Agile development of multiplatform educational video games using a Domain-Specific Language

• Published in: Universal access in the information society Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 599 - 614
• Main Authors: González García, Cristian, Núñez-Valdez, Edward Rolando, Moreno-Ger, Pablo, González Crespo, Rubén, Pelayo G-Bustelo, B. Cristina, Cueva Lovelle, Juan Manuel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-08-2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Children & youth; Classrooms; Computer & video games; Computer Communication Networks; Computer Science; Computers and Society; Domain specific languages; Education; Educational software; Human-computer interaction; Information Storage and Retrieval; Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet); IT in Business; Learning; Long Paper; Motivation; People with disabilities; Physical therapy; Robots; Sensors; Skills; Students; Teachers; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction; Model-driven engineering; Interactive learning environments; Education tool; Human–computer interface; Domain-Specific Language
• ISSN: 1615-5289; 1615-5297
• DOI: 10.1007/s10209-019-00681-y

Educational video games are becoming an increasingly popular alternative in the academic field. However, video game development is a very complex task that requires programming skills and knowledge of multiple technologies, as well as lengthy and costly processes. This has hindered the adoption of educational video games in real settings, and therefore the global acceptance of educational games as a viable approach. In contrast, teachers with limited time and resources are a key factor for educational video game adoption. If enthusiastic teachers can be empowered to create games to engage their students, and if these games were ready to be played in a variety of devices and platforms, we could bring a new generation of low-cost games for immediate deployment in the classroom, using the students’ own devices. We aim to achieve this goal by creating a Domain-Specific Language for the development of multiplatform educational video games without requiring any programming skills and with a reduced time investment. This approach should reduce the barriers for using educational video games in the classroom and ease the way towards generalised adoption of educational video games.