Abstract not found

In this paper we describe our work on the formulation of a document-oriented paradigm for improving the construction and maintenance of content-intensive applications (i.e. applications that make intensive use of the information provided by the experts in a given domain: the contents). According to this paradigm, the development of a content-intensive application must be the result of close collaboration between two kinds of actors: domain experts and developers. The goal of this collaboration is the authoring of (i) a set of documents describing the most relevant aspects of the application (i.e. the contents and other relevant customizable features); (ii) a grammar describing a domain-specific markup language that will be used to make the structure and the data in these documents explicit and (iii) a suitable processor for this language. The final running application will be automatically produced by processing the marked documents with this processor. The use of this paradigm in the development of content-intensive applications can increase the initial cost of application production, but in the long run it can substantially improve maintenance and portability, and promote information and software reuse as well. We have successfully applied this paradigm to the development of educational and hypermedia applications, and knowledge-based systems. From these experiences, we have found that the feasibility of the paradigm depends to a

Abstract. Traditionally, medical education has used live patients to teach medical procedures. This carries a significant risk to patients. As learning technology advances, the early integration of computer-aided medical simulations into medical training before patient contact is becoming an ethical imperative, yet development costs are constraining. In this paper, we describe the use of a gaming engine to create rapidly a game-like interactive simulation for medical training at a low cost. Our process model, driven by the simulation storyboard provided by the instructors, allows for easy simulation refinements and permits an early evaluation of the educational outcome. We also describe its initial integration into the existing matrix of low-tech simulation (procedures practiced on mannequins) and an educational platform (e-learning system) used to support and track novice physicians within a large academic training center.

article info

Abstract—Within the last years educational games have attracted some attention from the academic community. Multiple enhancements of the learning experience are usually attributed to educational games, although the most cited is their potential to improve students ’ motivation. In spite of these expected advantages, how to introduce video games in the learning process is an issue that is not completely clear yet, which reduces the potential impact of educational video games. Our goal at the <e-UCM> research group is to identify the barriers that are limiting the integration of games in the learning process and propose approaches to tackle them. The result of this work is the <e-Adventure> platform, an educational game authoring tool that aims to make of video games just another educational tool at the disposal of the instructors. In this paper we describe how <e-Adventure> contributes to the integration of games in the learning process through three main focuses: reduction of the high development costs of educational games, involvement of instructors in the development process to enhance the educational value, and the production of the games using a whitebox model. In addition we describe the current research that we are conducting using the platform as a test-bed. Keywords-<e-Adventure>; educational games; authoring tool; LAMS I.

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect