Conversation Design for Raising Awareness on the Responsible Use of the Internet

Abstract

The rapid process of digital transformation and servitization experienced on a global scale in recent decades, further accelerated by the pandemic crisis, has radically altered the life experience of societies, with technological innovations leading to the emergence of new ethical and legal challenges. The issue of digital literacy and the acquisition of basic skills for responsible use of the internet has become one of the most urgent prerogatives in international government programs to address psychosocial phenomena such as those related to online grooming, cyberbullying, cybersuicide, cyber racing, or online scamming. The proposed work introduces the use of participatory game design as an empowerment tool for young students. The case study of the NetWalking project, developed by an interdisciplinary team of practitioners and researchers in several secondary schools in the city of Palermo (Italy), describes the experimentation of co-design activities of an edugame with a conversational interface (chatbot), which exploits the logic of nonlinear storytelling to actively engage students in playful learning activities, contributing to the development of hard skills (STEM) and soft skills (self-assessment, teamwork and information management).

1 Introduction

1.1 Education and the Internet Psycho-Social Phenomena

Digital technologies today structure a new way of being in the world, where old social phenomena manifest themselves in a new guise. A radical paradigm shift is taking place that is difficult to comprehend [1]. The contemporary subject depends on the digital medium just as it did over a century ago with electricity [2]. In the constant neotenic process of the individual, “it is we who adapt to technology and not the other way around” [3]. The relationship with the digital is structuring a new subject that tends toward the post-human¹[4]. The pervasiveness of the relationship with the digital medium acts not only on the structural level of the subject but also on the relationship with the (Symbolic) Other and with the “Real”.² The dissolving of the boundaries between Real and Virtual ferries the subject into an unprecedented relationship with the existing. In this framework, contemporary adolescence becomes an embodied metaphor for the new relationship with the existing. It cannot be read as a pathological and deviant expression of a new way of being in the world but as an effect of contemporary civilization.

The relationship of adolescents with the digital medium seems to be located more in the dimension of being rather than that of use. The adolescent “exists” on the web, not uses it. We witness a process of generalized digitization of daily life [5], which exposes the subject to the possibility of failing to construct a psyche endowed with intimacy and to preserve its singularity. One wonders whether with the advancement of technology, humans are endangering their existence [6] or whether digital information and communication technologies can be likened to new pharmakons (poison and antidote) [5] whose toxic effects can be reversed under technological conditions of possibility.

Starting from the concept of “onlife” [3], which describes the attitude of contemporary hyperconnected societies not to distinguish between online and offline life, the research proposed here investigates the potential of service design and game design in the development of technological solutions and game experiences that can strengthen the competence and awareness of young people in the use of new media, starting with generations X and Z, who are more exposed to web-related risks. Indeed, there is evidence that a game can confer psychological resilience against online risks, such as misinformation and fake news [7], or induce behavioral change in health [8]. Thus, edugames can provide young learners with cognitive training on a general set of techniques, skills, and competencies that can be spent in different domains.

1.2 Learning by Designing: Game Design and Pedagogy

In addition to the value that the game provides in a direct way to its players in the use phase, this research aims to show the value that can also potentially be generated by the co-design and co-creation phases of the game itself with students through a pedagogical method that uses technology and encourages active learning through design techniques [9]. Game design can be used as an effective form of learning [10] to foster additional motivation and increase students’ research knowledge and awareness of digital tools. In the case presented in this study, the game also incorporates the principles of decision-based pedagogy (DBL), which assume that knowledge is contextualized, conditional, and schematized to facilitate memorization and retrieval [11]. Indeed, using a nonlinear narrative in the game based on decision trees stimulates a procedural mode of learning by fostering problem-solving aptitude and the development of critical and lateral thinking [12]. In addition, the learning-by-challenge mechanism, as opposed to traditional expository learning, also promotes a higher level of social interaction among students and the strengthening of conflict management skills [13]. Game-based learning and above all “Digital game making enacted through “production pedagogy”³ can leverage dynamic learning opportunities, […] offering critical alternatives to aridly disengaging forms of digital literacies instruction in schools” [14]. In a world where students are increasingly digitally connected to mobile devices, educators require new models of engagement and approaches to teaching and learning. Gaming, configuring itself as an immersive experience in which to test one’s skills, is one of them.

