Children’s Peer Interaction While Playing the Digital Emotion Detectives Game

Collaborative learning and collaborative use of digital technologies are essential skills in the twenty-first century. The aim of this study was to explore the features and types of interaction that can be identified during children’s digital gameplay while playing in pairs. The following research questions were addressed: 1) What are the interactional play features that characterize the play sessions? 2) Which play types can be identified based on these interactional play features? 3) How do the interactional features and play types change during the eight-week play period? In this study, 16 children aged 5–6 years played the Emotion Detectives (ED) game in pairs at day care centres for 15–30 minutes per week. During the eight-week period, the children’s gameplay was video-recorded, and three play sessions from each pair were explored using content analysis. The results of this study deepen our understanding of the features of children’s playing in pairs and extend our knowledge of the suitability of the ED game for joint gameplay. On this basis, we make some recommendations for educational settings

In, out and through digital worlds. Hybrid-transitions as a space for children's agency

This article discusses a Transition Programme to support the inclusion of mature students in Higher Education. The Transition Programme was designed and it is currently provided by a Higher Education institution in Surrey, South-East of England. An outcome of innovative educational leadership, the Transition Programme’ successfully solved the paradox of selection for admission to Higher Education programmes, in particular with regard to mature students. The English Higher Education system offers an interesting case for discussion, being caught between the principle of inclusiveness within a ‘widening participation’ agenda and the contrasting selective principle of ‘recruiting with integrity’. The article is motivated by two main aims. The first aim is to contextualize sociologically, within a discussion on the related concepts of hope, trust and risk, the motivations underpinning mature applicants’ choice to enter Higher Education. The second aim of the article is to argue for the capability of educational leadership to generate positive change supporting mature applicants’ trust in hope for a successful inclusion in Higher Education

EFFECTIVENESS OF SUPPLEMENTARY LEARNING MATERIALS UTILIZING DIGITAL PLAY-BASED LEARNING PACKAGE

This study explores the potential of digital play-based learning packages to enhance the reading and counting skills of young learners in kindergarten. The subjects of this study were the 30 kindergarten learners of Shuttle Elementary School, South Fatima District, Barangay San Jose, General Santos City enrolled during school year 2021-2022. This study used the pre-experimental design, specifically, the single group pre-test and post-test design. Frequency counts, mean and t-test were utilized to interpret and analyze the gathered data. Based on the findings, it was found out that Digital Play-Based supplementary learning packages were effective and had improved the reading and counting skills of kindergarten learners. Nevertheless, the use of Digital Play-Based Supplementary Learning Packages may be implemented in teaching reading and counting among young learners in the academe. Ultimately, this study provides valuable insights for educators who seek to promote creativity and engagement in their classrooms, and underscores the importance of leveraging technology in support of learning outcomes.  Article visualizations

Enhancing Students’ Motivation in the EFL Classroom Through Life is Strange: A Digital Game-Based Learning Scenario Proposal

Màster Universitari de Formació del Professorat de Secundària Obligatòria i Batxillerat, Facultat d'Educació, Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2022-2023. Tutora: Gemma López[eng] This research study introduces a learning scenario integrating the video game Life is Strange (DontNod, 2015) into the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. It explores the viability and practicality of incorporating digital game-based instruction into English language learning and investigates its impact on student motivation and engagement. The development and partial implementation of the learning scenario in the 4th of ESO classroom are guided by design principles that align with language learning objectives and follow the task-based supported language teaching (TSLT) methodology. Results indicate that the integration of the video game in the instruction generates a substantial learning experience. Students exhibit increased motivation and engagement, actively participating in the tasks. In conclusion, incorporating the video game Life is Strange into instruction effectively fosters student motivation in English language learning. Further research is needed to explore long-term effects, but video games in education promise to enhance student motivation and create engaging learning experiences.[cat] Aquest estudi de recerca presenta una situació d’aprenentatge que integra el videojoc Life is Strange (DontNod, 2015) a l'aula d'anglès com a llengua estrangera. L'objectiu és explorar la viabilitat per incorporar l'ensenyament basat en jocs digitals en l'aprenentatge de la llengua anglesa i investigar el seu impacte en la motivació dels estudiants. El desenvolupament i la implementació parcial de l'escenari d'aprenentatge a l'aula de 4t d'ESO es guien per uns principis de disseny que s'alineen amb els objectius d'aprenentatge, tot i seguint la metodologia TSLT (task-based language teaching). Els resultats indiquen que la integració del videojoc a la classe genera una experiència d'aprenentatge substancial. Els estudiants mostren una major motivació i compromís, participant activament en les activitats d'aprenentatge. En conclusió, la incorporació del videojoc Life is Strange a l’aula fomenta de manera efectiva la motivació dels estudiants en l'aprenentatge de la llengua anglesa. Es necessiten més investigacions per explorar els efectes a llarg termini, però l'ús de videojocs a l'educació és prometedor per millorar la motivació dels estudiants i crear experiències d'aprenentatge atractives

