摘 要
随着科技发展，数字媒体产业已适用于教育以外的方方面面。由于教育的新课程改革和当今教学的需要日益发展，游戏教学和移动教学等一系列新型学习方式进入教育界。如今，教学游戏软件在师生的教学中发挥着越来越重要的作用。政府、家长和老师都出于不同的原因，同样地支持着教学游戏软件。
小学英语类教育游戏软件的出现，为小学英语教师维持学生兴趣、优化教学效果提供了新的媒体选择。教育游戏软件在小学英语教学中的应用研究能够为小学英语教师在游戏选择以及游戏应用过程中提供指引，让教师更有效地使用教育游戏软件。本研究在对国内外相关研究进行综述以及对教育游戏软件在小学英语教学中的应用现状进行调查的基础上，围绕着教育游戏软件在小学英语教学中的应用，探讨了小学英语教育游戏软件的选用原则以及其应用方式。
关键词：教学方式 现代 教学游戏软件
The application of educational game software in primary English teaching
ABSTRACT
With the development of science and technology, the digital media industry has been rapidly appliedto different fields. Since modern people seek for more attractive teaching material, more innovativeteaching methods and more interesting testing channels, the traditional teaching mode in education isnot able to meet their needs. Actually, the reform of education is still under developmentnowadays and the new concepts about teaching are put forward, which makes a series of neweducational styles enter the area of education, such as educational games and mobile teachingmethods. Nowadays, educational game software is playing a more and more important role inboth students and teachers, which lets it receive the support from government, parents and teachers.
The educational game software in primary schools provides new choices of media to those teachersin primary schools. This study helps primary school teachers to choose games. Therefore, this article willconclude how educational games are applied in primary English teaching by analyzing the currentsituation and examples. It can be concluded that educational game software plays a more and moreimportant role in the teaching process of teachers and the learning process of students.
Key words: Teaching methods; modern; educational game software
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
摘要
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One Introduction
Chapter Two The Connotation of Educational Game Software
2.1 The form of learning: mobility
2.2 Implementation: digitization
Chapter Three Present Application of Educational Game Software
3.1 The relationship between educational game software and teaching in class
3.2 The application of educational game software
3.2.1 Before class teaching
3.2.2 During class teaching
3.2.3 After class teaching
3.3 The case study and revelation of the successful application
3.3.1 Case study
3.3.2 Case revelation
Chapter Four The Development Prospect of Teaching Game Software in Teaching Application
4.1 Existing problems
4.2 Factors affecting operation
4.3 Countermeasures for development
Chapter Five Conclusion
REFERENCES
Chapter One Introduction
Educational games are a relatively new concept, so there's still no universallyapproved method which gets consensus agreement. In the west, people usually callthem “Edutainment” or “educational games”. Edutainment is a combination of words“education” and “entertainment” because it emphasizes the entertainment in education,which means different types of entertainment are used in education. This is thetechnology of education and entertainment in our country. On the other hand,“educational games” emphasizes different games according to some teaching content.
In this thesis, different names will be used in different situations.
In China, there are also different definitions. Entertainment means educationalgame software which is instructed by thoughts of study in games and technology inentertainment. It combines the advantages of study and games. Therefore, gamesoftware can develop users' knowledge, skills, intelligence, feelings, attitudes andvalues.
Nowadays, there are various kinds of game software in market. According to thefindings of specialists, they can be pided into educational resource library, assistanteducational software, education management software and many other types ofsoftware which are aimed at personal study. The using methods are in variety, too.
They are basically pided into four types. Firstly, it is used as warm-up before formalteaching. Secondly, it is alternate with formal teaching. Thirdly, it is used after formalteaching to conclude and consolidate. Lastly, it is used to be finished in homework.
Chapter Two The Connotation of Educational Game Software
2.1 The form of learning: mobility
Mobile terminal equipment is portable and has a high popularization, whichmakes it an ideal mobile learning platform. Mobile equipment makes up thedisadvantages of traditional learning styles to a great extent. One of the most typicalequipment is mobile phones. They make study possible everywhere and everymoment, at the same time, people get the greater autonomy. Since then, educationalgames have become an effective assistant learning method. They can not only breakthe limits to learning areas which were in traditional classes, but also provide thepossibility for instant study.
2.2Implementation: digitization
Nowadays, mobile learning resources are short of supplies. Few people choosegames while most prefer present mode such as text, web, video and so on. Due to thescattered and fragmentary nature of contemporary digital learning, students areencouraged to participate in digital learning in a more active, more effective and morepersistent way by imitating the popular online games.
People develop digital games by following the development mode of generalmultimedia courseware, which show the specificity of education.
Chapter Three Present Application of Educational Game Software
3.1 The relationship between educational game software and teaching in class
Nowadays, educational game software is used widely by teachers in class. Thereare various relationships in some aspects between educational game software andteaching in class.
First of all, teaching in class is a theoretical form of educational game software,while educational game software is the contracted form of classroom teaching.
Secondly, teaching in class is a set of steps which forms in the practice, whileeducational game software is a kind of teaching method which is used in practice.
Thirdly, referring to the relationship between teachers and students in classteaching, It is believed that the learner is the receiver of knowledge. Meanwhile, theteacher is both the player and the guide of teaching activities. However, in the designmode of the game system we raised, learners are active builders of knowledge whileteachers just assist them. It has the following four characteristics: First, the teachingcontents and the characteristics of students determine when and how to use theeducational games in teaching process. Next, education means that teachers andstudents are all players, which has the characteristics of discovery learning. Therefore,the implementation of teaching process needs to rely on the complete teachingstrategy and the interaction between players of educational games. Then, in theprocess of teaching, if some educational games are adopted during a certain period oftime, it means that education does not provide support for the whole process ofteaching. Therefore, the teacher is both the player and guide. Finally, the evaluationon learning outcomes is not the end of the teaching. Actually, teaching game softwarefocuses on the process of game, which is the process of learning. It's a driving forcefor the evaluation of results in order to make learners flexibly use the knowledge andsolve problems in real situations.
3.2 The application of educational game software
Nowadays, to effectively promote the quality of education, the government notonly introduces new policies in light of various goals, but also put further investmentin education career.
At the same time, parents want to teach children but they are afraid that they maydo it in a wrong way. Therefore, they are more and more inclined to use theeducational game software to help children learn English with joy at home.
In addition, they can enhance the students' interest and participation in learning,by increasingly incline the usage of educational software in teaching.
The application of educational game before class has its own principles. Ingeneral, it means that the introduction of educational games has to be appropriate,moderate and timely. First of all, it should be appropriate because some of theteaching contents can become a game while some cannot. The improper use will bringthe opposite effect. Secondly, it should be moderate because some difficult or time-consuming games should not be introduced too much. The purpose of the introductionof educational games is to achieve the teaching objectives better, so it should bepositioned in the right place. At last, it should be applied into the teaching activitiesonly when the situation is proper. It will be described in detail from three differentsituations.
3.2.1 Before class teaching
First, the application of educational games should have a clear purpose of the results.
We advocate to teach with games whose purpose is to make the students getmore interested in the content they study. Each game has its own purpose. Sometimesthe purpose is stated before the game - but if it's not stated, the students need to guessthe purpose to eventually get results. The purpose of the game also has a variety offorms, such as scoring, revealing mystery, finding treasure, solving problems and soon. The purpose of the game is not same as that of teaching or learning. The purposeof the game is to show what to win while the purpose of learning to show what tolearn. An important task of teaching designers is to link the purpose of the game to thepurpose of learning. When we use game software before class, the purpose of thegame and the teaching content should be organically combined, so that every step ofthe game will be around the teaching content and teaching purposes.
Also, the application of educational games should be targeted to the specificusers.
Educational games should be chosen according to the characteristics of teachingcontent because some is not suitable for the game teaching. If people experiment thismethod blindly without exact purpose, the results can only be futile, of no help, andeven make children addicted to the game. Some of games whose content is suitablefor the game teaching can be chosen, such as some learning activities emphasis onoperating skills, some learning activities in role-playing, some experiment usingvirtual reality technology of simulation, some educational activities in moral emotion,and so on. In a word, the game elements are supposed to be put in appropriatesituation.
Furthermore, the application of educational games should have strong regularity.
Even if you try to simulate the reality, the game is not completely consistent withreal life. The application of the game should be in regularity. Rules are the allowanceof actions and the limits of settings in the game. The rules of the game are man-made,which should be able to make the game interesting, challenging, and fair to allparticipants.
3.2.2 During class teaching
First, more attention should be paid to the flexibility when educational games areapplied in the teaching process.
There is an old saying: “teaching has no rules – it's flexible and not associatedwith law. If there is no fixed way, then it's the best way. Each personal mode andmethods of teaching has its advantages and limitations. Characteristics should bemade fully aware in the choice of different games. Advantages should be kept whiledisadvantages should be avoided. At the same time, various game modes and teachingmethods should be combined, which makes full use of teaching games.
Second, more attention should be paid to the correct position of the role ofteachers in the application of teaching games during the teaching process.
