Game-based Learning Assessment: Quantifying Educational Efficacy of the EDURINO App

This study evaluates EDURINO, a game-based learning app for children aged 4 to 8 that covers seven subject areas and pairs with an ergonomic stylus intended to support fine motor development. Its primary aim is to quantify the app's educational efficacy through two quantitative studies. In the first, 45 parents rated the app's educational potential using a validated 10-item evaluation index, finding high ratings for meaningful learning and social interactions but weaker ratings for adjustable content. Ratings for learning content were lower among parents with higher educational attainment, while child gender, age, country, and subject area had no significant effect.

The second study surveyed 235 German parents about perceived changes in their children after playing the app, using items adapted from the Brief Early Skills and Support Index and fine motor measures from established developmental inventories. Parents reported significant improvements in behavioural adjustment, cognition and language, fine motor skills, and skills targeted directly by the app, with paired t-tests yielding large effect sizes (Cohen's d between 0.89 and 1.13) against a neutral-response baseline. Reported gains were not moderated by child demographics, and longer play duration correlated positively with several specific skills, such as print recognition and numerical one-to-one correspondence. Parental engagement during play was associated with smaller reported gains in cognitive and targeted-area outcomes.

The authors acknowledge substantial methodological limitations, most notably the reliance on retrospective parent report, the absence of direct child assessment, a small and German-dominated sample, and the lack of a control group. They conclude that the results are promising but preliminary, and that randomised controlled trials and standardised direct measures are needed to establish efficacy definitively.