Introduction
Today, learners are presented with a countless number of diverse educational materials, such as multimedia encyclopedias or interactive online tutorials. Most students often play computer games in their free time and – on the contrary – many of them are not willing to study enough for school. Although there are some exceptions, the fact that students need to be motivated more into studying yet endures.Computer games do a great job in motivating students. However, the most popular ones are far away from being educational. Games intended for education not only lack the thrill of popular computer games, but also do not allow teachers without programming expertise to alter their scenario. Moreover, these games are not available – in such extent – to handicapped students.
Project Overview
The system that we had designed and implemented is a unique solution for the above specified problems. S.M.I.L.E. encapsulates and combines the advantages of two distinct worlds – interactive study materials and popular computer games – by giving teachers the ability to easily transform study materials into exciting educational games, resulting in a better, more flexible, more interactive and more enjoyable educational environment.What is more, the S.M.I.L.E. system also supports handicapped learners and enables them to educate together with their able-bodied colleagues. Such concept has not yet been realized in any of the existing applications and thus makes S.M.I.L.E. (Smart Multipurpose Interactive Learning Environment) a unique and innovative project.
- Dynamic generation of three-dimensional educational games based on teachers’ preferences without requiring any knowledge of programming.
- Interactive forming of teams from learners handicapped or not, in which they compete by combining their strengths and weaknesses – resulting in a better education for all.
- Adaptation to every learner’s individual level of knowledge and game progress.
- Flexibility of the created games for all age groups.