The Application of Game-based Phonics Learning Apps in Lower Elementary Teaching

Abstract

Game-based learning Apps have been flourishing and received much attention from parents who use those Apps as learning tools for children. At the same time, school-adapted learning Apps have received issues around outdated design, inaccessible customer support, and lack of training on how to use them. Since reading is an integral content for lower elementary students, this article discusses if game-based learning Apps can be applied to support school learning. Major problems of school-used reading Apps have been reviewed. Two popular reading Apps, Hooked on Phonics and Duolingguo for public downloading are selected and evaluated from core content, pedagogical methods, and design perspectives. It has been found that those Apps cover limited content that schools teach children, lack pedagogical designs, and do not have core loops in games to keep children’s interests. The article points out the potentials and limitations of using those Apps to support school learning, which sheds insight for future research to enhance the effectiveness of reading Apps when they are adopted by schools.