Alexander Pfeiffer is recipient of a Max Kade Fellowship awarded by the Austrian Academy of Science to work at MIT with The Education Arcade. His research focus as a postdoctoral fellow is on blockchain technologies and their impact on game-based education and learning assessment. Before joining MIT, Alexander headed the center for applied game studies at Danube-University Krems, Austria, for eight years. He is also co-founder of the Austrian-based tech start-up Picapipe GmbH and the Malta-based B & P Emerging Technologies Consultancy Lab Ltd. He holds a doctorate and a social and economic sciences degree (mag.rer.soc.oec) from the Vienna University of Economics and Business, a Master of Arts from Danube-University Krems, and an Executive MBA from Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage. Besides this particular research his fields of interests are e-sports, media studies, emerging technologies, game studies and binge-watching TV series. This website shows his research: Blockchain Technologies and their impact on game-based Education and Learning Assessment; Thank you for you interested in my work.

Survey (next data collection end of may 2020): https://www.research.net/r/blockchain_education  (Please share the link in your networks)

Iteration 2 of the Game Gallery Defender Survey (next Data collection end of may 2020):  (play the game here: https://gallerydefender.arch.tamu.edu/) 

Iteration 2 of the Gallery Defender Quiz Survey (next data collection end of may 2020): (take the quiz here: https://de.research.net/r/gallerydefenterthequiz)

Read the paper: From learning to assessment, how to utilize Blockchain technologies in gaming environments to secure learning outcomes and test results (Researchgate.net)

Read the preprint: Blockchain technologies in the educational sector: Results of the initial data collection (Resarchgate.net)

Call for Paper (Book): Blockchain and the gaming sector (deadline 29th of february 2020)

Call for participation (Media Arts & Design Blockchain Conference at Drexel University, Phil.) (deadline 29th of february 2020)

Abstract

The goals of this research are to explore...

I. the current strategies to store and secure learning achievements, in particular the access status of potential manipulative interventions especially from within the security system;

II. the effectiveness and limitations of 'off-blockchain’ strategies in face of an increasing demand for globalized learning credit systems and the parallel demand for increased data security and privacy; 

III. the critical evaluation of existing and potential strategies which already make use of blockchain technologies through the identification and further improvement of good-practice examples and development of novel prototypical concepts in cooperation with the experts of the host institution through state-of-the-art concepts and technologies. 

leading to the main research question:

IV. what are the requirements to make blockchain-based systems for storing and managing data accessible for developers of digital learning environments, and game-based or gamified learning environments in particular?