Introduction

For my assignment on Digital Educational Resources, I have chosen to look at three tools that are directly related to my teaching English as a second language: Duolingo, FluentU, and Zoom.

My reasons for choosing Duolingo and FluentU are that students frequently inquire about their practicality for language learning and I would like to incorporate a digital language learning tool to complement my classes. Before starting this project, I had never used either application. To better understand their value, I downloaded and registered to both applications for a week and worked on my Italian.

I choose Zoom as the third digital educational resource to be discussed because I have been using it for over a year to provide online private and group English classes and wanted to critically examine some of its features. Zoom has become the most used online communication tool since the onset of the pandemic.

Gamification

Gamification in education has been around since the 1980s but was not used as a term until 2008 (Deterding et al., 2011; Huynh et al., 2016). Some memorable programs were those that taught typing via a car racing game. However, the field has come a long way since then. Gamification is defined by the addition of game elements to a traditionally non-game practices (professional, education, or otherwise) (Huynh et al., 2016). This is not the same as playfulness. The difference being that gamified activities are those that have set rules and a scoring system. Playful activities in learning are those that involve elements of fun without more structured systems (Deterding et al, 2011). Also, gamification is unlike game-based learning, in which people learn through playing a game (Huynh et al. 2016, p. 269). Some of the characteristics of a gamification are “self-representation with avatars; three-dimensional environments; narrative context; feedback; reputations, ranks, and levels” amongst others (Deterling et al., 2011, p. 11). Gamification has been found as a useful way of engaging learners in online material (Hyunh et al. 2016). Gamification also builds transferable skills and allows students to learn through practice instead of explicit instruction. The great appeal of gamification of learning material is that it makes learning more fun, engaging, and purposeful.

Duolingo

Duolingo is a free app created by Luis Von Ahn and Severin Hacker in 2011 (Munday, 2016; Hyunh et al., 2016). According to Blanco (2020), in the last decade, Duolingo has drawn in over half a billion users and has 40 million active monthly users. It is the most used language learning app. Since the beginning of lockdown restrictions in 2020, use has grown exponentially (Blanco, 2020). Duolingo presents language learning as a game.  There are various skills, lessons, experience points (XP), and badges to be won by completing grammar and language games. Some of these games are translation, pronunciation, and identification based. You can also accumulate ‘Lingot’ which is Duolingo’s currency for unlocking additional features in the app (Munday, 2016). Users are rewarded for completing sections and for using the app on a consistent daily basis. Users lose points when their daily “streak” is broken. The visual elements in Duolingo are quite colourful and fun. Their mascot is a green owl who pops up intermittently. The aesthetics are clean and modern, and the ergonomics are appealing. Personally, I felt that the buttons were intuitively where I wanted them to be and that the drag-and-drop features worked smoothly.

In Munday’s research study (2016), Duolingo was used as a complementary addition to face-to-face and online beginner Spanish university classes (A1 and B2 level). Students were asked to use Duolingo as part of their curriculum with participation representing 10% of their final grade. Munday’s (2016) survey results showed that 91% of the students found it easy to use, 82% found it helpful, 80.4% enjoyed using it, and 78.3% were satisfied with the app (p. 92). However, Munday (2016) found that 84.8% the lower A1 class preferred the app to traditional homework, but only 43.8% of the B2 class agreed with this statement (p. 93). This perhaps points to there being a language advancement limit to Duolingo’s applicability as an educational tool. My limited use of the app learning Italian cannot dis/prove this possibility.

FluentU

FluentU is another language learning application that has received attention. It was created by Alan Park in New York (Altynbekova & Zhussupova , 2020). The About Us page on their website (fluentu.com) describes their service but does not provide much company information. FluentU is a pay to use app, which costs either $30/month or $240/year. They also provide student and academic pricing for class use. To experience the use of the app, I downloaded and subscribed to their 14-day free trial. Altynbekova & Zhussupova (2020) discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses on FluentU, but in-depth research was not conducted. I was unable to find an academic study that discussed FluentU specifically, though it was mentioned along with other language learning apps (Elmurodov, 2020).

Many of the game elements that immediately appealed to me with Duolingo were missing with FluentU. In essence, the app is a collection of short YouTube videos with corresponding quizzes that you complete to win points. The points are scored on a leader board and are used to show your progress. The main features presented are that it allows for learner autonomy and the opportunity to learn anywhere (Altynbekova & Zhussupova , 2020). The aesthetics feel dated and buttons were not intuitively placed. One of the biggest drawbacks of FluentU as a gamified learning app is that it felt like work.

