November 25, 2008 9:11 WSPC/RPTEL - J086 00056
Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning
Vol. 3, No. 3 (2008) 275–295
c
© World Scientific Publishing Company &
Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education
PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND PLAYFUL LEARNING
USING MOBILE GAMES
DANIEL SPIKOL∗ and MARCELO MILRAD†
Center for Learning and Knowledge Technologies (CeLeKT)
School of Mathematics and Systems Engineering
Va¨xjo¨ University, Va¨xjo¨, 351 95, Sweden
http://www.celekt.info
∗daniel.spikol@vxu.se
†marcelo.milrad@vxu.se
The combination of informal learning and mobile outdoor games can be seen as a rel-
evant arena for conducting novel learning activities that involve children in different
tasks including physical motion, problem solving, inquiry and collaboration. These are
activities that support different cognitive and social aspects of learning. Co-design and
human centric design practices have been the focus of current research efforts in the field
of educational technologies but not as prevalent in mobile games to support learning. In
our current research we are exploring which design methods are appropriate for devel-
oping innovative ways of learning supported by mobile games. This paper presents all
those aspects related to the design and implementation of a mobile game called Skattjakt
(Treasure Hunt in Swedish). The outcome of our activities has provided us with valuable
results that can help additionally to integrate outside informal learning with more formal
classroom activities. Moreover, we believe that involving children in the design process
of mobile games may give us new insights regarding the nature of their learning practices
while learning with games.
Keywords: Ubiquitous computing; mobile games; informal learning; co-design; digital
maps.
1. Introduction
Current developments in mobile, wireless and positioning technologies combined
with contextual computing are contributing to the advance of new mobile applica-
tions and services. The rapid adoption of sophisticated mobile devices and appli-
cations has created new social tools for people to connect and interact, therefore
changing the ways we communicate and collaborate. These new forms of mobile
communication and collaboration are rapidly being adopted and integrated into
young people’s everyday lives. Multimedia capable mobile phones, MP3 music play-
ers, digital cameras, and GPS devices are merging into single powerful units that
rival the computational power of laptops at a fraction of the cost. One of the main
assumptions we consider as a point of departure for the ideas that guide our work is
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276 D. Spikol & M. Milrad
the fact that in the coming 5 years, whether educators would like it or not, more and
more students will bring these kind of devices into the classroom. Mobile technolo-
gies could be then used to enrich and support innovative ways of learning, shifting
the focus away from the computer screen to other places of interest. Rogers and
Price (2006) argue that students could use mobile and ubiquitous technologies to
interact with new media in the physical world in totaly different ways compared
to the traditional modes of interacting with digital information at a computer or
exclusively with the physical world. Lankshear and Knoble (2006) claim that many
schools ignore some of these developments and argue that mobile and ubiquitous
technologies and new media might be integrated into current school educational
activities since they are transforming and defining new literacies outside of tradi-
tional education.
One possible way to explore these new literacies is through the use of digi-
tal games. Until recently, the use of computer-based games has struggled to be
taken seriously within the formal educational community. The recent proliferation
of mobile games makes them a fertile ground for the development of new resources
to support learning (Facer et al., 2004). Mobile games can promote children getting
involved in different tasks such as exploration, content generation, collaboration,
problem solving and navigation in space; all these activities can be seen as impor-
tant components that support a wide variety of cognitive and social skills.
It is our belief that the active involvement of young people in co-design and
human centric design practices regarding the development of mobile learning offers
new dimensions and opportunities to explore and promote novel ways of learning.
User and learner centered design practices have been the focus of much research in
educational technologies in recent years. However, far less discussion and effort has
focused on the process of designing innovative educational activities using mobile
games. As mobile technologies are already an integral part of young people’s homes
and social places, we face new problems and issues that pertain to the optimal use of
these technologies to support learning. Therefore, the focus of our current research
can be formulated as follows:
Which design methods are appropriate for developing novel learning activities using
mobile games?
This article presents those aspects related to the design and implementation of
a mobile game called Skattjakt (Treasure Hunt in Swedish). We discuss the results
of the activities we have conducted with 38 young people that played this game in
informal learning settings during 2007. Skattjakt has been conceived and developed
to encourage young people to get physically active by solving a mystery surround-
ing a castle located on the university’s campus. The game is inspired by the ideas
behind treasure hunt activities and the sport of orienteering, a traditional Scan-
dinavian running sport involving navigation with a map and a compass. Initially,
Skattjakt started off when members of the CeLeKT research group had a meeting