This research aimed to use an interactive visual game as a research tool to compare the learning effectiveness of young children using blended interactive visual learning style and digital interactive visual learning style. The educational software program "Dynamic Digital Paradise - Creative Interactive Multimedia Games for Children" developed by the Department of Education of Taipei City Government was modified and adopted as a research tool.
The subjects of the study were 255 young children in 8 classes from 4 affiliated kindergartens of elementary schools in Taipei City. The young children were divided into two groups to use blended interactive visual learning style and digital interactive visual learning style respectively. A quasi-experimental research design was implemented while focus group interviews were also carried out. The teachers who participated in this research conducted participant observations in the classroom environment in which young children were learning through the game to understand how the young children progressed in affective learning.
Key research findings are as follows:
1. Blended interactive visual learning style was found to be clearly more effective than digital interactive visual learning style.
2. The young children showed high interest in learning through the interactive visual game and were able to stay focused during the playing and learning process. In general, learning transfer was found to have occurred in both learning styles. The young children with Blended Interactive Visual Learning style made more progress than those with Digital Interactive Visual Learning style.
3. It was found that these two learning styles allowed the young children to achieve favorable learning results in terms of learning attitude and interpersonal relationships.
4. It was found that the interactive visual game allowed the young children with lower self-confidence, overcaution, retarded development, or even special needs to achieve unparalleled learning effectiveness.
5. It was found that young children's independent learning, school activities of each kindergarten, and teachers' guidance were all correlated to the learning effectiveness of the interactive visual learning style.
6. It is hoped that the relevant recommendations derived from the research findings will be beneficial to game designers, educational authorities, school teachers, and future researchers and can serve as a reference source for promotion of interactive visual education and academic research in the future.