Abstract:
With the rapid uptake of digital technologies among young learners, it is no wonder that we see an increase in the use of technology and more specifically, gamification, in education (Kiryakova et al., 2014; Izumi et al., 2013). Gamification is the “process of using game thinking and mechanics to engage audience and solve problems” (Kapp, 2012, p. 10). Within the field of education, interactive online applications are often built for the sole purpose of enhancing learning. However, there are vast amount of readily available technologies and we need to begin to identify how learning is affected by day-to-day online interactions and gaming. In this presentation, I will be discussing an integral part of my PhD research – understanding how gaming enables young people with autism to learn social skills. My research works with The Lab, a network of technology clubs for young people with high functioning autism between ages 10 and 16. It is an after-school educational programme aimed at improving the wellbeing and life prospects of these young people who have similar interests in technology-based activities such as gaming, programming and digital design (The Lab, 2016). The Lab’s programme is unstructured, in contrast to mainstream educational environments, where learning is self-motivated and facilitated through mentoring by technology professionals. An evaluation of The Lab by Donahoo and Steele (2013) has shown that the setting of this technology club has made a documented difference to the lives of these young people with autism where they begin to learn social skills and develop meaningful relationships while acquiring technical skills. A large part of its success is attributed to the interactions between and within the unstructured physical, online and psychosocial spaces which my research conceptualises under the term ‘differentiated spaces’ (Ng et al., 2015). ‘Differentiated spaces’ refers to a number of physical and abstract spaces, distinctly different from each other yet working in combination to make meaning of an environment (Ng et al., 2015). For the purpose of this presentation, I will specifically be looking into how the online space – in the context of gaming – enables young people with autism to learn social skills at their own pace, in their own space. Using online participatory ethnography, I have set-up a Minecraft* world with these young people to show the potential of using gaming as both a tool for learning and research in the field of education.