Notes on Contributors
Editors
Hans Christian Arnseth
is Professor of learning and digital technologies at the University of Oslo. Currently he is head of research at the Department of Education. In his research he studies the various ways digital technologies transform learning, cognition and identity across formal and informal contexts. Professor Arnseth has substantial experience in leading research projects, and recently he also directed a national research school in the Educational sciences. Currently he is involved in a MCA-RISE project called Makerspaces in the Early Years. He has published widely in leading international journals on the topics of learning and identity, simulations and game-based learning and computer supported collaborative learning. In his research he specializes in sociocultural approaches to learning and meaning making and in using ethnographic and interaction analytic methods to study learning and cognition in context.
Thorkild Hanghøj
is an Associate Professor in game-based learning at Aalborg University, where he Co-Directs the Center for Applied Game Research (CEAGAR). His research focuses on the educational use and design of games with special emphasis on game-related literacy practices and the role of the teacher in facilitating games. He has developed a theory of scenario-based education, which he has used to describe and understand the interplay of knowledge practices in educational gaming across in and out of school domains. His research has been published in international journals such as L1, Designs for Learning, and British Journal of Educational Technology. Recently, he has published the research anthology Hvad er scenariedidaktik? [What is scenario-based education?], which is co-edited with Jeppe Bundsgaard, Morten Misfeldt, Simon Skov Fougt and Vibeke Hetmar. Moreover, he is managing the GBL21 project (gbl21.aau.dk), which explores and measures how design thinking and game-based learning can develop students’ 21st century skills in Danish, Mathematics and Science across twenty secondary schools.
Thomas Duus Henriksen
is an Associate Professor in Internal Communication and Organisational Processes at Aalborg University. His research focuses on how organisational processes and development is mediated through the use of tools, learning games, and other artefacts that affect how an organisation functions, and has been published in Development and Learning in Organizations. He has published several models on learning games and simulations in adult education and organisational development, and emphasised how game immersive processes have an inhibiting effect on adult learning. In recent research, Henriksen has been preoccupied with how manufacturing companies work with leadership dilemmas, and its facilitation.
Morten Misfeldt
is a Professor in Mathematics Education and Technology at Aalborg University. Misfeldt’s research revolves around the influence of digital technology on mathematical practice in research, teaching and learning, including how games and simulations can foster learning, and how computational thinking can be adopted as a learning objective in mathematics. Recently Misfeldt has been focusing on how digitalisation influences mathematics teachers work which is an area that combines mathematics education research with both learning analytics and organisational learning. His research has been published in leading international journals in the disciplines Mathematics Education, Semiotics, Philosophy of Mathematics and Technology Enhanced Learning. He recently co-edited the research anthology Hvad er scenariedidaktik? [What is scenario-based education?], with Thorkild Hanghøj, Jeppe Bundsgaard, Simon Skov Fougt and Vibeke Hetmar.
Robert Ramberg
earned his PhD in cognitive psychology at the department of psychology, Stockholm University and holds a position as Professor at the department of computer- and systems sciences, Stockholm University (Technology enhanced learning and collaboration). Ramberg also holds a position as research director at the Swedish air force simulation center (FLSC), Swedish Defense Research Agency. He has been the chairman of the center for cognitive science and information technology in Stockholm (a collaboration between three larger universities: Stockholm university, the Royal Institute of Technology and the Karolinska institute), and served on the board of the Swedish Cognitive Science Society. His research has been published in international journals such as International Journal of Technology and Design Education, International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts, Designs for Learning, and Computers & Education. Broadly conceptualized, his research focuses the design and evaluation of representations and representational artefacts to support learning, training and collaboration. Of particular interest to his research are socio-cultural perspectives on learning and cognition and how theories must be adapted when designing and evaluating technology enhanced learning and training environments. And more specifically how artifacts of various kinds (information technology and other tools) mediate human action, collaboration and learning.
Staffan Selander
is PhD and Senior Professor in Didactic Science at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University. A major part of Selander’s research during the last 10 years has focused on designs for learning, knowledge representations and digital learning environments, including games for learning. He has been leading several external, international research projects, financed by The Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond), The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet), the KK-foundation, and has also been engaged in smaller developmental projects financed by e.g. The Swedish National Agency for Education/Skolverket, and the Education Departments at Stockholm City and Nacka Community. Selander has tutored over 40 doctoral students and 20 licentiat students, and has also been part of developing a Scandinavian collaborative work on designs for learning and game-based learning, including the open-access e-journal Designs for Learning (of which he also is Chief Editor) and the bi-annual Scandinavian conference Designs for learning.
