Technology and Gamification
With modern mobile devices as powerful as computers, education has become more convenient, empowering a new generation of learners able to study anywhere at anytime (Parsons, 2013) and encouraging learners to spend their free time on educational activities.
Gamified mobile learning provides opportunities for long-distance, collaborative and social learning with classmates anywhere in the world in a flexible environment (Wankel et al., 2013).
Duolingo – Aprender Idiomas Gratuitamente! (Poupa e Ganha, 2014)
Duolingo, a new language learning platform, takes advantage of game elements to increase user motivation. Through “XP” points that represent progress and “hearts” that allow a limited number of mistakes, Duolingo keeps the user engaged and driven to continue learning and improve their performance.
Duolingo Apps (Xiang, 2014)
Duolingo Intro (Duolingo, 2011)
FutureLearn is a social, web-learning platform that offers free online courses from universities around the world. Through the website, users are provided with a personalised weekly learning plan centred around an easy-to-use and intuitive learning progress system that features quizzes, games and tests. During online classes, users engage and connect with teachers and other students that share interests and study similar courses. Upon completion of the courses, users have a chance to earn an official, printed certificate.
FutureLearn (News, 2015)
Future Learn (2013)
Bibliography:
Duolingo, (2011). Duolingo Intro. [ video ] Available at: https://youtu.be/WyzJ2Qq9Abs [Accessed 22 Jan. 2016].
FutureLearn, (2013). Welcome to FutureLearn. [ video ] Available at: https://youtu.be/QG5Y522PrDc [Accessed 23 Jan. 2016].
News, T. (2015). International Education News l The PIE News l Open University to invest £13m in FutureLearn. [image] Thepienews.com. Available at: http://thepienews.com/news/open-university-to-invest-13m-in-futurelearn/ [Accessed 23 Jan. 2016].
Parsons, D. (2013). Innovations in mobile educational technologies and applications. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.
Poupa e Ganha, (2014). Duolingo – Aprender Idiomas Gratuitamente!. [image] Available at: http://poupaeganha.pt/duolingo-aprender-idiomas/ [Accessed 22 Jan. 2016].
Wankel, L., Blessinger, P., Stanaityte, J. and Washington, N. (2013). Increasing student engagement and retention using mobile applications. Bingley, U.K.: Emerald.
Xiang, T. (2014). Language-learning App Duolingo, Founded by reCAPTCHA Inventor Luis von Ahn, Gained 1.5M Users in China In the First Week Since Launch – TechNode. [image] TechNode. Available at: http://technode.com/2014/05/27/duolingo/ [Accessed 22 Jan. 2016].