Comparison

As both have been recommended by students and colleagues, I was surprised by the differences in Duolingo and FluentU. Both apps have elements of gamification, with points systems, rewards, and streaks. However, what sets the two apps apart is ergonomics of design, interactivity, and interface. Duolingo feels more intuitive and more aesthetically pleasing. It also has more game elements to it. In learning Italian, these elements encouraged me to interact with the app. With FluentU, I was not prompted to continue using the app and was less invested in continuing my daily exercises. FluentU also looked more like a series of HTML pages than it did a modern app. It would be premature to judge either apps’ educational effectiveness with just one week of use but considering my initially impressions and the price tag attached to FluentU, I think I will continue my Italian learning on Duolingo. As for use in my own classes, if Duolingo continues to impress, I will give it a trial run in one of my classes.

Zoom

Zoom is an online communications tool being used extensively since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. It is widely used for educational purposes at all levels. Some other similar applications are Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and SVI eSolutions. In my professional experience, I have taught with/on all four platforms.

Zoom allows teachers to broadcast lectures/lessons online synchronously and asynchronously. It allows students to learn at a distance and interact online with their teachers and fellow classmates. With Zoom, teachers and students can screenshare, share files, chat, and have discussions in breakout rooms. There is also a whiteboard feature that allows for some annotation. Participants can choose to broadcast both audio and/or video.

Ergonomics

Ergonomics in Digital Educational Resources can be used to evaluate software interface design. Hix & Harston (1993) outline 11 points for evaluating designs, of which Simplicity, Modality, and Individual Differences are probably the most pertinent in evaluating Zoom as an educational resource.

One of the reasons Zoom has seen such a boon in use in the past year is due to its simplicity. Icons and objects in Zoom are based on recognizable forms. The start-up page for Zoom is clearly displayed with icons such as a house for contacts and a camera to start a meeting. As well, all these icons are labeled. Scheduling or starting a meeting are simple tasks which are also automatically linked to Google Calendar and provide a clear link to attach to emails. Zoom is not feature heavy, but the features it does have work very well. This leads to fewer dropped video conferences. From an educational standpoint, the only shortcoming would be that you can only use one whiteboard at a time and the variety of tools for the whiteboard is limited compared to a program like SVI eSolutions.

As for modality, Zoom does not have a large variety of modes. It can be used with audio and/or video. There is a screenshare and whiteboard option. However, none of these modes have easily reversable features. If you turn on your camera or mic, you must turn it off. There are no fail safes. Equally, changes made on the whiteboard cannot be undone. This can lead to audio and video ‘mishaps’ and lost whiteboards.

Zoom does make space for individual user differences. It is not a complicated program to run on either computer or mobile. The first few times may require some practice, but overall, there is not a long learning process. In the educational context, it is wise for teachers to take some time to get acquainted with the features and use the first class to introduce their students. As for its universal use, I am not sure of any tools which make Zoom more handicapable accessible.

Overall, based on the criteria presented by Hix & Harston (1993), Zoom is a reliable and useful Digital Educational Resource for delivering courses. Many classes have already begun to use Zoom (Subhi et al., 2020; Piotrowski, 2021). The only recommendation I would make is to increase some of the whiteboard features. Teachers and students can share their screens, but this may be seen as intrusive. A few additions to the whiteboard tools would truly see Zoom shine in education.

References

Altynbekova, Gulzada & Zhussupova, Roza. (2020). Mobile Application Fluentu for Public Speaking Skills Development. SHS Web Conferences. 88.

Blanco, Cindy. (2020). 2020 Duolingo Language Report: Global Overview. Duolingo Blog. https://blog.duolingo.com/global-language-report-2020/

Deterding, Sebastian, Dixon, Dan, Khaled, Rilla, & Nacke, Lennant. (2011). From Game Design Elements to Gamefulness: Defining Gamification. Mindtrek ’11, Sept. 28-30.

Elmurodov, Ulugbek Yarashovich. (2020). The Importance of Multimedia and Mobile Applications in Teaching Foreign Language. Science and Education Scientific Journal,  1(2).

Hix, D. & Hartson, H.R. (1993) Developing User Interfaces: Ensuring usability through product and process, NY, Wiley. Chap. 2.

Hyunh, Duy, Iida, Hiroyuki, Zuo, Long. (2016). Analyzing Gamification of “Duolingo” with Focus on Its Course Structure. GALA 2016, pp. 268-277.

Munday, Pilar. (2016). The case for using DUOLINGO as part of the language classroom experience. RIED, 19(1), pp. 83-101.

Pitriowski, Jessica Taylor. (2021). My pandemic pedagogy playbook: a glimpse into higher education in the Dutch Zoom-room. Journal of Children and Media, 15(1).

Subhi, M.A., Nurjanah, N., & Rahman, S.A. (2020). Design of distance lectures in mathematics with the utilization of the integration of Zoom and YouTube application. Journal of Physics Conference Series, 1663.