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Reading skills are crucial as they form the foundation for children’s literacy development in later stages.
Low literacy can result from external stimuli, such as inappropriate learning media and ineffective teaching strategies. Early childhood is marked by rapid development and high receptivity to external stimuli, making suitable games an effective tool for growth.
A team of UGM students has innovated the traditional dakon (Southeast Asian mancala) game by integrating it with Augmented Reality (AR) to create an educational game called Dakdokkonkan.
The team consists of Najla Ega Amalia (Psychology 21), Karita Dwi Oktavia (Vocational College 22), Aditya Ramadhan (Engineering 20), and Anindya Verawati (Psychology 22), under the guidance of Dina Natasari from UGM Vocational College’s DEB Program.
Najla Amalia explained that research has shown that dakon effectively enhances children’s cognitive development, character, and social interaction. The team chose dakon to improve focus through the game’s mechanics, which involve placing seeds into holes.
“There is something new in Dakdokkonkan compared to previous versions: the integration of AR technology. The AR feature provides interactive questions and scorekeeping when the correct answer is given,” Amalia explained.
The AR feature is also designed to capture children’s attention by displaying story characters that can be detected from the storybook. In addition, the application poses questions and records scores based on the correct answers related to the story.
“With AR, we hope that children will keep pace with technological advancements through the appropriate and educational use of applications, thereby supporting their development,” she added.
In addition to enhancing literacy through story comprehension, the game aims to improve children’s focus by integrating the dakon game with a storyline.
“By using traditional games, we hope to preserve them so that they remain familiar to today’s children,” Amalia said.
Dakdokkonkan includes fables set in three different backgrounds. The fables narrate the adventures of two characters on a mission, imparting moral lessons and problem-solving skills through interactive challenges.
Each Dakdokkonkan game package includes a dakon board with seeds, a storybook, a guide, and stickers of story characters that children can place on the board creatively. These stickers also serve as a source of entertainment for children.
The team is collaborating with children’s play communities and education institutions to expand the reach of this educational tool and promote literacy among children.
“Dakdokkonkan is now available on Tokopedia,” Amalia concluded.
Author: Lintang
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Afif