Gaming in the Modern Multicultural Educational Space
Larysa Bondarchuk
1
, Larysa Kozlovska
1
, Olesia Lazarenko
2
, Viktoria Tovstenko
1
and Tamara Podgurska
1
1
Department of the Business Linguistics, Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman, Prospect
Peremogy, Kyiv, Ukraine
2
Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences, European University Viadrina, Große Scharrnstrasse, Frankfurt (Oder),
Germany
Keywords: Gaming, Game, Game Method, Gamers, Computer Games, Game Behavior,
Multicultural Educational Space.
Abstract: The current state and prospects of using gaming in modern education is considered. Computer games as a
non-standard innovative learning technology are quite effective because they form the ability to combine
theoretical knowledge with practical activities. Different types of classification of computer games that
contribute to a variety of educational and professional experience are analyzed. Gaming is considered as a
multicultural phenomenon that has undoubted features at the national educational levels. The authors present
the experience of using gaming technologies in the educational process at the Economic University. One of
the results of the study is the emphasis on the prospects of using elements of gaming in language acquisition
and acquiring intercultural communication skills.
1 INTRODUCTION
Game is an important part of a person's life at any age.
In the process of development of thinking and
personality formation plays, not only the educational
factor, but also the nature of gaming activities play an
important role. For a child, gaming is a leading
activity, because during the game he learns the
meaning and ways of using objects, as well as
different options for social relations. In the life of an
adult, gaming is an activity of modeling another type
of activity for entertainment or educational purposes.
Humankind has been playing games since
prehistoric times, starting with ritual games (for
example, the rite of initiation); with the development
of civilization, games have become increasingly
complex and reflected almost all spheres of society:
war, love, history, etc. The most sophisticated modern
games are MMORPGs with multiplayer mode like
World of Warcraft where thousands of users around
the world are connected every minute, and millions of
different actions take place every minute.
Today, computer games are often seen as a means
of acquiring new knowledge, they play a learning
role, because they simulate on different platforms
different situations and options for the hero. They
provide an opportunity to practice practical skills of
any behavior. Game stages include instructions for
actions in game situations, video clips with reference
information and test tasks that determine the player's
readiness for the next stage of the game, which are
formed in increasing order of difficulty.
Game method of teaching in the modern
educational space involves determining the purpose
aimed at mastering the content, the choice of type of
educational and cognitive activities and forms of
interaction between teacher and pupil or student. The
formation of professional competencies of any
specialist also actualizes the use of non-standard
forms of education. One of such forms and methods
is the game as a means of developing creative
potential, gaining new skills, etc.
2 ANALYSES OF RESEARCH ON
THE TOPIC
Herbert Spencer believed that the game is the result
of excess energy in the body and is intended for its
release. He noted the similarities between the playing
of animal cubs and human children, and introduced
the biological theory of games. On the contrary,
according to Carl Gross, games are used to train
physical and mental capabilities. In his opinion, the
game arises as a consequence of underdevelopment
of the initial adaptation to the environment.
446
Bondarchuk, L., Kozlovska, L., Lazarenko, O., Tovstenko, V. and Podgurska, T.
Gaming in the Modern Multicultural Educational Space.
DOI: 10.5220/0011364400003350
In Proceedings of the 5th International Scientific Congress Society of Ambient Intelligence (ISC SAI 2022) - Sustainable Development and Global Climate Change, pages 446-455
ISBN: 978-989-758-600-2
Copyright
c
2022 by SCITEPRESS Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All r ights reserved
Well-known Dutch historian and cultural theorist
Johan Huizinga has written extensively about the
games in life and culture. Along with the study of
historiography and the theory of the origin and
development of the world, the scientist considered the
peculiarities of using games as an element of human
life. In particular, Huizinga notes that the games are
older than culture, because the games are inherent not
only to humans but also to animals. In his opinion,
human culture originates from the game, although the
game does not pass into culture, but remains close to
culture (Huizinga, 2016).
