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| I am an academic at Middlesex University specialising in the theory and practice of interactive media. I teach on two Masters courses : a) Design for Interactive Media (b) Electronic Arts. I have a particular interest in narrative as it can be applied to education CD/DVD-Roms and for the development of games. In this context, I lecture on various theories of engagement and how these theories can be used to enhance interactive narrative. I have developed a critical theory class in which various CD/DVD Roms are analysed for their content and form. During the last two years I have been on the national and international judging panels of the following awards : Milia d'Or, EMMA, BIMA (British Interactive Multimedia Association), BETT (British Education Technology & Teaching), IVCA (International Visual Communication Association) On all of these panels, I have been mainly involved in the education and reference sections of the awards. Prior to teaching interactive media, I taught English Language at the University and also wrote a number of books and plays for radio. Contribution: Engagement in Interactive Media Many commercial products in interactive media are failing to apply the body of knowledge regarding factors influencing the user’s engagement in content. This is particularly important in educational software. There will be a short discussion of the work of Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, especially on those aspects of engagement that have been described in Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. An analysis of the principles of engagement and how they can be applied to design for interactive media will follow this. Several principles are proposed, based on research on engagement to enhance users’ interactive experience. This has particular relevance to the design of educational CD/DVD-Rom. It also has implications for the learning curves that result from the use of such media in the educational setting. There will be a discussion about those content areas that might benefit most from the application of such principles. A number of commercial educational products that exemplify the best practice of interactive media in terms of engagement will be presented to illustrate the discussion. |
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