Percorrer por autor "Sousa, Carla"

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    Analogue Games and Digital Literacy : The NetSmart Case Study with Older People
    (Academic Conferences International , 2025-10-01) Perim, Claudilene; Sousa, Carla; Damásio, Manuel; CICANT - Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies
    In an era where digital proficiency is increasingly vital for full societal participation, older adults remain disproportionately underserved by digital literacy initiatives. Addressing this gap, the present study investigates the impact of NetSmart, a custom-designed analogue board game aimed at improving digital literacy among older adults. Developed through a participatory approach, NetSmart engages players in collaborative gameplay centred around digital safety, mobile device usage, and online interaction. The study employed a quasi-experimental pre-post design involving 42 participants aged 60 to 89, all previously introduced to foundational digital skills through local lifelong learning programs in Lisbon, Portugal. Participants attended a six-week intervention comprising guided gameplay sessions structured to promote reflective learning, skill reinforcement, and social interaction. Digital literacy was assessed through a 22-item questionnaire administered before and after the intervention. Quantitative analysis using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed significant improvements in key areas: the ability to download and install applications (p = .015), update operating systems (p = .037), and understand the role of games in learning (p = .020). Additionally, post-intervention responses showed increased selfefficacy in educating others on digital safety and greater engagement with online gaming (p = .033 and p = .013, respectively). These findings underscore the potential of analogue Game-Based Learning (GBL) not only as a tool for developing digital competencies, but also as a means of enhancing older adults' autonomy, social engagement, and confidence in navigating digital environments. This aligns with a broader recognition of play as a dynamic and effective medium for adult learning— especially when educational approaches are sensitively adapted to the cognitive and emotional dimensions of aging. While the case study’s context-specific nature and absence of a control group limit generalizability, the results nonetheless offer meaningful insights into how GBL can inform digital inclusion strategies for older populations. To build on these insights, future research should incorporate performance-based assessments alongside self-reported data and explore diverse settings to strengthen external validity.
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    Editorial
    (Lusofona University, 2023) Neves, Pedro; Sousa, Carla; Luz, Filipe Costa; Fonseca, Maria Micaela; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab; CICANT - Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies
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    Editorial : games and learning: consolidating and expanding the potential of analogue and digital games
    (Lusofona University, 2023) Neves, Pedro Pinto; Sousa, Carla; Fonseca, Micaela; Rye, Sara; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab; CICANT - Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies
    For a long time, Games Research suffered from what Jaakko Stenros and Annika Waern classified as the Digital Fallacy – the tendency to regard analog games as a subset of digital games rather than the other way around. Where boardgames were once associated with the past of games and learning and digital games with the future, there are now fresh insights and applications for boardgames in learning – alongside with their renaissance as games for entertainment. Even as boardgames found new relevance in learning, the already-recognized possibilities in digital games for learning have continued to expand, with more flexible and ubiquitous tools and platforms allowing for a greater variety of avenues of learning research and practice to be explored. Augmented and mixed reality as well as virtual reality are frontiers in learning that beg for further exploration.
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    Game creation to promote media and information literacy (MIL) skills in basic education teachers
    (University of Lusophone Humanities and Technology, 2019) Sousa, Carla; Costa, Conceição; ECATI - School of Communication, Architecture, Arts and Information Technologies; CICANT - Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies
    No âmbito do GamiLearning (2015-2018), um projeto de investigação-ação com o objetivo de promover as dimensões crítica e participativa da Literacia Mediática e Informacional (MIL), através de experiências colaborativas com jogos digitais, foi desenvolvido um workshop para professores do Ensino Básico em Portugal. O workshop tinha como principal objetivo desenvolver competências em MIL, através da criação colaborativa de jogos digitais. Para documentar esta prática, foi desenvolvido um questionário para autoavaliação pelos professores dos seus níveis de literacia mediática, da sua motivação para integrarem a formação, das suas atitudes sobre os videojogos, e da sua posição sobre a educação para os media no contexto formal de ensino. Um grupo de 21 professores do Ensino Básico completou a formação presencial, suportada por uma plataforma colaborativa online – o SAPO Campus. Os resultados quantitativos demonstram aumentos estatisticamente significativos (p < .05) na auto-perceção de competências de literacia mediática dos professores, sobretudo na criação de media e gestão das identidades digitais. Os resultados qualitativos enquadram uma reflexão dos professores sobre a relevância da criação de media digitais na motivação dos estudantes e na promoção da MIL. As barreiras à adoção de práticas pedagógicas que incluem a criação de media foram também alvo da reflexão dos professores.
