Blog Post #5 - Dalgarno Tells Why Ethan Loves That Game

Dalgarno's Classification For Learner-Computer Interaction

Return to the game you looked at in Blog Post #3. This time, use the classifications from Dalgarno's article discuss the interactions that take place within the game.

Cognitive Tasks: The game interacts with Ethan by getting him to 'Answer Question' and then 'Attend To Question Feedback'. For example, the game will ask Ethan to 'Answer Question' like 'You need to catch 4 fish'. Each time Ethan catches a fish in the net, the fisherman will get him to 'Attend To Question Feedback' by telling him (in the dialog bubble) how many fish he still need to catch. See the screenshot below ...
If Ethan catches the wrong fish type, the game will also get him to 'Attend To Question Feedback' by showing him a broken net, a shocking face and 'Ouch'. See screenshot below ...

If Ethan catches the correct number and type of fish, the game will also tell him 'Good One' as a form of feedback.

Input Technique: The game gives a short instruction for the interface. There are 'Buttons And Icons' like 'GO!', 'PLAY AGAIN' and the fishes where Ethan needs to do some 'Selecting' and clicking with the mouse. See below screenshots ... To catch the fish, Ethan will be 'Selecting' the correct fish type, and then 'Dragging' it into the fisherman's net.
System Response: The game 'Displays' various things on the screen - response to what fish Ethan has chosen, numbers of fish left to catch, etc. It also 'Presents Media' such as the animation of fishs. The game also 'Assesses Answers' by comparing what Ethan has caught to an expected answer (generated by the game), and then 'Generates Feedback' to Ethan by telling him what he has caught is right or wrong (as in the screenshots above). Another System Response is 'Processing Data' where the game will calculate the numerical data (either generated by the game or the number of fishs caught by Ethan) and then producing a graphical representation of the data (showing the number of fishs in the net, and also the number of fishs left to catch in the dialog bubble).

Here is a checklist to summarize the classification of the game (interactive learning object) according to Dalgarno's article:

Cognitive Tasks
[ ] Attending To Static Information
[ ] Controlling Media
[ ] Navigating The System
[X] Answering Questions
[X] Attending To Question Feedback
[ ] Exploring A World
[ ] Measuring In A World
[ ] Manipulating A World
[ ] Constructing In A World
[ ] Attending To World Changes
[ ] Articulating
[ ] Processing Data
[ ] Attending To Processed Data
[ ] Formating Output

Input Technique
[ ] Typing
[ ] Valuators
[ ] Key Pressing
[ ] Pull Down Menus
[ ] Menu Lists
[X] Buttons And Icons
[ ] Check Boxes And Radio Buttons
[ ] Hot Spots
[ ] Hypertext
[ ] Scroll Bars
[ ] Media Controls
[X] Selecting
[X] Dragging
[ ] Drawing
[ ] Mouse Rollovers

System Response
[X] Displaying
[X] Presenting Media
[ ] Presenting Cues
[ ] Branching
[X] Assessing Answers
[X] Generating Feedback
[ ] Updating World
[ ] Generating World
[X] Processing Data
[ ] Searching
[ ] Saving And Loading