This paper reports the effects of game technology on student learning in mathematics as investigated in two data sets collected from slightly different subjects. In the first, 41 second graders (7 or 8 years old) from two classes used either a technology-based game or a paper-based game for 5 weeks. For the next 13 weeks, both classes used a technology-based game either two times per week, or more than three times per week. A quasi-experimental control-group design with repeated measures analysis of variance and analysis of covariance was employed to explore performance differences between groups. The second study examined student learning in relation to characteristics such as their game performance, attitudes toward the game and toward mathematics, and gender and ethnicity. During a 4-month period, 50 second grade students from three classes played a technology-based game under conditions that varied depending on their teacher's direction. Multiple regression was used to determine the relationship between students' arithmetic scores and learner characteristics. Descriptive analyses by ability level, gender and ethnicity, and interview data about attitudes toward the technology game were also analyzed. Results from the two studies revealed that using a technologybased game in the classroom was beneficial to students of all ability levels in learning arithmetic skills. What is already known about this topic • Technology and games have yielded consistently positive results with regard to motivation, persistence, curiosity, attention and attitude toward learning. • The accessibility and flexibility of handheld devices can provide students with more integral and spontaneous opportunities to fully take advantage of "off-moments" from classroom activity to support learning. • There are insufficient data to validate the contribution of technology to student learning.  For decades, technology has been used to support student learning in K-12 education. Yet, despite studies that show the potential of technology to promote student learning, many still contend that insufficient data validate the contributions of technology to student learning. For example, research using meta-analysis on the impact of technology on reading and mathematics reported that only a small number of rigorous, published studies contrast traditional and technology learning conditions for K-12 students (Dynarski et al, 2007) . The results of most studies in game technology were considered too fragmented and unsystematic (Condie & Munro, 2007; Randel, Morris, Wetzel, & Whitehill, 1992) . The evidence is insufficient that using technology positively affected teaching and learning. Thus, the call continues for more and better empirical evidence of the impact of technology on academic achievement (Chandra & Lloyd, 2008; Dynarski et al, 2007; Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia & Jones, 2009) . In response to the call for additional empiric evidence on the use of technology in teaching and learning, we designed two studies to investigate whether game technology facilitates learning in elementary mathematics and to explore which aspects of game design support student learning. We first reviewed research literature that explores how game technology influences student learning. Next, we developed a technology-based game using design principles generated from the review. We then conducted two quantitative studies using the technology-based arithmetic game and a paper-based game, both with the same learning goals, in order to explore the effects of game technology on student learning. This paper begins with a literature review focused on the relationship between game technology and learning,and uses that framework to propose design principles for the development of technology-based games.
Shin et al. REF presented a study to evaluate the effects of game technology on elementary student learning in mathematics.
Effects of game technology on elementary student learning in mathematics
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Psychology Computer Science