The historian and pedagogue Gerhard Pölsterl is the officer for media and pedagogy at the department Youth Policy of the Federal Chancellery of Austria. His responsibilities include topics such as digital media, safer internet and gaming. Therefore he manages the “Office for Media and Pedagogy” (Medien-Jugend-Info im BKA) and the “Federal Office for the Positive Assessment of Digital Games” (Bundesstelle für die Positivprädikatisierung von digitalen Spielen im BKA) and organizes the annual international conference “FROG -Future and Reality of Gaming”. Furthermore he is a lecturer in the context of media literacy at University of Vienna. As a former teacher and educator he has experience in working directly with children and the youth, which may be beneficial in connecting the life reality of young people with pedagogy and digital media.
Positive Gaming – the Austrian Strategy
Lecture, Saturday, 20th October, 18:00 – 18:30
The Federal Office for the Positive Assessment of Digital Games (BuPP) has been founded in 2005 satisfying the needs of parents and educators to keep up with the then massively developing sector of digital (and online) games. As an addition to classical rating systems such as USK and PEGI, BuPP has been established with the focos on recommending high value games. After a brief overview of the historical development and challenges in Austria, the lecture will give insights in how the catalogue of criteria, testing procedure and types of commissions are playing together to get to a sound seal of quality.
Achim Birkner is a Junior Lecturer and PhD student at the Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Germany. His academic focus lies on the intersection of digital technology and education/educational research.