With particular reference to digital games, learning based on playful experiences results in greater engagement in learning, a better understanding of course content, increased ability to concentrate, improvements in problem-solving, and higher academic achievement [15]. In fact, this mode of learning mirrors what is already structured in young people from an early age in nonformal settings.

Educational content can be conveyed by different types of games: Serious Games - designed for purposes other than entertainment -; Educational Games (or Edugames) - designed to support educational activities in formal education -; and Games for Learning - with educational purposes but used in informal education and vocational training contexts - [16]. The game developed during the research is positioned between an Edugame and a Game for Learning because, although some phases and activities were carried out in the school environment, it remains available for use by a general audience, even outside the formal educational context. Serious Games, Edugames, and Games for Learning can make use of analog and digital media, but today Mobile Gaming is certainly the most popular mode⁴. Finding its assumptions in text adventures⁵, Chatbot Games take the form of a particular subcategory of gaming that primarily exploits text and multimedia content (images, audio, short videos). There are two macro-types of chatbots: those that integrate NLP⁶ and rule-based ones. In the former, Artificial Intelligence (AI) understands the context and automatically processes user interactions, while in the latter (used in this study), the system responds to input exclusively through a set of predefined rules.

1.3 Literature and References

The scientific literature on serious games for promoting digital skills is extensive and growing [17]. It shows a wide spectrum of possible connections between learning and game mechanics, depending on the specific goals to be achieved: acquisition of knowledge, aptitude, competence, or experience [18]. In the field of education, there are several examples of chatbot games, such as those developed for the Circuit of Museum Houses in Milan⁷ or the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam⁸. In the case of the experience conducted in Palermo, the main reference was the game “Bad News”,⁹, which, by introducing the theory of inoculation¹⁰ within the play environment, demonstrated how the game can help critically improve players’ digital skills in recognizing and analyzing fake news [7]. Within NetWalking, the mechanics of the metagame, competition, and simulation were used to stimulate players’ motivational levers with quizzes, quests, and puzzles useful in recognizing key internet dangers such as phishing, grooming, and cyberbullying.

2 Case Study

2.1 NetWalking Game: Context and Concept

The NetWalking project¹¹, developed by an interdisciplinary team consisting of psychologists, pedagogists (Lega Contro la Droga Onlus), and designers (PUSH), was implemented within 6 schools¹² and 4 neighborhoods of the City¹³. The intervention involved experimenting in schools with game co-design activities, which were subsequently presented and tested not only in schools but also in the neighborhoods. The objective of NetWalking was to enhance in the target group some of the key competencies for lifelong learning expressed by the European Council: technological, digital, and learning-to-learn competencies¹⁴. 48 teachers and 390 students (223 F; 167 M) between the ages of 11 and 21, divided into 15 classes, were directly involved.

2.2 Design Methodology

2.2.1 Surveys: User-Research

The research phase was conducted both in schools and in the local area through preliminary interviews and the administration of questionnaires (526), aimed at detecting the state of the art about adolescents’ use of the Web and the main polarizations of interest related to the web services and social networks. The questionnaires were also used to determine the target group’s level of knowledge and awareness of the main risks and dangers associated with the Internet.

Adolescents were asked to answer questions about their online habits (connection time, sites visited, apps used, moods during use, interference with other areas of their daily lives) and offline habits (hobbies, reading, studying, sports, etc.). The average time spent online (5/7 h per day, often at night), the type of device predominantly used (smartphones and game consoles), and the main types of apps used (social networks, chat, and dating apps) were recorded. Also particularly interesting is the percentage of adolescents who have never read a book (22% F; 47% M) and the way they inform themselves about news events (almost all exclusively through headlines appearing on social media often without opening the links, reading the content and/or ascertaining the veracity of the sources). The qualitative analysis confirmed a low level of soft skills among the students involved in the study.