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    Game-based learning in higher education using analogue games
    (Lusofona University, 2023) Maratou, Vicky; Ennami, Firdaous; Luz, Filipe; Abdullahi, Yama; Medeišiene, Raimonda Agne; Šciukauske, Indre; Chaliampalias, Rizos; Kameas, Achilles D.; Sousa, Carla; Rye, Sara; CICANT - Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab
    Games have been effective in helping people to interact with one another and learning more about the culture they inhabit (Piaget, 1962). The importance of games and their centrality to culture is pointed out by Huizinga (1944) who suggested using them as a medium to organise our lived experience and as an escape from their pragmatic focus (Ruckenstein, 1992). The “playful” nature of games results in escapism because it often hides the seriousness of their outcomes (Bateson, 2014; Henricks, 2006). For instance, games can be implemented in war where they are viewed as a deadly sort of game, with elaborate rules, strategies, and codes of sportsmanship. Furthermore, the widespread use of games has gained traction as a rapidly evolving teaching and learning tool in the educational sector as well. This rapid growth in the use of games as an educational tool has led to the creation of an immense number of diverse games, aiding teaching and learning in a multitude of disciplines from economics to art, and numerous encyclopaedic websites of previously developed games have been created. Despite this rapid growth, it is debatable whether this is due to increased effective learning from games, or simply the increased engagement and enjoyment observed in comparison to traditional pedagogical methods. To that end, the current paper explores the practices of analogue GBL across European Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the challenges and opportunities associated with Game-Based Learning (GBL) from the perspective of educators and game designers. Gamification – including simple game mechanics, such as points for correct answers (Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Kim, Song, Lockee, & Burton, 2018; Rotgans & Schmidt, 2011) – is often used as a teaching aid to increase student engagement and enjoyment. However, simply adding a game mechanic into classic, lecture-based teaching does not necessarily assist in cognitive retention in classrooms, or develop 21st-century skills. As a matter of fact, more academics are seeing the benefits of GBL (Qian & Clark, 2016), in which games are specifically designed to enhance learning and the development of a certain skillset. It may also involve adapting a game that is already designed for use in the classroom, such as using open world-based board games to teach the interaction between geopolitical groups, or the use of LEGO® blocks to help improve comprehension of city planning. A good GBL intervention will ensure that the central mechanic of a game is linked to the expected learning outcomes of the module (Arnab et al., 2014).
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    GameIN : Proposing methodological disruptions in the study of inclusive games
    (International Association for Media and Communication Research, 2023-07-09) Luz, Filipe Soares Branco da Costa; Sousa, Carla; Neves, Pedro Pinto; Fonseca, Micaela; Quaresma, Claudia; Sanches, Isabel Rodrigues; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab; CICANT - Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies; CeiED - Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Education and Development
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    Games for media and information literacy learning : objectives, research design and recent outcomes
    (UT Austin Portugal Portugal Annual Conference, 2016-05-23) Costa, Conceição; Henriques, Sara; Sousa, Carla; Tyner, Kathleen; Rogado, José Luís de Azevedo Quintino; CICANT - Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies; ECATI - School of Communication, Architecture, Arts and Information Technologies; COPELABS - Cognitive and People-centric Computing
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    GBL for psychological intervention related skills : What challenges? What paths?
    (Dechema e.V., 2021) Sousa, Carla; Fonseca, Micaela; Mansuklal, Shivani; Carvalho, Jéssica; Silva, Diogo; Neves, Pedro; Luz, Filipe; Salvador, Ágata; Costa, Leonor; Oliveira, Jorge; Gamito, Pedro; Fotaris, Panagiotis; CICANT - Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab
    In recent research, games have become an important reference with regards to learning skills with certain characteristics, as well as in promoting contemporary literacies. Games have similarly become highly relevant in the promotion of psychological well-being and mental health. Even considering this role in promoting learning in general, soft skills, motivation, cooperation, empathy, among others, in the field of psychological intervention, the potential of games has been much more applied to patients than to the psychologists and their professional development. The present study aims at mapping the intersection between psychological intervention related skills learning and game-based pedagogical strategies. For such purpose, a Systematic Literature Review was conducted through some of the most relevant scientific databases. The obtained sample was further selected following the PRISMA guidelines with screening and eligibility processes based on inclusion criteria, defined considering the research's aim. Non-peer reviewed research and studies aimed at other pedagogical approaches, such as gamification, were excluded from the final sample. Papers were categorized, coded, and analysed through statistical procedures and content analysis techniques. The results contextualize games as effective and feasible tools in the professional development of psychologists and psychology graduates, simultaneously highlighting the scarcity of resources in this field and the need for more experimental and quasi experimental approaches to foster evidence-based pedagogical choices.
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    Proceedings of the Games and Social Impact Media Research Conference - GLOW 2021
    (Edições Universitárias Lusófonas, 2021) Sousa, Carla; Luz, Filipe Soares Branco da Costa; Fonseca, Micaela; Neves, Pedro Pinto; EPCV - School of Psychology and Life Sciences; ECATI - School of Communication, Architecture, Arts and Information Technologies; CICANT - Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab
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    Roundtable, analogue co-design : opportunities, challenges and other nuances
    (Lusofona University, 2023) Brand, Inka; C., Isra; Brand, Markus; S., Shei; Sousa, Micael; Sousa, Carla; Casimiro, Cátia; CICANT - Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies; HEI-LAB - Human Environment Interaction Lab
    Co-design is linked to a range of advantages, encompassing enhancements in idea generation, service or product development processes, decision-making, cooperation, creativity, as well as long-term satisfaction and loyalty among clients and users (Steen, 2013; Steen et al., 2011). Despite its widespread use as a strategic approach, co-design has received less scholarly attention, and critical discussions regarding its underlying concepts are infrequent. The occurrence of this particular circumstance can perhaps be attributed to the widespread practice of categorizing projects as co-design, which may lead to a dilution or confusion of conceptual understanding (Steen, 2013). In the field of games, especially at an academic level, the idea of co-design has been used mainly to describe processes of horizontalizing research design, aligned with participatory paradigms (Brown, 2022; Hall, 1975). Specifically, where the player no longer plays a completely passive role, but co-creates the gaming world together with the designers (De Jans et al., 2017; Loos et al., 2019; Pedersen & Buur, 2000). Or when the games (applied as a serious game) deliver a tool for ideation and the co-creation of projects and solutions to a specific problem (Sousa, 2021). Here, we have invited two of the most prominent duos of contemporary analog game designers – Isra/Shei and Inka Brand/Markus Brand – to reflect on how they complement and oppose each other in this process. Relational and gender characteristics, how they impact the creative process, and the players’ vision of the games created, among many other issues, will be reflected here.