Foreign Language Web-Based Learning by Means of Audiovisual Interactive Activities

Abstract

Online learning has been on an upward trend for many years and is becoming more and more prevalent every day, consistently presenting the less privileged parts of our society with an equal opportunity at education. Unfortunately, though, it seldom takes advantage of the new technologies and capabilities offered by the modern World Wide Web. In this article, we present an interactive online platform that provides users with learning activities for students of English as a foreign language. The platform focuses on using au-diovisual multimedia content and a user experience (UX) centered approach to provide learners with an enhanced learning experience that aims at im-proving their knowledge level while at the same time increasing their en-gagement and motivation to participate in learning. To achieve this, the plat-form uses advanced techniques, such as interactive vocabulary and pronun-ciation assistance, mini-games, embedded media, voice recording, and more. In addition, the platform provides educators with analytics about user en-gagement and performance. In this study, more than 100 young students par-ticipated in a preliminary use of the aforementioned platform and provided feedback concerning their experience. Both the platform’s metrics and the us-er-provided feedback indicated increased engagement and a preference of the participants for interactive audiovisual multimedia-based learning activities.