TITLE:
Foreign Language Web-Based Learning by Means of Audiovisual Interactive Activities
AUTHORS:
Catherine Kanellopoulou, Minas Pergantis, Nikolaos Konstantinou, Nikolaos Grigorios Kanellopoulos, Andreas Giannakoulopoulos
KEYWORDS:
Online Learning, Multimedia, Interactivity, World Wide Web, Education, English Language Teaching, Learning Platform, Audiovisual
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Software Engineering and Applications,
Vol.14 No.6,
June
17,
2021
ABSTRACT:
Online learning has been on an upward trend for many years and is becoming more and more prevalent every day, consistently presenting the less privileged parts of our society with an equal opportunity at education. Unfortunately, though, it seldom takes advantage of the new technologies and capabilities offered by the modern World Wide Web. In this article, we present an interactive online platform that provides users with learning activities for students of English as a foreign language. The platform focuses on using audiovisual multimedia content and a user experience (UX) centered approach to provide learners with an enhanced learning experience that aims at improving their knowledge level while at the same time increasing their engagement and motivation to participate in learning. To achieve this, the platform uses advanced techniques, such as interactive vocabulary and pronunciation assistance, mini-games, embedded media, voice recording, and more. In addition, the platform provides educators with analytics about user engagement and performance. In this study, more than 100 young students participated in a preliminary use of the aforementioned platform and provided feedback concerning their experience. Both the platform’s metrics and the user-provided feedback indicated increased engagement and a preference of the participants for interactive audiovisual multimedia-based learning activities.