International Journal of
Information and Education Technology

Abstract

To meet the challenges of the 21st century, it is essential for students to master advanced communication skills that are required for increasing innovation and collaboration performances in their future workplaces. Dialog games are one of the proven teaching-learning methodologies which improve communication and collaboration skills. The benefits and effects of using dialog games in the learning setting are well studied. However, there is no study which focuses on the possibility of using dialog games on mobile devices. Considering the growing trend of mobile application use in learning, it is important to understand students’ attitudes towards the possible use of dialog games in mobile learning settings. In order to address such a need, this paper discusses the design of mobile applications by way of using dialog games methodology as well as the results of a mixed method study that investigates the usability of the mobile application and students’ attitudes toward it. For the purpose of this study, we conducted a usability test and an interview. The analysis shows that students have positive attitudes toward dialog games on tablet devices and that they perceived benefits (e.g. suitable for school, facilitate learning) of dialog games for learning (e.g. enabling social interaction, guidance to focus on thinking, critical and creative thinking).