Engaging Learners Through Mobile Games: The eMapps.com Project

1. Mobile learning and games- the emapps.com project Geoff Butters CERLIM at Manchester Metropolitan University 1

2. Introduction • Learners in the digital era • Games and mobile technology in learning • the premiss on which to base a project • eMapps.com - a project in the European Union’s Information Society Technologies R&D Programme 2

3. Learners in the digital era • Today’s learners are digitally literate • ‘always on’, mobile, experimental and community oriented • Those born after 1982 are ‘digital natives1’ • grew up with exposure to the internet and mobile devices • stays in contact through SMS, mobile phones, chatrooms and email • simultaneously plays computer games, listens to music and watches television • Older than 25 are ‘digital immigrants1’ • numbers are huge in all age groups (1Marc Prensky, 2001) 3

4. Kids are different today • Operate at ‘twitch speed‘ rather than conventional speed • Parallel processors rather than linear processors • Choose graphics and animation over text • Random accessors of information • Prefer connected to stand-alone • Active not passive • Expect reward for effort • See play as work and work as play • Expect fantasy and reality in equal measure • View technology as life, not a separate activity (Marc Prensky, Digital Game-Based Learning, McGraw-Hill, 2001) 4

5. Kids are different today • Operate at ‘twitch speed‘ rather than conventional speed • Parallel processors rather than linear processors • Choose graphics and animation over text • Random accessors of information • Prefer connected to stand-alone • Active not passive • Expect reward for effort • See play as work and work as play • Expect fantasy and reality in equal measure • View technology as life, not a separate activity (Marc Prensky, Digital Game-Based Learning, McGraw-Hill, 2001) 5

6. Their Space The report 'Their Space' is about a survey of young people's views of ICT. Two quotes from it (joined by me - 'poetic licence'!). " . . . the generation of young people who do not remember life without the instant answers of the internet or the immediate communication of mobile phones." [were] ". . . slightly bemused by our questions. Why would anyone want to ask about computers and mobile phones? Aren't they just part of everyday life?“ http://www.demos.co.uk/files/Their_space_-_web.pdf 6

7. Kids are different today – 2 • Young children spend twice as much on ‘screen time’ as playing outside and as they do reading • Work with multiple sources of information at the same time • (chat, TV, Internet and music) • Use chat and email to keep in touch, conduct multiple conversations • Use computer technology almost as much as television 7

8. Games & mobile technology in learning • Lifelong learning • Constructivist concepts (vs instructivist) • learners actively construct their own understanding of the world • People learn best when they are motivated and entertained • games provide a ‘flow’ experience • playful experimentation to develop understanding of the physical world and our place within it. • Can use location to trigger events - GPS • Draw on contextual content • Personal mobile technology • equip learners with powerful tools for creation and use of content 8

9. Gaming characteristics Motivation, challenge, fantasy, curiosity • Player able to affect outcome of the game • An overriding goal/challenge & sub-goals • Positive and negative outcomes based on player actions • Require mental and/or physical skill • Outcome uncertain at the outset • Player required to develop strategies in order to succeed • Offer multiple paths to success • Players can ultimately overcome most obstacles 9

10. Mobile learning characteristics • Ubiquitous • March 2006, 100% penetration rate for Western Europe: a mobile phone for every person in the population. • Bite sized • in short segments, simple, structured, use media carefully, easy access, often task-based • On demand • time shift: flexibility provided to the learner to access learning in best time and place • audio, video, collaborative learning • Typically blended • used as part of a wider set of learning interventions • NOT e-learning on a phone • Can be location dependent (but doesn’t have to be) 10

11. Mobile devices and games • Mobile devices well suited to structured quizzes and games • delivered as SMS messages asking the user to choose an option and respond, e.g with a deadline • can be delivered with a ‘push’ to WAP-enabled phones • Java-based quizzes/games provide increased potential • can be an effective part of an overall blended approach • Feedback can come from a teacher • using PC to SMS or chat applications for groups • Care needed with costs for the learner • download or connection charge • provide alternative format: e.g. download to PC then ‘sideload’ to a mobile 11

12. eMapps.com Using computer games and mobile technologies in teaching and learning. 12

13. eMapps.com • Research project • Part of the European Union’s Information Society Technologies R&D Programme • Working with schools in the New Member States (NMS) of the EU (those who joined in May 2005)Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary & Slovenia 13

14. eMapps is about . . Capturing ‘digital objects’ . . . . 14

15. Nokia N-Gage Blackberry PDA Mobile phone Specialist consoles e.g. Sudoku Sony PSP Gizmondo Nintendo DS . . . and running mobile applications 15

16. A map-based game • Before the game is played • Digital map with a route, marked with stopping points, and tasks or challenges • When the game is played • Team of 6-8 players, in one of two places • 2 back at base working the game platform • 4-6 out in the field navigating around the map • Solving clues / challenges • Uploading ‘evidence’ and information about the tasks including GPS position • Use chat to communicate 16

17. The map that was the background to the last slide 17

18. Summer School, Nida, Lithuania, 2006 • Primary School Teachers from the eight NMS learning to create online games to be played outdoors, based on navigating around a map, answering clues, solving puzzles and completing challenges 18

19. After teachers played the gamea montage of some of the objects they found 19

20. Handheld mobile devices in the field Pocket PC/Smartphone • with still and video camera • audio recording • runs pocket PC software • with web browser • possibly WiFi wireless connection • uploading capabilities • communication capability GPS device for checking location coordinates 20

21. Children playing the game 21

22. Desktop / game platform back at base - 1 22

23. Desktop / game platform back at base - 2 23

24. so, eMapps . . . • Was a game pupils played • exploring the concept of games in L&T • Teachers were the game designers • with technical help • Live mobile uploading to the ‘desktop’ • with GPS coordinates to a position on map • Some players out in the field, some back at base • Teacher ‘controller’ at base • Incorporated a chat system • for communication between field and base • Took place in the New Member States • i.e. East European countries 24

25. That’s it! Find out more at http://www.emapps.com/index2.html http://www.cerlim.ac.uk/projects/emapps/index.php The acronym expansion ? Motivating Active Participation of Primary Schoolchildren in Digital Online Technologies for Creative Opportunities through Multimedia eMapps.com 25

26. That’s it! Find out more at http://www.emapps.com/index2.html http://www.cerlim.ac.uk/projects/emapps/index.php The acronym expansion ? Motivating Active Participation of Primary Schoolchildren in Digital Online Technologies for Creative Opportunities through Multimedia eMapps.com 26