Page 5.3.3

Focus on the aspect of representation

The representation is also an important factor in learning with games. Literature shows that users’ motivation and sense of engagement is closely associated with the ‘player sense of challenge, game realism, opportunities to explore or discover new information and learner control’ (deFreitas, 2006). In addition, an important aspect of game-play is the ‘role playing’ that creates a sense of acting inside a story; it is pivotal through the role-playing to offer users the opportunity not simply to select and configure an avatar but also to regulate the avatar’s behaviour interacting with the elements of the story (i.e non-playing characters, graphical objects etc) and influencing the plot of the game (Francis, 2006). ‘Through situated role play within the virtual world students develop ‘embodied empathy’ for their virtual persona and gain a deep, but tacit, understanding of a web of social relationships whilst talking and interacting with dozens of player and non-player characters’ (deFreitas, 2006).

The term ‘mediated sense of presence’ is usually used to describe ‘a technology-induced illusion of being present in one (simulated) place when one is actually present in another (physical) place’. Literature shows that both immersion and narrative contribute to creating and increasing the sense of presence. More precisely, ‘immersion increases the place illusion, while the narrative contributes to generating an emotional response and strengthening the subjects' sense of inner presence’.

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