2.2.2 Focus Groups: Interests and Topics

Following the administration of the questionnaires, focus groups were conducted in plenary mode and in individual classrooms to identify topics of greatest interest to the students to be used as cues for the design of the stories and game dynamics. The focus groups were structured in such a way as to put the participants’ words at the center and enhance the singular experience. This allowed the teens to interweave their own narratives with those of the Other and to construct an unprecedented shared narrative of contemporary adolescence. The stance taken by the presenters, in addition to being geared toward accommodating all the issues that emerged, served the function of incentivizing deepening, so that commonplaces and clichés were deconstructed by the participants themselves. The focus groups highlighted the number of pitfalls and risks to which teens are exposed during their surfing hours (revenge porn; body shaming; sexting; sextortion; grooming; account and data theft; dissemination of private content; cyberbullying) and how many requests for help circulate predominantly within the peer group, given that the adult figure is not always a reference point for young people to turn to.

2.2.3 Co-design Workshops: Non-linear Storytelling and Decision Based Learning

Through the open-source software Twine, students collaboratively created diagrams, structures, and dialogues of nonlinear stories online. They created and embedded multimedia content (text, images, audio, video, gifs) in the stories to develop interactive game experiences (Fig. 1). The choice of nonlinear story mechanics is due to its close connection with the pedagogical methodology of decision-based learning. This methodology integrates theoretical and notional knowledge with a procedural and conditional one, a type of functional and practical knowledge applied to concrete problem solving through decision trees [11]. Designing a story with several possible end scenarios stimulates the students to sift through all the possibilities of solving a problem and to create their own hierarchy of values through which to define some scenarios as “right” and others as “wrong,” thus establishing an ethical and critical stance in the face of complex issues such as, for example, the relationship between young people and digital media.

Fig. 1.

Conversation diagram: legend and detail of some forks with examples of choices and interactions (original messages in Italian language).

Fig. 2.

Typical screens of the conversation: introduction and quiz (translation in notes). (1st screen: “Hi [name_user], you also ended up in my challenge? [Toy Story meme about challenges] It is actually the first to land on telegram! Who told you about me?”; 2nd screen: “This is not the usual stuff you find on YouTube. I programmed this bot you are talking to, to propose you some choices, and only some of them will lead you to actually talk to me. By the way [Backhand Index Pointing Up emoji], let’s start with the basics. You know what a chatbot is, right? [1st answer: Thumbs Up] [2nd answer: Thumbs Down]; 3rd screen: “This story is honestly crazier than mine… A clique of scammers created all these fake profiles to lure single women who were extorted for thousands of euros [Face Screaming in Fear emoji]. Do you know in what year a person was first sent to court for the crime of phishing? [1st answer: “1991”]; [2nd answer: “1999”]; [3rd answer: “2004”]; 4th screen: “That’s right [Beaming Face with Smiling Eyes emoji]. Just think that the convict was a 17-year-old boy! This is how is used to do: [audio message explaining how the Californian teenager defrauded thousands of Americans]. According to you, a phishing attack succeeds more easily” [1st option: “by entering data”]; [2nd option: “opening an attachment”]; [3rd option: “by clicking on a link”].)

2.2.4 Prototyping: From Diagrams to Chat

The creation of animated prototypes, tested together with students and teachers, enabled collaborative reasoning about the construction of the decision trees that form the backbone of the different story plot alternatives. The game was structured in three parts: introduction, quiz, and nonlinear story.

The introduction is intended to make initial contact with Walker, the protagonist, who speaks in the first person to the player. During the introduction, the concept of chatbots is clarified and the limits of character interactions are established. The whole game revolves around the idea of a challenge, (#walkerchallenge), which is thrown at the player so that the true identity of the protagonist is discovered. The introduction confronts the player with the so-called “magic circle”: the imaginary threshold one crosses when preparing to participate in a game, which gives the dimension of what is fiction and what is not¹⁵. It was chosen to leave the boundaries of the magic circle very labile to purposely accentuate the game-reality ambiguity.

The quiz was designed as a way to test the player’s knowledge of the web and the social media world. In between questions, concepts identified in the focus groups are clarified and explored in depth, treated with a colloquial register.

The transposition of the story into conversational language was developed in four main stages: the writing of the subject, the expansion of the narrative through plots and plot twists, the enrichment of the conversation with descriptive and detailed language, and finally the synthesis and transposition into conversational language.

The story has a nonlinear structure similar to game-books¹⁶: the players are given the opportunity to move within the narrative and they’re stimulated to find the one ending that corresponds to what really happened to the protagonist. Alternative endings are only potential possibilities that serve to lead the player astray by generating doubt and stimulating critical reasoning.

