Hybrid User Evaluation Methodology for Remote Evaluation: Case study of Educational games for children during Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Games learning (G-learning) eases educational process for teachers and learners. In Oman, this technology-based learning makes education more convenient, but its acceptance among students is affected by the students’ awareness of it. The appropriateness of games used by Omani children has yet to be assessed. Furthermore, most of these games were developed and presented in foreign languages, and were following western culture. Meanwhile, usability assessments are generally done face-to-face with participants, but due to COVID-19 pandemic, such method is impracticable. Thus, new approaches must be developed for Human Computer Interaction (HCI), in usability evaluations especially. For assuring sufficient usability evaluation at least, a hybrid methodology comprising combined techniques was proposed in this study. The efficiency, effectiveness, and appeal of this methodology were qualitatively tested by selected experts. The obtained results show that the methodology is successful.