ABSTRACT The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is currently planning the historic Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an international mul ti sport event that will be inaugurated in Singapore in 2010. On the 6t h of July 2007, the establishment of the YOG was approved and will feature 14 to 18 year old athletes. The purpose of the YOG is to complement the Olympic Games but not to create a “mini Games”. This event will place emphasis on quality of performance, rather than the sport ing achievement itself and the IOC aims to use the YOG to address the decline in the relevance of sport amongst the younger generation and to educate the youth through the values that sport teaches. The selected sport events will be carefully chosen to protect the health of the young athletes. This study evaluated the perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that South Africa faces in delivering the mandate of the IOC on the YOG. The study had a critical theoretical framework. A semi structured questionnaire was completed by 36 academic sport experts and administrators of the nine provincial sport academies. The semi st ructured questionnaire al lowed the respondents an opportunity to comment on other relevant issue(s) not raised in the questionnaire. Thematic content analysis was carried out on the semi structured questionnaires. The data gained was util ised to briefly crit ique South African society and sports in the context of the YOG. The findings i lluminate some percept ion on South Africa’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in relation to the IOC’s vision and mandate and how a team for the Singapore 2010 YOG and beyond may be galvanised.

The abundance of technologies around our children, provides us with resources that can be used in second and foreign language classrooms. Often, children do not have the opportunity to practice Spanish in an authentic way, due to limited Spanish instruction that some institutions or public schools offer at the elementary level. Therefore, the limited time that is allowed to teach should be used wisely by means of computer games in the target language in conjunction with language tasks may offer the opportunity to learn and practice the second language (L2). The purpose of the present report is to: present existing literature on tasks and computer games in foreign/second language learning; suggest how they can be incorporated in a task-based approach in terms of teaching Spanish as an L2 to young learners; show examples of computer games in company with various language tasks that can be used for L2 learning; and provide an example of a lesson plan based on the suggested approach. Also, some of the benefits of this Spanish task-based approach will be discussed. Finally, important teaching implications are offered based on the existing literature on tasks and the task-based approach using computer games that is proposed in the this report. / text

The Canada Games is a multi-sport Games with twenty-five years of history, having rotated to every province in Canada, and is now into its second cycle, that is, now staged in some provinces for a second time. It is a significant part of the Canadian sport system, each time involving the Federal Government, all twelve provincial and territorial governments, a civic government, over one hundred sports organizations across Canada, several large corporate enterprises and many smaller businesses, and thousands of volunteers, staff, officials, coaches, managers, and athletes. A considerable amount of concentrated effort, resources, and financial support is required to stage a Canada Games every two years. Throughout the history of the Canada Games, numerous claims of legacy have been made. Such claims are most common in reports from governments and host societies, but are also found in the literature in a variety of publications. In this study, the literature was analyzed, and it was found that claims of legacy fell into five broad categories: facilities, equipment, officials, community spirit and pride, and sport development. Evidence in support of each claim was researched. Documentation was available on facility development and equipment purchase and disbursal over a period of twenty years. Little evidence could be found in support of the other claims of a legacy. A population which fulfilled the qualifications of long-term knowledge of the Canada Games and the Canadian sport system was chosen to sample. It was recognized early that the qualified persons available may be seen to have a vested interest in the Canada Games by virtue of employment or association with organizations or governments that have directly or indirectly endorsed the Canada Games. In an effort to reduce problems of bias, persons were also interviewed or surveyed from the academic ranks, the media, civic recreation,and individuals, such as coaches and officials. The sample was divided into three groupings: those with a vested interest (VI), those with a potential vested interest (PVI), and those with no apparent vested interest (NAVI). The sample was surveyed by questionnaire or in person over a period of eighteen months. Each person was asked whether he or she agreed with each of the five claims of legacy. Respondents were encouraged to elaborate, and to also provide a rationale for each opinion. All interviews were recorded by the author as notes. The task of data analysis entailed interpretation of answers as either agreeing with, or disagreeing with, the claim of legacy. It was found that many answers could not fit either category, so a third category was used for "Yes or No" answers. Fifty-seven records were critically analyzed. It was found that the "Yes or No" answers which also were accompanied with greater elaboration yielded the best insights into the problems of legacy claims. There was fairly strong support for a claim of a legacy of facilities. Those who had reservations pointed out facilities that have fallen into disuse or that have encountered problems of operating deficits. Several persons referred to a negative legacy of building Olympic-sized swimming pools in smaller Canadian cities. A claim of a legacy of equipment was supported by some, but questioned by others. Those who supported the claim generally could cite good examples of equipment still in use for the benefit of specific sports in Canada Games host communities. Those who questioned the claim referred to the legacy as short term or a less significant legacy. A claim of a legacy of officials also yielded mixed support. Some respondents strongly agreed, but many questioned the longevity of the effect. A lack of community sport infrastructure to support officials' certification and development was noted. A claim of an improved community spirit and pride was widely supported, but little evidence beyond anecdotal reference was offered. Many felt that the claim was self-evident. A claim of a legacy of sport development was also widely supported, but the few who did question the claim wanted to know more about the meaning of the claim. Was the effect local, provincial, or national in scope? Is it a cause and effect relationship? What part of the sport system has seen development because of the Canada Games? The responses were multiple and varied. The study concluded that legacy claims were made in too general a manner, with proponents of the Canada Games often using legacy claims as a rationale for continued funding and support. Legacy claims need to made more specific with particular reference to a specific item and the group benefitting from the legacy. In addition, since little evidence exists in support of such claims, it would be in the interest of those with ongoing responsibility for the Canada Games to undertake studies which measure the potential legacy effect in several areas. Finally, it was noted that those who write and speak about the Canada Games should be more careful using the legacies argument because generalized claims can be misleading and, at times, lack meaning.

