The design needs to incorporate context for situational interest that allows users to easily interact with the program. The context needs to be safe for users to gain tools that benefit them in their daily lives. Features that increase motivation are visual and audio encouragements, such as hints or celebratory moments. Increasing motivation leads to continued success, so an effective design creates positive feedback loops as users continue to learn



Interaction between Design, Context and Motivation

Having a mobile platform is best, so a phone app would be the best choice Reading and writing lessons should be limited based on current language ability to prevent overwhelming the user The app should build confidence through positive reinforcement Catering to a diverse group means multiple languages need to be programed in.

Grinnell College

App construction needs to include a proper design, relatable context, and the ability to motivate. 

Learning with apps

This effect pertains to how students' memories and evaluation of prior challenging experiences impact their motivation to engage with similar challenging experiences in the future. Research has shown that after taking both a longer and shorter difficult math test, students prefer and will choose to repeat the longer test if it included a number of only moderately difficult problems that students could answer successfully. This pattern of preferences is known as the "remembered success effect".

Remembered Success Effect

The learning needs to pertain to every day life, such as interactions that could happen with family or colleagues It needs to be catered to the expected age group. Kids interacting with child-like material (i.e. what games they play with friends), adults with adult-like material ( i.e. how they interact at a job) 

Context

Adult beginners tend to need higher levels of extrinsic motivation with low percieved risk of failure to stay motivated Enjoyable learning (through games) attract higher levels of participants from all age groups, and show improved learning ability.


Motivation

Literacy and language are extremely important in current day. Lack of literacy skills means lower income or lack of opportunity in the job market. People who have low literacy skills tend to have struggles in their daily life regarding child care, transportation, poor home situations, and declining mental states. In person literacy programs are hard to access either through financial reasons or time constraints, which makes digital the best option.

Importance of digital learning - Language

Amrita addressed Design, Context and Motivation elements. It's main targets were ESL learners who tested at a 1st to 3rd grade level. It was designed to be scalable at a national level, and showed benefits to ESL and native speakers.

Amrita Learning App

Learning App Design

Research illustrating the remembered success effect suggest that task design can influence memory of previous (challenging) experiences, and thus can lead to students being more likely to engage in learning processes involving desirable difficulties while simultaneously sustaining motivation. 

Remembered Success and Desirable Difficulties

This is a scientifically based method of teaching students with ASD. It is effective in promoting social communication, and trainings to learn the strategy take 1-2 hours of instruction. 

Learn Before

Related

Learn After