” Hide and Tweet”: A game to teach schoolchildren about spatial technologies (original) (raw)
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Location-based games with smartphones – developing a toolbox for educators
Location-based games for educational purposes provide a link between content and its real-life relevance in a physical environment. The potential of mobile, location-based activities for authentic learning is well known, but the technological and organizational barriers for educational staff still exist. There is a need for easy-to-use tools to facilitate the creation of playful location-based mobile learning activities.Within the MILE project (move-interact-learn-eat), a transdisciplinary team consisting of educational experts in the field of outdoor education, in nutrition and consumer education as well computer scientists developed an authoring system for location-based games, the MILE Designer. This authoring system provides several formats of tasks that can easily be adapted and each task is located intuitively using a simple map as interface. Several tasks are combined to an educational geogame for a native smartphone app. This paper describes the relevant theoretical background and the transdisciplinary development process. The MILE Designer was formatively evaluated in a participatory observation and in focus group discussions. The results of this evaluation process are presented and further educational implications are discussed. Keywords: Location-based game, learning game design model.
The didactic method of digital, game-based learning includes integrating educational content or learning standards into video games with the objective to engage pupils. The method combines instructional content with computer or video games and can be used with all subjects and at all ability levels. Exponents of digital game-based learning argue that it provides learning opportunities which involve learners in interactive teaching and encourages them to take part in the technological society of the 21st century. The necessity of digital, game-based learning arose in the last decades of the 20th century as worldwide improvements in innovation took place. Today's learners live their lives with easy access to technology. This paper discusses the need for, motivation for and adjustment of digital, game-based learning to meet the needs of contemporary and the future generations of learners. Specifically, a game prototype for pupils of 9 to 10 years of age was implemented and evaluated. A simple mathematical game was created to help children practice mathematical skills in a fun, logical, thoughtful, enjoyable, amusing and light-hearted way. The results of the evaluation showed that children were interested in using mobile devices to learn mathematics, and especially the multiplication table. During the study, children tried both to achieve positive results and enjoyed the game. Our findings indicate that using mobile-based games encourages a positive mental outlook in pupils toward mathematics, ensures their dynamic, noteworthy participation and supports the acquisition of mathematical knowledge.
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Proceedings of E-Learn 2002, 2002
We coined the term "mobile lessons" for lessons held outside of "artificial" environments as classrooms. During these lessons, all actors are mobile and must move to do the required tasks. Themes tackled in such lessons may be as varied as geography, history, ecology, dialects in linguistics... Mobile lessons are not a new teaching strategy, but new mobile devices may render it more efficient and more attractive. The aim is to place students in conditions germane to the ones in which experts work. We implemented in Java a software for creating and using mobile lessons and for monitoring students on the field. Contents and questions are in XML. Using this software, teachers of a high school in Sardinia (Italy) developed and experimented a mobile lesson on the archaeological site of Nora. Under the light of this experiment, a wireless, distributed and more sophisticated version of the software is under development.
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The contribution aims at corroborating location-based mobile games as models for the integration of digital technologies in the educational field. They demonstrated to be valid alternatives to formal education in the applied research project: Play Design!, which addressed to high school students, interested in design-related matters, and intends to valorise the Italian design culture, transforming Milan into the stage of a double-sided story. Design is here highlighted both as a cultural heritage and a discipline, inducing the development of two different games sharing a common didactic aim: D.Hunt and D.Learn. The first one is a mobile treasure hunt illustrating the excellences of the creative production of the country, and the renowned protagonists and places of Italy-and Milan-based design: a cultural background to be preserved and valorised. The second one, instead, is a roleplay, cooperative and competitive game which depicts the city as a hub for schools and universities, where design is considered a subject for didactic courses, a combination of theories and practices to be transmitted and implemented. Then, the two mobile, location-based serious games exploit this copious and multifaceted material for evident learning purposes, joining the examples of informal education to increasingly follow in future technology developments.
DizRedondo – Mobile Applications for a Better Education
: Having in mind the evolution of technology inside classrooms and the proximity that is increasing between young students and technology environment, it is clear the need to build tools that promote learning, appealing to new technology.This paper highlights not only the development of the multiplatform but also the development of the mobile application “DizRedondo”. “DizRedondo” appeared from the original and successful mobile application – “Diz3”. “Diz3” has been a success in the Portuguese schools. It is an application built to evaluate primary school students’ mental skill and test, in a playful way, the knowledge acquired. The principal goal is to address and explore the syllabus of the primary school recommended by the Portuguese Ministry of Education. Those subjects are adjust to the local and regional location. It is also an objective of this application that students not only be aware of the importance of the surroundings in which they live in but also learn that from different knowledge and from everyday life so that understanding is meaningful. To sum up, this paper is formed by the introduction, the objectives, the description of the project that will be developed, the methodology, the explanation of the technology and the development of the multiplatform “Diz Redondo”, the results, the suggestions for future work and the conclusions of the project.
Location-Based Games Enhancing Education: Design and Implementation Lessons Learnt
ATINER CONFERENCE PAPER SERIES No: EDU2014-0980
Location-based games supported by a mobile technology seem to be promising tool for facilitating situated learning and enhancing cognitive and sensory engagement. The objectives of this paper are to provide a deep insight into process of development and implementation of educational location-based game, and to bring recommendations for such games’ designers and educators. We created “Veltrusy: Treasure Island” the game providing an adventure educational experience in the location of chateau park Veltrusy. The Android application is freely available for its visitors but primarily it is intended for young children and parents. The story leads them throughout 10 locations in the park and presents cultural and natural heritage through logic riddles and activities demanding users’ interaction with the environment. The educational aim was to provide an understanding of the local specific biotops (protected by NATURA 2000). The paper presents remarks from the process of creation the educational location-based experience and brings the results from its implementation and critical evaluation with two groups of teachers; one group (N=7) of elementary school teachers and second group (N=10) of environmental educators. They tested the final version of the game individually or in pairs, the participant observers recorded all their activities and comments into structured forms. The findings from this study highlight number of practical reflections and recommendations important for successful educational design as well the interaction design. Besides other findings, motivation and situated learning can be enhanced by an interactive story supported by discovery of material cues in location. From the technical point of view, the design need to count with not only one but a group of players and provide them by engaging collaborative activities. Furthermore the on-screen and off-screen activities need to be batched in order to provide an efficient situated learning experience while the off-screen activities should outweigh the on-screen ones.