Mobile educational games for learning Sirah Nabi: development and usability evaluation

Abstract

The pervasive use of the internet and mobile phone among the age group 5 – 17 years old makes learning through these media an attractive proposition. Mobile learning presents a flexible and inventive way of learning as well as the new normal. On the other hand, learning Sirah is an essential part of every Muslim in the world in order to understand what has happened in the past regarding our beloved prophet and to learn from his behaviour and follow his sunnah. However, past studies shown that the traditional learning approach seems dull and not interesting enough. Mobile learning thus offers a new solution in learning the Sirah and similar subjects most students find of low interest and dull. The study used a quantitative approach using survey for data collection; and was divided into two phases: Sirah Game Prototype Design and Usability Evaluation phase. The ADDIE model was adapted as a model to guide instructional design process and development of the Sirah mobile applications with five phases throughout the process. An evaluation model consisted of seven components namely Game Usability, Mobility, Learning Content and Playability, Satisfaction, Efficiency was implemented. The findings suggested that students are highly interested in the use of the games for learning, able to learn Sirah subject in better ways by using the games and learning with games was found as enjoyable way to learn. This study adds more to Islamic digital content and enhances the learning approach for Sirah subject. We hope to contribute more towards Islamic digital content in the future for the benefit of our ummah and community.