Análisis de la interacción comunicativa que promueven los videojuegos educativos. estudio de caso matific

Abstract

Educational video games present a significant opportunity for the resignification of the social, educational and communicative context within a classroom. With the passage of time and the advancement of new technologies, the administration of educational centers must consider the need to update existing educational strategies, so that the new tools that humanity has available to facilitate the process of learning and achieving greater results in students are used to their full capabilities. Matific is a video game group created by the Slate Science company. This company creates video games related to science and mathematics for children between 5 and 12 years old. The software it uses is capable of developing specific and individual games automatically, so that each game adapts to the cognitive level of the player. This research proposes the study of Matific and its use within the Principito y Marcel Laniado de Wind educational institution, in order to find the communicative effect of this educational video game, if any. According to this study of the communicative effect of video games in students, interviews with teachers of this educational institution are also presented, with the aim of determining the subjective value that teachers give to the Matific video game after years of its use in the classroom lessons. In addition, a self-created survey is carried out on 100 teachers from various public and private educational entities, in such a way that the subjective value that teachers give to educational video games in general can be determined. Finally, this research work also introduces a bibliographical analysis in which the communicative effect of video games in general in players is determined within a controlled environment and under supervision (such as a classroom or a computer laboratory), contrasting the information found with the rest of the present investigation in order to reach conclusions consistent with it. During the resolution of the present investigation, positive, significant and satisfactory data has been obtained in each of the applied methodologies. The analysis of documents related to the grades of the selected students has shown a significant increase in the average grades in the Mathematics subject for the students compared to the years prior to the use of Matific. The interviews have corroborated these results with communicative elements, since the students have been observed showing greater motivation and desire to learn and solve exercises when Matific was applied as a tool in this subject. Therefore, a correlation is established between the students' grades and their motivation. Surveys have established that the vast majority of teachers surveyed agree with the application of educational video games in the classroom, often considering it a novel, innovative proposal capable of changing the educational reality present in traditional education. Finally, the bibliographic review has resulted in several articles that detail communicational effects on students subject to educational strategies through video games.