In the application of educational games, the role of teachers is multiple. Teacherscan be the guidance of teaching, helping students learn and solve problems in learningactivities; teachers can be a manager in game environment, which is also the learningenvironment. The management in environment is not only for the needs of the game,but also for the needs of teaching; and it can be the judge of activities. From makingthe rules of the game, to the game process monitoring, even the results of evaluation,these all need teachers to participate in. At the same time, teachers can also participatein learning activities as learners. In some educational games, teachers and students arealso involved in the game as fictitious learners. Therefore, teachers should correctlyposition their roles, and form an equal and harmonious relationship between teachersand students. In the process of teaching, teachers need to communicate with studentswith their own feelings and experiences as sincere participants in equal dialogues,being a complete real self in the teaching activities, which ensures the teaching effect.
Third, the security should be fully used in the application of teaching games inthe teaching process.
Games can provide a safe way for us to participate in the simulation whichrepresents the dangerous action in real situation. The safety of the game allowsstudents to explore the various ways of applying knowledge, because even if the gamefails, there will be no real danger or loss.
Fourth, the fantasy should be effectively used in the application of teaching games in the teaching process.
Games usually rely on fantasy to stimulate motivation. The degree of fantasy canbe close to the real situation, far away from the real, or completely imagined scene.
Fantasy will distract the learners' attention on teaching goal. The more learners areimmersed in the illusion, the more abundant the association, which means the morethe deviation is from the teaching goal. Therefore, fantasy and teaching objectivesshould be closely integrated.
Fifth, the competitiveness should be properly used in the application of teachinggames in the teaching process.
There are usually some forms of competition in games, which is the mostprominent feature of games. It can be the confrontation against the opponent, theconfrontation against the computer, and the confrontation against previousachievements, or the confrontation against opportunities or time, etc. Competition canoccur between inpiduals or teams.
Competition and antagonism of the game is simplification and the reproductionof social competition. It is consistent with the adaptability of human to socialdevelopment, which is one of the causes why young students like games best, also oneof the reasons why games can be used in the teaching process. Competition andvictory is the most essential feature of the game, which can not only stimulate theinternal needs of learners, but also promote learners to generate new learningmotivation. In addition, the cultivation of the sense of competition from a young agewill also be of great benefit to the learners to adapt to the society in the future.
3.2.3 After class teaching
First, the application of the game after class should be challenging.
Without the immediate memory in class and teachers' help, games after classgames will be certainly challenging. Being challenging is one of the attractive featuresof games. The challenge is how to achieve the goal in the game, which is calledcheckpoint in the game. Players start from the easiest level, gradually master the skillsof checkpoints, and ultimately solve the problem of the difficulty levels.
Secondly, the infiltration of moral education and the cultivation of students' self-control ability should be focused on in the application of educational games.
One of the most important functions of educational games is moral education,which is the basis of education. Moral education is the code of practice. One of theimportant factors in the game is the rules, which has absolute deterrent to players.
You have to know the rules if you want to play the game. If you don't follow the rulesof the game, you will be kicked out of the game, which is a kind of punishment inside.
In order to realize the ultimate goal of ”to educate in playing“, teachers should fullyexcavate and refine the educational elements and educational resources in the processof educational games and add some moral education.
Thirdly, the application of the game after class should possess entertainment.
Entertainment is an important feature of the game. The game is easily confusedwith the simulation, and even confused with the practice, but the characteristics ofentertainment can distinguish them because simulation and practice have noentertainment. Although the purpose of educational games is to promote the masteryof new knowledge and skills, it is necessary to enhance the motivation and improvethe study with entertainment. Entertainment is characteristic of many factors, mainlyaesthetic, immersion, competition, social networking, comedy, adventure, sense ofcontrol, creativity, problem solving, exploration of the development, and applicationof complete skills.
3.3 The case study and revelation of the successful application
3.3.1 Case study
The use of mobile equipment in teaching has also another form, in whichShanghai Luwan First Center Primary School introduced iPads in class. Since then,Hangzhou secondary middle school established a special class in which every studentneeds one iPad, and a school in Shenzhen also asked parents to buy iPads forchildren....... The mode in which one mobile device is for one student, is called”mobile learning“, carry out learning with mobile.
As reviewed in another case study, it examines the experience of a New Zealandprimary school when they adopted the iPad for use in the classroom with studentsaged 5 to 12 years. In this study, they explored to understand the problems they faced,and the benefits they perceived in digital educational games. For example, they aregoing to learn words about food.
Before the class, the school announced that every student needed to get an iPad.
