflicts (GC) which are role-playing computerized simulations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Buch and Egenfeldt-Nielsen, 2007; Burak, Keylor and Sweeney, 2005). The studies were specifically interested in the following question: Will there be differences in attitude change between GC and PM? Attitude change is considered as one of the most important outcomes in peace building activities as it is often regarded as the prerequisite of developing empathy toward the other (Bar-Tal, 1997; 2013; Maoz and McCauley, 2005; Suleiman, 2004). Compared to traditional methods (e.g., face-to-face encounters), digital methods such as GC and PM were found to be more successful as tools for teaching about the other for youth, particularly in conflictual contexts, because playful activities can reduce the tension and charged atmosphere around this issue (Weiss, Stock, Fondazione, Eisikovitz, & Koren, 2011). In addition, play is naturally conducive to learning, focusing on learning by doing and learning by experiencing, which were found preferable as inter-group intervention methods (Maoz, 2011; Salomon, 2008). Finally, young people are native to the online world, so they speak the digital language fluently (Brenner & Smith, 2013; Palfrey & Gasser, 2008). Hence, young people may prefer new media technologies as a source of information about political issues, and consume online content more efficiently (Gasser, Cortesi, Malik, & Lee, 2012). In recent years, specific computer games have been manufactured in order to teach students about different skills pertaining to conflicts (see game_categories/conflict/). Still only few studies have been undertaken on their effectiveness. Recently, Gonzalez, Saner, & Eisenberg (2012), Cuhadar & Kampf (2014) and Kampf & Cuhadar (in press) conducted experimental studies with PM and GC to find out whether computer games can generate new learning about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They found that the two games were effective in teaching about this conflict, showing that it is possible to use computer-based simulations as a peace education tool in order to teach young people a less stereotypical and less ethnocentric view of the conflict. The present studies differ from the abovementioned ones for a few key reasons. First, they provide empirical evidence for the effectiveness of GC compared to PM in motivating learning and teaching skills required for peace building. Second, as mentioned earlier, previous studies have already indicated GC s and PM s effectiveness as a pedagogical tool in teaching conflict assessment and resolution (e.g., Buch & Egenfeldt- Nielsen, 2007; Gonzalez et al., 2012; Raphael et al., 2012), but they mainly used self-reporting (e.g., how much do you think you learned from the game? ) and game score as measures of learning outcomes, while the present studies use measures of attitude change. Third, the present studies use two measures for assessing attitudes and perspective taking in the conflict. The first one examines long lasting historical issues in the conflict (e.g., Jerusalem, settlements, refugees), while the second focuses on events that were current at the time the study was conducted, receiving extensive media coverage and public debate (e.g., the Gaza operation in November 2012). Finally, the present studies add a cross-cultural assessment to the two games by having students from different cultural ISSN: n.º July

5 and political backgrounds. The two studies were conducted with Israeli-Jewish, Palestinian, American, and Turkish undergraduate students, assessing the effectiveness of the games by differentiating between direct parties to the conflict (i.e., Israeli-Jews and Palestinians) and secondary/third parties (i.e., Turks and Americans), an issue that has hardly been examined in the context of intractable conflicts like the Israeli- Palestinian situation. The studies expect that game effects with regard to attitude change will be stronger for secondary/third parties as opposed to directly involved parties. Attitude change can occur through cognitive, affective, or behavioural processes, with not all three required at the same time (Eagly & Chaiken, 1998, p. 272). Until recently, research on attitude change has focused more on cognitive processes such as the link between attitude consistency and attitude change (Eagly & Chaiken, 1998). An important finding has been that people holding more extreme attitudes (e.g., direct parties to the conflict) are more likely to resist change through social influence (Eagly & Chaiken, 1998, p. 287). When attitudes are linked to self-defining values and reference groups, which is often the case in intractable conflicts like the Israeli-Palestinian situation, they are very resistant to change. Therefore, secondary/third may have less salient and weaker attitudes concerning the conflict, as opposed to directly involved parties who have more salient attitudes which are more resistant to change (Eagly & Chaiken, 1998). As mentioned earlier, both GC and PM are role-playing computerized simulations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which are seen as an especially preferable method for generating new insight, empathy, and perspective taking (Baylouny, 2009; Williams, 2006).Yet there are some key differences between the two games which may impact their learning