The Persuasive and Assistive Interaction Extension (PAIX): A position paper on using gamified behavior management systems for

reducing flame trolling in schools based on Classroom 2.0

J. Bishop Mathematics, Engineering, Intelligent Systems and Future Technologies Group Centre for Research into Online Communities and E-Learning Systems Institute of Life Sciences, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP

Abstract - Internet trolling that takes the form of cyberbullying is emerging as a significant problem for any administrator of a networked computer environment. This is also the case in Classroom 2.0 classrooms where technologies like the circle of friends has not been implemented or otherwise where there is no current moderation or monitoring of activity of the school students using the system. The paper presents a system called Paix The Persuasive and Assistive Interaction Extension (Paix) for assisting with this problem. Keywords: Emotion recognition, assistive technology, gamification, persuasive technology

authority, the educators need to realize it is them that have to change. Learners are no longer interested in sitting in a classroom keeping quiet while the teacher says things they know to be wrong because they heard something different elsewhere. Instead educators will have to adapt their teaching strategies to take account of the fact that todays learners are already independent learners, as their access to technology at home makes they are used to making informed choices. If they can decide what they believe at home, should they not be allowed the same at school? An increasing problem for children is that which surrounds their protection in local authority administered schools, where they may be subject to bullying, harassment and abuse from their peers or even the schools staff.

Introduction

The term trolling is not new and nor are its effects, as it is well known that abuse over public communications networks affects school attendance [1]. While the term trolling was popularized by the press in 2011 as a catch all term for all types of internet abuse and cyberbullying, it has existed since the dawn of multi-user distributed electronic systems [2, 3]. Equally, the concept of Classroom 2.0 has existed for a decade, having started with the Digital Classroom of Tomorrow Project in Wales [4, 5]. It is envisaged that in the near future classrooms will not be places where the teacher simply stands in front of a white-board trying to command the authority of their pupils. Instead the pupils will be an equal to the teacher who will become a facilitator. In a Classroom 2.0 environment, each pupil will have a personal computer, in most cases their own, which will connect to a network, such as the Cloud, so they can access personalized learning. Pupils today get a bad name they are accused of being unruly because they challenge their authority of teachers, who attempt to assert autocratic broadcasted learning. It is not the pupils that are the problem, but an archaic education system that does not take account of how current generations of learners already have knowledge-on-demand, such as through the Internet, multi-channel TV, and magazines targeted at the interests. So far from blaming pupils for challenging their

1.1

Trolling and Cyberbullying in Classroom 2.0

Where children can take technology into schools there will be bullying. The advancement in the use of social networking in education systems makes the risk of bullying of pupils from those who see them in an unfavorable way more likely. In its most basic form of this bullying will be by those with more advanced technology making those without it feel inferior. Worse than this however is the use of technology by bullies to more effectively abuse their victims. This abuse, often conducted by the Internet has been called cyberbullying, and most recently the word trolling (i.e. flame trolling) has been used to extend this to all electronic mediums including mobile phone text messaging. It was reported that there were over 4000 abusive, threatening or harassing messages sent via social networks in 2011, including to teenagers as young as 14, suggesting this is a big problem for authorities to deal with.

1.2

The role of gamification in supporting a flame-trolling free Classroom 2.0

There has been a lot of talk in recent years of the role of gamification that is gameplay-intensive information

systems in increasing the engagement of people in such virtual environments for the purpose of maintaining motivation and intention. Using video gaming techniques to persuade users to adopt a particular course of action is needed in even the most disciplined of schools More so it is in the norm in such cases. People with social orientation impairments (SOIs), which are people who may lack ability or experience in applying social and emotional intelligence, could particularly benefit from these systems, where they can learn in a structured environment the skills and routines necessary for improved social interaction. Systems based on gamification are trying to bring video game elements in nongaming systems to improve user experience and user engagement [6]. It is well known that games based behavior modification programs, where an individual has to follow a set of rules and work within them can be effective at reducing unwanted behaviors in the real world. Unwanted messages online are posted through a means known as flame trolling. Flame trolling is the practice of sending or posting obviously offensive comments, brutally untruthful statements or words and phrases. The posting of messages that provoke a reaction in order to entertain others in a friendly way is called kudos trolling. Flame trolling is known to occur is network learning systems for many of the same reasons it happens in the school playground. However, unlike the playground it is possible for computer systems to monitor behavior and intervene when a conflict is detected, such as by distracting the user [7].

