18
This article was downloaded by: [Thammasat University Libraries] On: 04 October 2014, At: 15:35 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Educational Media International Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/remi20 The use of mobile games in formal and informal learning environments: a review of the literature George Koutromanos a & Lucy Avraamidou b a Faculty of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece b EducationUniversity of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus Published online: 06 Mar 2014. To cite this article: George Koutromanos & Lucy Avraamidou (2014) The use of mobile games in formal and informal learning environments: a review of the literature, Educational Media International, 51:1, 49-65, DOI: 10.1080/09523987.2014.889409 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2014.889409 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

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Page 1: The use of mobile games in formal and informal learning environments: a review of the literature

This article was downloaded by: [Thammasat University Libraries]On: 04 October 2014, At: 15:35Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Educational Media InternationalPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/remi20

The use of mobile games in formaland informal learning environments: areview of the literatureGeorge Koutromanosa & Lucy Avraamidoub

a Faculty of Primary Education, National and KapodistrianUniversity of Athens, Athens, Greeceb EducationUniversity of Nicosia, Nicosia, CyprusPublished online: 06 Mar 2014.

To cite this article: George Koutromanos & Lucy Avraamidou (2014) The use of mobile gamesin formal and informal learning environments: a review of the literature, Educational MediaInternational, 51:1, 49-65, DOI: 10.1080/09523987.2014.889409

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2014.889409

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: The use of mobile games in formal and informal learning environments: a review of the literature

The use of mobile games in formal and informal learningenvironments: a review of the literature

George Koutromanosa* and Lucy Avraamidoub

aFaculty of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens,Greece; bEducation, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus

(Received 21 November 2013; final version received 27 January 2013)

Our purpose in this paper is to review studies that explored the impact of the useof mobile games in both formal and informal learning environments. Through areview of studies on mobile learning that have been published between 2000 and2013, we aim to identify the ways in which researchers used mobile games in avariety of learning environments, and to synthesize current literature about theimpact of the use of mobile games on student achievement and attitudes towardsand learning. We first provide definitions of the constructs “mobile technolo-gies,” “mobile games,” and “informal learning environments.” Following that,we present the outcomes of our analysis by describing the purpose, the contexts,and the findings of each of the studies we reviewed. We then offer generalconclusions that came out of our analysis and we offer some recommendationsfor future research.

Keywords: mobile technologies; games; formal and informal environments

Introduction

Mobile learning has been conceptualized and studied by researchers around theworld, in the past few years, in myriads ways that entail a variety of frameworksand methods. Avraamidou (2013) describes how many researchers have used theterm mobile learning to refer to the learning that takes places through an individual’sinteraction with a mobile device. A few other researchers have used the term “aug-mented” learning to refer to the method where information is made available ondemand and where the environment adapts to the learner. Other researchers haveapplied the term ubiquitous learning to describe some form of simple mobile learn-ing, as for example, a learning environment that can be accessed in various contextsand situations. In this paper, we use the term “mobile learning” to refer to the learn-ing that occurs through interaction with a mobile device. Our purpose in this paperis to review studies that explored the impact of the use of games in mobile devicesin both formal and informal learning environments on student achievement and atti-tudes towards teaching and learning. More narrowly, through a review of studies onmobile learning that have been published between 2000 and 2013, we aim torespond to the following questions: (a) In what ways have researchers used mobilegames in a variety of learning environments to support student learning? (b) What

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

© 2014 International Council for Educational Media

Educational Media International, 2014Vol. 51, No. 1, 49–65, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2014.889409

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does research evidence illustrate about the impact of the use of mobile games onstudent achievement and attitudes towards teaching and learning?

In the sections that follow, we first provide definitions of the constructs “mobiletechnologies,” “mobile games,” and “informal learning environments.” Followingthat, we present the methodology we used to conduct the review of the literature.We then present the outcomes of our analysis by describing the purpose, the con-texts, and the findings of each of the studies we reviewed. We then offer generalconclusions that came out of our analysis and we offer some recommendations forfuture research.

Mobile technologies and mobile games

According to a review about the use of mobile technologies in education, done atthe Futurelab (Naismith, Lonsdale, Vavoula, & Sharples, 2005), mobile wirelessdevices can be used by school teachers for managing their schedules, reviewing stu-dent marks, accessing central school data, attendance reporting, and providingcourse material. More recently, mobile technologies, and particularly mobile games,have been used in a variety of settings, both formal and informal, in support of stu-dent learning. As the Latin origins (mobilis) of the term suggests, mobile learningrefers to learning that is able to move freely. The term has its origins on an essentialaspect of mobile technologies: mobility, which refers to continuous use withoutlimitation of time and location. As defined by Quinn (2000), “mobile learning islearning through mobile computational devices.”

