Design framework

The design framework structures the design space of location-based mobile games for learning.

Games of this type are characterized by

• the physical space and the objects it contains (e.g. the rooms and exhibits in a museum),
• the technology (e.g. mobile devices, QR/NFC tags, wireless networks etc.),
• the acceptance that these games can support an attractive learning activity,
• the augmentation of the coupling of game, technology and space through the players' active involvement.

The proposed framework is layed out in five axes. These axes cover the main characteristics of these games and help us analyze them.

Joy in these games is employed and a motive for promoting learning. The assumption behind this is based on the close relationship between motivation and learning. The tendency towards play is innate in humans and besides being a form of entertainment it promotes physical and mental activity. The interweaving of learning with playing is a way of enriching the learning process. For occasional players enjoyment along with user-friendliness are important factors. Enjoyment is reflected also in the player's absorption by the game. This can be modelled through flow, presence or involvement.

A second axis concerns the role of context in situated learning. In a situated context meaningful learning is driven by the preexisting knowledge, the tools used, and the objectives of the individual. Learning that is situated in a physical context such as a museum is about interaction with the exhibits and the museum space and even other people or events that happen in the surrounding space. Location based mobile games can support situated learning through following elements:

• observation of the surrounding space and its contents,
• placement of these observation in a context (which can be spatial context, conceptual, thematic, temporal, historical etc.),
• player engagement in processes of decision making and strategy formulation,
• incorporate information or related data about the physical surroundings in way that is embedded in the physical space,
• provision of communication and interaction means such that the game and the gaming equipment can be a channel of communication between the participants.

Designing for learning in games can be done by aiming for construction of meaning. Construction of meaning is a continuous effort to understand relationships (between people, places, events) such that it becomes possible to anticipate where they lead to and to act accordingly“. In a setting for learning it can be used to describe the social construction of knowledge through discourse and reflection.

Interacting with (mobile or not) technology can distract from the experience of playing. This can often be observed in applications for mobile museum guiding. Users of such devices interact less with the exhibits and focus more on the devices. Without the devices users often join to examine the exhibits, while by using a mobile device they tend to examine the contents on the device alone. They can isolate themselves in order to read or listen to the contents provided by the device.

A second issue is in what extend the engagement of a student with a learning activity can lead to knowledge construction. Observation, measurement or similar activities are not sure to lead a student to form hypotheses in order to get answers from observed or measured data. A possible recourse could be the provision of more data or the provision of slight hints in order to nudge students towards discovering relationships.

If we consider play and learning as social experiences, cooperation and competition can be important components of games. A rich experience of social interaction is often enough to raise the interest of players in games that are complicated or poor in terms of interaction. Modern video games have often a strong component of both cooperation and competition. The lack of direct contact between the players is nonetheless a restrain on communication. Location-based mobile games can combine social interaction between the players with rich interaction between players and the game. Support of multiple players can lead for example to targeted search for cooperation partners or to competition that can in turn feed back into the players' motivations and create incentives for the formulation of new strategies.

In this context, starting points that can guide the design are issues such as who are the players, why do they take part in the game, what are the relationships among them and how these relationships affect the game or are affected by the game etc.

The properties of the physical space where a location-based mobile game is staged are factors that shape the game's dynamics. In classical games, e.g. table-top games or video games, players' interactions with objects that do not belong to the game world are minimal. Location-based games incorporate the surrounding space and it becomes part of the game. Properties of space such as dimensions of space, distances between the objects, or distances between the players favor some correlations between objects, concepts, ideas etc. and disfavor others. Physical space is a part of the game. Moreover it is a space where players can act and observe jointly. The players' experience is shaped by factors such as the physical space, the presence of other players in this space, the means that players use to interact with the space, the characteristics of the players' devices, etc.

Location-based mobile games employ mobile devices as a bridge between the physical and digital domains. A digital domain, comprising digital contents and and “enforcing” the game rules, is superimposed on the physical domain, which consists of physical objects and people. A cohesive player experience depends on the cohesion of the game world as a whole, both the physical and digital domains).

Maintaining a cohesive player experience depends, in part, on how well the mediating devices remain in the background of the players' focus. As long as the cohesion is maintained, the players can focus on their in-game objectives. Design failures or device failures lead to unexpected conditions and can break the players' focus. Moreover, content needs to be designed in such a way that it fits well within both the physical and digital domains while being in accord to the considerations laid out in the learning trajectoris.