French sociologist Roger Caillois in his book “Les
jeux et les hommes” (“Games and people”) (Caillois,
1958) defined a game as an activity that necessarily
has the following properties:
joy: the activity attracts with its easy nature;
demarcation: the time and place of a game are
clearly defined;
uncertainty: the outcome of the activity is
unpredictable;
unproductivity: participation in a game has no
useful consequences;
rules: such activities have rules different from
everyday life;
fiction: a game is accompanied by awareness
of another reality.
Many psychologists have studied the ability to
play and play games, including Melanie Klein, Jean
Piaget, William James, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung,
Lev Vygotsky, etc. From a psychological point of
view, the games are especially important at an early
age, when the child's mind and character are formed.
Children's games help children to develop not only
physically, but also mentally and socially.
Well-known Ukrainian teacher M. Fitsula
indicated that game methods are quite effective and
are characterized by the following: presence of game
models of an object, process or activity; activation of
student's thinking and behavior; high degree of
involvement in the educational process; obligatory
interaction of students between themselves and the
teacher; emotionality and creative nature of the
lesson; independence of students in decision making;
their desire to acquire skills and abilities in a
relatively short time (Fitsula, 2002).
Through game activities, the individual abilities
of students are better developed, because they do not
feel the psychological pressure of responsibility,
which is inherent in standard educational activities. A
game teaches to act through action itself.
Assimilation of knowledge is carried out in the
context of certain activities, that creates a situation of
need for knowledge. A game allows you to get rid of
patterns and stereotypes, it can change the students'
attitude to any phenomenon, fact or problem. It
stimulates the intellectual activity of students, teaches
to predict, research and test the correctness of
decisions and hypotheses, cultivates a culture of
communication, and develops the ability to work in a
team and with a team. Pedagogically and
psychologically thoughtful use of a game stimulates
mental activity. This increases intellectual activity,
cognitive independence, and initiative.
Socio-psychological impact of a game is
manifested in overcoming the students' fear of
speaking, in the formation of a culture of
communication, especially the culture of dialogue. A
game forms the ability to make independent
decisions, evaluate own actions and the actions of
others, promotes the activation of knowledge.
The game approach is not the determining way of
mastering educational material, but it considerably
enriches pedagogical practice and expands
opportunities of students (Kvon and Pavlova, 2021).
In the modern Ukrainian educational
environment, the opinions of teachers, scientists and
specialists about the use of computer games in the
educational process are different.
In the computer games, as noted by O. Fedor,
there are often two types of goals: and learning. The
gaming goal is usually consists in obtaining a reward,
which can be presented in the form of score, points, a
place on the podium, a place in the rankings, virtual
cups, awards, virtual cash prizes, etc. The learning
goal is the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and
abilities in any field through the implementation of
activities according to the rules (Fedor, 2020).
Thus, in computer games educational and game
components can be distinguished. They can be
correlated in different proportions. If the educational
component predominates, the game provides ample
opportunities to reproduce the knowledge, skills, and
abilities of their application and handling. If the game
component predominates, the game can be used as a
visual learning tool to increase interest in various
issues and motivate their study.
One of the most important tasks that need to be
addressed today is to determine the goals, place, and
boundaries of using computer games in the
educational processes. Solving this problem will
allow conscious choice of content that should and can
be learned by means of a computer game (Ardini and
Manuel, 2018).
Gaming in the Modern Multicultural Educational Space
447
2.1 Research Methods Topic
In this study, we tried to find out the features of
modern gaming as an important tool of modern
educational and cognitive activities, assess its
classification characteristics, outline genre diversity,
and identify possible current areas of development of
gaming technologies in modern education at the
national and international levels.
3 COMPUTER GAMES IN
MODERN CYBERSPACE
Modern computer games are very diverse and include
many different types and genres. Some researchers
point out that “the most effective are open ended
computer games that allow productive creativity,
design, experiments, etc.” (Smirnova and Ryabkova,
2021). Others point out that despite the fact that the
history of computer games has more than 60 years,
the industry was formed only in the 1980s. The
Nintendo Entertainment System consoles were first
released in 1983, and the games for the IBM PC
appeared four years later. In the 1990s, with the
advent of online technology, gaming practices
reached a new level of development. In Ukraine,
computer games have spread at a slightly slower pace
due to objective social and economic reasons, but
these games can be considered a prominent element
of mass culture already in the 1980s (Dyachenko and
Zozulov, 2018).