Research conducted during the 1990s revealed that video games increasingly represent the medium through which children are first exposed to technology, that early gaming can enhance future technological literacy, and that girls tend to play video games less frequently than boys. These findings preceded efforts by feminist entrepreneurs, followed by established video game producers, to develop ‘girl games.’ Such ‘girl-centred,’ ‘girl-friendly,’ and girl-targeted video games now represent a lucrative branch of the contemporary video game industry. In this project, I utilized a multi-method approach to explore how ‘the ideal teen girl’ is re/constructed in three tween-airned ‘girl games.’ My discourse analysis of the ‘dominant’ messages in the games includes an examination of various available feminine subject positions, and how ‘race,’ class, and (hetero)sexuality are implicated in these positions. My analysis of semi-structured interviews that I conducted with eight tween girls provides insight into their everyday readings of the ‘girl games.’ Unlike earlier research that framed girls as passive recipients of ‘damaging’ messages included in gendered texts, my findings suggest that the girls in my study engaged in active and diverse readings of the interactive texts. The multiple ways in which the girls recognized, identified with, resisted, and/or reworked elements of the feminine subject positions demonstrated their management of such contradictory images of ideal girlhood. According to my analysis, while several girls engaged in sceptical readings, none of the girls ultimately rejected the video game messages, or linked them to the wider social order in which they are produced, and which they work to re/produce. My research also revealed that the girls’ identification of and with the subject positions was shaped and augmented by knowledge they had gained from previous exposure to associated transmediated representations (television, movies, music, and fashion products). My research suggests that while ‘the ideal teen girl’ re/constructed for tween garners reflects contemporary notions of girlhood, as she is active and capable, she reaffirms Western standards of hegemonic femininity. The rules of play, beauty ideals, behaviours, and priorities of consumption included in the games work to re/construct White, middle class, heterogendered ‘teen femininity’ as normal and ideal.

According to the ana lysis oh literature we can stase that involving of game in the lessons or activity of drama is important and significant. Drama games cold be observed as good mean of academic education, self – expression, aquirement of social skills and integration. Due to drama games students learn to find out new ways of solving problems, experience and better understand fulings and emotion. Through the games im drama lessons or activity studens deepen their skills of self – knowledge and understanding others, body language and tolerance. Practical application of games in the lessons or activity of drama provers that thgis method is significant for 11 – 12 formers and helps to solve psychological problems that occur at the beginning of studies. Variety of games in the lessons or activity of drama excite the imagination, help stu dents better understand language and concept peculiarities and giwe joy. So we con say the every drama games is new emotional, experience, pedagogics of fulings, i.e. unforgetoble moments full of emotions and adventures and wonderful creative atmosphere. Drama lesion or activity the games is very attractive, because it reflects social relity, at the time drills of practical activity and real life modeling function prevail.

