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Personally, I have found that a very effective element in the ELL apps that I have used (mainly Duolingo) was the integration of a social element. I had started using Duolingo only to stop after a few weeks. I find this is the issue with many learning games - losing interest after the novelty wears off.  However, I picked it back up when my roommate and I decided to learn Italian together. We were able to view each other's progress and have a light competition using the points system. It was quite a bit more effective than when I was playing alone.

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This is something I actually just researched as a part of my A1 assignment. In order to have an effective game, they must be designed with the following parameters to ensure intrinsic motivation:

Graphics (Consistent and Simple)

Rewards (Must relate to capabilities)

Increasing Difficulty

Increased Knowledge (replay until expert)

Easy to start and stop playing

Competition with Self

When games are poorly designed, students either become extrinsically motivated, or they improve their gameplay through improved reflexes and game knowledge rather than content knowledge. A game like a word search is great because there is no way to improve at word searches other than noticing patterns of letter combinations. Games like Wheel of Fortune in a mobile game run the risk of having repeated prompts, and students improve via memorization of answers to specific questions and letter counts rather than through an improvement of content knowledge.
ELL mobile games are a great topic to pursue because the gamification of intimidating topics can lower the anxiety threshold that some students may have about practicing. Great job!

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Thanks for the informative OER! I work with a lot of EAL students, so I found your topic interesting. I've found the best games have incentives like points or coins that can be exchanged for something the students value, like a snack, or non-educational game time. I worked at a school where most teachers used in games in the class to review concepts, so students were sometimes exposed to the same games in different classes. By the time they reached the end of primary (Grade 6), they were usually quite bored with games, even the new ones, but they did manage to challenge themselves by trying to end games with ties. I think the interest a game elicits is heavily influenced by how the game is used or approached.

Sheena

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Engagement in a Way that Allows Me to Practice my Knowledge

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Engagement in a Way that Allows Me to Practice my Knowledge

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I happen to love word games, but for them to satisfy me, they need to challenge me and allow me to practice my knowledge in a way that is not confusing or creates wasted time.  For instance, I am not a huge fan of word searches as I find they do little to test my knowledge, and when not given parameters of looking backwards, can be huge wasters.

I love games that I can play against myself and others to add to the challenge, tell a story, and add in fun with the absurdly quirky.  For all these reasons a favourite word game of mine at present is Kitty Letter, created by the quirky genius of the Exploding Kittens team.

~ Erica Hargreave

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I am a sucker for any new word or puzzle game that challenges me to be creative in my thinking yet I am not a huge fan of board or video games.

This is what interests me in the use of games when it comes to learning.  There is an opportunity to design an unlimited number of games that can teach the same subject/concept to a specific age group while allowing them to choose the type of game they prefer playing.

The one area that needs some consideration is addressing the needs of students with language-based disabilities where the ability to change font, text size, text and background colour can improve their learning experience and success.

From a corporate training perspective there could be several options to improve training, particularly for the mandated HR training that could improve engagement and understanding.

Thank you for opening my eyes to the potentials for ELL and contemplating how programs could be incorporated into other types of training.

Nicole

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So as I went through the EdApp presentation, there was a question that asked "the game should" and gave a few options, one being "be addictive"... and my initial reaction was to select that option because if it is addictive, people will be more inclined to play right? But that also did not sit well with me... even though it's the reality of the design of many many many of the games we play!! Just curious, what are your thoughts on creating a game that is addictive? Does it help learning? Maybe it isn't necessary. However, I dont think the reality should be ignored.

Great OER by the way :)

- Jasmine

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Thank you for your thought provoking challenges. I hadn’t considered gaming for ELL before and I can see great value in it, if chosen well. I appreciate the four criterion to help guide the choices.

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An effective ELL should recreate the Super Mario Effect. Learning and using a new language are associated with frustration. A good game should avoid this feeling by providing a safe environment to practice. The game should provide good feedback to understand the mistakes. The user should find a lot of vocabulary to use in different contexts and several ways to express an idea. Repetition is also needed to create and strengthen pathways to long-term memory. The game should also be challenging and fun. And it should apply other game principles.
Deisy

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Thank you for sharing such in-depth information about learning English and mobile gaming. I love playing quick games on my phone. Not sure about everyone else but for myself, because I’m on my phone, I’m also multitasking, so I found it hard to focus to successfully complete the mini games. I think for people who are actually trying to learn English through playing these games, they would probably focus more.

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I'm so glad that you included a section about competency in this presentation. There is nothing more frustrating as a teacher to see content errors in a game, and nothing more frustrating for a player/student to encouter glitches in a game.
I really liked the feature one ELL mobile game offered feedback to the user. Another really important concept for this type of app is scaffolding; meeting the learner where they are at and requiring a certain level of achievement before moving on.
I really enjoyed this presentation. Thank you!

Kendall

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One aspect that makes more complex games interesting is that individual successes/failures are integrated into a larger meaningful framework. In the same way, an app game feature that encourages repeated use is linking micro-learning chunks to a fuller context, but this is hard to pull off when you have relatively simple games without any obvious or appropriate extension. This relates I think to another comment made here about the distinction between games for learning and gamified learning. I’m not sure the latter works that well with mobile apps.

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I really enjoyed learning about some of the apps that are available to support English Language Learners. I always try to identify if these resources could be applicable to my students. One of the concerns that I often have as a middle school teacher is that a lot of the resources I find often seem too juvenile or too adult oriented. But, I could see many of my students enjoying the apps you shared.  Chris.

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I really enjoyed learning about some of the apps that are available to support English Language Learners. I always try to identify if these resources could be applicable to my students. One of the concerns that I often have as a middle school teacher is that a lot of the resources I find often seem too juvenile or too adult oriented. But, I could see many of my students enjoying the apps you shared.  Chris.

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I really enjoy this type of learning. When I read online or with an ebook I will often zoom in to create that bite sized feel. With less content on the page the ideas have more meaning and aren’t overwhelmed by the surrounding content. Asking me to engage like the Ed app did keeps my mind responding to the content. This reduces the amount of mind wander and other opinions about formatting, font and extraneous details.

I do think there is a subtle difference between games for learning and gamification of learning as you alluded to. Each has a drastic difference on student uptake. Games often cause a much bigger investment from both the developers as well as the end user and often have a hard time covering a lot of content. An effective ELL game takes one or at least very few skills and utilizes the full game toolset. Repetitiveness paired with rewards and consistency make a good game in this field.

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Effective ELL games need to offer an incentive (scoring, coins, etc) and/or applied goals for users. A game with neither, lacks the hook that Olivia references, and probably doesn't elicit continuous play.
There are also many esthetic qualities that can enhance a game including sound, graphics, etc.

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Effective ELL games need to have many features to make them worthwhile to play and implement in the classroom including: clear instructions and examples, especially for learners who are lacking digital literacy, constant formative assessment and feedback, some kind of hook so the learner wants to come back to the game over and over, a design where you learn more than vocabulary and basic grammar, and ways to integrate multiple skills like listening, speaking, pronunciation, reading, and writing.

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Do you ever find yourself wistfully reminiscing about the past of video games when many of the game-design elements were story-driven because we hadn't dragged social sciences kicking and screaming into the mix to incentivize every click?

I love that you decry this as a shortfall of mobile games in general as the medium does not lend itself well to a larger story or project integration, but instead chunks learning into the fractured attention span of the learner.

I miss those days...