Seppala and Alamaki (2003) summarized the distinctive features of mobile learn-ing in that it takes place at any location, and not necessarily in the classroom, andthat it enables learners to enter an information network by using a portable learningdevice and a wireless network. As summarized by Avraamidou (2008), a review ofthe literature indicates that the use of mobile wireless devices has been one of themain trends in education the past few years (Avraamidou, 2013; Kukulska-Hulme,2005; McGhee & Kozma, 2001). Researchers have argued that these technologieshave the potential to improve efficiency and effectiveness in teaching and learning(Dubendorf, 2003) and to challenge the essence of face-to-face teaching and learning(Kukulska-Hulme, 2005). In examining the benefits of mobile wireless technologiesin education, Kim, Mims, and Holmes (2006) summarized those in the following:(a) mobility, which is associated with the advantage of accessing information any-time, anywhere; (b) information management capacity, which is associated with thedigitization of information and electronic-based management; and (c) beaming capa-bility which allows the sharing of files instantly and in real-time.

The advantages of mobile technologies let many researchers, as described next,to examine the use of mobile games within a various learning environments, bothformal and informal. Mobile games can be defined as “embedded, downloaded, ornetworked games conducted in handled devices” (Jeong & Kim, 2009, p. 290) suchas personal digital assistants (PDA), portable media players (e.g. iPods), smart-phones, and Tablet PCs (Jeong & Kim, 2009; Quan-yin, Yin, Chengjie, & Rui,2011). The new mobile devices have a wide range of connectivity features, includ-ing infrared, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 4G. In recent years, mobile games have gainedincreasing attention compared to other gaming platforms such as console, PC, andarcade games. The reason for the rapid growth of mobile games is the mobility,accessibility, networkability, and simplicity of the mobile devices. These games can

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be played anytime and anywhere (Jeong & Kim, 2009; Soomro, Ahmad, &Sulaiman, 2013).

Mobile games range from basic (e.g. Tetris) to sophisticated (e.g. 3D games).The first mobile game, the Snake, was embedded in Nokia mobile phone in 1997.Augmented reality games are the latest mobile gaming trend. These games combine“a technology in which the user’s view of the real world is enhanced with virtualobjects that appears to coexist in the same space as real objects” (Santos, Romão,Dias, & Centieiro, 2013, p. 382).

An examination of existing literature shows that there have been quite a fewstudies on the use of mobile games in education (e.g. Boyle, Connolly, Hainey, &Boyle, 2012; Connolly, Boyle, MacArthur, Hainey, & Boyle, 2012; Papastergiou,2009), however, missing remains a thorough review of this existing literature thatsummarizes the findings of these studies and offers conclusions about the use ofmobile games within various learning environments. This paper aims to address thisgap as it synthesizes the findings of existing studies about the use of mobile gamesin education and offers recommendations for future research.

Informal learning environments

In recent years, a number of researchers and institutions around the world haveshown interest in the learning that takes place in informal learning environments(e.g. Museums) or out-of-school settings (e.g. science camps), and which operatesacross a broad range of contexts and disciplines and reaches out to people of all ages(e.g. Aubusson, Griffin & Kearney, 2012; Dillon, 2012; Kisiel, 2012; Kong, Dadney& Tai, 2013; Murmann, & Avraamidou, 2014; Rahm, 2010). The policy statementof the National Association for Research in Science Teaching Ad Hoc Committeeon Informal Science Learning (Dierking, Falk, Rennie, Anderson, & Ellenbogen,2003) describes the broad nature of learning to emphasize value of learning that hap-pens in out-of-school settings:

Learning rarely, if ever, occurs and develops from a single experience. Rather, learningin general, and science learning in particular, is cumulative, emerging over timethrough myriad human experiences, including, but not limited to, experiences in muse-ums, schools, while watching television, reading newspapers and books, conversingwith friends and family, and increasingly frequently, through interactions with theInternet. The experiences children and adults have in these various situations dynami-cally interact to influence the ways individuals construct scientific knowledge, attitudes,behaviors and understanding. In this view, learning is an organic, dynamic, never-end-ing, and quite holistic phenomenon of constructing personal meaning. This broad viewof learning recognizes that much of what people come to know about the world,including the world of science content and process, derives from real world experi-ences within a diversity of appropriate physical and social contexts, motivated by anintrinsic desire to learn. (p. 109)

Museums, after-school programs, and everyday life settings such as the commu-nity and the family environment offer unique educational environments and provideexciting opportunities for learning (Avraamidou, 2013; Falk, 2004; Falk & Dierking,2000; Griffin, 1994; Hein, 1998; Rennie, 1994). It is such reasons that led us toexplore in this paper the idea of the use of mobile games within informal learningenvironments in support of student learning.