The height and width of the iPad resembles the most popular size of a children's bookwith a portrait. The iPad is also very thin, with a depth of 1.34 cm, which makes it avery light device for transportation and handling. The iPad has a relatively large 9.7-inch diagonal multi-touch LED display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels, whichallows viewing of bright, high-quality images. The iPad also has a wide viewing angle(178 °), which allows different people to view content on the iPad at an angle, hencethe ability of children to share with each other viewing content without distortingimages.
They can start the game named Ding Ding. The food will appear on the screenwith the voice of its pronunciation. After every five pictures of new words, the playerneeds to match the pictures with the words according what is heard before. This gamehelps students to know the words in a happy way.
During the class, the teachers suggested the multi-touch devices for two reasons.
First, in one-touch devices, students should take turns to use the device, which mayinterfere with some students. Some students may dominate the technology, whileother more passive members of the group become marginalized, which leads to theloss of the benefits in learning group exercises for these students. Secondly, multi-touch has the potential to reduce this disparity, as students can interact with the sameobject at the same time, and it has been shown that it increases interaction with themobile device.
Therefore, teachers usually choose a game named Little Tree, Go Go Go. Playerscan learn how to spell the word by filling the letters.
After the class, the attraction actually depends on the fact that displays onmodern mobile devices are similar in size to the displays from the story book, so thestudent will be engaged in content on the screen in the same way as when reading thebook. Cooperation is stimulated by mobile technology, as it stimulates personalcommunication between children. The presence of a mobile device directly in front ofstudents allows them to actively interact with content, because mobile technologiescan be viewed as a portal that allows students to browse the materials they areinterested in anywhere.
One of the games is designed as Boom boom boom. For example, when studentsare learning words about food, they play the game like this: some pictures of food willappear on the screen for some seconds. During that time, the player needs to spell theword in a right way, otherwise the game is finished. Also, when the picture of boomappears on the screen, the player should touch the boom without typing any word.
3.3.2 Case revelation
Before the class, teachers thought that the iPad is a very useful tool for learningbecause of its size, portability and lack of peripheral devices. However, without theproper learning environment, management and simplification during the class, thepotential of the device is not realized. It is important to have a good managementstructure in place, both in the classroom and behind the scenes. There should be amanagement plan for things like recharging batteries, deploying applications, backingup, and protecting, repairing and replacing iPads as needed. In addition, the selectionof suitable applications from a large range is also important. During the class, studentswere very eager to use the device because they could pick it up and intuitively use itwith small instructions. The device can be used to support interaction andcollaboration between its customers. Also, it was successfully used as a reward afterthe class.
There is a famous app among primary school students which is called shangxuedaxuetang. Someone once said: ” only when students are in a relaxed and free spaceduring the learning process, will they freely participate in.“Based on this, the designer of shangxue daxuetang tries to bring the realsituations into the classroom, which helps students study in a pleasant atmosphere; onthe other hand, students should pay more efforts and get more space of activities, tomeet their different needs. Not only the knowledge and skills of students arecultivated, but also the emotional attitude and values are enhanced.
It is not only a variety of games, but also a variety of links in the games. First ofall, children can answer questions happily. Next, children can enjoy the flash tocelebrate the success of animation. After that, they can try to break the levels again,they can also check the test before.
Magic Heroes of Ao Zhuo Er company in Zhuhai and Huan Jing You Xue ofNan Tian Men company in Shenzhen also chose the same mode.
Chapter Four The Development Prospect of Teaching Game Software in Teaching Application
When people read a prose, poetry or drama, they can feel a sense of literariness.
With the development of advertising, the literariness has not only been used in thewriting of literatures, it is also adopted in the advertisements. As mentioned inChapter One, advertisement has already developed to a certain level and it absorbsdifferent kinds of advantages, including the literariness, and becomes piece of articlewith aesthetic features.
4.1 Existing problems
Of course, everything has two sides, including educational games. In the processof educational informalization in colleges and universities, the introduction ofeducational games in subject teaching can make up for some shortcomings oftraditional teaching. But if it's applied improperly, there will be some problems. Infact, the birth of every new technology has some shortcomings. According to theworks and the reports, there are six main problems in the following aspects:
First, different kinds of teaching software lack uniform norms and standards.
Second, the developers lack of understanding of teaching which includes theneeds of schools, work processes and teaching difficulties. There hasn't been aseamless connection between the educational game software and the teacher'steaching in class. Therefore, the game is not balanced. As one of the forms ofentertainment technology, educational games should pursue the balance ofentertainment and teaching in the period of application, in order to make full use ofeducational games.
Third, some of the game software is still in the conceptual stage without enteringthe substantive level. The game is just a game, or the software is only the software,and they have not really been associated with the teaching.