3.1 Classification of Computer Games
Computer games, or games for PC, console, mobile,
tablet, browser, etc. are video games that are now
very actively used by the users in cyberspace.
Among the wide variety of classifications
(Bulander, 2010) there is the simplest classification
of computer games, some components of which,
obviously, can also be considered the most relevant
for educational activities:
quests: the hero performs tasks, communicating
with other characters, looking for and using different
objects, solving problems and puzzles;
shooters are the games on reaction speed, so-
called first-person shooters;
role-playing games (RPG): the player can
improve the abilities of his character by defeating
enemies and completing tasks, as well as to sell and
buy resources;
strategies: one needs to control not a character,
but the game process; it is often the development of a
city/country/race;
simulators that simulate driving a car, piloting an
airplane, steering a ship or a spacecraft, or a sports
game;
logic games bring the player to consistent
thinking, make one think outside the box and build
logical chains;
gambling and the like.
This classification is incomplete, there are many
genres of computer games, they are transformed, and
new ones are constantly emerging. Nevertheless, the
most popular game genres today are the following:
MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). This
is a team game that combines action, RPG, and real-
time strategy. The player controls a character with
unique abilities, who fights in one of two rival teams.
To win, one needs to destroy the enemy base. The
most popular games of the genre are Dota 2 and
League of Legends (LoL).
FPS (First-Person Shooter). In first-person
shooters, the gameplay is based on fighting with
firearms or any other weapon. Unlike other shooters,
the player perceives what is happening through the
eyes of his character. The top games are Counter-
Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO), Tom Clancy's
Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch, Valorant.
MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online
Role-Playing Game). In massive multiplayer online
role-playing games, players actively interact with
each other in a single world and perform certain tasks.
These games appeared as RPG subgenre. The most
famous game is World of Warcraft.
Battle Royale. The genre of royal battle has
emerged recently, it combines elements of MMO
games and survival simulator with last man standing
mode. Many players appear on the map, and their
number decreases over time. The winner is the one
whose character remains the last survivor. Player
Unknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), Apex Legends,
and Fortnite belong to this genre.
Sports simulators. There are various simulators
of sports competitions. The most popular are team
games such as football and basketball. There are also
simulators of boxing, racing, billiards, etc. The top
games are FIFA, NBA, F1.
CCG (Collectible Card Game). Collectible card
games have lost some of their popularity in recent
years, but still have a large audience. Players collect
their own collections of cards released in separate
sets, and make their decks from them. They
competete with each other with these decks.
ISC SAI 2022 - V International Scientific Congress SOCIETY OF AMBIENT INTELLIGENCE
448
Hearthstone, Magic: The Gathering Arena belong to
this genre.
Auto battler. Autobatlers emerged as a
modification of MOBA. Eight players fight with each
other, forming their armies and improving units. The
four players who last the longest win. The popular
games of the genre are Hearthstone Battlegrounds,
Teamfight Tactics, Dota Underlords.
It is worth noting that games of different types
form a special experience for gamers. Strategy games
give a lot of knowledge about different kinds of
objects, their development and interaction. These
games develop logical thinking, the ability to take
into account various factors, plan their own actions
and anticipate possible moves of the enemy. They
give great potential for intellectual development.
Simulators develop reaction speed, sensorimotor
coordination, the ability to perceive spatial images;
they give way to emotions and the realization of
unattainable desires; these games can develop certain
skills, such as driving a car, and they are are often a
great game exercise to learn new skills (Jackson and
Morsi, 2007).
Quest games, adventures with a plot are a separate
area of life, namely social life, as friendly contacts are
established among the players, and communication
goes beyond the game frames. Online role-playing
games require a fairly high degree of mastery of
computer skills (networking, and often knowledge of
foreign languages) (Kobynec, 2020).
