Cologon: A Game to Foster Communication Skills in Inclusive Education

Abstract

Inclusive education deals with the participation of vulnerable and marginalised - especially disabled - people in learning and with reducing exclusive aspects within and from education. Communication skills under an inclusive perspective are to be understood as more than spoken or written word. Levels of languages used and alternative modes of communication are to be explored and harnessed.

However, game complexity and technical constraints hamper the seamless integration in real world environments, especially when addressing groups aside from the mainstream. Building on four design challenges, we aim to develop an independently usable, user-friendly and user-oriented, technically low-threshold game called Cologon that fosters communication skills and takes into account the players diverse (dis)abilities, needs, and preferences in simple terms: an inclusive game.

In this paper we present our iterative participatory design process and the conceptual prototype. The results of an evaluation of this prototype in a participatory game design workshop point to unique insights: participants prioritised visual and audible cues above any use of language and one-device-per-player combined with the choice of roles was a challenge for all participants and created a creative communication experience.