The purpose of this study was to examine if there are gender differences in computer use among the young. Our aim was to find out in what respects boys and girls differ, if at all. The main method of investigation is a literature review. We have also made a complementary empirical study in a public library. The literature studied principally covers computer use at home and in school.

Denna rapport är ämnad att undersöka vilken sorts feedback digitala spel kan ge föratt främja motivation och lärande. Studien utförs kvalitativt med fokusgrupper somdatainsamlingsmetod och med högstadieelever som målgrupp. Syftet med studien äratt undersöka dessa aspekter i digitala spel för att se hur de kan överföras till lärospeleller serious games på ett effektivt och ändamålsenligt sätt. Frågeställningenutformas dock med ett något bredare omfång för att möjliggöra andra eventuellaanvändningsområden för resultaten. Resultaten från studien jämförs med existerandelitteratur och slutsatserna visar att digitala spel främjar lärande och motivation genomatt tillåta en stegvis kunskap, en intuitiv förståelse genom att sätta information i enrelevant kontext eller handling och där spelaren hela tiden har ett syfte med att utföraen uppgift.

As social interactions migrate to the ubiquitous Internet we are facing a change in theway we relate to each other, which presents interesting new opportunities foranonymity to create identities. An aspect of this radically evolving technology thatexhibits strong possibilities for altering or producing identities is the rapidly growingonline game genre MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Game) which isentertainment that millions of people all over the globe engage in daily. Thisrelatively new platform for socialising has become of cultural and social significance,which is why it calls for examination and research. Thus, the main research questionsasked in this thesis are as following: How does players of MMOGs utilise the nighcomplete anonymity to present or modify their identities online? In which ways areMMOGs used as a platform for socialising and development of social groupdynamics? After observing a large group of players in a popular MMOG, as well asconducting several interviews with key identities within the group, I discovered three fundamental parts of identity creation, and created a model for use and applicationin different social situations and constellations..

Abstract Svanvik, Robin (2013). Läs: spela! En jämförande studie av elevers uppfattningar om datorspel, skönlitteratur och lärande. Svanvik, Robin (2013). It Reads: Play! A comparative study of students' beliefs about computer games, fiction reading and learning. This essay is part of a masters degree of pedagogy and investigates the experiences of 10 high-school students concerning playing computer-games-off-the-shelf (COTS) on the one hand, and reading fictional, printed novels on the other. The aim of this study was to learn more about the students' thoughts about playing COTS and reading novels; also, what differences and similarities there might be between these activities. Furthermore, I wanted to know what they thought they might learn from these activities. The theoretical point of departure for the study is twofold: Firstly, a theory of learning as expressed by Illeris (2007) and, secondly, a sociocultural perspective on learning, represented by Säljö (2000, 2005/2010) which includes the educational benifit of both playing COTS, represented by Gee (2007), and reading fiction, represented by Probst (1990) and Langer (1995). The method used in this study is mainly qualitative by nature.

This work aims to improve our knowledge about Swedish video game journalists, a new occupation in a quickly expanding business. Through a survey sent out to over 50 Swedish video game journalists, the result indicate some unexpected facts. Men largely dominate the profession; just 10 % of the work forces are females. This relation was notable in our survey, as well as in earlier studies. Video game journalists between 26 and 35 years old seems to be the largest age group, which we think is a bit surprising considering how new this form of journalism is, and the fact the internet provides opportunities for every enthusiastic video game writer.

Horse-hair lichen Bryoria bicolor is a red-listed lichen species in the category Vulnerable. It is an oceanic lichen and it is often found on boulders and cliffs in a semi-open environment with a high humidity in the agricultural landscape. The species can also be found as an epiphyte on trees, mostly in boreal forests in the provinces of Dalarna, Härjedalen and Jämtland. In the agricultural landscape, there has been indications on that B. bicolor show a decline, and this studie aimed at examining the extent and causes of this decline.

The purpose of this study is to examine four Swedish newspapers' views on the Nazi regime in Germany during the 1930's, and examine what information the Swedish public received through their reporting about the Berlin Olympics in 1936. The survey method of the study examines four Swedish newspapers with different political views, and how they described the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany in 1936 during the Nazi Germany regime. The theoretical perspective used in the study is the agenda setting theory, where the focus is on how the Olympic Games were depicted in the Swedish press against the agenda setting theory. The results show the difference in reporting about the Berlin Olympics, based on the newspaper's views of the Nazi Germany regime. Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet show a positive attitude toward Nazi Germany, while Ny Dag shows great displeasure toward the Nazi Germany regime. Arbetet shows, like Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet, a relatively positive attitude toward Nazi Germany, even though the newspaper sometimes expressed criticism directed against Hitler and his regime..