outcomes. First, recent studies have indicated that role-playing computer games that involve winning such as PM (unlike GC) enhance positive learning outcomes, because they are highly motivating, capture the learners attention and engage the players in the learning activity (e.g., Bogost, 2007; Peng, Lee and Heeter, 2010). Second, PM focuses on the perspectives of the Israeli Prime Minister and the Palestinian President on the Middle Eastern situation, while GC focuses on the hardships experienced by both Israeli soldiers and Palestinian people in the conflict. The latter may provide a more personal and human perspective on the situation than the former. Therefore, young people like those participating in the present studies may find it easier to identify and empathize with, resulting in more positive effects on attitude change (Bar-Tal, Halpern and Pliskin, in press; Schori-Eyal, Halperin and Bar-Tal, in press). Finally, GC may be a more immersive game environment than PM. The immersion effect creates an environment in which the players submerge themselves and progressively increase their attention and concentration in this environment, resulting in more positive effects on attitude change (Raphael et al, 2012; Yan and Cordry, 2011) The PeaceMaker game PM is a computer game inspired by historical real-world events ( A player can assume the role of the Israeli Prime Minister or of the Palestinian President and take various decisions with the aim of satisfying Israeli and Palestinian constituents. PM developed by ImpactGames in the US with the help of advisors in Israel, Palestine and the US (Burak et al., 2005). PM can be played in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. The player can select between calm, tense, or violent conflict levels, differing in the frequency of events that appear on the screen and are beyond her control. In order to deal with these events a player can select actions pertaining to three main categories: security, political and construction, each branching into a variety of subcategories such as checkpoints and speeches. Players accumulate points for both sides according to the actions taken in the game. The scores, calculated by a function within the game, are related to polls registering the level of satisfaction of different nations, of political groups within the country and around the world in response to the leader s actions. In order to resolve the conflict in the game, scores for both Israeli and Palestinian sides must reach 100 points each. If either score drops below -50, the player loses the game. Changes in the scores were determined by the developers, based on a series of tests carried out with international experts The Global Conflicts game GC is an award-winning educational game developed by Serious Games Interactive in Denmark ( The game environment is based on real-life accounts reported to human rights organizations and news agencies by victims and witnesses, as well as various other sources. The game consists of several different scenarios, each putting the player in a different context and requiring the employment of different skills. This study selected the one about the Israeli- ISSN: n.º July

6 Palestinian conflict, illustrating the tensions between the two sides in a checkpoint scenario. The player is represented by the avatar of a Western reporter who arrives in Jerusalem. Her task is to write for one of the following newspapers: Israeli, Palestinian, or Western. The player is expected to produce a news report geared to the audience of one of these newspapers based on the interviews she conducts with various characters at the checkpoint. At the end of the game, the player chooses some of the quotes she collected throughout the interviews, including them in her final news report on which she is evaluated. This evaluation indicates whether the report is placed in the front pages of the newspaper or in the back, whether the quotes reflect important pieces of information about the conflict, and whether these quotes are a good fit for the newspaper selected for the assignment. The player is challenged to keep her work objective while gathering important information to be used in the news report. In the meantime, the player experiences the developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and learns about the issues that are important to this conflict. The student has to form an opinion based upon her own actions and after meeting characters who represent different attitudes towards the conflict despite the fact that she writes for a specific newspaper. 2. Research hypotheses H1: Participants playing GC will become more impartial toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than those playing PM. H2: Stronger effects will be found in attitude change for secondary/third parties compared to directly involved parties. 3. Methodology 3.1. Participants 148 undergraduate students of political science participated in the PM study, including 38 Turkish students from Bilkent University, 50 Israeli-Jewish students from Tel Aviv University, 30 American students from Wichita State University and 30 Palestinian students from Al-Quds University. The four groups did not differ in terms of gender (X2 (3, 144) =.40, p=.58). Israeli students of Jewish origin were older (M = SD =1.32) than American students (M = 22.7 SD =2.39), Turkish students (M = SD =1.59) and Palestinian students (M = 21.1 SD =1.17), F(3, 144) =44.57, p= In general, Israeli students are older than the latter three groups due to service of 3-4 years in the army before studying at university. 