Mobile Games and Education: Extending the Boundaries

Brett Shelton · Judy Perry · Mark Wagler · Tom Caswell · Josh Sheldon · Jim Mathews · Marion Jensen · Eric Klopfer · Kurt Squire · Victor Lee

Wed., June 09, 3:30–4:30, Inn Wisconsin

Software applications for Global Positioning System (GPS) — enabled mobile computers continue to be of emerging interest within education. Applications such as STEP AR — UbiqGames and ARIS run on handheld GPS receivers and allow instructional designers to create learning experiences based on a person’s physical location. Instead of presenting content sequentially or topically, an instructional game designer can give content contextual relevance with geophysical locations.

We propose to report on exciting developments based on last year’s popular GLS session by highlighting the projects and research taking place at three universities: Utah State, University of Wisconsin Madison, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The following briefly describes each project.

First, two mobile-based research projects at USU will be presented: GeoBob and TwHistory. The GeoBob project extends the idea of WhereIGo by presenting a new development platform that enables a layperson to create hand-held location-based applications for a wide variety of uses. The applications using the GeoBob development platform will be functional for cross platform development and support multiple types of media. The creation of each application is performed through a web-based user interface aimed at casual users without programming experience. TwHistory is a project designed to organize and promote a variety of historical reenactments using Twitter as a tool for computer mediated communication of historical events. Thus far, volunteers and educators have organized reenactments of the Battle of Gettysburg and the Cuban Missile Crisis while other efforts are underway. Presenters will share an iteration of design and development for historical reenactments using Twitter and examine the initial feedback within the paradigm of design-based research.

Secondly, research on mobile technologies for learning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has involved place-based learning, augmented reality, and uses of new media for smartphones. This session includes a synthesis of mobile work done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison through the support of the MacArthur Foundation. Researchers will share lessons learned through involvement with several mobile projects including place based learning games and open mobile design tools.