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Computational thinking (CT) is considered an emerging competence domain linked to 21st-century competences, and educational robotics (ER) is increasingly recognised as a tool to develop CT competences. This is why researchers recommend developing intervention methods adapted to classroom practice and providing explicit guidelines to teachers on integrating ER activities. The present study thus addresses this challenge. Guidance and feedback were considered as critical intervention methods to foster CT competences in ER settings. A between-subjects experiment was conducted with 66 students aged 8 to 9 in the context of a remote collaborative robot programming mission, with four experimental conditions. A two-step strategy was employed to report students' CT competence (their performance and learning process). Firstly, the students' CT learning gains were measured through a pre-post-test design. Secondly, video analysis was used to identify the creative computational problem-solving patterns involved in the experimental condition that had the most favourable impact on the students’ CT scores. Results show that delayed feedback is an effective intervention method for CT development in ER activities. Subject to delayed feedback, students are better at formulating the robot behaviour to be programmed, and, thus, such a strategy reinforces the anticipation process underlying the CT.

The paper deals with three gamified collaborative courses for entrepreneurship education (EE).A theoretical model for EE, developed on purpose, guided the identification of the objectives.The Serious Games (SGs) to be adopted during the courses have been selected based on the model.Courses outcomes and knowledge acquired could lead to developing of more effective SGs for (EE). The paper deals with the hot issue of entrepreneurship education and describes the rationale behind the gamified and collaborative courses for university students conceived, developed and deployed in the framework of the eSG (stimulating entrepreneurship through Serious Games) project, funded under the EU lifelong learning (LLP) Programme. The project aims to help students becoming familiar, mainly through practice, with basic concepts of entrepreneurship and company management and to stimulate the emergence of their entrepreneurial attitudes. In the framework of the project specific courses mainly grounded on the concepts of gamification and collaboration were designed and carried out in three different partner countries: Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. The main objectives of the courses are presented in this paper and a theoretical model supporting the choice of Serious Games is shown which keeps into account usability, pedagogy and the entrepreneurship skills expressed by state of the art models.

The casual game sector represents one of the fastest growing segments of the video game industry with successful business models. The Serious Games (SG) sector on the other hand is far behind with lower business benefits. This study explores how the casual game business models can be transposed into the SG sector, focusing on the freemium business model. We analyse the freemium business models in relation to four components: value proposition of the games, user's segmentation, available distribution channels and revenue streams. After the theoretical analysis, the empirical analysis is completed through end-users survey (n= 237) and the analysis of three companies. Based on the end-users survey and the company analysis, the paper introduces key findings in relation to the four components of the free trial and freemium model and their transposition to the SG sector. Findings from the study include the opportunity to transpose the casual games freemium business model into the SG sector in order to allow the development of the SG sector through optimising their potential revenue streams.

The digital revolution of the last two decades has introduced major changes in the different spheres of human activities, from professional, academic to social spheres. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has facilitated communication and permitted new forms of work and learning, overcoming the traditional constraints of time and space. Nowadays, the frontiers of work, learning and social activities of the knowledge workers have blurred in the same digital environment, making the shifting possibilities between activities easier than ever. Digital leisure activities, such social networking and gaming have also entered the digital environment, increasing the opportunities of distraction from work, learning and social activities. Knowledge workers of the 21st century should develop a new Work Lifelong Learning Balance (WLLB) in order to ensure to maintain their professional, family, social, personal and lifelong learning balance.

Construct validity of peer assessment (PA) is important for PA application, yet difficult to achieve. The present study investigated the impact of an assessment rubric and friendship between the assessor and assessee on construct validity of PA. Two-hundred nine bachelor students participated: half of them assessed a peer's concept map with a rubric whereas the other half did not use a rubric. The results revealed a substantial reliability and construct validity for PA. All students over-score their peers’ performance, but students using a rubric were more valid. Moreover, when using a rubric a high level of friendship between assessor and assessee resulted in more over-scoring. Use of a rubric resulted in higher quality concept maps for peer and expert ratings.

The territory of Game Based Learning has been widely explored, yet much has still to be done in the field. Both the methodological and the empirical aspects of adopting games for educational purposes require further in-depth investigation. What are, then, the current hot issues in the field? What relevant research questions are still to be answered? This is the a rea that this paper showcases, encapsulating in a nutshell the efforts of the GEL Theme Team, a working group on Game Enhanced Learning active in the framework of the STELLAR European Network of Excellence.

A brief presentation is given of the objectives and activities pursed in GEL (Game Enhanced Learning), a Theme Team initiative financed by the STELLAR Network of Excellence in Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) during year 2011 - 2012. Some of GEL's main outputs relevant to the Serious Games research field are also outlined.