Mobile Gaming

The Ubiquitous Games (UbiqGames) initiative provides a new paradigm for science education: using mobile simulation games to build foundational understanding of science content and scientific methodology. UbiqGames builds off of our previous work with Participatory Simulations, which created whole-class simulations through PDAs. Guiding principles distilled from these experiences applicable to UbiqBio include: (1) Fostering deep personal engagement through role playing immersion. (2) Engaging students in highly social settings, which encourage multi-player collaborative problem solving. (3) Encouraging active participation and knowledge-building. (4) Providing teachers with a flexible model of implementation. Using the affordances of newer and more ubiquitous devices, UbiqGames are designed to be played in the “interstitial” spaces in schools (between classes, in the library). By making use of this timing, and mobile devices, UbiqGames addresses two key barriers to integrating science games in schools: finding the time in the curriculum to play, and having access to computers to play on. The first game developed on the UbiqGames platform is Weatherlings, a game about weather and climate for middle and high school students. Students playing Weatherlings each have a deck of virtual cards that represent characters (much like battle card games like Pokemon). Players use their mobile web browsers to engage other players in battles, which take place in arenas that represent real geographic locations on particular days. When the players battle each other they are given the location, and the initial weather conditions at that arena. Some of the battle moves are impacted by weather conditions, so players must interpret conditions (in the form of textual data and maps), make predictions and make the best play for the conditions. For example, if the temperature in the next round is predicted to be 76 degrees, then the player may choose a move that works well in conditions over 70 degrees. The first study of Weatherlings took place in a middle school class over a one-week period. Students were given instructions on how to play the game and provided with devices. Three forms of data were collected from this trial: (1) Written responses to survey questions and scientific questions on weather and climate (2) Interviews with students about the ways that they engaged in the game (3) Data on game play collected from the server, including time spent on different activities (i.e. looking at cards, analyzing weather data). Analysis showed engagement by students, novel play patterns, integration of activities, and conceptual changes. The UbiqGames model could facilitate broad use of educational games. As portable web-enabled devices become ubiquitous, teachers will no longer need to rely on class time or extensive school-run hardware to enable 21st century thinking and learning. Instead these tools can be integrated into the curriculum, offering new opportunities to schools, teachers, students, developers and researchers.