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Methodology

As stated earlier, the purpose of this paper is to review studies that explored theimpact of the use of games in mobile devices in both formal and informal learningenvironments on student achievement and attitudes. For the purpose of this review,a literature search was conducted in the following international online bibliographicdatabases: (a) ISI Web of Knowledge, (b) Scopus, (c) ERIC, and (d) EdITLib DigitalLibrary for Information Technology and Education. The time period covered in thissearch was January 2000 (based on the assumptions that the use of mobile games isa new idea and hence there would not be literature available prior to 2000) toAugust 2013.

The search terms that were used in searching the literature were the following:“mobile games and formal and informal learning”; “games and mobile devices”;“iPhone OR Tablet PC and games.” These terms were narrowed down further byfocusing on studies that: (a) included empirical evidence relating to the effects ofuse of games in mobile devices in formal and/or informal learning environments; (b)focused in primary and secondary education; (c) were published in refereed aca-demic journals; and (d) the games that used in studies were designed specificallywith a learning objective. Using these four criteria, 11 papers met the criteria forinclusion in the review presented in this paper. These selected papers are presentedin Table 1 in terms of: name of authors; the main aims/objectives of study; the nameof the game(s) and brief description of them; the research design; the sample, thedevice types; and the learning environments and major findings.

Review of studies on mobile games

In our analysis of the studies on the use of mobile games in support of student learn-ing within formal and informal environments, various important findings wererevealed. Researchers have used a variety of mobile games, in a variety of environ-ments, and for a variety of purposes. Some researchers report findings that provideevidence of the impact of the use of mobile games on students’ learning, on thedevelopment of students’ skills, and others on students’ attitudes towards learning.Below, we summarize the findings of these studies, also presented in Table 1.

One of the papers looked at how mobile games can be designed specifically foroutdoors learning. In this study, Facer et al. (2004) investigated whether the combi-nation of different futures of mobile and games technologies could encourage thedevelopment of children’s conceptual understanding of animal behavior and interac-tion with the environment. In this early study, a mobile game was designed, named“Savannah.” Its objective was to enable children to learn about lion behaviorthrough the use of PDAs and global positioning systems (GPSs). The game con-sisted of two related areas of activity. The first, involved the use of GPSs linked toPDAs through which the children “see,” “hear,” and “smell” the world of the Savan-nah as they moved around various zones in the playing field, acting like a pride oflions. The second activity area, the “Den,” was an indoors space where childrencould reflect on how well they had succeeded in the game, develop their strategies,and access resources to support their understanding for surviving as lions in the vir-tual environment. An exploratory study for two days was conducted with twogroups of children of secondary school (five boys and five girls) aged between 11and 12 years. Facer et al. (2004) reported that analyses of their data provided

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Table1.

Previousstudiesthat

used

games

inmobile

devicesin

variousenvironm

ents.

Author(s)

Aim

s/objectives

ofstudy

Nam

eof

thegame(s)/

briefdescription

Research

design

Sam

ple

Device

types

Learning

environm

ents

Findings

Furió

etal.

( 2013b)

Todevelopan

iPhone

game;

toexam

inewhether

the

iPhone

gamehas

betterlearning

outcom

esthan

atraditional

game

Not

mentio

ned/An

iPhone

gamethat

combinesAugmented

Realitywith

video

games

Survey;

acomparativ

estudy

Study

1:150

professionalsin

education,

68%

females

and32%

males;

iPhone

Non

form

al(sum

mer

school)

The

child

ren

achieved

similar

know

ledge

improvem

entsusing

both

theiPhone

gameandthe

traditional

game.The

majority

ofthe

child

renwould

like

toplay

with

the

iPhone

gameagain.

Inadditio

n,they

preferredthe

experience

with

the

iPhone

gameover

thetraditional

one

Study

2:84

child

ren

rangingin

agefrom

8to

10yearsold

Furió

etal.

