Combining Physical Activities and Mobile Games to Promote Novel Learning Practices

摘要

Mobile outdoor games can be seen as fertile groundfor conducting novel learning activities that involvechildren in different tasks including physical motion,problem solving, inquiry and collaboration; all thoseare activities that support different cognitive andsocial aspects of learning. Co-design and humancentric design practices have been the focus of currentresearch efforts in the field of educational technologiesbut not as prevalent in mobile games to supportlearning. In our current research we are exploringwhich design methods are appropriate for developinginnovative ways of learning supported by mobilegames. This paper presents all those aspects related tothe design and implementation of a mobile game calledSkattjakt (Treasure Hunt in Swedish). The outcome ofour activities has provided us with valuable results thatcan help us to bridge the gap between learning ininformal and formal settings. Moreover, we believethat involving children in the design process of mobilegames may give us new insights regarding the natureof their learning practices while learning with games.