Ben Bederson, Tak Yeon Lee, June AhnHuman-Computer Interaction Lab

CS / iSchoolUniversity of Maryland

www.cs.umd.edu/~bederson@bederson

BingoHunt: Mobile Ubiquitous Vocabulary Learning

How did you learn vocabulary?

Engagement

• Motivate by:– providing context and meaning– being social– using your body

• Approach– use mobile phones=> look for words in the natural environment

Target: 7-11 year olds (1-5 graders)

bederson

No dictionaries!

Status

• Trials with kids in the lab• Feedback from teachers at Barrie school

• Teachers more enthusiastic than I expected because they saw it as a general tool– Students could act out word– Suggestion to record audio instead of text hint

Potential

• Fits well into existing curriculumAND teaching practices

• Adaptability very important

Limitations• Works best for concrete words

Software Engineering

Mobile App• Higher quality / hardware access• Harder to write / port

Hybrid• We wrote our own container• Many people now using PhoneGap

Key Points

Funded in part by Nokia

Tool that can be repurposed is MUCH more valuable

Tech banned or embraced in classroom? => BOTH

Learn more:www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/bingohunt

Ben Bederson - @bedersonwww.cs.umd.edu/~bederson