( 2013a)

Tocompare

which

device

(iPhone

orTablet

PC)was

better

suitedforfunand

learning;to

determ

ineifchild

ren

acquired

new

know

ledgeafter

playingthegame

Not

mentio

ned/A

mobile

ARgamefor

learning

aboutthe

water

cycle,water

compositio

n,and

water

pollu

tion.

The

gamewas

developed

foriPhone

andTablet

PCdevices

A comparativ

estudy

79child

renfrom

8to

10yearsold

iPhone

andTablet

PC

Non-formal

(sum

mer

school)

The

differencesof

thedevicesdidnot

influencethe

child

ren’sacquired

know

ledge,

engagement,

satisfaction,

ease

ofuse,or

Augmented

Realityexperience.

How

ever,therewas

only

astatistically

significant

difference

fortheglobal

score

inwhich

theiPhone

was

scored

higher

(Contin

ued)

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Table

1.(Contin

ued).

Author(s)

Aim

s/objectives

ofstudy

Nam

eof

thegame(s)/

briefdescription

Research

design

Sam

ple

Device

types

Learning

environm

ents

Findings

Sánchez

and

Oliv

ares

( 2011)

Toim

plem

enta

series

oflearning

activ

ities

basedon

Mobile

Serious

Gam

esforthe

developm

entof

problem

solvingand

collaborativ

eskillsin

prim

arystudents

Evolutio

n/The

game

consistsof

four

environm

ents,each

relatedto

oneanim

alclass(fishes,

amphibians,reptiles

andbirds),andeach

classhasthree

species:lig

ht,

medium,andheavy

Quasi-

experimental

10eighth-grade

classesfrom

5differentschools

Classmate

mobile

devices

Formal

and

inform

al(m

useum

andzoo)

Studentsin

the

experimentalgroup

achieved

ahigher

perceptio

nof

their

owncollaboratio

nskillsandahigher

scorein

theplan

executiondimension

oftheproblem

solvingcyclethan

didthestudentsin

thenon-equivalent

controlgroup

BuinZ

ooand

Museum/These

are

trivia

games

for

Classmatemobile

devicesthat

guidethe

visitto

azooanda

museum

respectiv

ely,

andwhich

allow

toworkconceptsrelated

tocurricular

content

“Evolutio

nof

species”

Klopfer

etal.

( 2011)

Todesign

and

evaluate

aUbiqG

ame

(casual,mobile

and

educationalgame)

Weatherlin

gs/Itisa

gamedesigned

togo

alongwith

amore

traditional

curriculum

uniton

weather

and

clim

ateto

help

studentsgain

familiarity

with

and

practiceusingskills

relatedto

thosetopics

Survey

20studentsaged

10or

11Mobile

phones

Inform

alStudentswere

engagedby

thegame

andwereinterested

inlearning

more

aboutacadem

iccontenttopics,

specifically

weather

andclim

ate,after

playingthegame

54 G. Koutromanos and L. Avraamidou

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Page 8: The use of mobile games in formal and informal learning environments: a review of the literature

Liaoet

al.

( 2011)

Toexplorethedesign

andthedevelopm

ent

ofahandheld

pet-

nurturinggamewith

alearning

environm

ent;to

exam

inethe

influenceof

thegame

prototype

MyMy-Mini-Pet/Itis

ahandheld

pet-

nurturinggame

environm

ent,in

which

studentslearn

with

ananim

allearning

companion,

theirMy-Mini-Pet

Pre-postand

delaytests,

observations,

interviews

Nine10-year-old

fourth-grade

students

PDA

Formal

The

results

show

edthat

theuseof

the

My-Mini-Pet

inPDA

device

canproduce

positiv

elearning

outcom

esandengage

studentsin

learning

activ

ities.Moreover,

students’attention

was

attractedand

theirdiscussion

betweenpeerswas

highly

stim

ulated

Liu

and

Chu

( 2010)

Toinvestigatehow

ubiquitous

games

influenceEnglish

learning

achievem

ent

andmotivation

throughacontext-

awareubiquitous

learning

environm

ent

HandheldEnglish

LanguageLearning

Organization

(HELLO)/HELLO

helpsstudentsto

engage

inlearning

activ

ities

basedon

theARCSmotivation

theory,involving

variouseducational

strategies,including

ubiquitous

game-

basedlearning,

collaborativ

elearning,andcontext

awarelearning

Quasi-

experimental

64seventhgrade

students,13

or14

yearsof

age,and3

high

school

teachers

PDA

phones

Formal

The

results

show

edthat

theexperimental

groupachieved

better

learning

outcom

esinto

theEnglish

learning

and

motivationthan

the

controlgroup

(Contin

ued)

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Table

1.(Contin

ued).