140 undergraduate students of communication and political science participated in the GC study, including 30 Turkish students from Bilkent University, 40 Israeli-Jewish students from Tel Aviv University, 40 American students from Wichita State University and 30 Palestinian students from Al-Quds University. The four groups did not differ in terms of gender (X2 (3, 136) =.37, p=.76). Israeli students of Jewish origin were older (M = SD =1.32) than American students (M = SD =4.45), Turkish students (M = SD =1.94) and Palestinian students (M = SD =1.44), F(3, 163) =44.57, p= The studies also included 30 Israeli-Jewish students of communication from Tel Aviv University who did not play the games (control group) (11 of whom were males), and 30 Palestinian students of political science from Al-Quds University who did not play them (control group) (11 of whom were males) Design and procedure The data on the PM study were collected in Spring 2013 and the data on the GC study were collected in Spring/Summer No major event happened between the data collection of the two studies that could bias the results. Both studies were part of classes in political science and conflict resolution, took up to three hours and included four parts. First, participants were introduced to the game and played a short demo. Second, they filled in a short questionnaire. Third, participants played the game. In the PM study, they played the Israeli role and the Palestinian role in random order at the calm conflict level (i.e., low frequency of inciting incidents), because the study examined learning outcomes rather than game performance, which focuses on how well the player deals with high frequencies of inciting incidents. In the GC study, the participants were assigned to represent the Israeli or the Palestinian newspaper. The GC game provides both Israeli and Palestinian perspectives on the conflict no matter which role was assumed, while the PM game provides either the Israeli or the Palestinian perspective depending on the role played. Therefore, participants played both Israeli and Palestinian roles in the PM study in random order and either the Israeli or the Palestinian role in the GC study. Finally, after playing the game, the participants again filled in a short questionnaire. The questionnaires used before and after playing the game were almost identical in content with the exception of a few ISSN: n.º July

7 additional questions in the post-questionnaire deliberating participants experience with the game. The control condition was conducted in Spring/Summer 2013 as part of classes dealing with digital natives and news consumption (not related to the conflict). It included three parts and took up to three hours. First, participants filled in a short questionnaire. Then they were given a lecture about digital natives and news consumption. Finally, they again filled in a short questionnaire. The two questionnaires were similar to those used in the experimental condition (besides questions deliberating participants experience with the game). 4. Results 4.1 Attitudes toward key issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Global Conflicts vs. PeaceMaker The interaction between time and game type was significant (F(1,247)=32.13, p<.0001, η2=.26). Participants who played GC got closer to thinking that both Israelis and Palestinians were equally right regarding key issues in the conflict after playing the game (M=2.28 SD=1.18 M=3.08 SD=1.04), unlike those who played PM (M=2.48 SD=.79 M=2.65 SD=.81) (Figure 1) Measures The studies used two measures for assessing attitudes in the conflict. The first one examined how right is each side on key issues in the conflict, including water, refugees, borders, settlements, Jerusalem, and security, using the following scale: 1. Palestinians are absolutely right, 2. Palestinians are somewhat right, 3. Both sides are equally right, 4. Israelis are somewhat right, and 5. Israelis are absolutely right. After conducting a factor analysis, the average of answers given on the six key issues was used as a measure of attitude change about key issues in the conflict before and after playing the game. The second measure examined attitudes toward the Gaza operation by asking how right is each side on the Gaza operation using the abovementioned scale. The studies referred to the Operation Pillar of Cloud in November This measure was used, because the Gaza operation was a recent event at the time when the study was conducted, receiving extensive media coverage and public debate, as opposed to the abovementioned measure focusing on long lasting historical issues in the conflict Statistical procedures No significant change was found in attitudes regarding key issues in the conflict in the control group of Israeli-Jewish students and of Palestinian students Attitudes toward the Gaza Operation: Global Conflicts vs. PeaceMaker The interaction between time and game type was significant (F(1,247)=15.31, p<.0001, η2=.14). Participants who played GC got closer to thinking that both Israelis and Palestinians were equally right regarding the Gaza operation after playing the game (M=2.21 SD=1.53 M=3.11 SD=1.33), unlike those who played PM (M=2.52 SD=1.34 M=2.79 SD=1.29)(Figure 2). To test the research questions, a three-way ANOVA was conducted with game type (GC or PM) and nationality (Israeli, Palestinian, American or Turkish) as between-subjects factors and time (pre- and post-game) as a within-subjects factor. This procedure investigated the effect of playing the GC or PM games on attitude change at two separate time points: pre- and postgame intervention. The important point with this study design is that the same participants are measured twice on the same dependent variable. Therefore, this test detects any overall differences between related means. ISSN: n.º July

