CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED SYSTEMS

In this chapter, we include various concepts, completed studies, and related

works. These components are selected to help familiarize the reader with information
relevant to the current research.

FOREIGN STUDIES

The study of Laranjeiro (2021) indicates that, recent studies highlight

preschoolers' preference for tablets due to portability and app variety, which offer
significant educational benefits. Their testing validated the apps, resulting in four
thematic apps environment, health, citizenship, and professions suitable for independent
or guided educational use in kindergarten. A companion website tracks children's
gameplay data, symbolized as flowers. The results of the evaluation indicate that the
products have the potential to promote the learning of preschool children, since the
games have contents covered in kindergarten, the children showed interest in playing
the games and the educator identified possible educational activities to do with apps.

Furthermore, the research conducted by Papadakis et al. in 2020 highlights the

challenges presented by the increase in the number of educational apps targeting
preschool children and the need for assessment tools to identify and select age-
appropriate apps. By using a psychometric evaluation approach based on such
thoroughness, the authors have constructed their assessment tool organically involving
descriptors that measure parents’ perception of an application tool’s usability and
efficiency, in addition to its parental control and security. It should become a priority for
all instances connected to technology in education in both formal and informal
surroundings to construct more efficient application tools particularly designed to support
children’s cognitive development. Meanwhile, and until such a tool is constructed more
effectively, parents and educators need a reliable, sturdy, capable, and effective tool that
is also rapid and user-friendly to help them with choosing the best educational
application tool for their children/students.

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 According to the study of Elaish et al. (2019), where they also developed
an app called VocabGame that teaches English language for Arab students, they
investigated whether the app they developed can motivate the students in
learning the English language. They divided Sixty-four students equally into two
groups: Control group and Experimental group, control group being the high
performing group and the experimental group the low performing group. Their
findings showed that the mobile game application is helpful to the students who
are performing poorly while studying English. Also, the students enjoyed the
mobile application in class, and some of them expressed that they were happy to
play at home during their free time.

Most recent studies describe the high penetration of smartphones among

university students, the distribution of usage patterns and purposes. Smartphone
use among students is around five hours daily, mainly in the evening and the
night. The most popular activities are reading texts and social networks; Based
on this, in the future, the development of educational applications should first be
factored and tied to the student’s usual patterns and activities. This includes time
management for the submission of information and the form of integration into
student learning to improve the effectiveness and the learning results. (Atas &
Çelik, 2019).

A research conducted by Camilleri & Camilleri (2019) explains the

rationale behind the utilization of mobile learning technologies. Using qualitative
study among children, the researchers organized semi-structured, face-to-face
interview sessions with primary school students who were using mobile
technologies at their institution. The students reported that their engagement with
the educational apps has improved their competencies. They acquired relational
and communicative skills as they collaborated in teams. On the other hand, there
were a few students who were not perceiving the usefulness and the ease of use
of the educational apps on their mobile device. This study indicates that the
research participants had different skill-sets as they exhibited different learning
abilities.

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 In 2019, Elkhateeb et al. conducted a study and have also developed an app
named “Easy-Edu” which was made for Egyptian higher education. The first version of
Easy-Edu app has been designed and implemented based on the Agile methodology
used by the said authors.. Easy-Edu supports both blended and collaborative learning
with different functions that help learners to interact with course materials easily,
effectively, and efficiently

A game created by Sapundzhi in 2013 using contemporary software tools

featured five different puzzle levels in which players have to solve jigsaw puzzles and
eventually let them learn an interesting fact about the scene they arranged. The game
aims to improve the young player’s spatial imagination, problem-solving skills, memory,
patience, concentration and motor skills. In this study, the steps on how to develop and
implement the game are thoroughly explained. The article highlights the importance of
educational games and their potential to enhance learning outcomes in a fun and
engaging way. The game’s development process and design are discussed along with
its potential to be utilized as an educational tool in various settings.

An app named “EWORD” was developed for learning English words, for primary
school kids (Ng et al., 2020). There were four phases involved namely preliminary
analysis, game design, game development and game evaluation. In the first phase, the
fundamental knowledge of English words and vocabulary, English language learning
methods in Malaysia, traditional learning methods, and educational mobile games were
studied to acquire adequate information about the requirements for educational mobile
games. User Interface (UI), gameplay, and game mechanics were designed in the
second phase, while the mobile game prototype was developed in the third phase. In the
fourth phase, the evaluation was conducted to evaluate the usability of the educational
mobile game prototype. The researchers and developers then concluded, based on the
results, the educational mobile game helps in boosting the learnability of English words
among students and is capable of increasing student engagement.