Author(s)

Aim

s/objectives

ofstudy

Nam

eof

thegame(s)/

briefdescription

Research

design

Sam

ple

Device

types

Learning

environm

ents

Findings

Akkerman

etal.

( 2009)

Amobile

and

multim

edia

game

designed

forHistory

educationwas

analyzed

interm

sof

how

itisdesigned

andhow

itwas

appliedas

anarrative

learning

environm

ent

Frequency

1550/

Thisgamewas

based

inAmsterdam

and

taught

playersthe

historyof

that

particular

area

Observatio

ns,

group

interview,

logs,etc.

216studentsranged

inagefrom

12to

16yearsold

UMTS/

GPS

phones

Inform

alAccording

toAkkerman

etal

( 2009)

“these

types

ofstorificatio

nprocessesdifferently

affected

students’

engagement.

Participatingin

the

storyevoked

high

activ

ityin

thegame

butless

awarenessof

thewhole

story,

whereas

constructin

gthestorytriggered

awarenessof

the

whole

story.

Com

paredto

receivingthestory,

both

thesetypes

positiv

elyaffected

theengagementof

thestudentsbeing

activ

eandmotivated

during

thegame”

(p.

449)

Huizenga

etal.

( 2009)

Toinvestigatethe

effectsof

amobile

city

gamein

term

sof

pupilengagementin

thegame,historical

Frequency

1550/

Thisgamewas

based

inAmsterdam

and

taught

playersthe

Quasi-

experimental

458pupilsranged

inagefrom

12to

16yearsold

UMTS/

GPS

phones

Formal

and

inform

alPupils

who

played

thegamereported

moreengagement

andknow

ledgeabout

medievalAmsterdam

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know

ledge,and

motivationfor

History

ingeneral

andthetopicof

the

MiddleAgesin

particular

historyof

that

particular

area

comparedto

theones

who

received

regular

projectbased

instruction.

Inadditio

n,no

significant

differenceswere

foundbetweenthe

twogroups

with

respectto

motivation

forHistory

orthe

MiddleAges

Lim

and

Wang

( 2005)

Todescribe

the

trialin

gof

anew

form

ofcooperative

learning

strategy,in

theform

ofagame

know

nas

EcoRangers

EcoRangers/Itisa

multi-player

game

designed

torunon

mobile

phones.Itis

designed

tohelp

studentspractice

skillsof

relevanceto

thesocial

studies

syllabusforGrades9

and10

Trial

50Grade

9students

from

Secondary

Schools

Mobile

phones

Formal

and

inform

alStudentsgave

apositiv

efeedback

aboutthe

EcoRangers

game

The

collaboratio

nbetweenstudents

helped

them

learnnot

only

inthe

educationalworld

but

also

social

situations

aswell

Klopfer

etal.

( 2004)

Tocompare

Palm

andwearable

computers

for

participatory

simulations

Virus/An

epidem

iological

simulation

Experim

ental

Twohigh

schools

(one

public

N=71

infour

classes,andone

privateN=117

studentsin

six

classes)

were

selected

forthe

Mobile

phones

Formal

Thisstudyshow

edthat

Participatory

Sim

ulations

onPalms

andTag-based

simulations

managed

toengage

equally

students’

LLAP/A

simulation

ofMendeliangenetic

inheritance

(Contin

ued)

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Table

1.(Contin

ued).

Author(s)

Aim

s/objectives

ofstudy

Nam

eof

thegame(s)/

briefdescription

Research

design

Sam

ple

Device

types

Learning

environm

ents

Findings

LLAP,while

one

(private

N=82

studentsin

five

classes)

middle

school

was

selected

fortheVirus

game.

collaboratio

nin

acomplex

problem-

solvingtask

Facer

etal.

( 2004)

Toexam

inewhether

thecombinatio

nof

differentfeatures

ofmobile

andgames

technologies

could

encouragethe

developm

entof

child

ren’sconceptual

understandingof

anim

albehavior

and

interactionwith

the

environm

ent

Savannah/Itis

designed

toencouragethe

developm

entof

child

ren’sconceptual

understandingof

anim

albehavior

Exploratory

study

10child

renaged

between11

and12

years

GPSs,

PDAs

Formal

Studentsfeltthat

they

wereactually

experiencing

the

game.In

additio

n,they

wereidentifying

with

theirnew

roles

aslio

nswhich

they

foundhighly

engaging

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evidence that suggest that the 10 students felt that they were actually experiencingthe game. In addition, they were identifying with their new roles as lions which theyfound highly engaging.