8 No significant change was found in attitudes regarding the Gaza operation in the control group of Israeli-Jewish students and of Palestinian students Nationality and game type effects on attitudes toward key issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict The interaction between game type, nationality and time was significant (F(3,245)=23.2, p<.0001, η2=.19). Americans playing GC held a pro-israeli view before playing the game and got closer to thinking after playing it that both Israelis and Palestinians are equally right regarding key issues in the conflict (M=3.92 SD=.65 M=2.72 SD=.66), while those playing PM did not change their attitude after playing the game and held a pro-israeli view (M=3.51 SD=.79 M=3.39 SD=.75). Turks playing GC held a pro- Palestinian view before playing the game and after playing it got closer to thinking that both Israelis and Palestinians are equally right regarding key issues in the conflict (M=2.16 SD=.12 M=3.14 SD=.13), while those playing PM did not change their attitude after playing the game and held a pro-palestinian view (M=2.42 SD=.63 M=2.51 SD=.65). Israelis playing GC held a pro-israeli view before playing the game and after playing it got closer to thinking that both Israelis and Palestinians are equally right regarding key issues in the conflict (M=3.98 SD=.59 M=3.48 SD=.66), while those playing PM did not change their attitude after playing the game and held a pro-israeli view (M=3.47 SD=.83 M=3.35 SD=.84). Palestinians playing GC held a pro-palestinian view before playing the game, and after playing it got closer to thinking that both Israelis and Palestinians are equally right regarding key issues in the conflict (M=1.07 SD=.09 M=1.59 SD=.11), while those playing PM did not change their attitude after playing the game and held a pro-palestinian view (M=2.03 SD=.31 M=2.21 SD=.36) (Figure 3) Nationality and game type effects on attitude change toward the Gaza operation The interaction between game type, nationality and time was significant (F(3,245)=14.12, p<.0001, η2=.12). Americans playing GC held a pro-israeli view before playing the game and got closer to thinking after playing it that both Israelis and Palestinians are equally right regarding the Gaza operation (M=3.92 SD=1.06 M=2.80 SD=.69). Similarly, Americans playing PM held a pro- Israeli view before playing the game and got closer to thinking after playing it that both Israelis and Palestinians are equally right regarding the Gaza operation (M=3.4 SD=1.18 M=2.7 SD=1.26). Turks playing GC held a pro-palestinian view before playing the game and after playing it got closer to thinking that both Israelis and Palestinians are equally right regarding the Gaza operation (M=2.16 SD=.91 M=3.25 SD=1.10). Similarly, Turks playing PM held a pro-palestinian view before playing the game and after playing it got closer to thinking that both Israelis and Palestinians are equally right regarding the Gaza operation (M=2.2 SD=1.05 M=2.9 SD=1.27). Israelis playing GC held a pro-israeli view before playing the game and after playing it got closer to thinking that both Israelis and Palestinians are equally right regarding the Gaza operation (M=3.95 SD=.95 M=3.45 SD=.99), while those playing PM did not change their attitude after playing the game and held a pro-israeli view (M=3.6 SD=1.07 M=3.6 SD=1.09). Palestinians playing GC held a pro-palestinian view before playing the game, and after playing it got closer to thinking that both Israelis and Palestinians are equally right regarding the Gaza operation (M=1.05 SD=.17 M=1.52 SD=.99), while those playing PM did not change their attitude after playing the game and held a pro-palestinian view (M=1.6 SD=.07 M=1.7 SD=.68) (Figure 4). ISSN: n.º July

9 5. Discussion and conclusions The studies aim at assessing the impact of using technology in motivating learning skills required for peace building. The results are promising, albeit requiring further assessment. First, participants playing GC acquired a more impartial perspective toward the Gaza operation in 2012, unlike those playing PM. In addition, participants playing the GC game shifted from ethnocentric attitudes towards a more impartial attitude regarding long lasting historical issues in the conflict, unlike those playing the PM game. A few explanations can be suggested for the different learning outcomes of the two games which require further research in the future. First, GC provides a more personal and human perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian situation than PM. Therefore, young players may find it easier to identify and empathize with, resulting in more positive impact on attitude change. In