A comparison of methodological frameworks for digital learning game design

Methodological frameworks guide the design of digital learning game based on well founded learning theories and instructional strategies. This study presents a comparison of five methodological frameworks for digital learning game design, highlighting their similarities and differences. The objective is to support the choice of an adequate framework, aiming to promote them as a way to foster principled digital learning games design. This paper concludes that: (i) interactivity, engagement and increasing complexity of challenges are fundamental factors to digital learning game design; (ii) the pedagogical base, the target, the possibility of doing game assessment and the presence of practical guidelines are the selection criteria that influence most the choice of a methodological framework, and (iii) the development of digital learning games - preferably by different research teams - is needed to provide empirical evidence of the utility of framework-based design

Preparing Student Mobility Through a VR Application for Cultural Education

The potential of VR as a basis for developing dedicated applications for Cultural Education is explored through the design and development of a VR application called Celestial Breeze. Celestial Breeze is a dedicated application that aims to provide knowledge about the culture of different European countries. The design of the application is based on multimedia learning theories in an attempt to maximize the learning outcomes of the users. Emphasis is given in examining the effectiveness of Celestial Breeze as a tool of information dissemination in relation to the age and gender of the audience. We evaluated the application through a user study with 20 participants - half of whom were under aged- but all belong to Generation Y. The comparison of pre- and post- test results pinpoints the positive learning outcomes of Celestial Breeze on participants indicating in that way the potential of using immersive applications for cultural education