ViPi desktop and mobile games to develop ICT skills for people with disabilities by Andy Burton and Vilma Butkute.

1. VIPI - VIRTUAL PORTAL FOR
INTERACTION AND ICT TRAINING FOR
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
www.vipi-project.eu
511792-LLP-1-2010-1-GR-KA3-KA3NW
1
facebook.com/vipiproject
twitter.com/ViPi_project

2. THE VIPI DESKTOP GAMES
ANDY BURTON NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY, UK
ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
www.vipi-project.eu
511792-LLP-1-2010-1-GR-KA3-KA3NW
2
facebook.com/vipiproject
twitter.com/ViPi_project

3. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
ABOUT VIPI – (VIRTUAL PORTAL FOR
INTERACTION AND ICT TRAINING FOR
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES)
 a three year project launched in January 2011.
 It involves partners from Belgium, Cyprus, Greece,
Lithuania, and the UK.
 The project aims at creating accessible and flexible basic ICT
skills training, designed to meet the specific needs of people
with disabilities by encompassing:
 An interactive online portal with a semantically enriched repository
hosting learning objects (Web 3.0 approach),
 A social networking and community building area, both online and mobile
(Web 2.0 approach),
 An online learning environment hosting SCORM (Sharable Content
Object Reference Model) compliant training courses,
 WCAG 2.0 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) compliant accessibility
 Embedded rich internet applications (Desktop and Mobile Games)
 Multi-language support. 3

4. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
EDUCATIONAL AND PEDAGOGICAL
FRAMEWORK
 Research has shown that in people with intellectual
disability games-based learning can:
 Improve memory (Brown et al, 2008)
 Improve functional skills (Brown et al, 2011)
 Improve decision making (Standen et al, 2009i)
 Improve choice reaction time (Standen et al, 2009ii)
 If games are to become mainstream classroom tools,
teachers (who are often not gamers) need support to:
 Identify games that meet their learning objectives
 Work out how games can be incorporated in lessons
 Work out how learning can be assessed. (Ulicsac and Wright, 2010)
 Games based learning is just a part of the educational and
pedagogical framework being employed in ViPi
 Curriculum, training documents, exercises and trainer’s
handbook are also provided – all supported by the games 4

5. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
VIPI DESKTOP AND MOBILE GAMES
 Adapted Games
 True/False Quiz
 Escapology ICT
 Rob the Mob ICT
 New Games
 Memobile for Android
 Stay Safe! (under development)
 Fly Swat (pending student project)
5

6. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
GAMES – TRUE FALSE QUIZ
4 rounds of 7 questions each.
 Subject areas:
 Using your computer
 Using the internet
 Using email
 Staying safe
 Questions consist of a True of
false statement.
 Answers are marked correct or
wrong immediately (using smiley
faces and buzzer sounds) and
more information is fed back on
the question’s subject.
 Results can be exported as a pdf
Document
6
RUN GAME

7. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
TRUE FALSE QUIZ SAVEABLE REPORT
7

8. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
GAMES – ESCAPOLOGY
8
Gameplay
 Hangman style game
 Choose a subject area
around which the words
will be based.
 Each word has a clue
 3 playing levels to make
the game easier or more
difficult.
 Explanation or description
given when the word is
revealed which explains a
little more about the word.

9. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
GAMES – ESCAPOLOGY
Subjects
 Computers
 Computer parts (11 words)
 Using the computer (35 words)
 Assistive technology (14 words)
 Going Online
 Web browsing (22 words)
 Safety (17 words)
 Email (17 words)
 Communication software (13 words)
 Mobile phones (18 words)
 Software
 Presentations (10 words)
 Spreadsheets (15 words)
 Windows (30 words)
 Word processing (19 words)
9
RUN GAME

10. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
ESCAPOLOGY (EXAMPLES)
 URL
 A web address
 Or Universal Resource Locator
means a web address.
 ADDRESS BAR
 Where the URL goes
 Type a URL into the address
bar, and hit enter to load a web
page.
 FORWARD
 Go to next page
 Moves you on to the next page
after a back action (Right
pointing arrow)
 BACK
 Return to previous page
 Hit the back button (arrow
pointing left) to go back to the
previous page.
 REFRESH
 Re load the page
 Refresh reloads the page. You
can use the shortcut key F5 for
this.
 FAVOURITE
 Bookmarks
 Favourite pages may be
bookmarks, or pages that you
visit most regularly.
10
 NAVIGATE
 Move through pages
 We navigate through pages
by clicking hyperlinks.
 HYPERLINK
 Click it to navigate
 This is text or images you
click to perform an action,
usually navigation.
 GOOGLE
 A search engine
 Currently the most popular
search engine at
www.google.com
 BING
 A search engine
 Microsoft's search engine
at www.bing.com
 SEARCH ENGINE
 Seek a webpage?
 A search engine retrieves
results based on your
search criteria.
 MALWARE
 Disruptive software
 Malicious software which
can break your computer
or steal your data.
 SPYWARE
 A type of malware
 Spyware collects and
sends information about
you without your
knowledge.
 DOWNLOAD
 Get a file?
 You can download files
from the web to your
computer.
 FORMS
 Input your data?
 Web based forms are
sometimes used to collect
your data.
 USERNAME
 Your log in
 Some sites and
computers ask for a
username to personalise
your experience.
 PASSWORD
 Secret login
 Keep passwords secret and do
NOT save them on public
machines.
 CACHE
 Saved pages
 Pages are cached locally to
your computer to speed up re-
downloads.
 HISTORY
 Where you've been?
 The browser stores a history of
the pages you visit.
 TABS
 Windows in windows.
 Multiple tabs at the top of the
browser can hold a web-page
each.
 SECURE
 Are you safe?
 HTTPS secure web browsing
should be used when sensitive
data is sent.
 BOOKMARK
 Save for later?
 You can bookmark a web page
to make it easy to find again
later.

11. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
GAMES – ROB THE MOB
11
Gameplay
 Card game
 Try to win the money
from the gangster by
picking the right
answer card
 4 possible answers to
each question
 Winning wins you
your stake from the
gangster. Losing pays
the gangster your
stake.
 Get all of the
gangster’s money to
win

12. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
GAMES – ROB THE MOB
Subjects
 communication
software
 using email
 manipulating
windows
 keyboard
shortcuts
 web browsing
and security
 using the
computer
 assistive
technology
 the computer
and its parts
 interacting with
touchscreens
12
RUN GAME

13. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
GAME CONTENT EDITOR – ROB THE MOB
13
 Free
 Enables easy
creation of new
game content.
 Currently for
Escapology and
rob the mob
 Creates new xml
that immediately
runs with the
games
 future edit will
include editors
for true false
quiz and stay
safe

14. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
GAME CONTENT EDITOR - ESCAPOLOGY
14
 Freely available
 Enables easy
creation of new
game content.
 Currently for
Escapology and
rob the mob
 Creates new xml
that immediately
runs within the
games
 future edit will
include editors
for true false
quiz and stay
safe
RUN Editor

15. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
MEMOBILE
Memobile for Android (developed by
ViPi partners Hiteco in Lithuania)
 Matching pairs (match the
similar computer parts)
 Starter kit (press the start
buttons accurately)
 Press and Action (multi choice
quiz)
15

16. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
USER TESTING SESSIONS – OCTOBER 2012
16
About the Test Sessions
 Held at Oak Field School,
Nottingham
 The Oak Field School is a City co-
educational day school for children
aged 3-19 years with special
educational needs, in particular severe
and profound learning difficulties
and/or physical difficulties.
 2 sessions
1. NICER group – specialised testing with approx
15 current and past Oak Field students with a
range of disabilities and needs
2. ViPi Multinational Workshop – bringing together
15 users and trainers from the partner countries
with a range of interests and disabilities
 Both ran with brief descriptive
demonstrations of the games followed
by hands on sessions:
1. Game sessions were run on a large screen as a
complete group.
2. Game sessions were carried out in breakout
groups of 2 to 5 users
 In both cases
 Users were asked to try out the
games
 A think aloud protocol was
employed and notes were
made by researchers

17. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
USER TESTING SESSIONS – OCTOBER 2012
17
Initial Findings
 A number of bugs were revealed
 For intellectual disability
 In True or False quiz – use the terms Yes and
No instead
 Rephrase questions to offer single word
answers to questions where possible
 Fonts should use simple characters i.e. with
letters such as a and g formed as taught in
the school
 A simplified version of the content would be
better – adjusted curriculum required for
target group.
 Adding key presses for letter guessing in
Escapology would be more intuitive
 Relevant images may help with the
understanding of some questions
 Add symbol sets with written words where
possible
 Use images with feedback where appropriate
 For visual impairment
 Make text size be bigger in Rob the Mob
game –or use with a magnifier.
 Contrast could be better in Escapology
for the word being guessed (currently
dark grey on light grey)
 The voice used in the true false quiz
game was clear and helpful

18. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
PILOTING – DURING 2013
18
Initial Findings
 Initial feedback will be used to:
 Address and fix all bugs found
 Improve accessibility of the games
 Tailor the games to specific target
audiences by:
 Content adjustment
 Use of appropriate fonts
 Possible use of symbol sets
 Rephrasing of questions to make them
easier to understand
 Enhancement with images where
possible
 Improvement of playability of the
games
 Adding letter key input in escapology
 Full piloting and enhancement of
the games will take place
throughout 2013 in all four
partner languages.

19. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
CONCLUSIONS
 By using:
 User led games development
 Customisable game content
 Enhanced semantic search portal
 ViPi hopes that the many identified benefits of a games-
based learning approach can be introduced into
classrooms by providing:
 Games that meet learning objectives
 A structure to allow their incorporation in the curriculum
 Means to assess the learning achieved
19

20. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
THANK YOU.
20
Andy Burton
andy.burton@ntu.ac.uk
www.vipi-project.eu
facebook.com/vipiproject
twitter.com/vipi_project
 Brown DJ, McIver E, Standen PJ and Dixon P (2008). Can Serious Games Improve
Memory Skills in People with ID? Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. Vol. 52,
Parts 8&9, p.678. August 2008. ISSN 0964-2633.
 Brown, D. J, James Ley, Lindsay Evett, Penny Standen, (2011) Can participating in
games based learning improve mathematic skills in students with intellectual
disabilities? Proceedings of IEEE SeGAH 2011;
http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/SeGAH.2011.6165461 November 16-
November 18; ISBN: 978-1-4673-0433-7.
 Standen PJ, Rees F and Brown DJ. (2009i). Effect of playing computer games on
decision making in people with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Assistive
Technologies, Vol 3, issue 2, pp.6-15. © Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd.
 Standen PJ, Karsandas RB, Anderton N, Battersby S, Brown DJ. (2009ii). An
evaluation of the use of a computer game in improving the choice reaction time of
adults with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Assistive Technologies, Vol3, issue 4, p.4-
11, © Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd.
 Ulicsac, M, Wright M (2010) Games in Education – Serious Games - A Futurelab
Literature Review. Downloaded from www.futurelab.org.uk/projects/games-in-
education on 11/10/2012
The ViPi KA3 LLP project has been
partially funded under the Lifelong
Learning Programme, subprogramme
KA3 ICT.

21. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
ADDITIONAL SLIDES IF REQUIRED…
21

22. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
STAY SAFE! (COMING SOON!)
Subjects
 Emails
 Web use
 Messenger programs
 Social networks
22
Gameplay
 Role play game
 Player is a computer user trying to
keep himself and his computer safe
 Screen shows the problems
including user going through a set of
new emails, friendship adds on a
messenger program, scenarios on a
social network and issues in a web
browser.
 Questions repeated and set out
using an overlaid display.
 A helper standing behind the user is
watching over the user’s progress
and can offer help and advice when
the player makes bad decisions.

23. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
FLY SWAT (FUTURE DEV)
23
P-level Target Game idea
P2i Briefly tracks vertically moving object on
screen
Watch vertical moving fly
P2i Briefly tracks horizontally moving object on
screen
Watch horizontal moving
fly
P2ii Tracks vertically moving object on screen Watch vertical moving fly
P2ii Tracks horizontally moving object on screen Watch horizontal moving
fly
P3i Tracks predictable movements with changes
of direction of a moving stimulus across a
screen
Watch fly walk around
perimeter of screen
P3ii Tracks random movement on a screen Watch fly fly randomly
around screen
P5 Tracks movement across a screen showing
reaction at appropriate point
Response when a
horizontally moving fly
reaches food/target to
swat
P5 Tracks object horizontally across the screen
operating the switch at the correct time
Activate switch when a
horizontally moving fly
reaches food/target to
swat
P5 Tracks object vertically across the screen
operating the switch at the correct time
Activate switch when a
vertically moving fly
reaches food/target to
swat
P6 Activate switch to randomly generated visual
prompts
Activate switch when fly
appears
P6 Activate switch to randomly generated audible
prompts
Activate switch when fly
sound is heard
P6 Understands in a two switch activity that each
switch triggers a separate action
Activate 2 switches. one
controls swat action one
controls catch in jar
action?
P7 Activate switch to control horizontal
movement – almost on target
Stop horizontally moving
fly on outer target
P7 Activate switch to control horizontal
movement –on target
Stop horizontally moving
fly on inner target
P7 Activate switch to control vertical movement –
almost on target
Stop vertically moving fly
on outer target
P7 Activate switch to control vertical movement –
on target
Stop vertically moving fly
on inner target
P7 Use space bar as a switch -apply in any of the above
P8 Press switch at appropriate moment e.g. to hit
target
Stop randomly moving fly
on a target
Support p-level targets
• from showing awareness of the output technologies,
• to awareness that the user can interact with the
technology,
• through to practicing with interaction with the
technology.
Stimulating visually and audibly.
Oak Field P-level curriculum analysed.
The primary areas where the curriculum could be best
supported by game technologies were identified as
• reaction and interaction,
• sequencing,
• choosing and
• matching.
Of these, the area that would support the broadest part of
the curriculum was that of reaction and interaction.
Supports certain p-level tasks from p2 to p8
Such a game would need to be adjustable with the ability
to set the speed of movement and with a variety of
colours and variations in contrast and resolution
available to suit as many potential users as possible.

24. ITAG EHD - 23/10/2012, NTU Nottingham UK.
THANK YOU.
24
Andy Burton
andy.burton@ntu.ac.uk
www.vipi-project.eu
facebook.com/vipiproject
twitter.com/vipi_project
 Brown DJ, McIver E, Standen PJ and Dixon P (2008). Can Serious Games Improve
Memory Skills in People with ID? Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. Vol. 52,
Parts 8&9, p.678. August 2008. ISSN 0964-2633.
 Brown, D. J, James Ley, Lindsay Evett, Penny Standen, (2011) Can participating in
games based learning improve mathematic skills in students with intellectual
disabilities? Proceedings of IEEE SeGAH 2011;
http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/SeGAH.2011.6165461 November 16-
November 18; ISBN: 978-1-4673-0433-7.
 Standen PJ, Rees F and Brown DJ. (2009i). Effect of playing computer games on
decision making in people with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Assistive
Technologies, Vol 3, issue 2, pp.6-15. © Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd.
 Standen PJ, Karsandas RB, Anderton N, Battersby S, Brown DJ. (2009ii). An
evaluation of the use of a computer game in improving the choice reaction time of
adults with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Assistive Technologies, Vol3, issue 4, p.4-
11, © Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd.
 Ulicsac, M, Wright M (2010) Games in Education – Serious Games - A Futurelab
Literature Review. Downloaded from www.futurelab.org.uk/projects/games-in-
education on 11/10/2012
The ViPi KA3 LLP project has been
partially funded under the Lifelong
Learning Programme, subprogramme
KA3 ICT.