addition, GC may be a more immersive game environment than PM, resulting in more positive effects on attitude change (Raphael et al, 2012; Yan and Cordry, 2011). Another possible explanation can be suggested for the different learning outcomes of the two games with regard to attitude change. Participants playing PM may have stronger attitudes about the conflict than those playing GC. The studies were conducted shortly after the Gaza operation in 2012, an event which received extensive media attention and public debate. The data on participants in the GC study were collected after the data on participants in the PM study. Therefore, the latter may have more salient attitudes about the conflict than the former, and research on attitude strength suggests that salient attitudes are more resistant to change and lead to selective cognitive processing (e.g., Eagly and Chaiken 1998; Kelman, 1997; Pettigrew, 1998). Furthermore, when one s attitude is linked to one s self concept or value system, the attitude is more resilient to change (e.g., Pomerantz, Chaiken and Tordesillas, 1995). In the future, it would be interesting to compare the short-term and long-term impact of game interventions on attitudes and behaviors, particularly since the number of studies on long-term effects of peace workshops in protracted conflicts like the Israeli-Palestinian situation is extremely limited (e.g., Malhotra and Liyanage, 2005; Maoz and Bar-One, 2002; Rosen and Salomon, 2011). Results suggested stronger effects for secondary/third parties compared to directly involved parties. Although all participants playing the GC game acquired a more impartial perspective toward long lasting historical issues in the conflict, the effect was stronger for the secondary/third parties to the conflict. The latter may have less salient and weaker attitudes concerning the situation as opposed to Israeli-Jewish and Palestinian participants who may have stronger and more salient attitudes (Eagly & Chaiken, 1998). Very few assessments have involved cross-cultural experimental studies about the effectiveness and usefulness of technology in teaching about peace building, particularly in the context of intractable conflicts like the Israeli- Palestinian situation, and this should be further explored in the future. Computer games like GC and PM facilitate the gaining by the participants of a conceptually complex view of the conflict as opposed to the simplistic and polarized view of the conflict often presented in collective narratives and mainstream socialization agents in a conflict environment (e.g., Wolfsfeld, Frosh, & Awabdy, 2008). By achieving this, computer games can thus be a tool, as indicated by peace education scholars, for legitimating the other s narrative in a way such that events are seen from both perspectives (Bar-Tal, 2013). This is an important step towards increasing learning about the outgroup and the conflict dynamics as indicated by social and political psychologists working on inter-group conflict (Bar-Tal, Halpern, & Pliskin, in press); a necessary step towards attitude change and reducing inter-group tensions. This leads in the direction of another goal articulated by peace education scholars: liberating the parties from the perception of sole victimhood in the conflict (e.g., Bar-Tal, 2013). The more they understand and appreciate the perspective of the other party in the conflict, the more likely that empathy will develop and that they abandon a victim mentality (e.g. Kelman, 1997; Malhotra & Liyanage, 2005; Maoz & Bar-On, 2002). This may also lead to in-group reappraisal where parties begin to critically assess their group s contribution to the conflict dynamics (Pettigrew, 1998). Computer games and their effects in this regard should be further explored in depth in future research. The results comparing the effectiveness of GC and PM are promising in terms of showing that computer games can be used as part of peace education training. They indicate that these games are useful in engendering attitude change, especially in the form of taking a more balanced perspective and being able to look at the conflict through both lenses. However, it is also important to note the different results obtained from ISSN: n.º July

10 the two games. The game characteristics may be crucial in determining whether the players gain the perspective of both sides or not. Further research is required to understand how PM and GC achieve their learning effects, by singling out different dimensions of the two games to provide a more in-depth and comparative analysis of their impact. Previous studies have already shown that Israeli and Palestinian young people know almost nothing about what transpires on the other side of the Israeli-Palestinian divide, except for the limited and violent images constructed by the media and daily incidents (e.g., Wolfsfeld et al., 2008). Moreover, since these young people have never actually experienced a state of peace they may not regard it as a significant value for which a price should be paid. Therefore, the opportunity for young Israeli and Palestinian people to learn about and to perhaps understand the other party, even if through computerized simulations like GC and PM, is an issue of great importance in any process of reconciliation in the Middle East and an essential requirement for obtaining public support and legitimacy for any peace initiative. ISSN: n.º July

11 References Bar-Tal, D. (1997). Formation and change of ethnic and national stereotypes: An integrative model. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 21, Bar-Tal, D. (2013). Intractable conflicts: Socio-psychological foundations and dynamics. New York: Cambridge University Press. Bar-Tal, D., Halpern, E., & Pliskin, R. (in press). Why it is so difficult to resolve intractable conflicts peacefully? A socio-psychological explanation. In M. Galluccio (Ed.), Handbook of international negotiation: Interpersonal, intercultural and diplomatic perspective. New York: Springer. Baylouny, A. M. (2009). Seeing other sides: Nongame simulations and alternative perspectives of Middle East conflict. Journal of Political Science Education, 5, Bhappu, A., Ebner, N., Kaufman, S., & Welsh, N. (2010). The strategic use of online communication technology to facilitate relational development in executive training courses on negotiation. In C. Honeyman, J. Coben & G. DePalo (Eds.), Second generation negotiation teaching. DRI Press. Bogost, I. (2007). Persuasive games. Cambridge: MIT Press. Brenner, J., & Smith, A. (2013). 72% of Online Adults are Social Networking Site Users. Pew internet & American life project, August 5, Accessed July 18th, Buch, T., & Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S. (2007). The learning effects of Global Conflicts Palestine. Conference Proceedings, Media@Terra, Gaming Realities: The Challenge of Digital Culture, Athens, October. Burak, A., Kelor, E., & Sweeney, T. (2005). PeaceMaker: A video game to teach peace. In Intelligent technologies for interactive entertainment (pp ). Berlin: Springer. Coleman, P. (2000). Intractable conflict. In M. Deutch & P. Coleman (Eds.), The Handbook of conflict resolution. San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers. Cuhadar, E., & Kampf, R. (2014). Learning about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and negotiations through simulations: The case of PeaceMaker. International Studies Persectives, 15, Eagly, A., & Chaiken, S. (1998). Attitude structure and function. In D.T. Gilbert, S.T. Fiske & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill. Ebner, N. (2008). Online dispute resolution: Applications for e-hrm. In T. Torres-Coronas & M. Arias-Oliva (Eds.), Encyclopedia of human resources information systems: Challenges in e-hrm. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Reference Publishing. Gasser, U., Cortesi, S., Malik, M., & Lee, A. (2012). Youth and digital media: From credibility to information quality. Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Accessed July 18th, Gonzalez, C., Saner, L. D., & Eisenberg, L. (2012). Learning to stand in the other s shoes: A Computer video game experience of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Social Science Computer Review, 31(2), Kampf, R., & Cuhadar, E. (in press). Do computer games enhance learning about conflicts?a cross-national inquiry into proximate and distant scenarios in Global Conflicts. Computers in Human Behavior. Kelman, H. (1997). Social-psychological dimensions of international conflict. In W. Zartman & L. Rasmussen (Eds.), Peacemaking in international conflict. Washington, D.C., USIP Press. Kriesberg, L., Northrup, T., & Thorson, S. (Eds.). (1989). Intractable conflicts and their transformation. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. Malhotra, D., & Liyanage, S. (2005). Long-term effects of peace workshops in protracted conflicts. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 49(6), Maoz, I. (2011). Does contact work in protracted asymmetrical conflict? Appraising 20 years of reconciliation-aimed encounters between Israeli Jews and Palestinians. Journal of Peace Research, 48(1), Maoz, I., & Bar-On, D. (2002). From working through the holocaust to current ethnic conflicts: Evaluating the TRT group workshop in Hamburg. Group, 26, Maoz, I. and McCauley, C. (2005). Psychological correlates of support for compromise: A polling study of Jewish-Israeli attitudes toward solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Political Psychology, 26(5), Matz, D., & Ebner, N. (2010). Using role play in online negotiation teaching. In C. Honeyman, J. Coben & G. De Palo. (Eds.), Venturing beyond the classroom. St. Paul, MN: DRI Press. Palfrey, J., & Gasser, U. (2008). Born digital: Understanding the first generation of Digital Natives. New York: Basic Books. Peng, W., Lee, M., & Heeter, C. (2010). The effects of a serious game on role-taking and willingness to help. Journal of Communication, 60(4), ISSN: n.º July

