Presentation for the ACE 2008 Conference at the end of the ARCHIE project (EFRD project), conducted by the Expertise Centre for Digital Media (Hasselt University) and the Gallo-Roman Museum (Province of Limburg).

1. Training Social Learning Skills
by Collaborative Mobile Gaming in Museums
Jolien Schroyen
ACE, December 3-5, 2008
Kris Gabriëls, Kris Luyten, Daniël Teunkens, Karel Robert, Karin Coninx, Eddy Flerackers, Elke Manshoven

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With regard to cultural experiences :
“Traditional museum visits rank among
the top five of ultimate horror for kids”
(Geert Sels, De Standaard, Febuary 27, 2007)

4. Training Social Learning Skills by Collaborative
Mobile Games
Mobile museum guide to :
- stimulate social interaction and interaction with objects
- offer a personalized museum tour and support the learning process

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ARCHIE Framework

6. Learning in museums – contextual model
(Falk & Dierking)
Museum visit = a personal, interactive experience

7. ARCHIE - framework
Mobile museum guides for every specific context-of-use

8. ARCHIE - framework
Mobile museum guides for every specific target group

9. ARCHIE - framework
Mobile museum guides for every specific target group

10. ARCHIE - framework
Mobile museum guides for schoolgroups on a field trip

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Design for Playful Learning

12. How to enrich the museum experience of
youngsters ?
Target group survey of children aged 10 – 14 years old
- Strong need for do (hands-on) activities
- Strongly experience-driven learning style
- Museum as amusement park
- Interests: multimedia, games
- Like to „explore‟
- Group together / competition
Gallo-Roman Museum visitor research (2005)

13. Designing for the target group
- Target group survey
- Brainstorm session
- User evaluations
- Multidisciplinary team:
computer scientists, historians, graphic designers, in close collaboration
with educational staff museum
Providing a playful, interactive and social learning experience

14. Inspired by design principles video games …
- Learn key messages by playing
- Gradually developing skills
- Evocative graphical design

15. Inspired by design principles video games …
- Stimulate group interactions and competition
- „Relive‟ the museum content

16. Playing ARCHIE …

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Evaluation & Results

18. Evaluation
- Extensive user tests :
- Trading game: 68 students
- Farming game: 92 students
- Roman game: 137 students
- Observations/video recordings and logging of user
interactions, followed by questionnaire
- Evaluation of :
- Usability and playability
- Training of social skills (social interaction)
- Training of cognitive skills (interaction with museum environment,
interpretation and observation, …)
- Learning key messages museum narrative

19. Results
- PDA does stimulate social interaction and exploration of
the museum environment
- Supporting the learning experience
- 70-75% answer questions concerning key content correctly
- Differences between school groups
- In search for a stimulating challenge for every target group

20. Conclusion
- Youngsters enthusiastic about medium PDA
- over 90 % like the games (a lot)
- 85-90% say a PDA as a guide throughout the museum makes a
museum visit a lot more fun
- Handheld museum games as a way to increase
attractiveness of museum visits for youngsters

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Future Work

23. jolien.schroyen@uhasselt.be
www.idiscover.be