3.2 Gaming and the COVID-19
Pandemic
In 2020-2021, the number of fans of computer games
has increased significantly, as after the quarantine
restrictions related to COVID-19, the whole world
began to move to the virtual world. Attitudes toward
computer games have also changed. This is no longer
a way to “kill time” and have fun, but also a method
of gaining new knowledge, a separate system of
learning and making money (Mukhidin, 2020).
Unlike many other industries, 2019-2020 has been
a growth point for gaming. Self-isolation and social
distancing have led users to spend significantly more
time in the virtual world, and their involvement in
games has broken all records. In 2020, 70% of people
started spending more time with mobile devices
(Nadtochiy, 2021).
For example, Facebook studied gaming on its
platform. They surveyed 13,246 respondents from
nine countries and presented in the final version of the
report the results on new (those who did not play
mobile games before the first pandemic, but started to
play at least an hour per week) and old (those who
played mobile games before the first peak of the
pandemic, and continued to play at least an hour per
week) gamers from Germany, South Korea, the
United States, and the United Kingdom
(Zamostyanova, 2021).
In the US, UK and Germany, new gamers are
much younger than old ones. In South Korea, the
situation is different: new gamers are older and prefer
more casual games. Interestingly, in all the countries
analyzed by Facebook experts, new mobile players
spend more money on games than gamers who played
before the pandemic.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the number
of game groups and their members on Facebook has
increased. From January to August 2020, more than
185,000 new game groups appeared, and more than
130 million participants joined the game groups. In
the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany,
these new gamers are 25-34 year old, and in South
Korea, more than half of the new gamers are 18-24
year old.
Comparing the situation in Ukraine with world
trends, the researchers note that “a typical Ukrainian
gamer is pupil, student (66.6% of this social group
play computer games), employee with higher
education (33.1%), or unemployed (31.5%)”
(Zozulov and Dyachenko, 2018).
4 GAMING AS AN INNOVATION
OF THE EDUCATIONAL
PROCESS: WORLD PRACTICE
AND UKRAINIAN
EXPERIENCE
Today, there is a new, special trend of transition from
the purely entertaining nature of computer games to
educational and entertaining one. New generation
games are often filled with meaningful initial
information, so they are used in education,
specialized, and filled with special content. Many
games of this type already exist as a separate type of
innovative methods, and are used in the educational
processes in different countries, taking into account
the national educational specifics (Smolsky, 2006).
This War of Mine. In 2020, for example, a
computer game was for the first time added to the
Polish school curriculum. The initiative belonged to
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and concerned
only high school. This War of Mine game, created by
Polish developers, is based on real events. The game
got 18+ rating in Europe, so it will be used from this
Gaming in the Modern Multicultural Educational Space
449
age in the school curriculum in literature (Kobynec,
2020).
Minecraft. For example, computer game
Minecraft has a separate version MinecraftEdu that
has been used for many years in schools in the United
States, Europe, and Australia. It is especially popular
in studying geography, physics, chemistry, biology,
and history. Game tools allow you to reproduce cities,
study probability theory, conduct chemical
experiments, and model the structure of the human
body. Canadian researchers became interested in the
phenomenon and found out that during the game
children develop skills of teamwork and problem
solving.
Minecraft is one of the most successful computer
games today. As of 2017, its total worldwide sales
exceeded 122 million copies, and the number of
unique players reached 55 million. The game was
developed in 2011. The gamer travels through a three-
dimensional world comprised of cubic blocks. The
gamer is free to rebuild this world, creating complex
structures out of blocks. This makes Minecraft similar
to the LEGO constructor. Minecraft does not set any
clear goals for the gamers, but offers them many
opportunities and activities: for example, exploring
the world, creating a variety of structures and objects.
The educational version Minecraft Edu is sold only to
schools, individuals cannot buy it. The main feature
is that the teachers can create a virtual world using
their own methods of lessons. There are no fairy-tale
characters and the ability to kill.
To confront children's addiction to the game or at
least get it back on track, Microsoft has developed an
educational version of the game, MinecraftEdu. This
game is now used in Ukrainian schools, such as
Britannica School.
