ERIC Number: EJ1037044
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Aug
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1042-1629
EISSN: N/A
The Effect of Using a Mobile Literacy Game to Improve Literacy Levels of Grade One Students in Zambian Schools
Jere-Folotiya, Jacqueline; Chansa-Kabali, Tamara; Munachaka, Jonathan C.; Sampa, Francis; Yalukanda, Christopher; Westerholm, Jari; Richardson, Ulla; Serpell, Robert; Lyytinen, Heikki
Educational Technology Research and Development, v62 n4 p417-436 Aug 2014
This intervention study was conducted to document conditions under which a computer based literacy game (GraphoGame™) could enhance literacy skills of first grade students in an African city. The participants were first grade students from Government schools (N = 573). These students were randomly sampled into control (N = 314) and various intervention groups (N = 259). GraphoGame™ was administered on cellphones to students at their schools under supervision. Each student in the study was assessed using a battery of locally developed cognitive tests that measured emergent literacy skills (Orthography test), decoding competence (Spelling test), vocabulary (Picture Vocabulary Test-PVT) and arithmetic (Zambia Achievement Test-ZAT). There was a positive effect of the game for the Spelling test--which closely targeted the skill GraphoGame™ is designed to promote. The most effective intervention combined exposure of both the teachers and the students to the game. Initial letter knowledge was a good predictor of final letter knowledge on GraphoGame™.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Grade 1, Elementary School Students, Control Groups, Experimental Groups, Intervention, Computer Games, Literacy Education, Reading Skills, Public Schools, Computer Uses in Education, Decoding (Reading), Vocabulary Development, Mathematics Skills, Arithmetic, Instructional Effectiveness, Achievement Tests
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 1; Primary Education; Elementary Education; Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Zambia
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A