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 Mathew et al. in 2019 conducted a study and introduced the PROSOLVE game
based on pseudo-code technique that enhances problem solving skills of novice
programmers in the introductory programming course. A survey was employed to collect
students' feedback and semi-structured interviews were organized to collect instructors'
opinion about the game. The results show that the game helped most of the students in
understanding the programming concepts, structures and problem-solving strategies.
The study also affirms that the game supports students' cognitive engagement, gains,
and affective engagement in the IP course. Instructors also appreciated the game and
considered it as an additional supporting teaching tool in the IP course. Moreover, they
considered the game as a good alternative to the traditional pen and paper learning
approach in attracting students' interest in the programming domain.

Based on the findings of El-Sofany and El-Haggar in 2020, they identified

students’ perceptions in the acceptance of mobile techniques and the quality of mobile
services for academic and social purposes to improve teaching and learning
performance and outcomes in higher educational institutions. A total of 200
undergraduate students from Imam Abdulrahman Bin-Faisal and King Khalid universities
have participated in the research study. The outcomes of this study supported the
development of M-learning at the universities and helped for changing traditional
learning methods by merging M-learning methodologies as a learning management
system that provides mobile learning services to students and teachers at any time and
from any location. The research study has shown some important results towards the
integration of mobile technology into teaching include: student positive perception,
facilitates student concentration, access flexibility to m-services for learning materials,
and increase student' skills in using mobile technology for e-learning.

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LOCAL STUDIES

Math's Going On is an educational game application to empower elementary

students' especially third graders in learning math. According to Yabut et al., (2019), the
game can be used as an additional tool for teaching mathematics as well as to identify
how it will affect the learning style of children using technology. With its features,
teachers can monitor the progress of the students, create quizzes and access the
games' website. The game is developed to further maximize the use of technology since
it is slowly capturing the hearts of many children and students today. Based on the
evaluation, an overall excellent rating was obtained. Likewise, findings also showed that
the students who played this mobile game obtained significant scores in mathematics.

The findings of (Culajara, 2023) revealed that the developed mobile application
has a tremendous effect on students' learning performance in Physical Education. It
shows a significant difference between the mean scores of the students’ learning
performance before and after the application utilization. It reveals that using the
application has a significant impact in Physical Education on the participants in study.
This further implies that the utilization of technology in teaching and learning process in
Physical Education enhances the performance and ability of an individual.

Rodrigo et al. expressed in 2019 that the development of “Ibigkas!” application

were time consuming and expensive. In contrast, the application mentioned were
actually favored by the students. The study showed that students would likely play the
game again and the students also agreed that the game was easy to play and easy to
learn. Students also pointed out that the game was not cumbersome or complex.

An application named “INSVAGRAM” also showed suggestive results upon its

development. The study was able to develop a mobile learning application intended for
subject verb agreement, an identified least mastered topic in the English language. This
was identified through the interviews among English teachers which were supported by
multiple studies conducted in the Philippines. The study also pointed out smartphones
as the device of choice by most of the respondents of the study as well as the Android
OS as the right platform based on market share in the Philippines (Miranda et al., 2021).

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 The study of Lozano et al. (2023) is a development of a mobile application based
on the Octalysis framework. The study developed a mobile learning application for
mathematical patterns and structures. The application has fully achieved all its intended
features based on the rating provided by the students and IT experts. The findings of this
study suggest that incorporating gamification elements, such as the Octalysis
framework, is achievable and might be able to engage learners and enhance their
learning experience. By developing this kind of educational software technologies, it can
aid in providing a fun and interactive environment for students to learn and improve their
mathematical ability.