Other researchers reported findings on studies that used mobiles devices in loca-tion-based games, which are designed to play in public spaces like streets and muse-ums. In the first study, Akkerman, Admiraal, and Huizenga (2009) analyzed amobile and multimedia game for History education called Frequency 1550 in termsof how it is designed and how it was applied as a narrative learning environment.Frequency 1550 is a mobile city game that uses UMTS/GPS phones to let studentsof the secondary schools actively learn about by walking around and playing inAmsterdam’s city center. This game was played for one day in groups by 216 stu-dents. Results indicated that students participated in three types of storification:receiving, constructing, and participating in the story. According to Akkerman et al.(2009)

these types of storification processes differently affected students’ engagement. Partici-pating in the story evoked high activity in the game but less awareness of the wholestory, whereas constructing the story triggered awareness of the whole story. Comparedto receiving the story, both these types positively affected the engagement of the stu-dents being active and motivated during the game. (p. 449)

This finding is important as it points to the implications of the story-line design andhow those impact student engagement.

In the second study, Huizenga, Admiraal, Akkerman, and ten Dam (2009) exam-ined the effects of Frequency 1550 game, on 458 pupil’s engagement in the game,historical knowledge, and motivation for History in general and the topic of theMiddle Ages in particular. This quasi-experimental study used pupils from 20 clas-ses from five schools. The students in 10 of the classes played the Frequency 1550game (Experimental group) with the aid of mobile smart phones, video phones, andGPS technology. The pupils in the other 10 classes received a regular, project-basedlesson series (Control group). This study showed that students who played the gamereported more engagement and knowledge about medieval Amsterdam compared tothe ones who received regular project based instruction.

In a related study, Sánchez and Olivares (2011) investigated the hypothesis thatMobile Serious Games (MSG)-based learning activities can contribute to the devel-opment of problem-solving and collaboration skills, the improvement of perceptionsof science, and increasing the motivation for learning among primary education stu-dents. In their study, three MSG (Evolution, Museum, and BuinZoo) were designedand developed for use in Classmate mobile devices. In addition, a series of MSG-based learning activities were designed. These games and learning activities wererelated to the content of the science curriculum for eighth grade Chilean education.A quasi-experimental design was used. The sample of this study was made up of 10eighth-grade classes from five different schools, with two eighth-grade classes fromeach school. The study lasted for three months where the students in the experimen-tal group carried out multiple MSG-based learning activities in formal and informalenvironment (e.g. Museum). The results showed that using MSG-based learningactivities students could achieve a higher perception of their own collaboration skillsand a higher score in the plan execution dimension of the problem-solving cyclethan non-using gaming method.

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Moreover, a study by Liao, Chen, Cheng, Chen, and Chan (2011) explored thedesign and the development of a handled pet-nurturing learning game entitled theMy-Mini-Pet system. This is a game for PDA devices in which students learn withan animal learning companion, their My-Mini-Pet. The game was developed bythree strategies. These were the pet-nurturing strategy, the pet appearance-changingstrategy, and the pet feedback strategy. These strategies aimed students to learn moreabout their pets and to develop their responsibility. In addition, their study examinedthe effectiveness and experiences of the strategies on allowing the student to under-stand arithmetic practices. Nine 10-year-old fourth-grade students (six males andthree females) participated in a pilot study. It took place in the classroom of an ele-mentary school in Taiwan. The results showed that the use of the My-Mini-Pet inPDA device can produce positive learning outcomes and engage students in learningactivities. Moreover, students’ attention was attracted and their discussion betweenpeers was highly stimulated.

A more recent study by Furió, González-Gancedo, Juan, Seguí, and Rando(2013b) also focused on issues concerned with the development and implementationof game that can be delivered with mobile devices. Furió et al. (2013b) conducted astudy with two phases to determine whether an iPhone game has better learning out-comes than a traditional game. In the first phase, they developed an iPhone gameusing the experiential learning theory of Kolb and Gardner’s theory of multiple intel-ligences. The subject of the game was multiculturalism, tolerance, and solidarity. Inthe second phase, a study, with 84 children ranging in age from 8 to 10 years oldwho attended a summer school, was carried out where the iPhone game wascompared to traditional games. The results showed that children achieved similarknowledge improvements using both the iPhone game and the traditional game.Nevertheless, the results of the study indicated that the majority of children wouldlike to play with the iPhone game again, and preferred its experience over thetraditional one.

