Journal of Information Technology & Software Engineering
Open Access
ISSN: 2165- 7866
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 2165- 7866
+44 1300 500008
Clara Pereira Coutinho
University of Minho, Portugal
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Inform Tech Softw Eng
The advances in communication technology and its appropriation by students have encouraged teachers and educators to create and deploy innovative pedagogical activities that explore the potential of mobile devices. In this context emerges a new educational paradigm â�?�? the Mobile Learning â�?�? that takes advantage of the flexibility, adaptability and ubiquity of mobile devices that allow students to experience learning environments that go beyond the traditional classroom walls. According to the literature, the Mobile Learning paradigm incorporates and combines a multiplicity of different variables: time, space, learning environment, content, information technology, the mental abilities of the learner and the method. Inside the emerging paradigm of m-learning, arises the so-called location-based mobile experiences, which focuses in the process of gathering information in situ as central to student�?´s learning in a personalized and motivating way. â�?�?Urban Gamesâ�? are location-based mobile experiences that add context to knowledge, whereas the mediation between the game and the user is done through mobile technologies. However, the design and implementation of an Urban Game is not a simple process, since it must take into account several principles and anticipate possible constraints for students. The research presented in this paper was carried out in an effort to understand the importance of mobile location-based games in outdoor education and involved the design, upon a review of literature, of an urban game that relates the advantages of flexibility, ubiquity and interactivity offered by mobile technologies with gaming and learning. The urban game was named â�?�?MobiGeoâ�? and enrolled a group of 173 seventh grade geography students from a basic school in the north of Portugal. The activity was evaluated through the fulfillment of a questionnaire that measured three variables associated with experiencing digital games: motivation, interaction and perceived learning.
Email: ccoutinho@ie.uminho.pt