Designing mobile games for engagement and learning

Designing mobile games for engagement and learning

• 1.
  David Parsons –Massey University, New Zealand Krassie Petrova – AUT University, New Zealand International Conference on eLearning Futures (ELC 2011) Auckland, New Zealand 30 November – 1 December 2011
• 2.
   Technicalfeatures alonedo not make a game either engaging or pedagogical  Need to embed both effective gaming experiences and worthwhile learning outcomes into the same application
• 3.
   Augmented reality outdoor mobile learning game for two players  Follows classic linear fiction model  Narrative path is reflected by a physical path • Players navigate to locations and investigate the problem they have to solve
• 4.
   Players haveto gather, analyze and reflect on various (and sometimes conflicting) pieces of information about a mobile phone manufacturing company that is having some problems  Aims to teach higher level skills (analysis, synthesis, critical thinking)
• 5.
   Move around campus User‟s current position User‟s next position  Locations represent parts of the company  Pick up virtual and physical artifacts • Video, questions, documents  Resources unfold problems
• 6.
   Non-zero-sum game • One player does not win at the expense of the other • Both players „win‟ together. • The strategies chosen by each player determine the outcome of the game  Associatedwith each possible outcome of the game is some kind of a payoff
• 7.
   Model of classic linear fiction • “Such a structuring of events may even…be a standard model of human perception …From a position of ignorance the interactor is taken through a learning process that ends in a climax.” The Road not Taken - The Hows and Whys of Interactive Fiction Jonas Heide Smith
• 8.
  Teaser  Game tree Elaboration Conflict Conflict Escalation Escalation Climax Resolution
• 9.
  “the bad pressI have been getting from the daily rag”
• 10.
   “moaning developers… keep talking about fragmentation this and fragmentation that”
• 11.
  “So what ifsome of our products get returned or malfunction, look how many of them are released that are okay!” “A potato is still a potato any way you dress it up, Samantha over at R&D has a lot to answer for!”
• 12.
   “Iwas pushedout by Martin …I leave phone messages and emails constantly but he never gets back to me…the man is impossible.”
• 13.
  “Jimmy dropped apallet of batteries…”
• 14.
   you two have already taken up enough time … What issues have you found with the business and how do you think I can get this place back on top?
• 15.
   Analysis • What does this tell me?  Synthesis • How do these different sources relate to one another?  Critical Thinking • Why am I getting different stories from different people?
• 16.
   Sample of 14 players of the game  7 point Likert scale • „I found the game provided an enjoyable way to learn‟ (average 6.04) • „I felt engaged in the activity of playing the game‟ (average 5.57).  Interview comments: • “...good game ...playing it was awesome... The idea was wonderful…” • “…I liked it because it was a different way to go about solving problems.”
• 17.
   In proceedings of ICITA 2011
• 18.
   Migrate application from Java ME to Android  Build a configuration tool that can be used to customize the application  Perform a a larger evaluation  Create an open source project