Call for papers for a Special Section of The British Journal of Educational Technology
Serious Games, Education and Inclusion for Disabled People.
Guest Editors:
Dr Marion Hersh, Biomedical Engineering, University of Glasgow, Scotland marion.hersh@glasgow.ac.uk
Dr Barbara Leporini, ISTI - CNR, Pisa, Italy
barbara.leporini@isti.cnr.it
Overview
Digital games of all types, including serious games, are becoming increasingly popular. Their potential for using serious games in education makes it imperative that serious games for learning are designed in ways which take account of the needs of disabled students and staff and ensure their full inclusion. Otherwise, there will be an increasing digital divide. This is becoming increasingly urgent, as educational digital games are becoming more widespread.
This special section will aim to stimulate critical debate on and research into all aspects of digital games to support the learning of disabled people. This will include
theories, approaches, principles, applications, the state of the art and the implementation of inclusive games in general, as well as specifically in the context of education and innovation.
The term education is understood very widely to cover anything which aims to increase the knowledge, skills or understanding of disabled people. It includes learning, education, training and/or rehabilitation in formal and/or informal contexts and both learning on one's own and with a teacher and/or as part of a class.
All papers should have a significant original contribution. However, this can take varying forms, including presentation and discussion/evaluation of the results of a survey; presentation, discussion and evaluation of new digital games for disabled and/or all learners; and/or review and critical evaluation of the current state of the art. Research methodologies should be clearly, but concisely presented and show rigour. All papers should clearly describe the underlying theoretical and conceptual framework and relevant to an international audience.
Submission and Inquiries
We therefore invite submissions concerning the application of serious games to support the education, learning and inclusion of disabled people, with education understood very broadly. There is a two stage submission process. The first stage is an abstract of up to 250 words. The authors of particularly high quality abstracts will be invited to the second stage, submission of a full paper. Therefore, abstracts need to demonstrate that the paper fits the special section remit, has a rigorous methodology, is innovative, makes a significant contribution to the field and is relevant to an international audience. Full papers will undergo the standard reviewing process. Therefore, invitation to submit a full paper is just that and should not be taken as indication that the final paper will be accepted.
Authors who are unsure whether their work is suitable for the special issue should submit an abstract with a query to the guest editors well in advance of the deadline.
Abstracts should be clearly and concisely written and generally include the following:
• An introduction of one or two sentences stating the research aims and educational context; e.g. undergraduate; high school; pre-school, all levels etc.
• For empirical reports, a brief summary of the data collection methodology.
• A summary of the outcomes and an indication of their strength and significance
• Concise conclusions and implications in two or three sentences. What new insights does this research provide? What is its unique and significant contribution to the field? How is it relevant for a diverse international audience?
Important Dates:
Abstracts to Guest Editors: 6th October 2017
Notification of Abstract Acceptance and invitation to submit full paper: 16th October 2017
Submission deadline for full paper: 8th December 2017
Approval of full article for peer review: 15th December 2018
Last Article Acceptances: 30th April 2018
Articles published online as soon as copyediting is completed.
Issue Publication July 2018.
