Digital Applications Flashcards
What are the main features of gaming applications?
Games are available to be played on a variety of platforms, including:
- desktop computers running Windows or MacOS;
- mobile devices running Windows, Android or iOS;
- purpose designed gaming platforms such as
Microsoft Xbox or Sony PlayStation.
Games may be single player – designed to be played by one player at a time
– or multiplayer – designed to be played by more than one player at a time.
What are MMOG’s
World of Warcraft and Second Life are sometimes described as Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) because of the vast numbers of players who can play simultaneously.
What is virtual reality and how is it used?
Modern games may use virtual reality technology to provide a more immersive player experience.
Virtual Reality is a computer-generated environment that provides the user with the illusion of being present in that situation.
Virtual reality is produced by providing feedback to our various senses: vision, hearing, movement and sometimes smell.
As the user moves or acts, the image seen will change along with the appropriate sound and movement
What is augmented reality?
Augmented Reality games provide the player with a modified view of the real physical world, into which computer generated content has been embedded.
How do gaming applications affect Social interaction
Gaming can have a negative impact on teenagers’ social interaction and psychological well being. The feeling is that too much time spent sitting in front of a screen zapping aliens may make teenagers aggressive or turn them into poorly adjusted loners.
Others respond by saying that not all games involve zapping aliens, and that online multiplayer games provide opportunities for players to expand their social network in ways that would not otherwise be possible
How do gaming applications affect Education & training
Jane McGonigal speculates that, if we could design games that were engaging enough, and that helped to develop skills that were needed in the real world, then we might be able to solve many of the world’s big problems.
How do gaming applications affect work practices
Gamification is the application of game playing elements, such as challenge and competition, into other areas of activity like work
How does simulation affect Social interaction
Computer simulation can be a powerful tool in helping us to understand how social interaction and
the spread of diseases are related.
What is a simulation?
Simulation is the use of a computer program to predict the likely behaviour of a real-life system.
Used for surgery training, pilot training and meteorologists
How does simulation affect Education & training
We have already seen two applications of simulation in education and training: surgical
training and pilot training. In both of these areas there is an obvious advantage in giving trainees a virtual environment where mistakes can be made without endangering anyone.
How does simulation affect work practices
Weather forecasts are relied upon in industries that include: farming, fishing, aviation.
Indeed accurate weather forecasts can be safety critical at sea and in the air.
How do businesses make use of mobile phone applications?
Many organisations now adopt a mobile first strategy to development – this means that they focus their development efforts firstly on mobile devices and only afterwards on desktop applications.
The range of mobile phone applications (or apps) that is now available is vast, and continues to grow.
Anyone who has developed a mobile app may make it available on an App Store. There is currently a registration fee for both Google Play and iOS app stores, and a review process, which is intended to filter out low quality apps. These are not, however, significant obstacles.
How does Mobile Phone applications affect Education & training
8.55% of the apps in the iOS App Store were classified as
educational. E.g.
- computer programming languages such as
Python, Java and C#; - school subjects such as biology and
mathematics; - modern languages such as French and Spanish.
In addition to subject specific learning apps
There are apps that enable access to more generic
learning tools and services, including virtual
learning environments (VLE) such as Blackboard
Learn, Moodle and Google Classroom.
How can app developers profit from their app?
Pay to Download: Many apps are free to download and most of those that are not, are relatively inexpensive.
In-App Advertising: In-app advertising is sometimes enhanced by location data to ensure that users are presented with advertisements at a time and place where they are able to make a relevant purchase.
In-App Purchase: Many apps are designed to encourage the user to make an additional purchase whilst using the app. The use of IAPs has become quite controversial as users report making purchases that they had not intended – this has been a particular problem where children are concerned. It is now possible to disable in-app purchases in both Android and iOS apps.
What is a VLE
A virtual learning environment (VLE) is a web based platform designed to support a range of educational activities, which might include communication and resource sharing, as well as
assessment and feedback.