Contributors
Jeppe Bundsgaard
is a PhD and Professor in Subject Didactics and ICT with a special focus on the Danish subject at the Danish School of Education, Aarhus University. He has participated in a number of projects that developed and tested innovative digital learning designs in real life settings, and he has developed instruments to study the role of teaching and learning material in context. He has developed a curriculum theory called Prototypical Situation Oriented Curriculum Logic, laying out principles for development of 21st Century teaching and learning standards. The focus in his current research is on developing scenario based standardized assessments that are capable of measuring 21st Century Skills like collaboration, critical thinking and information literacy. In many of his research projects Jeppe Bundsgaard has developed web-based software to be used in the research (e.g. systems for structured observation, assessment tools, evaluation of students’ well-being etc.). He has published widely in books and journals nationally and internationally. He recently co-edited the research anthology Hvad er scenariedidaktik? [What is scenario-based education?], with Thorkild Hanghøj, Morten Misfeldt, Simon Skov Fougt and Vibeke Hetmar.
Caroline Cruaud
has a Ph.D. from the Department of Education of the University of Oslo (Norway) on the topic of gamification of education. With a background in foreign language learning and teaching, she is researching playful learning and the use of digital tools in education. In her Ph.D. thesis she developed a framework based on play theories and the concept of frame, to design and analyse play situations in a classroom context. Her research interests also cover game-based learning, design-based research, and the process of designing tools for learning.
Filipa de Sousa
is a psychologist for over 18 years, having graduated at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Lisbon, in 1996. During her entire career she has been working with the use of narratives for emotional development among the youth. Over the years she coordinated several international projects on Global Education and developed many projects concerning education through dialogue. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Oslo and researches the role of dialogism in technological-enhanced education. She is especially interested in Game-based Learning and the use of the interactive narratives presented by commercial videogames to teach about moral, ethics and citizenship.
Victor Lim Fei
is Assistant Professor at the English Language and Literature Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Victor researches on multimodality in education, multiliteracies, and digital literacy. In particular, he has published and been cited on his work in multimodal discourse analysis, designs for learning through classroom orchestration, and multimodal literacy. Victor was previously Lead Specialist and Deputy Director, Technologies for Learning, at the Singapore Ministry of Education, where he has experience in translational research, policy formulation, and programme development, with a focus on innovations with educational technology to improve teaching and learning.
Uno Fors
graduated as DDS at Karolinska Institutet (KI) 1980 and earned his PhD in Medical informatics at Karolinska Institutet 1990, where he later on became Professor in Educational Simulation in 2007. Fors was head of department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics at KI between 2002–2010. In 2010, Fors moved to Stockholm University where he became professor in IT and Learning (from 2010) and head of department for Computer and Systems Sciences since 2015. Fors’ main research area has always been Technology Enhanced Learning, where he has been working in a variety if areas, including Digital assessment, Visualisation and Simulation for Learning. However, during the last 30 years, Fors’ main focus has been in Virtual cases for Learning and Assessment, and has been developing and studying such applications in several domains, including healthcare, medicine, teacher education, law and social work.
Simon Skov Fougt
earned his PhD from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Aarhus and is now an Associate Professor in Danish (L1) at the Faculty of Education at University College Copenhagen. Fougt’s research focuses on Teacher Professional Development and ICT. He developed the theory on Teacher’s Scenario Competence conceptualising the complexity for teachers and students in project-based teaching. He has defined the concept of teacher scenario competences as a circular process consisting of dependence between planning and execution competences—from notions of scenario and situation to the execution, evaluation, and revision of scenario and situation. Recently, he has published the research anthology Hvad er scenariedidaktik? [What is scenario-based education?], which is co-edited with Thorkild Hanghøj, Jeppe Bundsgaard, Morten Misfeldt, and Vibeke Hetmar.
James Paul Gee
is the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies and a Regents’ Professor at Arizona State University. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Education. His most recent books are: The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Students through Digital Learning (2013); Unified Discourse Analysis: Language, Reality, Virtual Worlds, and Video Games (2014); Literacy and Education (2014); The Essential James Gee: An Introduction to Discourse Analysis (2015); Teaching, Learning, Literacy in Our High-Risk High-Tech World: A Framework for Becoming Human (2017); and Introducing Discourse: From Grammar to Society (2017). Professor Gee has published widely in journals in linguistics, psychology, the social sciences, and education.