Two other studies focused on the differences between devices in students’learning. Most specifically, in 2004, Klopfer, Yoon, and Rivas (2004) compared thelearning outcomes of wearable computers and Palm hand-helds (PDAs) using thesame pedagogical strategy of Participatory Simulations. “Participatory Simulationsuse small wearable or hand-held computers to engage participants in simulations thatenable inquiry and experimentation… allowing students to act out the simulationthemselves” (Klopfer et al., 2004, p. 347). Students from two high schools (one pub-lic and one private) played the LLAP, a genetic Participatory Simulation and stu-dents from a private school played the Virus game, an epidemiological simulation.The ages of both groups were from 14 to 16 years old. Within each school, half ofthe students were randomly to play the games to either the wearable computers orPalms in their classrooms. This study showed that Participatory Simulations onPalms and Tag-based simulations managed to engage equally students’ collaborationin a complex problem-solving task. Students felt that their experiences with themobile devices were highly enjoyable and productive. In addition, students believedthat the technology positively impacted their learning. In general, the findings of thisstudy showed that this Palm technology not only motivated students, but also helpedthem to understand the relationship between science and technology.

More recently, Furió, González-Gancedo, Juan, Seguí, and Costa (2013a)developed an educational game for an iPhone and a Tablet PC. This is a mobileAugmented Reality (AR) game for learning about the water cycle, water

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composition, and water pollution. It combined AR mini-games with non-ARmini-games for better gameplay immersion. One of the objectives of their study wasto determine if children acquired new knowledge after playing the game with thetwo devices. Another objective was to compare the effectiveness of the two devices(i.e. iPhone or Tablet PC) on the children regarding the acquired knowledge, satis-faction, and interaction. The main differences between the iPhone and the Tablet PCwere screen size and weight. A comparative study was carried out in a summerschool of a university of Spain with 79 children from 8 to 10 years. Furió et al.(2013a) found that playing with the game very positively affected the learning out-comes of the children. In addition, they found that the differences of the devices didnot influence the children’s acquired knowledge, engagement, satisfaction, ease ofuse, or AR experience. The scores for the two devices and for all the questions werevery high. However, Furió et al. (2013a) found that there was only a statisticallysignificant difference for the global score in which the device of iPhone was scoredhigher. The researchers concluded that games of this kind could be appropriateeducational games and that the mobile device used may not be a decisive factor.

Another game in which students interacted through their devices is “Weather-lings” (Klopfer, Sheldon, Perry, & Chen, 2011) whose content related to weatherand climate. This is a collectible card battle game designed to run on mobile phonesin which players pit their decks of weather-dependent cards against other players’decks. Weatherlings is a genre of mobile, casual and educational game, which iscalled UbiqGames. UbiqGames are

based on casual design, which enables them to fit more easily into the formal schoolsetting by being played in short, frequent bursts throughout the day. In addition, theirbrowser-based nature enables students to utilize the games not only from a widevariety of mobile devices they may carry with them but also from desktop, laptop, ornetbook computers – making access to the games ubiquitous across time and devices.(Klopfer et al., 2011, p. 1)

Klopfer et al. (2011) used Weatherlings in order to explore how students use outsideof class educational games in light of additional distractions on their devices, andhow game design can make those games appealing, educationally useful, and practi-cal. Twenty volunteers, Singaporean students, aged 10 or 11 participated in thisstudy for four days. During these days, students borrowed mobile phones that pro-vided them with anytime, anywhere access to Weatherlings via the mobile browser.The results of this study showed that students were engaged by the game and wereinterested in learning more about academic content topics, specifically weather andclimate, after playing the game.

A study conducted by Liu and Chu (2010) investigated how ubiquitous gamesinfluence English learning achievement and motivation through a context-awareubiquitous learning environment. This study developed an English curriculum byusing a context-aware ubiquitous learning environment called the Handheld EnglishLanguage Learning Organization (HELLO). HELLO aimed to help “students toengage in learning activities based on the ARCS motivation theory, involving vari-ous educational strategies, including ubiquitous game-based learning, collaborativelearning, and context aware learning” (Liu & Chu, 2010, p. 630). A quasi-experi-mental design was used with 64 seventh-grade students, 13 or 14 years of age. Thestudents in the experimental group employed the HELLO to play ubiquitous gamesin which they used PDA phones whereas the students in the control group used a

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non-gaming approach. The results showed that the experimental group achievedbetter learning outcomes into the English learning and motivation than the controlgroup.

