Current research in English language teaching reports that there is a tendency towards the use of mobile games and technology. However, there is a lack of research conducted that informs on the implementation of those strategies in high school contexts in Colombia. This article reports a case study aimed at exploring students’ perceptions towards the use of the Serious Game Bethe1Challenge supported with gamified activities, in a high school context during pandemic times. Accordingly, interviews, a pre-test and post-test were implemented and analyzed. It is concluded that participants perceived that Bethe1Challenge is an entertaining, fun, and enjoyable game that increases motivation and improves English learning as reported in the tests. Nonetheless, constraints related to the game were also discovered.

Research studies have demonstrated that students’ sociocultural background influences their learning and engagement processes in classroom activities. Additionally, research studies have shown inconclusive effects of how Serious Games improve students’ engagement. Therefore, this article describes the results of a research study that analyzed, from a sociocultural perspective, the incorporation of the Serious Game (SG) Be (the) 1: Challenge in a classroom setting with forty-seven high school students who live in vulnerable conditions in the Amazonian region of Colombia. A revised version of the Motivation Attitude Knowledge Engagement (MAKE) survey was implemented to inquire students’ engagement with the game, including open-ending questions. Moreover, GLA from a teachers’ dashboard were collected to track students’ achievements and progress during gameplay. Data was analyzed, triangulated, and interpreted through the lenses of the Reflective Play Activity Model (RPAM) to have a better understanding of students’ interactions with the game in the classroom. The main findings reveal that (1) when students developed intrinsic play, their cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement was low, but when they developed extrinsic play, their engagement increased, and (2) GLA serve to predict students’ engagement with a SG in marginalized settings. Additionally, this study refines the RPAM by deepening how this model can occur in face-to-face settings with students who, due to their sociocultural background, do not have access to discuss, construct, exchange, and share information about game features in online environments.

Facebook es una red social de uso masivo en la actualidad. Los avances tecnológicos y su implementación en la educación han permitido que este tipo de redes se conviertan en oportunidades de aprendizaje y no sigan siendo vistas como elementos de distracción (Fewkes & McCabe, 2012). Esta investigación buscó fortalecer el desarrollo de la escritura en inglés mediante el uso de Facebook en los estudiantes de grado décimo de la Institución Educativa Palestina en tiempos de pandemia. Para esto, se implementó una metodología de enfoque cualitativo desde la Investigación Acción, haciendo uso de entrevistas y observación participante. Los resultados sugieren que Facebook permitió el fortalecimiento de los procesos escriturales en inglés, haciendo uso de la multimodalidad, el aprendizaje situado y la cibercultura.