Classroom Introduction of a Video Game on Italian Grammar

Abstract

Despite Italian teachers’ strong interest in the use of games, especially the digital ones, there are several critical issues due to their lack of familiarity with games/video games thus making games’ adoption in teaching complex because teachers have only limited time to prepare and play a game-based learning game. Therefore they feel uncertain about using games in class due to their limited knowledge of digital games and find it difficult to identify appropriate assessments, they also find it difficult to integrate video games effectively and efficiently into their classroom, it is also difficult for them to choose appropriate games for teaching. Additionally the school/administration doesn’t assist their effort to support and improve their skills in game-based learning. The learning of the fundamentals of the Italian language and grammar are described and defined by the Italian Ministry of Education within the “National Indications for the ‘Italian Language’ Curriculum”. However, multiple difficulties often make it arduous to learn the basics of the Italian language. The video game “Ross and the Sgrammanebbia” - which can be translated as “Ross and the Un-grammar-Fog” - is a didactic grammar web video game that has a correspondence between the levels and the topics of the textbook as well as giving the teacher a valid help to organise a didactic path studied on the curricular skills. In order to define the useful guidelines for an effective introduction of the game in the classroom, participatory qualitative-quantitative research was prepared on the methods that a small group of teachers put in place to design the training activity with video games. The research focused on: analysis of the educational design skills for the use of games: definition of learning goals, assessment methods and identified teaching strategies; evaluation of the pedagogical activities implemented to facilitate the introduction of games in the classroom; analysis of the roles played by the teacher during all the phases of the training activity - from the design of the training activity to the introduction of the game in the classroom, to evaluation.