In Swedish schools, Minecraft has been a
mandatory part of the program since 2013. In
Australia, the game is used in science lessons, in the
United States — to study history. In Northern Ireland,
the game platform has been installed not only at all
high schools, but also at libraries.
The Ukrainian localization of the game has
recently appeared. Now it has been introduced into
the curricula of 92 schools in the country. Until
January 31, Microsoft is offering schools running
Windows 10 an annual free version of MinecraftEdu.
Assassin's Creed. Assassin's Creed is a series of
multiplatform video games of the action-adventure
genre, developed by the French company Ubisoft.
The plot of the Assassin's Creed games focuses on
crypto-history, according to which the main historical
events are due to the confrontation of two secret
societies: freethinking assassins and authoritarian
Templars. The developers of Assassin's Creed went
even further. In 2018 and 2019, they released the
additions Assassin's Creed Discovery Tour: Ancient
Egypt, and Assassin's Creed Discovery Tour: Ancient
Greece — real interactive textbooks on the history of
Ancient Egypt and Greece. With the participation of
professional historians, the game developers have
prepared special short lectures on political system and
philosophy, everyday life, wars and myths. The
“guides” are real and mythical characters, and you
can test your knowledge after each round. Millions of
players have played the game in the “educational
mode. In one of the high schools in Richmond
(California, USA), students used the game for
additional extracurricular activities (AlFarsi and etc.,
2020).
Entertainment or action games are shooters,
platformers (platform games where the character
jumps on different platforms), and fighting games.
These games require speed of reaction and
coordination of hand and eye movements. People
who enjoy action games have high visual attention
and spatial orientation. Professors the University of
Geneva S. Green and D. Bavelier discuss this in their
work “The brain boosting power of video games”
(Green and Bavelier, 2016.). These games also
develop the ability to switch between tasks, identify
small objects, and focus for a long time on one thing.
In experiments on the ability to concentrate on
various factors, children who previously played a
dynamic shooter showed a better result than children
who did not play.
In video games, the load (speed or complexity)
gradually increases. In this way, learning is
individual, and everyone plays to the limit. Action
games also demand constant adaptation, as new
environments, tasks, and requirements emerge at
higher levels. This forms the habit of “learning to
learn”, because the gamer has to adapt to the new
things, and this is an important skill for the modern
student (King and etc., 2009).
It is a mistake to think that video games make
children more irritable and aggressive. On the
contrary, they can distract from painful memories and
negative emotions, as well as reduce anxiety. Another
positive effect of action games is the skill of planning.
In order to play successfully, one needs to learn to
predict the consequences of own actions and think
strategically. If the game is dynamic, then the
decision has to be made quickly enough. All these
skills work not only in the virtual world, but also are
transferred to real life.
German scientists S. Kuhn, T. Gleich, U.
Lidenberger, R. Lorenz, and J. Gallinat studied the
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effect of the game Super Mario on the brain (Kuhn
and etc., 2014). A group of young people played daily
for 30 minutes for two months. Afterwards, the
researchers found an increase in the density of grey
matter in the zones of the brain associated with
navigation, strategic planning, memory, and motor
functions.
Note that the winners of the most prestigious
video game award The Game Awards in 2020 are
mostly serious and high-quality action games that
teach to analyze, think strategically, and offer new
experiences (Zubchenko, 2020).
The Last of Us Part II, which won first place, is a
continuation of the best game of the last decade,
according to Metacrtitic users. The game shows the
world 20 years after the pandemic, which has changed
a lot: infected people have become barbarians, and
survivors are ready to kill each other for food,
weapons, and personal gain. The Last of Us is a
survival-action video game developed by Naughty
Dog. The game was released on June 14, 2013, and
was highly praised by critics and users. At the heart
of the plot is the relationships between smuggler Joel
and 14-year-old Ellie, who may be the key to escape
from a deadly pandemic that has struck humanity.
Among Us. One of the most famous games of
recent years is also Among Us which won awards as
the best multiplayer and best mobile game of the year.