This thesis presents the work of developing and testing a programming tool specially designed for children. The purpose of this tool is to make children capable of creating visual simulations and games that consist of actors interacting in a virtual world. The name of the programming tool is Behavior Cards, which comes from the fact that actors are programmed by giving them cards representing different kinds of behaviors. Behaviors are to some extent pre-programmed and can include general events specifying how the actors should act in different situations, in contrast to specifying every possible situation that can occur. The idea is that Behavior Cards should be easier to use than a more traditional text based programming tool, but it should also be expressive within the domain of visual games.

Försvarsmaktens budget blir allt mindre, detta innebär att man inte kan öva i samma omfattning med riktig ammunition och fordon. Intresset för digitala krigsspel och simulationer har därmed ökat. Men för att använda sig av spel i utbildning måste man veta hur man skall använda dem.Syftet med uppsatsen har således varit att undersöka om man kan använda sig av digitala krigsspel i sig självt som en bärare för lärande. Kan deltagarna lära sig taktik genom att bara spela ett spel? Det finns flera olika synsätt som stöder alternativt motbevisar om hur lärande sker då man använder sig av spel för lärande.

This essay follows a Media Teacher in her work as a coordinator and an artistic leader for a European project called Legalopoli concerning laws and ethics in a senior level school for 13-16 year-olds in Mora, Sweden. The students write film stories about how their characters have to make choices in ethical dilemma situations. Then the learners create interactive computer games together through practical film work. At the same time we can see how the educator also gets into difficult ethical situations, when she is working with the students. This forces her to self-reflection.

Följandet arbete är en reflekterande text som handlar om hur jag skapade ett verktyg för att balansera det rundbaserade precautionstridsystemet av spelet Dreamlords ? The Reawakening.I början förklaras mitt syfte och mål med arbetet som följs av en frågeställning kopplat till det. Jag kommer även att beskriva olika teorier som jag tittade närmare på angående spelbalansering. För att inleda läsaren till spelet Dreamlords ska jag även förklara den generella spelprincipen av hela spelet. Därefter tar jag upp min arbetsprocess som handlar om hur jag strukturerade upp mitt arbete.

The aim of this essay is to illustrate a modern phenomenon, the Olympic Games, by applying the ideas of Mircea Eliade concerning space, time and myth. This literature study is mainly divided in two parts, one descriptive and one analytic. In the first part Eliade?s ideas and some criticism, which has been pointed against his theoretical approaches as well as his character, are presented. In the second part an analysis is carried out, based on the previously presented ideas and elements essential for the Olympics; the idea of the Olympics, the place, the ceremonies, the competition and the concept of individual idolism.I have discussed what seems like gnostic tendencies in Eliade?s ideas, in the sense that both Eliade?s ideas and the concept of Gnosticism argue that knowledge is a necessary condition for salvation, as well as the fact that Eliade and his ideas have not always a pro-Christian approach.

The technical evolution has a great influence on the public libraries. Electronic media becomes more and more common. This Master´s thesis is based upon the Swedish Library law 9§ (SFS 1996:1596) which says: Public- and school libraries should pay special attention to children and teenagers by offering books, information technology and other media, adapted to their needs, to encourage development of language and stimulate reading. From this point of view we have examined why the children´s departments in public libraries offer CD-ROM games which are based upon characters from the literature, how they are used in the daily activity and how they can contribute to the development of the children´s department.We have made literary studies and empirical investigations including interviews, observation studies etc. The results from this studies shows that both young and adults appreciate the CD-ROM games.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how gender and sexuality are made in the videogames Prince of Persia and Fable II, and more specifically to look at possibilities and limitations for the construction of gender and sexuality in these games. I understand videogames as an interactive media form that differs from other types of media like film and literature. It is a media form that depends on a player to be played. At the same time it is constituted by rules of how it can be played. I have analyzed my material by a method called close-playing.

Dokumentet går igenom könsskillnaderna mellan män och kvinnor när det gällerdatoranvändning, och hur användandets utveckling har skett på den senaste tiden.Den belyser även hur människans kropp, styrenheterna och spelet länkar varandra på ettkommunikativt sätt. Kontrollernas funktioner och styrsätt förklaras i basis för få en inblick istyrenheternas kommunikationssätt. Kontrollerna som tas upp grupperas därefter i olikarörelsemoment. En enkätundersökning kompletterar och stärker bilden över könsskillnader,åldersgränser, speltimmar, genre kategorisering och framtida behov.De problem som finns när det gäller kommunikation är att de inte är tillräckliga när manspelar. Oftast så är användare ute efter att ha en verklighetskänsla samt få en inlevelse ispelen.Dokumentets syfte är att ta reda på vilka kommunikativa metoder som finns och kontrolleraom de är tillräckliga för att uppnå denna inlevelse i spelen.För att kunna tackla problemen så görs det en omvärldsanalys i arbetet samt en positivistisktolkning av resultatet.