Dalgarno's Proposed Metadata for Learner-Computer Interaction

Return to the game you looked at in Blog Post #3. This time, use the classifications from Dalgarno's article to discuss the interactions that take place within the game.



Using Dalgarno's proposed classification scheme, the Sakkara game can be described according to Cognitive Task; Input Techniques; and, System Response. The game has four episodes- this information applies to only the first episode.

Cognitive task
Attending to static information: Reading instructions; reading possible questions and answers during scenes; listening to background music; and, reading entries in journal.
Controlling media: Launching the game.
Navigating the system: Choosing questions to ask; choosing items to collect; and choosing routes in chase sequences.
Answering questions: No structured questions to answer.
Attending to question feedback: Reading the responses to questions during scenes; gaining entry to new scene; and, new entries in journal.
Exploring a world: Examining Elizabeth’s hotel room for clues and examining links to related information in journal.
Measuring in a world: N/A
Manipulating a world: N/A (unless this involves determining combination of safe in hotel room).
Constructing in a world: N/A
Attending to world changes: Examining the contents of the journal to find connections between found objects
Articulating: N/A
Processing data: N/A
Attending to processed data: N/A
Formatting output: N/A

Input technique
Typing: Entering username/passkey to play
Valuators: N/A
Key pressing: To crack combination for safe and to navigate maze during chase scene.
Pull down menus: N/A
Menu lists: N/A
Buttons and icons: To advance to next scene and to launch journal.
Check boxes and radio buttons: N/A
Hot spots: N/A
Hypertext: Links appear within the journal and offer related historical information.
Scroll bars: N/A
Media controls: N/A
Selecting: Used for collecting objects in Elizabeth’s hotel room; for choosing a particular question to ask; turning pages in the journal; and, for getting more detail about a particular object in the journal.
Dragging: N/A
Drawing: N/A
Mouse rollovers: items in Elizabeth’s hotel room glisten if available for collecting when rolled over.

System Response
Displaying: Scene titles; answers from characters; journal pages; and, enlarged images of objects in journals.
Presenting media: Travel segments, background noises and music.
Presenting cues: Mouse radiations that indicate choices for questions and sparkles on objects that indicate they can be collected.
Branching: Different answers are given if different questions are chosen during character interviews.
Assessing answers: N/A
Generating feedback: N/A
Updating world: The journal fills with collected objects as the player travels through the episode or scene;
Generating world: N/A
Processing data: N/A
Searching: N/A
Saving and loading: Progress is only saved at the episode level-not within an episode.