A Digital Micro-Game Approach to Improve the Learning of Hand-Weaving Art and History

Abstract

This research focuses on the young people and an issue of national handicraft preservation in the form of southern style hand weaving. A game is used in the study on arts and cultures as a learning medium optimized for the young people who play an important role in preserving the traditional handicraft being at the verge of extinction. The “Exploring Na Muen Sri” was developed based on digital micro-game and Person-Artefact-Task model as well as the game production with the purpose of creating the learning media and a simulation containing new knowledge about hand-weaving art and history that is suitable for the young people. The case study was on the weaving history of Na Muen Sri Community located in the southern Thailand. An experiment was conducted with undergraduate students to explore the effectiveness of the proposed approach in the field of cultural study. The results show that the game can effectively enhance players’ cognitive growth along with cultural awareness. It can be concluded that the simulated learning environment created in the digital game enables to bring about comprehension supporting the lifelong learning of hand weaving art and history while simultaneously preserving the local wisdom of hand weaving of fabrics.