A study conducted by Marcial (2018) described the experiences in implementing

a USB-based learning management system in teacher education in the Philippines.
Their article presents Silliman University’s experiences in customizing a tool for
innovative teaching and learning in teacher education. It describes the result of the pilot
implementation of the tool among the select higher education institutions in Central
Visayas, Philippines. This paper also presents the reflection and lessons learned by the
teacher educators and students in the learning management system. The learning
management system was customized using POODLE, a portable MOODLE. It can run
on a USB flash drive without an internet connection. A total of 16 trained teacher
educators in Central Visayas, Philippines were selected as pilot-teachers. The study
reveals that the implementation varies among the pilot-teachers in terms of level, mode,
and terminal usage which are all affected by many variables. It was discovered that
there are more facilitating factors than hindering factors in implementing POODLE for
mobile learning. The study found out that POODLE is a useful tool for mobile learning in
areas where internet connection is limited.

Furthermore, Siosan et al. (2021) designed and developed an android interactive

word game in Mother Tongue. The application was assessed on the level of acceptability
of the system based on content, instructional quality, technical quality, presentation and
organization, accuracy, and up-to-dateness to address the gap for interactive mobile
learning. The evaluation results of the android interactive word game with a total mean
score of 3.55 equivalent to very acceptable indicate that major aspects of the
instructional tool were adequately met and with an above-average standard.
Furthermore, the results of the post-test indicated that the use of the Android Interactive

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word game as an intervention was effective in improving the spelling skills of the pupils
in Hiligaynon. Moreover, the teachers' willingness to embrace new approaches in
teaching plays a big role to facilitate learning.

In 2020, De Las Peñas et al. conducted a study and reports on the design of
mobile applications (apps) developed by the authors as part of an ongoing project
funded by a national government agency. The applications were intended to promote
structural thinking and statistical reasoning. Based on the results of the study, majority of
the teachers have indicated that these apps are easy to use, adaptable to a blended
classroom, and can be catered to beginning, average, and advanced students.

An Android game called For People and Planet: An SDG Adventure is a free,
narrative adventure game and teacher resource pack that aims to promote the UN
Sustainable Development Goals amongst learners. The researchers evaluated the game
and the resource pack with eight (8) middle school teachers. The teachers gave overall
positive feedback on the game's visuals and sound design, and appreciated its
contextualization. They found the game's contents relevant to their lessons and the
resource pack useful in terms of notes, extra activities, and sample assessments. They
also gave some constructive feedback and suggestions, such as the need for more
visual cues and tutorials, and a glossary of terms in the teacher resource pack. The
game and resource pack were revised based on the feedback of the teachers. Hence,
the user testing was essential for ensuring the quality of both the game and the resource
pack, and to increase the likelihood of their use in schools. (Rodrigo et al., 2021.)

Through the use of a quiz-based mobile app called Numeracy Enhancement

Tool, this study aims to find out if using mobile phones can improve numeracy skills
amongst students. According to Insorıo (2020), the app is used in grade school where a
practical action research is conducted using pre-test-post-test designs for two sections.
Based on the data collected, it is found that the mobile app has a positive effect on
numeracy skills, as indicated by the difference in pre-test and post-test results and
between the control and experimental groups. The study also includes semi-structured
interviews with students on their experience with the app, and suggestions on how to
improve it. The implementation of the app is extended to all Grade 11 students for three
months during the third grading period. Data from their periodic tests is analyzed, and it's
found that using the mobile application may have a positive impact not only on the

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pupils' passion for mathematics but also on their computational and conceptual skills.
The study concludes that further research is needed to validate the findings.

Synthesis

The "Learn and Play" educational mobile app enhances preschool learning using
digital technology. Chapter 1 discusses the app's background, highlighting the trend of
using digital games for education. The app features interactive lessons, multimedia, and
gamification to engage children. Research shows such tools boost creativity and
motivation, benefiting early childhood education. The app covers various subjects and
caters to different learning styles, aiming to improve preschoolers' academic
performance and motivation.

Chapter 2 reviews related studies and existing educational apps, laying the
groundwork for "Learn and Play." It cites research showing preschoolers' preference for
tablets and the need for age-appropriate, user-friendly educational apps. Studies
indicate well-designed apps support cognitive development and enhance learning
outcomes. The chapter also stresses the role of parents and educators in choosing and
using these apps. Research shows mobile learning can improve relational and
communication skills through collaborative activities. "Learn and Play" aims to foster
critical thinking, collaboration, and peer support, incorporating educator feedback for
continuous improvement.

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