UNAIR NEWS – As the largest maritime country in the world, Indonesia has a huge wealth of the sea. Various marine biotas live and breed in the waters of our country. Unfortunately, we have less knowledge about the maritime.

This phenomenon relates to our maritime education in Indonesia which has no method or media to support the learning process with maritime material.  The learning about maritime should have been applied earlier to get optimum result; it is needed to produce maritime-based human resources.

By the phenomenon, four student of Faculty of Fisheries and Marine  (FPK) Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) designed a software game about maritime educational for children through smartphone with android operating system.

Under the guidance of their lecturer, Annur Ahadi Abdillah, S.Pi., M.Si., the four students are Rusdiatin (group leader), Nur Wantika, M. Athoillah Sholahudin, and Shobrina Silmi Qori ‘Tartila, their creation named as  “SNAIL (Snake and Invincible Ladder) Fishieries Education Games: Application of the World Maritime Introduction to Children”.

Their research proposal succeeded to get grant by Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education (Kemenristekdikti) in student creativity program Karsa Cipta (PKM- KC) in 2016.

“We hope that this software not only as the entertainment, but also as the educational tool to gain the knowledge of children about maritime, especially for sea biotas,” Rusdin said

Android-Based

Rusdiatin added that SNAIL is android-based game software that can be played by two persons and more. In the game, players are offered with two different background themes, sea and coral reefs.

Players need to choose character and the number of character that will be played. The characters include clown fish, starfish, jellyfish and crab. After choosing theme and characters will be shown the information about the chosen theme and character.

This game consists of 100 squares with five snakes and five ladders. Each player should roll the dice, when the character (as a game piece) is on the snakes or ladder; it will be showed a question about maritime. When players can answer the question, it allows moving. Though the character is on the snakes, it does not need to slide down.

Meanwhile, when players cannot answer the question, it must stay in ladders and for character on snakes, it must slide down. This game rules same as the regular snake and ladders game (but here use the android software in mobile phone).

According to Rusdiatin, SNAIL has the advantage to provide the learning materials about maritime for children. This game provides not only maritime question, but also the appearance, background and character that can gain the children knowledge about maritime.

“By playing this game, the parents need to be worry and anxious of the children will abandon the school homework like playing other unbenefited game. SNAIL can be used as educative and creative learning media for the children,” Rusdiatin said

Editor: Bambang Bes