Download to read offline
Uploaded byEducational Technology
German Language Training Apps for Primary School Children
This document describes research into developing an educational game app called The Chocolate Factory to improve German language skills for primary school children. The game includes different exercise levels to collect ingredients to produce virtual chocolate bars. A study was conducted with 16 Austrian second graders who played the game for 30 minutes. The children provided positive feedback on a survey, and data was collected on 1900 answers to analyze learning and identify individual problems. The goal was to create an easy to use, motivating game that delivers personalized content and supports learning analytics to improve language skills in a fun way.
More Related Content
Similar to German Language Training Apps for Primary School Children
German Language Training Apps for Primary School Children
- 1. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ S C I E N C E P A S S I O N T E C H N O L O G Y www.tugraz.at 1 German Language Training Apps for Primary School Children Alexander Schwaiger 26.04.2018
- 2. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 2 Actual Situation in Learning • Traditional methods are still dominant • Experience is the key to build deep knowledge and mental models • Learning and understanding without experience? • A call for a new educational technology
- 3. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 3 Research Questions 1. How shall a Game be designed to improve German Language Skills for Primary School Children? 2. How can personalized Content be delivered to different Groups of Age that heavily vary in their available Vocabulary? 3. Which Exercises must be created to support Learning Analytics?
- 4. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 4 Outline 1. Games • Games and Education • Digital Game-Based Learning • Learning with Games • How to create a good game • Potentials of DGBL 2. The Chocolate Factory • Story and Design • Types of Levels • Development 3. Research Study
- 5. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ S C I E N C E P A S S I O N T E C H N O L O G Y www.tugraz.at 5 1. Games
- 6. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 6 Games and Education • Children have always played Games for Fun • The Game Industry is growing • 57% of Online Teens actively create content • Children want to be Producer instead of Consumer ➤ Solution: Digital Game-Based Learning
- 7. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 7 Digital Game-Based Learning • A selected Problem Scenario is embedded into a Play Framework • Reduction of the number of educational instructions • Support of the learning process • Decisions based on Context with immediate Feedback • Motivation generally decreases when solving challenging Tasks ➤ But why not with Games?
- 8. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 8 Learning with Games • Information is provided just in Time and on demand • Carefully selected Order of Problems • Creation of Expertise by Experience • Keeping the Player motivated is the Key • Increased Motivation leads to more Willpower • Acting at a certain Distance • Children can dive into Worlds full of Opportunities
- 9. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 9 How to create a Good Game • A good Learning System is indispensable • Characteristics • Focus on well-ordered Problems • Support the creation of non-cognitive Skills • Provide the necessary Tools to solve the Problems • Learn and Explore instead of only Facts and Information • Challenge the Players to build deeper Knowledge • Use Gamification to keep Players motivated • Different Types of Systems support different Learning Objectives
- 10. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 10 Potential of DGBL • Can support the Learning Process • Promotes several Types of learning • Allow Children to experience, think, fail and succeed • Provide valuable Context and Feedback based on Actions and Decisions • Use Gamification to keep Players motivated • Anywhere, anytime and on demand • Not all Games are suited for learning
- 11. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ S C I E N C E P A S S I O N T E C H N O L O G Y www.tugraz.at 11 2. The Chocolate Factory
- 12. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 12 The Chocolate Factory • German Language Training App for Primary School Children • Developed for iOS and Android • Different Types of Levels • Gamification System • Personalized Content Delivery • Connection to the IDeRBlog (Learning Analytics)
- 13. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 13 Story and Design (1) • Goal: Master different Types of Language Training Exercises to collect Ingredients • Gamification: Use the collected Ingredients to produce Chocolate
- 14. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 14 Story and Design (2)
- 15. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 15 Types of Levels • 4 Types of Exercises • One is unlocked after the other • Right / Wrong • Lower-/Uppercase • Insert • Bonus (Combination)
- 16. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 16 Right / Wrong Exercise • Presents a specific Word • Decide if the Word is written right or wrong • Yes / No Buttons • Direct Feedback • If the Answer was wrong, the correct Word is displayed
- 17. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 17 Lower- / Uppercase Exercise • Children need to decide, whether one Word is written in Lower- or Uppercase Notation • Direct Feedback • If the Answer was wrong, the correct Spelling is displayed
- 18. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 18 Insert Exercise • Children need to decide on a specific Word’s missing Letter • Direct Feedback • If the Answer was wrong, the correct Letter is displayed
- 19. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 19 Gamification • Use the collected Ingredients to produce flavoured Chocolate Bars • Every Chocolate Bar requires a different Amount of Ingredients • Keeps Children motivated • 12 Bars can be collected
- 20. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 20 Development • Cross-Platform App Development with Cordova • The Library used for coding: React • Advantages: 1. Supports iOS and Android 2. Only one Code Base 3. Better Maintainability 4. Uses Web Technologies HTLM5, SCSS and JS
- 21. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 21 Cordova • Wraps HTML/JS App into a native Container • Access to System and Device Functions • Uses a Web View to display the Interface • Cross-Platform Apps are web-based Apps wrapped into a native Container
- 22. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 22 React • JavaScript Library developed by Facebook • JS Files render HTML Code into the DOM and create a Tree • Whenever Elements change, React updates the Tree by making a Tree Comparison • Expensive in terms of Runtime • Facebook improved the Algorithm by introducing Rules
- 23. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 23 Developing with React • Clean and simple structure • Usage of components, pages and container • Identification of pages and components at first • Implementation • API connection using Axios (HTTP client) and Redux • Frontend testing using Cypress
- 24. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ S C I E N C E P A S S I O N T E C H N O L O G Y www.tugraz.at 24 3. Research Study
- 25. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 25 Research Study (1) • Austrian Primary School, second Grade • 16 Children • Introduction to the Game • 30 min Game Session • 1900 Answers collected
- 26. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 26 Research Study (2) • After playing the Children were divided into Groups • Rating of different Statements with Smileys • Using the Cut-Off-Technique • Each Group discussed their Point of View • One Decision to agree on within the Group
- 27. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 27 Research Study (3) • Statements: 1. The Game was easy to play 2. I liked to play the Game 3. I find it great to produce my own Chocolate 4. The Exercises are easy for me 5. I want to play the Game again • Smileys
- 28. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 28 Research Study (4) • Feedback Result • Chocolate Creator was liked the most • Positive Feedback among all children • Balanced distribution among Exercises played 0% 18% 35% 53% 70% 88% 5 min 10 min 15 min 20 min 25 min 30 min CorrectAnswers Game Session
- 29. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ 29 Research Questions 1. How shall a Game be designed to improve German Language Skills for Primary School Children? ➤ Easy to play, motivating, personalized content delivery, not sucking the fun out 2. How can personalized Content be delivered to different Groups of Age that heavily vary in their available Vocabulary? ➤ Grouping answers into groups of age and build sub-sets that can be analyzed 3. Which Exercises must be created to support Learning Analytics? ➤ Exercises that allow to collect data about an individual learner to identify his/her problems
- 30. Educational Technology, TUGraz „We care about education“ S C I E N C E P A S S I O N T E C H N O L O G Y www.tugraz.at 30 Thank you for your Attention