Abstract:

The students of the XXI century, known as the native digital generation, are the ones that use technologies very early, “because they learned from the technologies and the networks, how to interact, to produce and to publish” (Lucena, 2016).

Games are increasingly being used as a methodology option that encourages students to learn in an interactive and autonomous way. According to Silveira (1998), games can have several purposes in the educational context. On the one hand, they can be facilitators of self-confidence. On the other hand, they can contribute to increase motivation. Moreover, they can provide real information to the players. In this sense, games can be used as tools to support learning. For Batista & Dias (2012) it is essential to discuss about educational games as helpers in the teaching and learning process.

The “Discovering Santa Luzia” is a prototype of a digital game developed and implemented under a thematic related with a monument (situated in Viana do Castelo, in the Northern of Portugal) which is considered, by the local inhabitants, to be the ex-libris of that city. It was decided to develop the desktop version of the digital game prototype and later the game was optimized, in order to be supported by the mobile Android platform.

After several tests had been carried out in order to get the prototype of a pleasant and intuitive game for children, it was decided to select a group of 15 children, between 9 and 10 years old, to experiment the prototype. In order to evaluate the construction of knowledge regarding the chosen monument a questionnaire was introduced to the children before they played the game. After having played the game, the children were asked to fill in the same questionnaire, in order to be able to carry out a comparative analysis of the potential learning obtained through the game. At the same time an usability study was conducted.

It was possible to obtain various data and analyze the results obtained, concerning the selected monument. One of the analysis was concerned with the evolution of knowledge about the history of the monument, before and after the children play the digital game prototype. Another analysis made was concerned with the experience of the children playing the game and the results obtained were very satisfactory. Also, it was also perceived that the use of the game motivated the children to learn more.

References:
[1] Lucena, S. 2016. Digital cultures and mobile technologies in education, Educar em Revista, Curitiba, Brasil, 59, 277-290.
[2] Silveira, R. S; Barone, D. A. C (1998). Jogos educativos computadorizados utilizando a abordagem de algoritmos genéticos. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Instituto de Informática.
[3] Batista, D. A.; Dias, C. L. (2012). O processo de ensino e de aprendizagem através dos jogos educativos no ensino fundamental. Revista Colloquium Humanarum, São Paulo, vol. 9, n. Especial, p. 975-982.

Keywords:

Digital Educational Game, Learning, Motivation, User Experience.