Integrating Traditional Learning and Games on Large Displays: An Experimental Study

Introduction The availability of new technologies, ranging from last generation mobile devices to gestural input, multimodal interfaces, multi-touch displays, etc., is bringing about changes in the field of education. Schools are under increasing political pressure to demonstrate that technologies actually improve student learning but assessments conducted on technology programs have not always yielded significantly improved student performances (Oviatt 2012). Our experience suggests that technological tools cannot replace the teacher, but they can certainly be considered a valid support for students in their learning paths (Costabile et al., 2008; Lanzilotti and Roselli, 2007). It is indispensable to define learning techniques that allow teachers to exploit technology to support students' acquisition of new knowledge. Games based on information and communication technologies have proven to provide a valid support for effective learning (Cabrera et al., 2005; Lanzilotti and Roselli, 2007; Rogers et al. 2005). An educational game creates a pleasant learning environment, in which students learn more easily and enjoyably. Games foster relational skills, encouraging young people to work in groups and collaborate to attain given objectives. Each student carries out the activities s/he feels most congenial and, by working together, they can solve clues or problems, overcoming difficulties thanks to their common efforts. Innovative technologies, like mobile devices, multimodal interfaces, multi-touch displays, etc., can make the game more engaging (Oviatt 2012). This paper describes a study that shows how more traditional learning carried out at school may be integrated with educational games that employ advanced technology, namely large multi-touch displays. To perform this integration, a new educational format is proposed, which is inspired by the Discovery Learning technique defined by Bruner in his Constructivism theory (Bruner, 1990). Bruner defines learning as an active process in which new information goes through three different types of representation: symbolic (based on language), active (based on action), and iconic (based on images). The educational format indicates how to provide pupils information by integrating formal learning activities, as performed in traditional school settings, with more informal and technology-based learning activities, in order to facilitate knowledge acquisition and also consolidating it. The study was conducted to validate the educational format and evaluate the use of the multi-touch technology in school. It enrolled 107 pupils of six fifth grade classes at a primary school in Bari, Italy. Results showed that the educational format was effective and all pupils enjoyed the experience. The system implementing the educational game proved to be very engaging, able to stimulate pupils to work in group and to favor inclusion. Inclusion refers to the involvement in the school activities of all students, regardless their possible disabilities, as those derived from the social, cultural and personal context of the student (Ianes, 2012). Indeed, even those pupils, who were usually timid in class, were very much involved and actively collaborated with their companions. The paper is organized as follows. The next section reports related works on multi-touch technology applied to educational activities. The third section presents the educational format. The educational game implemented on a large multi-touch display is described in the fourth section. Next, the field study and its results are reported. The paper concludes by discussing our findings and proposing directions for future research. Related work There is growing interest in investigating the use of multi-touch displays in different domains, thanks to their decreasing cost and increasing availability. Multi-touch displays have been used for gaming and entertainment (Tse et al., 2011), to support tourists (Jacucci et al. …