In a related study, Lim and Wang (2005) trialed of a new form of cooperativelearning strategy in the form of a game called EcoRangers. This game designed formobile phones and its aim is to help students practice skills of relevance to thesocial studies, specifically through the pedagogical strategy in which students debatean open-ended problem from a variety of perspectives. The trialing was done inthree secondary schools among 50, ninth-grade students. The results of this studyshowed that students gave a positive feedback about the EcoRangers game. Forexample, they thought that the game gave them an understanding of topics taught inboth social studies and geography. In addition, it helped them in their understandingof social studies and to improve their debating skills. Also, gave them the opportu-nity to apply geographical and sociological concepts that they had learned.

Concluding, the findings of the above studies offer useful insights and collec-tively provide evidence to support the claim that the use of games in mobile devicesoffers a range of advantages. Perhaps, the most prevalent finding one can draw fromthe above is how the use of game support student engagement in activities andsupports them in developing positive attitudes toward learning. These are furtherdiscussed in the next section.

Conclusions and recommendations

Our purpose in this paper was to contribute toward the establishment of the use ofmobile games as learning tools in the context of a variety of formal and informallearning environments. Our work in reviewing existing literature on the use ofgames in education contributes to the field of mobile technologies and education inthat unlike existing work on digital games (e.g. Boyle, Connolly, Hainey, & Boyle,2012; Connolly, Boyle, MacArthur, Hainey, & Boyle, 2012; Papastergiou, 2009) itfocuses on an examination of the use of games embedded in mobile technologiesand used in a variety of learning environments.

Based on our review of existing literature on the use of mobile games, a fewinteresting findings have been revealed. First, it became evident that the majority ofthese studies have used mobile games embedded on previous generation technolo-gies instead of tablets or smart phones, which seems to be the most recent trend ineducational settings (e.g. Martin et al., 2011; Wu et al., 2012). These advanced tech-nologies offer a range of advantages over the previous generation technologies, interms of graphics, voice recognition, Internet speed, and touch screens. Second, thereview of existing literature showed that a few researchers have examined the use ofmobile games in the context of formal learning environments, and a few otherswithin the context of informal learning environment. However, we found no studiesthat use these two contexts combined. The combination of formal and informallearning environments has been proposed and argued by researchers as an empower-ing approach to providing quality education (e.g. Toh, So, Seow, Chen, & Looi,2013). Third, the review of the literature illustrate that the majority of studies are sit-uated within the secondary education context, leaving a gap of literature when itcomes to younger students. Fourth, our review of existing literature showed that themajority of these studies were conducted in the context of science and history,leaving a gap of knowledge for other subjects.

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As shown in our review of existing literature, there exists a consensus amongresearchers that mobile games offer a range of advantages. These are summarized inthe following:

� They support student learning and engagement in various ways.� They offer unique and contemporary learning opportunities.� They offer opportunities for hands-on activities.� Story-lines provide opportunities for students for role-playing.� They offer opportunities for teaching within informal learning environments.� They promote collaboration and interaction.� They offer opportunities for understanding the relationship between scienceand technology.

� They offer opportunities for developing various skills such as constructingarguments and debating skills.

Given their sociocultural nature and status, mobile games hold a great potentialfor enhancing motivation, interest, interaction, and engagement. Even though theargument for the use of mobile games as a learning tool in both formal and informallearning environment is compelling, as exemplified in this paper, it raises more ques-tions than answers given that this research area remains largely unexplored. Builtupon this view, we recommend that future research be directed in this area, and spe-cifically toward responding to the following questions: What implications the use ofmobile games holds for learning in both formal and informal learning environments?Put differently, how do mobile-games educational designs look like? What kinds ofcharacteristics do they have? What theories of learning inform the design of mobile-games educational designs? How does the context or the learning environmentinform the design of the mobile games and the educational design? What is the roleof the teacher in the learning environment within which mobile games are used? Inthis paper, we offer a few specific examples of the use of mobile games in a varietyof learning environments. More concrete examples about a variety of concepts andwithin a variety of settings and subjects are needed, in order to construct a morecomprehensive understanding about the use of mobile games in formal and informallearning environments.

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