Medicina: Methods, Models, Strategies

The School of Nursing & Midwifery at Flinders University provides dedicated support for the English language needs of over 500 international students. As part of a strategic plan to deal with communication difficulties among these students, a series of language-learning initiatives are being implemented. One of these is a game called Medicina, which has already undergone the full cycle of development, testing, and release. This game familiarizes students with confusable and common medication names. It also aims to improve phonological awareness through a focus on word form. This chapter discusses the creation of Medicina from inception through to dissemination, detailing the stages, challenges, and lessons learned in the process, in the hope of informing other educators of the level of commitment involved in a digital game-based project.