Fadhlina Izzah Saman*, Nur Naja Najwa Zainon, Siti Fatimah Mohd Rum, Siti Maisarah Md Zain, Farah Nadzirah Jamrus, Muhammad Hamiz Mohd Radzi and Mohammad Bakri Che Haron
Keywords: game based learning, dyslexia learning, multisensory learning, multimedia learning
Abstract: The ability to read is one of a human being’s main skills and is crucial in daily activities. On the other hand, there are some people who experience difficulties in reading, regardless of language abilities, status and education. This learning disability is known as dyslexia. In the past, mentioned methods such as flash cards are commonly used material to help students with dyslexia learn high-frequency words and become more fluent in reading. However, it is found that some of the approaches and materials used in teaching students with dyslexia at schools nowadays are not quite effective in making the students understand as it is tedious, boring and involve massive amount of overlearning by the students. Lack of multimedia contents will lead to having difficulties in maintaining their focus, thus they are easily lost in the learning session. This paper describes the development of a mobile learning game named Lauko The Treasure Hunter to help students with dyslexia in their learning. Game Development Life Cycle (GDLC) model is used as the project development methodology. The application is using game-based approach which implements game elements such as game goals, game value to increase their motivation and ability to complete the task, and challenges to exert more effort from the students. Major functions incorporated in the game are air writing using writing gesture, speech recognition to recognize spoken words and spelling in the form of drag and drop puzzle. These major functions are implemented because of its properties that are beneficial for dyslexia learning. The application is evaluated for its functionality and the results show that all major functions developed for learning and training such as speech recognition, spelling game and air writing are successfully working. Each function was constructed and integrated accordingly with the expected outcomes thus satisfying the aims of the game-based application. However, there are few improvements that can be implemented such as providing various avatars, multiple saved profiles and complete phonics syllables to enhance the game performance as well as providing a better teaching aid for the students.