Carsten Jessen
is emeritus at Centre for Teaching Development and Digital Media, Aarhus University and chairman of the Danish section of International Play Association. His research has focused on play, computer games and children’s culture for several decades, where he was employed at University of Southern Denmark, the Danish University of Education and the Technical University of Denmark, and he has published papers on play, computer games and learning since the 1990’s. He has especially been interested in developing a new research field, playware, that combines play and game research with technical research, and in collaboration with robot researchers he founded Center for Playware at the Technical University of Denmark.
Jari Due Jessen
is PhD in play, technology, learning and robotics from Center for Playware at the Technical University of Denmark. In his PhD thesis he developed the concept play dynamics as a theoretical perspective that aims to bridge the gap between theory of play and games and practical design. His research is now focused on the use of technology in preschools, and he is currently Concept and Design Lead at the Danish company KUBO Robotics.
Lise Busk Kofoed
is Professor in interdisciplinary learning and teaching strategies. Primary research interests are within the fields of technological and organizational changes and innovation with special focus on learning processes in interdisciplinary environments. Particularly interested in Problem Based Learning processes using new digital media and how it will influence the design of new PBL based learning activities e.g. blended learning, flipped classroom, and the use of purposive game development in a virtual PBL context (Center for Applied Game Research). Methodologically working with user driven innovation, and action research using mixed methods and a special interest in combining qualitative oriented video ethnographic methods and quantitative data collection studies. Have been involved in research projects dealing with the integration of technical, organizational as well as the human factors in innovation and change processes.
Johanne Öberg
is a PhD student at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences at Stockholm University since 2014, with student participation as the main interest. Her research is situated in a school context with focus on learners view and aims at facilitating pupil participation using Technology Enhanced Learning.
Kristine Øygardslia
is a postdoctoral researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. With a background in serious game design, she has a passion for researching how games can make the world a better place. Her current research interests include game design as a learning activity in classrooms and computer games for promoting integration.
Lars Reng
is a Teaching Associate Professor with a primary research interest within the fields of motivation, learning, programming, media development, new media technology, and designing new educations and courses to enhance learning of technical topics e.g. programing and software development. Through an applied research approach he has developed and managed new digital game development courses for more than 1000 pupils and students at a broad array of educations. Lars is also co-founder and co-directing the Center for Applied Game Research (CEAGAR), and the Samsung Media Innovation Lab for Education (SMILE).
Henrik Shoenau-Fog
is an Associate Professor at Aalborg University, Copenhagen where he is researching motivational factors and assessment of engagement in games, learning and interactive media. He is also working with interactive adaptive real-time storyworlds, purposive games and games for learning while teaching and supervising projects related to games, interactive storytelling, emergent narratives, animation and media technologies. He is furthermore using game-enhanced learning models and game design and development to motivate for learning in the classroom. Moreover, he is also co-directing the Samsung Media Innovation Lab for Education (SMILE) and the Center for Applied Game Research (CEAGAR), which aims to promote interdisciplinary applied game research.
Kenneth Silseth
is Associate Professor at Department of Education, University of Oslo. He specializes in sociocultural and dialogic approaches to young people’s learning, meaning making and identity processes. Among his research interests are classroom interaction, technology-enhanced learning, everyday experiences as resources for learning in school, and learning identity. Silseth has published articles on topics such as game-based learning, contextualizing instruction, social media, and digital storytelling, in journals such as International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative, Instructional Science, and Learning, Culture and Social Interaction.
Olga Timcenko
is an Associate Professor in Media Technology at Aalborg University. Her research interest is investigating how technology can help processes of active and blended learning at university level. The inspiration for this work comes from her previous experience as one of developers of LEGO Mindstorms robots, where she witnessed how a carefully designed technological artefact can inspire especially group learning and empower players to acquire knowledge previously considered to belong to university level curriculum (robot programming). She has participated in several EU research projects, and currently is active in European Art-Science-Technology network EASTN-DC. She published papers in fields of robotics, children and technology, and mathematics and programming education, and she holds three international patents.
Charlotte Lærke Weitze
, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in technology and learning design at learnT—Centre for learning technology at the Technical University of Denmark. Since 2009 Charlotte has been researching on how students (K2-K12) can learn by creating digital learning games teaching specific subject matters, while at the same time developing their computational thinking skills. In order to create efficient and motivating learning processes involving technology another focus has been the development and measurement of student and teacher motivation and engagement in learning situations. Charlotte is furthermore educated pianist.
Mats Wiklund
has a PhD in computer and systems sciences at Stockholm University where he teaches computer games related courses. Current research areas focus on game related communication, learning and behavioural issues, both within games and through other channels regarding games. Of special interest is the use of entertainment games as part of the teacher’s toolbox when designing learning environments that span across the (somewhat porous) boundary between games and classroom.