Among Us is a multiplayer video game on social
deduction, created by the American company Inner
Sloth on June 15, 2018. The game is performed in a
space environment. Players have two roles: civilian
crew members and impostors. The goal of civilians is
to find impostors and neutralize them, and the goal of
imposters is to kill all civilians. In 2018, the game did
not receive wide publicity, but in September 2020,
thanks to Twitch, YouTube and other platforms, it
became popular, with 1.5 million simultaneous
players. The game has inspired many users on stories,
theories, drawings, and other creativity.
Hades on Greek mythology has become the best
action game and the best independent game, i.e. game
released without the help of a major publisher. Hades
is a roguelike and action/RPG video game developed
and released by the American studio Supergiant
Games. The game was released in early access in
2018 as a temporary exclusive for the then launched
Epic Games Store; the full version for Microsoft
Windows, macOS, and Nintendo Switch was released
in 2020. The plot of the game is based on ancient
Greek mythology: the main character Zagreus, the
son of Hades, tries to escape from the underworld of
the dead and get to Mount Olympus; in this way he is
helped by the Olympian gods who send Zagreus
certain gifts. Numerous adventures of Hades are
connected by various scenes and dialogues which
reveal the background of the game and the
relationships of its characters. Hades got
exceptionally high reviews from critics;
commentators noted both the exciting gameplay and
high replayability, and carefully elaborated characters
and world.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This game was
recognized as the best family game. Animal Crossing:
New Horizons is a video game in the genre of life
simulation. Users come to a desert island and have to
arrange their lives. They create tools, home furniture,
and street territory. The island varies depending on
the time of year and time of day or night. The game
was released on March 20, 2020. It quickly became
popular in the world, including among celebrities. It
has a circulation of 31 million copies worldwide.
Microsoft Flight Simulator. The best simulator of
2020 is Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS), the
authors of which, with the help of maps and neural
networks, recreated the planet Earth on a scale to each
other. Microsoft Flight Simulator is a series of civil
flight simulators manufactured by Microsoft. MSFS
differs from many series of flight simulators by quite
realistic physics of normal flight, and, as a
consequence, the great complexity of aircraft control.
The presence of almost all major airports in the world
with realistic data, real landscape (the entire globe is
simulated from the version Flight Simulator 2020),
realistic weather conditions, excellent graphics make
this series of simulators one of the best in its class.
The games in this series include the use of autopilot,
dispatch support, and the ability to download real
weather conditions for flying from the Internet. The
series includes traffic of aircraft flying on schedule
and under the control of the ATC services. There are
also built-in tools for flight analysis, repetition. There
is a training course. The strongest feature of this
series is its openness to create own models and
airports.
Ukraine not only ranks 4
th
in the world in the
number of certified IT specialists. It is also famous
for developing its own computer games which are
known far beyond Ukraine.
Cossacks: European Wars is a video game,
historical strategy in real time, developed by the
Ukrainian studio GSC Game World. The game is
dedicated to the wars of the XVII century in Europe.
It is one of the first Ukrainian video games widely
known abroad. Released in March 2001, it features a
remake of Cossacks 3, released in 2016. The project
was continued with additions to the game and updates
Cossacks 2. The release of a new version, Cossacks
Gaming in the Modern Multicultural Educational Space
451
3, was announced in 2015. The study of Ukrainian as
a foreign language at the Kyiv National Economic
University named after Vadym Hetman using the
game Cossacks is quite promising. Foreign students
learn new vocabulary and phraseology of the
Ukrainian language, passing the levels of the game,
and perform the tasks of the teacher directly in the
game mode. This contributes to a deeper assimilation
of theoretical material, and promotes the formation of
practical communication skills.
Venom. Codename: Outbreak is a first-person
shooter video game developed by the Ukrainian
company GSC Game World and released by
Russobit-M on October 8, 2001 for the Windows
platform. The events of the game take place in 2034,
when the Earth almost died from collision with a
comet and hundreds of meteorites. Together with
meteorites, spores of alien life forms were brought to
the Earth, which began to develop rapidly in the
terrestrial conditions. The game went on sale in
October 2001. It was developed by GSC Game
World.