Fourth, exam oriented education is a stumbling block to the development ofinstructional game software. The exam oriented education which focuses on theachievement and endless practice cannot support the application of educational gamesoftware, which hinders the transformation to a certain extent. Therefore, it is difficultto use educational games in class.
Fifth, software prices affect their development market.
Sixth, learners will easily get lost in the use of educational games. The mobiledevices are in the hands of teachers, so the effect will be shown quickly if teachers getused to it. Therefore, it should be promoted, just like that computer multimedia arepromoted in classroom.
4.2 Factors affecting operation
Due to the special nature of the education industry, various schools and kinds ofsoftware exchange their data not smoothly enough, which affects the efficiency andprocess.
Current educational games which are used in the field of education have atendency of too much emphasis on education. Many educational games putknowledge and questions in the game with mandatory, and force the users to finish it.
If they cannot correct the mistakes or meet the requirements, they will be not able toenter the next game; or you don't do it that will be another problem, which destroysthe game's integrity, inertia, interest, even playability.
Too much use of educational games may lead to the weakening of self-control ofstudents. In fact, game teaching should not be the origin of net addiction, and it shouldbe the place of prevention and treatment. But if there is improper application ofeducational games, students will get addicted by the games for too long. Then thestudents' ability of self-control will be weakened, and even a phenomenon of gameaddiction, which should be strongly avoided in the design and application ofeducation games.
Due to the differences in design, it is also difficult for teachers to quicklydetermine which games are suitable for teaching. It is difficult to recognize thepotential of educational games nowadays, because teachers lack of time to getfamiliar with the game; in addition, due to the large number of contents in the gamewhich are not related to the study, it's a lot of waste of time in class. These are all thereasons why it is difficult for educational games to be applied in class.
Because the technology is still in development, the resources cost a large amountof money, which makes the price of educational software high. And the positions ofthe developers are different, which also contribute to the differences of price. Inaddition, some cases of piracy seriously affect the original spirit.
4.3 Countermeasures for development
According to these reasons, we can find out the way to the development of theteaching game software:
First, train hard and strictly in accordance with the norms of softwaredevelopment and operation;Second, the developers' own abilities and qualities should be enhanced. Theunderstandings of classroom teaching should be deepened, after which further studyshould be carried out in the connection of the teaching game software and classteaching;Third, the inclusive path of mergers and acquisitions should be taken, in whichteaching, games, software really integrate;Fourth, education reform should be intensified and the new curriculum educationshould be promoted.
Fifth, the price of the game software should be adjusted to appropriate levelwhich matches the quality. Also, the service of the game software should bestrengthened.
Sixth, some teachers think it's simple by just cutting the network. However, ”cutthe net“ is a kind of autocracy and not democratic education form. Even if thenetwork is cut, can the eager of students for Internet also be cut? Once the minds ofthe students have been turned on, can the authoritarian methods separate studentsfrom pursuing freedom? Therefore, it requires correct guidance of teachers in theapplication of the game, so that students do not only pay attention to the game itself,but also have more energy for learning knowledge.
Chapter Five Conclusion
To sum up, teaching game software plays an important role in primary schoolEnglish teaching. First of all, from the point of view of students, it can enhance theinterest in learning and improve learning efficiency, which makes children studyhappily. Secondly, from the teacher's point of view, it is not only the supplement ofclassroom teaching, but also the extension of book knowledge to more flexibleapplication. Last but not least, from a social point of view, it contributes to nationaleducation and promotes the reform and development of digital industry at the sametime.
In addition, acquaintance with English for children at an early age gives them theopportunity to broaden their horizons and awaken their early enthusiasm and curiosityabout languages. This enthusiasm and lust for learning can be expanded by activeteaching methods that focus on learning the language through play and discovery. Thefocus should also be on learning the language for interaction and communication.
Given all these factors, the introduction of early learning can lead to increasedchildren's confidence in themselves, to the joy of learning and active participation in awider society. In addition, the use of mobile games can help children learn thevocabulary better. The use of mobile games can encourage students to learn morequickly.
Activities and applications for very young students should be within thecapabilities of young learners. The vast majority of learners find mobile recreationgames and motivations. Mobile games should be an integral part of the lesson,providing an opportunity for intensive practice, but at the same time extremelyenjoyable for both students and teachers. Mobile games are useful and moresuccessful than other methods of presenting and revising vocabulary.
It is proven that digital games are useful and effective in this research, and it isadvisable to use them for English teaching to young students. Thus, such a teachingmethod will help students actively participate in the process in a pleasant manner.
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