Nowadays, children dedicate a large portion of their free time to information and communications technology, as well as to various computer games. This is why it is our opinion that using educational computer games in the classroom in order to learn new topics or resume old topics would make the process both interesting and entertaining.
In this master’s thesis, we first examined existing studies and determined the characteristics of frontal instruction. If we wish to use educational computer games in the classroom, it is crucial for the teacher first to make a frontal introduction, next to present the game to the students and then to supervise them whilst they play the game, to give feedback if necessary, and at the end to discuss the experience with the students and to check if they have reached the objectives pursued. If the objectives have not been reached, the teacher is obliged to further explain the topic and to point out what needs to be learned. Because we strive to introduce educational computer games into the classroom, we also examined existing literature on this way of learning and explored the advantages and disadvantages of using games in the education system. Seeing that there is an increasing number of such computer game developers, we also delved into the recommendations on how to create an efficient educational computer game. Furthermore, we considered the specific approaches to teaching students with special needs who attend primary schools with adjusted programs and determined in what way classes should be adjusted, so that all students attain given learning objectives. Moreover, we will review in what way ICT and other teaching aids are used elsewhere around the world for the teaching of children with special needs.
In the empirical part of the master’s thesis, we adopted causal-experimental methods and a qualitative research approach by means of observation and a structured interview. The sample, based on which this study was conducted, was ad hoc: the participants were Grade 6 students of two special needs primary schools. Three computer science teachers who teach in these two schools also participated in the survey. In the classroom, students were presented with an educational computer game, with which they revised and refreshed their knowledge of topics already dealt with during classes (a game on Internet safety).
Whilst conducting this survey we found that the educational computer game did prove to be interesting to the students, who refreshed their knowledge of certain topics and would gladly play another such game in the future. Furthermore, we found that this way of learning was also considered appropriate to their teachers.
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