World of Warplanes is a video game and client
massively multiplayer online game in real time in the
genre of arcade aviation action. The game is
developed by Persha Studia in Kyiv (Ukraine),
published by Wargaming.net. It became available on
November 12, 2013. The time period of most of the
aircrafts presented in the game is the “Golden Age of
Combat Aviation” (the period between the First and
Second World Wars), World War II, and the next
decade. In October 2017, the update of World of
Warplanes 2.0 was released. This is the largest game
project created in Ukraine: several hundred people
have worked on the game in the Kyiv office of the
First Studio (now a division of Minsk Wargaming).
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a video
game in the genres of first-person shooter and
survival horror with elements of role-playing games
from the Ukrainian developer GSC Game World. It is
also known as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost. In the
post-Soviet countries, the game and its sequel gained
cult status with large groups of fans; a large number
of books appeared, united by a common fictional
game world and its modifications; various festival
events and role-playing games were held. The
popularity of Shadows of Chernobyl also gave
impetus to the interest in the real Chernobyl nuclear
power plant and industrial tourism.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a computer game in
the genre of first-person shooter with elements of
role-playing games, developed by the Ukrainian
company GSC Game World and released in Ukraine
on August 29, 2008.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is a first-person
shooter with elements of a role-playing game from
GSC Game World, the second stand-alone addition to
the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. The
game was released on October 2, 2009.
Therefore, the best computer games today are
massive blocks of information combined into
entertaining story games. They have not only
informational and cognitive components, but also
often play an educational role, encourage learning
and self-improvement, make conscious value
choices, and so on. There are new kinds of games that
are already often used in the educational processes in
various fields.
5 GAMING TECHNOLOGIES IN
THE EDUCATIONAL
ECOSYSTEM OF THE
ECONOMIC UNIVERSITY
For those who learn, the games already have a
motivating function, and in today's global world this
trend is becoming a leading one. It appears especially
today, when, on the one hand, the dynamic nature of
the educational environment is obvious, which should
work in synchronous and asynchronous formats,
change methods and technologies from traditional (in
a classroom) to innovative, connecting it with the
digital world; and on the other hand, there is trend to
develop a well-established system of remote
mastering the material and to be an important
component of sustainably developing society. Each
country has specifics for all possible common ways
of mastering the digital space, and almost every
higher education institution has its own specifics
depending on the profile. All participants of the
educational process teachers, students,
stakeholders experience positive and negative
changes: individualization of learning, independence
skills, mastering new digital technologies, motivation
for distance learning, and also communication
problems, low level of digital literacy, etc. There are
completely polar views on such educational
communication as part of the general social sphere in
a society that seeks stability in the face of pandemic
challenges. In this context, it is interesting to relate to
the game component of learning, as it is often
associated with a negative social phenomenon.
However, the above study confirms the prospects of
special games as an educational technology and as an
element of the educational environment of higher
education, including economic. Two directions of
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their use can be traced in the Kyiv National Economic
University in recent years. The first one is related to
career guidance activities which form a training
contingent. The online format diversifies traditional
events such as the Open Day. For example, it now
takes place as an exhibition fair with master classes
of teachers of various specialties, who actively use
game components. Online meetings “Open the Kyiv
National Economic University”, telegram channels,
site “University entrant” create relevant info content
for the entrants and maintain a positive “digital”
image of the University in society.
The second direction is directly related to
learning. Teachers of specialized departments are
rather active in using the game tool for the formation
of professional skills of students. Our experience of
using elements of gaming in the educational process
at the Economic University has shown their obvious
prospects even for senior students, because it trains
them before the next levels of professional knowledge
through simulations of business environment or
business entrepreneurial content. For example, there
is a Laboratory of Financial and Investment
Consulting at the Department of Corporate Finance
and Controlling of the Economic University. There
are different types of business and role-playing games
with elements of video games. The head of the
Laboratory Prof. Tetyana Mayorova points out that
the game can be a simulation, but the lessons that
students get from this simulation are a real,
meaningful experience that changes their behavior in
the long run. And the teachers who are interested in
using such a powerful learning tool as “serious
games” now have the opportunity to use new
generation programs that allow quick integration of
“serious games” into the learning process.