12 Pettigrew, T. (1998). Inter-group contact theory. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, Pomerantz, E., Chaiken, S., & Tordesillas, R. (1995). Attitude strength and resistance processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(3), Raphael, C., Bachen, C. M., & Hernández-Ramos, P. F. (2012). Flow and cooperative learning in civic game play. New Media & Society, 14(8), Rosen, I., & Salomon, G. (2011). Durability of peace education effects in the shadow of conflict. Social Psychology Education, 14, Salomon, G. (2008). Peace education: Its nature, nurture and the challenges it faces. In de Rivera, J. (Ed.), Handbook on Building Culture of Peace (pp ). New York: Springer. Weiss, P., Stock, O., Fondazione, B., Eisikovitz, Z., & Koren C. (2011). Co-narrating a conflict: A technology to facilitate attitudinal shifts. Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 19(3), Williams, V. C. (2006). Assuming identities, enhancing understanding: Applying active learning principles to research projects. Journal of Political Science Education, 2, Wolfsfeld, G., Frosh, P., & Awabdy, M. (2008). Covering death in conflicts: Coverage of the Second Intifada on Israeli and Palestinian television. Journal of Peace Research, 45, Yan, C., & Cordry, J. (2011). Increased game immersion by using life player-mapped avatar evolution. In M. Chang et al. (Eds.), Edutainment (pp ). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. Salomon, G., & Cairns, E. (Eds.) (2009). Handbook of peace education. New York: Francis and Taylor. Schori-Eyal, N., Halperin, E., & Bar-Tal, D. (in press). Three layers of collective victimhood: Effects of multileveled victimhood on intergroup conflicts in the Israeli-Arab context. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Suleiman, R. (2004). Planned encounters between Jewish and Palestinian Israelis: A social-psychological perspective. Journal of social Issues, 60( 2), Edition and production Name of the publication: ISSN: Publisher: openeducation.eu Edited by: P.A.U. Education, S.L. Postal address: c/muntaner 262, 3r, Barcelona (Spain) Phone: editorialteam[at]openeducationeuropa[dot]eu Internet: Copyrights The texts published in this journal, unless otherwise indicated, are subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivativeWorks 3.0 Unported licence. They may be copied, distributed and broadcast provided that the author and the e-journal that publishes them,, are cited. Commercial use and derivative works are not permitted. The full licence can be consulted on licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ ISSN: n.º July

13 Collaborative Digital Games as Mediation Tool to Foster Intercultural Integration in Primary Dutch Schools Authors Teresa de la Hera Conde-Pumpido Postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at Utrecht University Utrecht, The Netherlands Amanda Paz Alencar Marie Curie Fellow and post-doc researcher at University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, The Netherlands In the Netherlands, the growing presence of immigrant children in schools has fueled scholarly interest in and concerns for examining the process of integration in school environments. The use of digital games has found to be an effective tool to reinforce teaching/learning practices. Several studies have already shown the benefits of the use of digital games in educational contexts. However, most of these studies are focused on how digital games can be used as a mediation tool in the process of knowledge acquisition. The present research proposes a new approach for the study of digital games in the field of education. Drawing from collaborative learning methods, we explore the potential of digital entertaining collaborative games to become a mediation tool in the process of integration of immigrant children with different cultural backgrounds in Dutch schools. This paper 1 reports the preliminary results of an exploratory study that sets out to evaluate the potential of digital games as a mediation tool to foster intercultural integration in educational environments. Tags Persuasive gaming, gamemediated persuasion, intercultural integration, collaboration with games, educational practices. 1. Introduction In the Netherlands, the presence of students who have an immigrant background has continuously increased since In 2014, the children of immigrants represents 11% of the overall school population (OECD, 2014). The integration of immigrant children into the host cultural environment is a major function of schools in the immigration country. This is evident in the case of the Dutch educational system, in which specific measures have been designed to ensure that migrant children achieve basic qualification and that their integration is facilitated in the school environment. These include funding to secondary schools for newly arrived immigrants. At schools, migrant children experience a very different atmosphere, and this can be very difficult for parents to understand and very confusing for children who have to live in two separate worlds. Problems of adaptation, identity formation and interaction with native Dutch as well as with other migrant children and even with teachers are usually experienced at Dutch schools. Most studies in the field have only focused on the educational performance of migrant children (e.g., Traag & Velden, 2008; Ohinata & van Ours, 2012). This indicates the need to examine the role of new educational interventions for the integration of migrant children in European schools and societies. The present study is focused on the potential of entertainment collaborative digital games to foster integration of migrant children in Dutch schools. 1 This article was written within the project Persuasive Gaming in Context. From theory-based design to validation and back funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). See This study is also in collaboration with the Research Project Television News for Promoting Interculturalism. A Novel Step towards Immigrant Integration funded by the European Commission in the framework of Marie Curie Actions ( TVNPI). ISSN: n.º July

