The innovative eConfidence methodology builds on two well-known methodologies in psychology: the Intervention Mapping Protocol (IMP1) and the Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). These were integrated in one comprehensive methodology that consists of six steps, starting from the topic selection process to the psychological analysis of the behaviour and final assessment. A key aspect is that behaviour is included from the very beginning of the game development process, involving experts such as psychologists. Additionally it assigns responsibilities and assesses the validity of the output, the latter another essential aspect to cover, in order to create an effective Serious Game. Valuable input was gathered from a total of 46 external experts.
The two serious games that the project developed applied the eConfidence methodology. They embed several mini-games fostering the engagement of the player and highlighting certain behaviour, e.g. sharing photos online. Decisions that the player makes are measured through LA – Learning Analytics, for keeping track of changes in behaviour of the participating students during game play. Good choices are rewarded by letting the player advance further in the game. Both games work on and interact with the educational platform Xtend, based on the widely used Moodle platform, where all measurements are centralised for further analysis. A specific Xtend extension was developed to this end.
Pilot tests were organised at 10 schools, 5 English-speaking schools and 5 Spanish speaking schools, with over 343 children participating. This group was divided in a group playing School of Empathy, another group played Go Online, and finally a control group who did not play any game.
Analyses were performed in order to examine the effects of the two video games on students’ knowledge, behaviours and attitudes. Some of the variables analysed were the knowledge and behaviours related to internet use and bullying, as well as attitudes, perceived behaviour control, self-efficacy, subjective norms and behaviour intentions related to both topics. Other social skills such as assertiveness, empathy, and friendship were also tested.
It is notable that there was a positive change in the behaviour of students that played the game about the safe use of the Internet. At the end of the gaming activities with Go Online, students were able to distinguish better between reliable and unreliable people online, and between strong and weak passwords comparing to their awareness before playing the game.
As for the participants of the School of Empathy game, students who more frequently participated in dialogues in different roles (victim, bystander, and bully) showed higher perceived control and self-efficacy in protecting the victim and reported more assertive and less aggressive reactions in everyday situations after the pilot tests.
The results of the eConfidence pilot tests also stress the importance of the participants’ experience in obtaining beneficial outcomes of the game. Immersion in the game and perceived competence can bring positive psychological outcomes.
A detailed business plan was developed by the consortium seeking maximum impact while being realistic. The three main eConfidence results that are going to be exploited:
- the School of Empathy serious game, by Everis and ITCL;
- the Go Online serious game, by Everis and Nurogames; and
- the eConfidence methodology, by ITCL and Nurogames.
IPR will be protected through copyrights and registered trademarks, and license agreements will be signed for all three exploitation parts.
A Data Management Plan has been developed and is regularly updated, assuring appropriate management of the research data collected within the project. The publications and data sets resulting from the project have been published in the open access repository Zenodo and are thus also available through OpenAire.
