iKnow! is a popular spaced repetition software (SRS) for studying Japanese, Chinese, and English. Although iKnow! is not marketed as a game, it includes numerous game-like elements among the iKnow! suite of three applications; iKnow, BrainSpeed, and Dictation.

McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken: Why games make us better and how they can change the world. Penguin

Schell, J. (2008). The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses. CRC Press.

by Dubhgan Hinchey

Apps

McGonigal (2011) outlines all games as,” sharing four defined traits: a goal, rules, a feedback system, and voluntary participation” (p. 21).Schell (2008) "A game is a problem solving activity approached with a playful attitude“ (p. 37).

What’s the score? iKnow!, Moodle, and Gamification

All apps are games as stated by McGonigal (2011) and Schell (2008), though rules and goals vary by app. Meta data is collected from all 3 apps to calculate study time.

All the 5 Principles apply depending on language environmentPrin. 1) Active, Critical Prin. 2) Design Prin. 3) Semiotic Prin. 4) Semiotic DomainsPrin. 5) Meta-level thinking about Semiotic Domain

Basic Principles

Application of Input

Multimodal & Subset

Insider & Multiple Routes

Future Moodle integration

If students are placed in an English speaking lab or have a need to present or publish in English, then there is more of a case for the 5 principles being applicable. Such students, as Gee (2007) states, would experience the world in new ways, form new affiliations, and prepare for their future learning (p. 24).Gee, J. P. (2007). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy.: Revised and Updated Edition. Macmillan.

10 of the 36 Learning PrinciplesPrin. 6) “Psychosocial Moratorium”Prin. 10) Amplification of Input Prin. 12) Practice Prin. 14) “Regime of Competence”Prin. 16) Multiple Routes Prin. 20) Multimodal Prin. 23) SubsetPrin. 27) Explicit Information On-Demand and Just-in-Time Prin. 33) Distributed Prin. 36) Insider

Strong Principles

“Regime of Competence”

“Psychosocial Moratorium”

Practice & Explicit Info.

Distributed