14 In recent years, mainly with the advent of new technologies, the use of digital media tools has become an important and exciting part of education instructional and learning processes (see O Maraa & Harris, 2014). In the framework of education and migration, digital media technology is a catalyst for the successful integration of immigrant children in European schools and societies (Nguyen, 2010). On the other hand, the use of digital games has found to be an effective tool to reinforce teaching/learning practices. Several studies conclude that by incorporating video games in the school practices, pupil s educational performance and motivation to learn is improved (see González Sánchez et al., 2007; Padilla Zea et al, 2009). However, the study of the potential of digital games in the context of education has been mainly focused on their use for knowledge acquisition and far too little attention has been paid to the ways digital games can be used in educational environments for other purposes different from acquiring knowledge. Consequently, the current study aims to fill a gap in the literature by exploring the potential of digital games as a mediating tool in the persuasion process for attitude change in educational environments. Our study proposes the use of digital games as an alternative for fostering integration of immigrant children as well as for attenuating identity crisis/conflict among children with different nationalities in the school environment. Drawing from collaborative learning methods (Johnson and Johnson, 2004), we explore the potential of digital entertaining collaborative games to become a mediation tool in the process of integration of immigrant children with different cultural backgrounds in Dutch schools. For this purpose we have conducted an explorative qualitative study in a Dutch integration school in which three pairs of children coming from different migrant backgrounds were asked to participate in a collaborative digital game session. In this game session players needed to collaborate in order to achieve a common objective. An entertaining collaborative digital game was used to facilitate a situation in which children forget about cultural differences and interact in a digital environment in which all of them are represented in the same way. 2. Promoting Integration in Culturally Diverse Classrooms Success in integrating the children of immigrants is of enormous consequence for societies. The educational system plays a crucial role in this process by integrating the child into sociocultural life of the host country and preparing children for the real world. Relevant studies suggest that schools facilitate the integration of migrant children, functioning as a doorway to host societies and the key to enter a new future (Eurydice, 2004; Chomentowski, 2009; Steinbach, 2010). In the Netherlands, the growing presence of immigrant children in schools has fueled scholarly interest in and concerns for examining the factors important in shaping their educational trajectories (Asher et al., 2008; Traag & Velden, 2008). In general, several studies suggest that problems of school adjustment and sociocultural integration among immigrant children are usually associated to their different cultural background (Lenoir et al., 2008; Crul & Holdaway, 2009). During their school attendance, learning and integration difficulties may occur, as the characteristics of migrant children and their cultural background are highly varied. In light of these considerations, it is important to highlight the role of culture in major areas of integration outlined in the initiatives launched by the Dutch government for the integration of immigrant children. Such initiatives are mainly focused on the implementation of integration or reception schools with special programs for language instruction that can facilitate learning and foster the integration process of migrant children in Dutch schools. In this process of adaptation, language and friendship are key elements for creating the sense of belonging to and make them feel part of the life and activity of the class (Dusi et al., 2015). Former research on the integration of migrant children at schools have provided empirical evidences that language and friendship are the two dimensions that color the experience of migrant children entering a new world (Suarez-Orozco & Suarez- Orozco, 2000). Similarly, Berry et al. (2006) have argued that successful integration at schools is correlated to the acquisition of linguistic-communication and socio-cultural competence. In culturally diverse classrooms, more experienced teachers and integration activities are fundamental to promote friendship and stimulate higher grades and more participation among them. Consequently, these skills, values and objectives are associated with the intercultural outlook that should be developed among pupils. Intercultural strategies for teaching culturally diverse pupils are focused on the development of educational interventions that support cultural dialogue in order to hinder differences and protect cultural diversity, but at the same time fosters the integration of immigrant children at schools. In the Netherlands, the educational system does not provide recommendations regarding the promotion of intercultural ISSN: n.º July