2.2.5 Developing and Testing: Design Iteration and Scalability

NetWalking was developed on the Telegram platform to make the gaming experience very realistic and personal, allowing the user to immerse themselves in the game more easily and without the need to download any additional special app. The conversation is initiated simply by searching for the user “#walkerchallenge” in the search bar of the instant messaging service. This makes it easier to establish a direct dialogue between the game’s protagonist and the player in order to build trust and obtain the user’s active involvement in the succession of the following challenges. In addition, the introduction decrees the user’s choice to continue or quit right away. It makes the players familiar with the rules and defines the objectives, without tiring or boring them. Time restraints at this stage help keep the player’s attention.

Cyclical comparisons between the professionals involved (designers, software developers, psychologists, and educationalists) and the students allowed for the development and testing of various prototypes until the final version of the game was reached. Testing was necessary to identify both areas where the story formed loops, i.e., combinations of choices that put the player in the position of repeatedly viewing the same story fragments. Simulating the time for the bot to type messages makes the interaction between the character and the player more realistic and prevents too many messages from being sent in bulk. The game experience replicates an ordinary chat conversation with a real person (Fig. 2). There are only two limitations for the player: the inability to ask direct questions to the protagonist and to keep the conversation open for more than 24 h.

Maintaining a modular design approach, to cope with the scalability and replicability of the prototyped solution, a toolkit was created aimed at teachers and freely downloadable on the official website of the project¹⁷, which allows to prototype additional scenarios and expand the stories proposed within the game. The toolkit has the dual purpose of disseminating the project and exposing, through a methodological approach, the steps one must go through to design an educational game experience based on conversational design. The document has been divided into two parts: one in which the purpose of the project is recounted and the game is described in depth, and a second part in which the stages of designing a nonlinear story and a chatbot game are exposed.

3 Conclusions

The results of the experimentation, verified at the closure meetings held with the classes involved, showed how decisive the effects of the mix of open discussions, co-design activities, and the actual game experience were in the formation of critical thinking with respect to the use of new technologies and the Web. The experience of active participation in the intervention, over the two years of implementation, has shown a relevant impact compared to traditional interventions based on the logic of inform to prevent. The application of this methodology, as revealed by the feedback gathered at the group follow-up meetings, facilitated the development of the students’ ability to dwell critically on issues affecting contemporary adolescence and their problem-solving skills.

Analysis of the qualitative data collected during the activities shows that the students who participated in the experimentation were able to expand their awareness of risks on the Web and their competence in recognizing those modes that are dangerous or dysfunctional. Through the application of Game Design and multimedia content creation mechanisms, the young participants also enhanced their media and digital literacy by becoming potential peer educators within similar interventions.

The research shows that the application of Game Design principles can generate a positive impact both in the use phase of the output, the edugame, and in the design phase (co-creation, prototyping, testing, and iteration). Finally, the study demonstrates the pedagogical value of co-designing non-linear stories, in a logic of decision-based learning, as well as the level of empowerment in all dimensions of digital competence: technological, cognitive, and ethical.

4 Recommendations for Future Research

NetWalking did not require the use of AI, however, given the growing interest in the topic and the constant democratization of technologies, which allows for experimentation that is increasingly simple, intuitive, and accessible, a feasibility study is already underway to incorporate some AI features that can make the overall experience more engaging, immersive, and personalized. This would also give students the opportunity to learn the basics of NLP, as well as greater awareness of the AI potential, and its ethical dimensions.

The NetWalking application was developed by a team of professional developers on the Telegram platform. However, an updated mapping of open source tools available online showed that it might be possible in the future to have students develop the final product as well, through the use of software with simplified programming interfaces, which do not require the use and knowledge of specific programming languages. This would make the design and development process more straightforward and complete for students, without interruptions and handoffs during implementation. Finally, further development of the game will also involve the themes covered in the stories. The next developments may include the selection of diversified themes, also related to school learning subjects, to verify the adaptability of the system. The co-design model also lends itself to hybrid teaching environments and international exchange among young people from different backgrounds, as the language aspect would open up additional game and learning mechanics.