In this design case study, we described the receptive-activation
format from a review of successful commercial language learning
products in developed country markets, and how we applied this
format to the design of a parrot game for urban slums students to
learn the English alphabet. Through subsequent iterations on this
game and two additional games that were informed by our field
experiences with rural learners, we discussed how this format had
to be expanded to include a practice phase and facilitator controls
to cope with the lower educational baseline of rural children. We
also drew other lessons that touched on issues related to authority,
an accurate language model and the social aspects of motivation.
In particular, we learned that the learning goals in our e-learning
games were more obvious to rural learners when we maintained a
distinction between pleasure and education in game designs, such
that the learning phases were situated within a classroom setting.
Our observation was especially notable since the fantasy setting is
commonly applied as a heuristic to enhance the enjoyment value
of games [18], and we demonstrated that we were able to achieve
a good balance between pleasure and learning with the expanded
format, to the extent that learners exhibited post-test gains. Even
though we have presented our key findings in the context of a
research project on language acquisition, we believe our lessons
will apply to other educational domains in the developing world.