UTILIZING SCRIBBLENAUTS TO INCREASE READING COMPREHENSION AND IMPROVE LITERACY SKILLS OF THIRD GRADE STUDENTS

The LEA’s problem of practice upon which this research was focused on improving academic achievement in the areas of reading comprehension, fluency and other literacy skills. In particular, the LEA is very concerned about third grade reading scores in the light of North Carolina legislation that implements a reading proficiency test to be taken by all third grade students. The focus of this research was to use "Scribblenauts Unlimited," a commercial-off-the-shelf video game to bolster the reading skills of third grade students in an elementary school located in a rural school district in eastern North Carolina. The research design of this action research study utilized pre - and post- assessment to measure the effectiveness of students’ involvement with “Scribblenauts Unlimited.� The intervention time-line consisted of sixteen weeks of intervention during which two sections of students alternated the roles of intervention and control groups at the eight-week mark. The intervention was implemented for one hour per week during student computer laboratory times. The one-hour per week exposure was divided into two thirty-minute sessions, one on each of two days each week. The quantitative data consisted of participant’s scores on the Reading 3D assessment. The qualitative data was gathered by means of video observations of selected small groups of students and, snapshot insights into individual participants’ learning experiences by means of experience sampling methodology. During each intervention time, a video camera was set up in the computer laboratory and focused on a small group of four or five participants. One or two of the members of the group on which the video camera was focused were invited to “think aloud� through excerpts of the edited videos. The aim was to capture the participants’ learning experience in their own words at what they seem to be key points of their learning trajectory. At the end of each eight-week intervention session, a survey designed to measure the extent to which participants experienced flow was administered to the participants in the intervention

The effect of game-based learning on middle school students\u27 academic achievement

The purpose of this literature review is to explore the connections of paratexts and multiple literacies in game-based learning to traditional literacies and examine the effectiveness of game-based learning on middle school students\u27 academic performance in STEM subjects. Thirty peer-reviewed journal articles with a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods as well as literature reviews were surveyed. Research shows game-based learning is a viable instructional method that offers close connections to traditional literacies in the classroom and an opportunity for improving student academic achievement when implemented purposefully in STEM content areas. Recommendations for teachers\u27 effective implementation and the future directions for the research are discussed

Technology Use in Early Childhood

This literature review examines the influence of technology on early childhood development. It uses scholarly journals and articles to show the benefits and risks of technology use and how it can be used to compliment growth, development, and learning of young children. It also examines how technology can impact the early childhood developmental domains of: (a) social emotional, (b) cognitive, (c) physical motor, (d) language and literacy, and (e) mathematics. The influence of technology use on teaching and the family are also addressed. Furthermore, this literature review includes implications for the future, continuing research, and recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), The United States Department of Education (DoEd), and The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) & The Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children\u27s Media

In, out and through digital worlds. Hybrid-transitions as a space for children’s agency

A rich tradition of pedagogical and psychological research has explored the impact of technology on the cognitive and social development of the child. However, little research has focused on the implications of the use of digital technologies in educational settings for children’s agency. This article introduces hybrid-transitions as a theoretical tool to conceptualise transitions between the use of digitally enhanced and non-digitally enhanced experiences as dense social spaces where young children show agency in the construction and co-construction of knowledges. Hybrid-transitions refers to children's movement from the immersion in digitally-enhanced experiences generated by educational technologies to non-digitally mediated interactions with peers or adults. This article argues, with the support of examples, that during hybrid transitions digital experiences are shared via personal narratives linking ideas, experiences and emotions. Individual narratives are “interlaced” in co-constructed group narratives authored by the children through face to face interactions. The interactive authorship of interlaced narratives is discussed as a form of agency, as it includes making choices regarding action and understanding of action. This article intends to promote attention to hybrid-transitional spaces among adults who work in educational settings where digital technologies are utilised