This study explored youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) learning social competence in the context of innovative 3D virtual learning environment and the effects of gaming as a central element of the learning experience. The empirical study retrospectively compared the social interactions of 11 adolescents with ASD in game-and nongame-based 3D…

The popularity of multiplayer online videogames (MOVs) in the lives of young people has become a recurrent area of interest for parents and researchers. The use of these platforms has generated concerns regarding the potential negative effects on children's personal and social development. Additionally, the ways in which players socialize through…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often find it difficult to communicate using body language and facial expressions to respond appropriately socially. This negatively affects the quality of their everyday social life. Children with ASD can learn to socially interact with virtual three-dimensional (3D) characters in animated games…

In this article, the authors discuss the light and dark side of attachments and attachment style in physical and digital worlds. They argue that many games offer opportunities for the generation of new and meaningful attachments to both physical and digital others. They discuss two "fundamental attachment errors" and show how these can…

"Hall of Heroes," a digital game, was used to compare social and emotional skills of 63 adolescent female students matched for age across Malaysia, South Africa, and the United States. Participants were assessed on six social and emotional competencies during game play, namely impulse control, cooperation, communication, social…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that impairs the development of social and communication skills. There is evidence that children with ASD prefer images of self over others. These studies may explain the effectiveness of video self-modeling (VSM), an evidence-based ASD intervention in which one learns by watching oneself…

Virtual environments have the potential to be an important teaching tool for emotionally sensitive issues capable of producing a sense of presence, perspective-taking and introspection in users in a risk-free, rapid feedback experience. In designing such experiences, it is essential that users are regularly engaged in a collaborative design…

Children's and adolescents' cognitive, affective, and behavioral states of engagement enhance or impede enjoyment of, and performance with, educational games. We propose a comprehensive model of engagement states and apply it to research on educational game development and research on the role of various aspects of engagement on game play and…

This paper examines the ways in which Mattel's "Barbie Girls" and "Xtractaurs," online sites aimed at girls and boys of six years of age and up, respectively, offer markedly distinct literate and semiotic resources for their young users. Analysis focuses on the multimodal layers of meaning and the mediating tools,…

Same and opposite-sex pairs of preadolescents interacted twice in a MUD, a virtual domain where they created characters known as avatars and socially interacted with one another. Boys interacted primarily through rapid scene shifts and playful exchanges; girls interacted with one another through written dialogue. Opposite-sex pairs lagged behind…

This study investigated the potential of using a computer-simulated animal in a handheld virtual pet videogame to improve children's empathy and humane attitudes. Also investigated was whether sex differences existed in children's development of empathy and humane attitudes resulting from play, as well as their feelings for a virtual pet. The…

The 11th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2018) is held under the auspices of the International Educational Data Mining Society at the Templeton Landing in Buffalo, New York. This year's EDM conference was highly competitive, with 145 long and short paper submissions. Of these, 23 were accepted as full papers and 37…

The 9th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2016) is held under the auspices of the International Educational Data Mining Society at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, in the USA. The conference, held June 29-July 2, 2016, follows the eight previous editions (Madrid 2015, London 2014, Memphis…

The rapid growth of information and communication technologies (ICT) has prompted concerns among parents, educators, and policymakers over the suitability of many educational applications and electronic toys for young children. This book provides information on how children from birth to age 6 develop an early awareness--and subsequently develop…