Professor Salton is a character from the book by Lindsay and Norman [8]. In this situation, a student, Sue, arrives late to a lecture given by Professor Salton and he berated her. The present system can capture the facial expressions and speech of the speaker. It then matches his face and/or voice to the one in Sues contacts list (or Circle of Friends) to establish the relationship affect data, which may determine his relationship affect as thinking. The system may pick up that there is anger in his speech affect, anger in his facial affect, anger in his dialogue, and thinking in his location affect. After the natural language query avatar feeds these to the conversation advice-providing avatar, which would indicate that the speaker feels disrupted. The avatar would then recommend to Sue a neutral response, such as telling her to say nothing, which if she declined would lead to an affirmative response, such as telling her to apologize, which if declined would lead to a negative response, such as telling her to say, no need to give me a dressing down. footnotes).

Conclusions

Programmable Gamification as a means to greater persuasion and adaption in e-learning systems

To help resolve flame trolling abuses in e-learning systems online, the author proposes a plug-in for platforms like Moodle called Paix The Persuasive and Adaptive Interaction Extension. Paix is based around a general interface add-on that can be extended through plug-in-able strategy modules that use the Open Social Platform, which can create additional strategies, or games to analyses and influence behavior of those using the system. Paixs games are pre-set and programmable and can be detected over time through a Data Matching process (e.g. based on the type of interactions to which the user has been exposed), or may be pre-set (overridden) by the user using the user interface. The games can take the form of either multiactor collaborative, single-actor independent or actor-tochatbot, although other variations are possible. These may be used in real-time settings, or as a way of training professionals at a reduced cost, as they can be played remotely one to one (e.g. single-actor), or within a group/classroom setting (e.g.. collaborative games). For example, people could use a one-toone mobile phone call with their peers, or they and their peers can connect a many-to-one with the instructor. An example of a single-actor game, conversation, is as follows:

There is a challenge facing the education authorities and schools today adapt or be doomed to failure. Even with the drive for individualist education in the 1980s still today many young people are dissatisfied with education due to the continued broadcasted and autocratic nature of classroombased education. The Classroom 2.0 initiative, founded in 2002 with the Digital Classroom of Tomorrow Project in Wales has challenged the model of the educator-as-authority model where their truth is the absolute reality. Increasingly younger generations have access to knowledge-on-demand through the Internet, television and magazines, and the teacher in the classroom is more a source of conflict than information. Young people who express their dissatisfaction about having choice at home and being expected to toe-the-line at school are treated as unruly trouble-makers, when it is the educators and their schools that are the problem, by not adapting to the new generations led by and leading with technology. This paper presented a behavior management system, called Paix, which tailors e-learning environments to the learners using it to as to recognize their identity and values. By using various strategies that make use of the principles of gamification the Paix system means it can be tailored to take account of the different needs and requirements of different learners. A pilot study was conducted which determined there are differences in expectations of parents of people with social orientation impairments and those who have them in their own right. This suggests that any behavior management system needs to take account of the needs of not only their primary users, but also those associated with them in order to assure social acceptability. It can be seen that the Classroom 2.0 if it is to be successful needs to take advantage of behavior management systems like Paix in order to allow both the individual development of the learn while achieving learning outcomes in national curricula.

It is clear that behavior management systems like these should not be seen as a way of dealing with a problem that the educators have to deal with in relation to their learners, but a way to support their pupils learning that is tailored to their needs and uses their cognitive and behavior biases to their advantage and not treat them as deviant characteristics. It is more likely than not, by adopting an autocratic and broadcasted approach to instruction it is the educators creating the behavior problems in younger generations, and systems like Paix might help alleviate those problems until change happens.

[3] E. Jansen & V. James. "NetLingo: the Internet dictionary". Netlingo Inc., 2002. [4] J. Bishop. "Evaluation-Centred Design of E-Learning Communities: A Case Study and Review"; Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Internet Technologies and Applications (University of Wales Press) V. Grout, D. Oram & R. Picking (Eds.), 1-92007. [5] J. Bishop. "The potential of persuasive technology for educating heterogeneous user groups". 2004. . [6] N. Selwyn & J. Fitz. "The national grid for learning: a case study of new labour education policy-making"; Journal of Education Policy, 16., 2, 127-147, 2001. [7] J. Bishop. "The Equatrics of Intergenerational Knowledge Transformation in Techno-cultures: Towards a Model for Enhancing Information Management in Virtual Worlds". 2011. . [8] P. H. Lindsay & D. A. Norman. "Human Information Processing: Introduction to Psychology". Academic Press, 1977.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank all those who provided comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

References

[1] K. Reid. "The causes of nonattendance: An empirical study"; Educational Review, 60., 4, 345-357, 2008. [2] E. Jansen & V. James. "NetLingo: the Internet dictionary". Netlingo Inc., 1995.