Characteristics of pervasive learning environments in museum contexts

There is no appropriate learning model for pervasive learning environments (PLEs), and museums maintain authenticity at the cost of unmarked information. To address these problems, we present the LieksaMyst PLE developed for Pielinen Museum and we derive a set of characteristics that an effective PLE should meet and which form the basis of a new learning model currently under development. We discuss how the characteristics are addressed in LieksaMyst and present an evaluation of the game component of LieksaMyst. Results indicate that, while some usability issues remain to be resolved, the game was received well by the participants enabling them to immerse themselves in the story and to interact effectively with its virtual characters

Curioscape: A Curiosity-driven Escape Room Board Game

Are you frustrated when a board game has too many rules? Do you want to jump straight into the game and just play? We created Curioscape, an escape room board game that focuses on the idea of whether eliminating a rule book is possible in a board game context. This means players can start the game without having to learn rules or understand how the game works. This paper describes Curioscape’s conception to release, along with the exploration of replicating escape rooms in a smaller space and investigates if we can use curiosity to create meaningful game design choices.SERC CREATE SWaGUR grant, Lennart Nacke’s NSERC Discovery Grant 2018-06576, the Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund 35819 “SURGE—The Stratford User Research and Gameful Experiences Lab,” Mitacs, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada Grant 895-2011- 1014 (IMMERSe)

Critical factors for technology integration in game-based pervasive learning spaces

Pervasive learning is a branch of mobile learning with an emphasis on context-awareness. Pervasive learning spaces (PLSs) create bridges from the real world to the virtual world, allowing the context-sensitive utilization of real-world objects and information in the learning process. Thus far, no model of technology integration for PLSs exists. We present a three-year process during which several game-based PLSs were developed. Based on the development experiences and a series of literature analyses, we present a technology integration model for game-based PLSs. The model meets the requirements of context, pedagogy, and game-design with technology. From these requirements, we derive three critical factors for technology integration in PLSs: 1) context-awareness, 2) available resources, and 3) unobtrusiveness of the technology. The model is discussed and evaluated through applying the model to the development process of LieksaMyst, a game-based PLS for a museum. User perceptions and usability of our games are also evaluated. The model can be utilized by PLS designers and developers for determining which requirements must be considered when integrating technology into a PLS. While the foundations of a technology integration model are now laid, work remains to be done in identifying development and evaluation methods based on the model

On designing a pervasive mobile learning platform

This article presents the features, design and architecture of the Myst pervasive game platform that has been applied in creating pervasive mobile learning games in various contexts such as science festivals and museums in Finland. Based on our experiences with the development, we draw a set of design principles for creating successfully a pervasive game platform that can be easily ported to various contexts. These principles advocate openness, flexibility, interaction models, connections to the outside world, and participatory design of the game content. In the evaluation part we present preliminary results of tests conducted in Finland at the SciFest 2008 festival in Joensuu and at the Museum of Technology in Helsinki. The results suggest that games built with the Myst platform are particularly suitable for children and young adults, and these games motivate players to interact with the environment and help to learn by discovering new things. The Myst platform has clearly potential for similar success in other environments due to easy portability and extensibility

Viable and portable architecture for pervasive learning spaces

A Pervasive Learning Space (PLS) uses context-awareness to link a virtual world with real world objects. We define viability as the extent to which a given PLS can be adapted to different purposes, and portability to be the extent to which a given PLS can be transferred to a new physical context. Heroes of Koskenniska is a game-based PLS combining mobile technology and a wireless sensor network in a forest context to raise the environmental awareness in a Biosphere Reserve in Finland. The game was built upon a screen-based architecture, and our analysis shows that it has higher portability and viability than a selection of related PLSs. The screen-based architecture is highly viable and portable because it is based on the model-view-controller division. Our preliminary observations indicate that the game helps to increase visitor count of the area and to promote interaction between visitors and nature

Where is the answer? The importance of curiosity in pervasive mobile games

ABSTRACT Today games are increasingly recognized not only for their entertainment value, but also for their positive impact on social interaction, educational potential, technical interests, publicity and economical power. A new game genre of pervasive games extends a virtual game world into the real world environment, allowing players to move seamlessly from one to the other. Our research is focused on identifying the elements that are important in a pervasive playful application that can trigger the interest of different individuals towards the reflection and understanding of the knowledge surrounding them. Our findings suggest that stimulating the curiosity of players is one of these key elements, and that it should be considered in the design of serious mobile games with pervasive characteristics, while looking to enrich the informal learning. In addition, mobile phones are well accepted as play tools. These results are based on the feedback given by 45 players of our game entitled SciMyst, which is a mobile adventure game with pervasive and multiplayer characteristics. In SciMyst the player has to solve different types of enigmas, which are based on the information from the real world. The player is required to become familiar with the surroundings in order to succeed, and at the same time s/he is learning from the environment in a playful manner. The game was in action and the data collection took place during SciFest 2007, a science festival in Joensuu, Finland, in March 2007