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This thesis studies several issues in the field of macroeconomic and financial stability. In Chapter 2, I argue that systemic bankruptcy of firms can originate from coordination failure in an economy with investment complementarities. I demonstrate that in such an economy, a very small uncertainty about economic fundamentals can be magnified through the uncertainty about the investment decisions of other firms and can lead to coordination failure, which may be manifested as systemic bankruptcy. Moreover, my model reveals that systemic bankruptcy tends to arise when economic fundamentals are in the middle range where coordination matters. High financial leverage of firms greatly increases the severity of systemic bankruptcy. Optimistic beliefs of firms and banks can alleviate coordination failure, but can also increase the severity of systemic bankruptcy once it happens. Chapter 3 studies how coordination failure in a country's new technology investment dampens a country's economic growth. I establish a two-sector Overlapping Generation model where capital goods are produced by two different technologies. The first is a conventional technology with constant returns. The second is a new technology exhibiting increasing returns to scale due to technological externalities, about whose returns economic agents have only incomplete information. My model reveals that coordination failure in new technology investment can lead to slower economic growth. More interestingly, the model generates a positive correlation between economic growth and volatility. In Chapter 4, Frank Milne and I establish a dynamic currency attack model in the presence of a large player. In an attack on a fixed exchange rate regime with a gradually overvalued currency, both the inability of speculators to synchronize their attack and their incentive to time the collapse of the regime lead to the persistent overvaluation of the currency. We find that the presence of a large player can accelerate or delay the collapse of the regime, depending on his incentives to preempt other speculators or to ``ride the overvaluation." / Thesis (Ph.D, Economics) -- Queen's University, 2007-11-28 15:26:27.834

Traditional peripheral displays rely on drawing the user's attention and gaze through alerts. These displays function best when the central task does not require the user's constant attention. For tasks that require a user to always maintain focus, alert-based displays are not appropriate. We assert that conveying information to a user without drawing his gaze, allows the user to maintain constant focus on his primary task while still receiving additional information. In this thesis we use video games to examine streaming peripheral displays as a means of presenting information without drawing gaze. The results of our experiments showed no significant difference between user performance using our display encoded for peripheral viewing versus an unencoded display. Additionally, we found that players were successfully able to perceive information shown on a streaming peripheral display, however, as game difficulty increased the effectiveness of the streaming peripheral display decreased. Finally, we show that as game level increases, users adopt risk-tolerant strategies. Drawing from these results, we have suggested some additional heuristics pertaining to streaming peripheral displays. Moreover, we have suggested further situations where streaming peripheral displays may be useful. / Thesis (Master, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2009-01-28 10:41:41.602

The purpose of this thesis is to propose an alternative type of interface for mobile software being used while walking or running. Our work addresses the problem of visual user interfaces for mobile software be- ing potentially unsafe for pedestrians, and not being very immersive when used for location-based games. In addition, location-based games and applications can be dif- ficult to develop when directly interfacing with the sensors used to track the user’s location. These problems need to be addressed because portable computing devices are be- coming a popular tool for navigation, playing games, and accessing the internet while walking. This poses a safety problem for mobile users, who may be paying too much attention to their device to notice and react to hazards in their environment. The difficulty of developing location-based games and other location-aware applications may significantly hinder the prevalence of applications that explore new interaction techniques for ubiquitous computing. We created the TREC toolkit to address the issues with tracking sensors while developing location-based games and applications. We have developed functional location-based applications with TREC to demonstrate the amount of work that can be saved by using this toolkit.In order to have a safer and more immersive alternative to visual interfaces, we have developed ambient audio interfaces for use with mobile applications. Ambient audio uses continuous streams of sound over headphones to present information to mobile users without distracting them from walking safely. In order to test the effectiveness of ambient audio, we ran a study to compare ambient audio with handheld visual interfaces in a location-based game. We compared players’ ability to safely navigate the environment, their sense of immersion in the game, and their performance at the in-game tasks. We found that ambient audio was able to significantly increase players’ safety and sense of immersion compared to a visual interface, while players performed signifi- cantly better at the game tasks when using the visual interface. This makes ambient audio a legitimate alternative to visual interfaces for mobile users when safety and immersion are a priority. / Thesis (Master, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2012-01-31 23:35:28.946