At ICeL, Bente Meyer, School of Education at Aarhus University, Denmark, asked: How can we use the learning that children gain from gaming outside of school, in school, specifically for computer-assisted language learning (CALL)?
To answer this question we need to deconstruct and re-conceptualise our thinking about digital games.
The project in which she is involved (spanning 2007-2010) aims to analyse existing learning and serious games and create theoretical concepts about the educational design of games. The oroject is considering 3 games, one of which is Mingoville.com, a web-based platform for language learning for primary school learners (ages 9-12).
Challenges for designing games for CALL:
- Incorporating learner-driven activities into the design of serious games for CALL.
- Designing serious games for intrinsic motivation.
I haven’t done a great job of describing the research here — but it is a project in progress. It’ll be an interesting one to watch as gaming and literacy is important for the Shuttleworth Foundation.
Steven Vosloo 