Experiencing the Past through the Senses: An M-Learning Game at Archaeological Parks

M-learning —the combination of e-learning with mobile technologies— captures the very nature of e-learning by providing users with independence from the constraints of time and location. To exploit the potential of mobile technologies for learning, researchers must define new teaching and learning techniques. The Explore! m-learning system implements an excursion-game technique to help middle school students (ages 11 through 13) acquire historic knowledge while playing in an archaeological park. Traditional visits to such parks tend to generate little interest in young students, especially when they are faced with the ruins of ancient settlements whose current appearance no longer reflects their initial purpose. Explore! is designed to help students learn history while playing a game, thus transforming a visit to an archaeological park into a more complete and culturally rich experience. We structured the game to be like a treasure hunt: it combines the excitement of the chase and solving a mystery with the joy of exploring and discovering a place’s hidden secrets. This type of game is perfectly suited to the archaeological park context. Students can move about freely in such a location; by observing the park and memorizing places, names, and functions, they can use their intelligence and imagination to conjure up how life was once lived. Explore! requires minimal investment because it runs on commercial mobile phones equipped with GPS receivers. Our field studies with several classes of students have shown that Explore! is capable of arousing students’ emotions and stimulating their imagination and curiosity while still keeping them focused on the learning task. The multimedia features of Explore! are designed to make this possible. The game gives students the opportunity to explore 3D reconstructions of historical buildings, objects, and places, and also provides contextual sounds that recreate the historical atmosphere and enhance the overall user experience.