Teamwork and communication skills are well
developed in an educational game. This is a very
important competence in training future specialists
and leaders.
Language is the most important tool of both social
and professional communication. Therefore, the
model of language education at the University of
Economics includes native language courses with an
emphasis on professional goals such as language
culture of business communication or copywriting
and mastering Ukrainian as a foreign language by
foreign students and teaching foreign languages
(including Polish), which increase the
competitiveness of our students in the international
labor market. Thus, the primary aspects are the active
formation of language and communicative
competence of higher education, and the acquisition
of professional skills to work in a multicultural
environment. A computer game or its elements are
increasingly used in the classroom. The students
readily take part in this, obviously also because they
have experience of active gaming in extracurricular
time and gaming communication skills among their
peers. For example, while studying Polish, the
students at the Economic University use the famous
Polish video game - survival simulator This War of
Mine. As known, the game This War of Mine is
recommended by the Ministry of Education of Poland
at the faculties of humanities: sociology, ethics,
philosophy, and history.
This War of Mine has a wonderful Ukrainian
localization with not only the content but also the
spirit of the game translated. This can be felt in
special phrases, proverbs of characters or poems. The
practical use of video games in classes at the
Economic University, namely the study of Polish
vocabulary, grammar, syntax in parallel with the
existing Ukrainian localization, actively promotes the
study of Polish by Ukrainian-speaking students.
The elements of game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. are
partially used, for example, at the Kyiv National
Economic University named after Vadym Hetman
when studying Polish in groups of students
specialized in Tourism, Urban Economics and Urban
Planning. The use of the game method promotes
better mastering of theoretical material, develops
skills of creating interesting infographics, forms an
original experience of practical skills of conducting
excursions, etc.
The students of the Economic University can
work in pairs or teams when studying Polish or
Ukrainian as a foreign language. For example, they
need to create a certain world but how to do it if
another team member does not want to do this? It is
necessary to negotiate. In this method, we focus more
on skills than knowledge. The students are interested,
they perform tasks while studying linguistic and
culturological educational material. After all, it is
more interesting to do it, for example, in Minecraft,
than just copying from a textbook.
6 CONCLUSIONS
Despite all the dynamism of the modern world, we
strive for its stability to preserve the traditions in a
reasonable combination with innovations. The
educational segment of the sustainably developing
society requires digital transformations of not only
the competence characteristics of its participants, but
also the educational content itself. Even the cursory
results of our study confirm the assumption on the
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453
actualization of gaming technology as an important
means of achieving soft skills. In a society where
knowledge rapidly becomes obsolete, it is important
to educate professionals who will be able to
communicate, argue, negotiate, work with
information, and at the same time be stress-resistant.
Ifthe life is a game, then we can use the games,
including computer ones, as a tool for success in life.
Computer games play an important role in modern
life and education. The positive potential of most
computer games is not always realized. It depends
mostly not on the game itself, but on the gamer and
prevailing motives in the game. In addition to the
main motive of entertainment, the game can realize
other motives. Due to the variety of motives, the game
can help either prepare for or escape from reality.
Depending on the secondary motives, skills and
abilities completely different for different gamers can
be formed. The implementation of the motive of
training leads to the formation of skills in the field
being trained, and the motive of compensation for
internal problems is more likely to result from the
mechanisms of psychological protection.
For the educational process, obviously, this aspect
of using gaming technologies is relevant and
promising today. The active use of these technologies
in the study of foreign languages and the formation of
intercultural competence of students deserve special
emphasis, because dialogue with a virtual interlocutor
can be a serious alternative to communication with a
real native speaker in the virtualization of learning. In
the context of adequate forecasting of social and
individual consequences of using computer games in
education, it is necessary to form national and
international programs to study this multicultural
phenomenon.
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