Museumvirus: playful learning experience by clementina gentile

a playful and engaging learning experience

master thesis of Maria Clemenza Gentile

a playful and engaging learning experience

Industrial Design Engineering Msc Design For Interaction Delft University of Technology

master thesis of Maria Clemenza Gentile Chair: Elif Ă&#x2013;zcan Vieira, TU Delft Mentor: Walter Aprile, TU Delft External supervisor: Peter Slavenburg, Northernlight Company mentor: Annemieke van Leeuwen, Kunsthal

Contents Abstract

Acknowledgments

1_Learning experience: context and tools Learning with new tools: school Learning and interactivity: museum Kunsthal The design brief

9 15 21 25

2_Playful and engaging learning experience? 29 33 41

Learning experience: the classroom Children, museums and playfulness Different perspectives on learning 3_Framework of playful and engaging experience Building the framework Analysing museum case studies Analysing school case studies

47 51 59

4_Design vision Listing requirements and structuring the experience

5_Idea generation Brainstorming Three ideas Evaluation according to design requirements Feedback from users The choice Tailoring the idea to the framework The three phases

69 71 75 77 81 83 85

6_Museumvirus: the concept Getting to know and access the game Phase 1: Identification Phase 2: Hacking the exhibition Phase 3: Reflecting at school

93 95 99 101

7_Concept evaluation by users User test Conclusions

105 113

8_Kunsthal Museumvirus: final design Concept implementation Recommendations

117 125

9_Appendices 128 130 134 138

1: Context mapping booklet 2: Analyisis matrixes of museum case studies 3: Analysis templates museum case studies 4: Analysis templates school case studies

Abstract selected idea was tailored on the framework of playful and engaging learning experience. Museumvirus, the final concept, is an educational game for children (10-14 years old). Children identify themselves with 4 different virus profiles based on 4 learning types and try to hack the system of the exhibition to discover secret information. The game is structured in three phases: a preparation phase,happening at school, in which children, through an online game, create groups based on the virus profiles. An â&#x20AC;&#x153;hacking sessionâ&#x20AC;? in the museum, where each virus group needs to decode with coloured lenses 10 questions and look for the answers in the exhibition. The answer will form a secret code to access the third and last part, which takes place back at school. Children have to complete an interactive story, using all the information they gathered in the exhibition. The concept was tested with a classroom of a secondary international school and adjusted for the final real implementation in Kunsthal.

This report is meant to document a graduation project aiming to design a playful and engaging learning experience for children. The project has been developed and fully implemented for Kunsthal, the art gallery in Rotterdam. The exhibition Mummies! was used as a case study for this project. Kunsthal expressed the need of bridging the gap between the school and the museum with a game which could link the two educational contexts in a unique playful learning experience. The project was based on a experience driven design approach. A framework of playful and engaging learning experience was built. The framework served as an analytical tool to analyse current learning experiences in museums and schools and to envision an intended learning experience for the design phase. Beside that, a general analysis about the involved parts (museum and school) and the addressed users (children and teachers) was conducted in order to list a set of design requirements. These requirements were used for the idea selection, together with the feedback received by users . The

Aknowledgments designer. Tineke Kloosterhof from the Rotterdam International Secondary School, who let me steal precious hours of her lessons to perform user tests. Fabio Baldo, the photographer during the user tests. Thank you for the fresh and delicate perspectives you gave to the pictures. Peter Slavenburg and the Northernlight crew, for the guidance and the wise advices. All the children involved in the project, for their sharp comments, their punctual feedback and their bright smiles. Beside the working team, I would like to thank all the people that were not directly involved in the project, but got the virus â&#x20AC;&#x153;infectionâ&#x20AC;? being constantly close to me. Francesco, for being there. Always. Giulia e Cecco, for being my cheerful and warm family here. Edo, Simone, Marco, Nesli, Sara and all my friends, for being not bored of me speaking all the time about mummies, museums, children and viruses. And thank you cold and rainy dutch summer, for obliging me to stay home and work.

Playfulness and engagement were the keywords not only for the theoretical framework of this project, but also for its design process. Despite the hard work and the complexity of the project, it was fun and highly engaging to design this game together with the people who helped and guided me. I would like to mention some of them, my main reference points in these six months. Annemieke van Leeuwen, who trusted me from the start, from the first phone call among an enthusiastic italian designer (me) and a sparkling and energetic Kunsthal girl (Mixte). Thank you for all your amazing inputs and contributions to this project. Mirjiam van der Ham and Eva van Diggelen, who worked incredibly hard and good on all the contents of the game and with whom I shared the cold working spaces at Kunsthal. Elif Ozcan Vieira, my chair, who was patiently guiding and canalizing the stream of my enthusiasm towards a structured and concrete result. Thank you for your support and for your smiles. Peter Remmerswaal, the programmer of the game, who had the patience and the will to work with a confusing-and-still-student-

1 Learning experience: contexts and tools

between the school and the museum with a game which could link the two educational contexts in a unique learning experience. The interactive white board was envisioned since the first stage of the project as a potential medium and tool for this experience.

The starting point and main aim of the project was to design a playful and engaging learning experience for children. Therefore different contexts related to different learning practices have been taken into account (school, home, educational institutions) and the museum was chosen as main reference context for this project. Museums indeed are aiming to provide a learning experience in a more informal and playful way than in other educational institutions. In this context it would therefore been easier to think and develop a learning experience tailored to the concepts of playfulness and engagement. The project has been proposed to different museums in the Netherlands. Kunsthal, the art gallery in Rotterdam, showed its interest in the project. Since they feature at least one exhibition per year specifically targeted at children and since these exhibitions are mainly visited by school classes, they expressed the need of bridging the gap

The project was developed together with the Amsterdam based design office Northernlight. This office has worked for a long time already in the field of exhibit design and recently also in what they call â&#x20AC;&#x153;digital experiencesâ&#x20AC;?, that is to say experiences which make use of new technologies, adding a layer of storytelling and gaming to the real world and going beyond the physical space. In the following chapter the general learning contexts (school and museum) will be analysed in their current state of art. Moreover the brief of the project will be explained.

Interactive white board in use by a teacher

learning with new tools: school 1.1 In this sense, the IWBs should foster flexibility in teaching and a rich learning environment, making teaching and learning more interesting. Nonetheless the actual use of this device is different from the expected one: most of the schools have an ICT policy plan, but only 6 out of 10 schools have specifically developed a centralized vision about ICT and IWBs use in the classroom [2]. On the other hand half of the teachers involved in the Kennisnet research [2] expressed the need of having a common set of guidelines about the use of these different tools. Since in the 85% of the secondary schools is up to the teachers to decide if they want to use the interactive white board in their lessons, it is really important to understand the reason why teachers are still reluctant in the adoption of the IWBs.

The school context was analyzed to find and understand the new methods and trends in education and the role of technology in the various education practices. The main focus of the research was restricted to the classroom interactions related to the use of the IWB (interactive white board). From Kennisnet, a dutch organization working to encourage and support the smart and efficient use of ICT (Information and Communication technology) in schools, some data about the use of the IWBs were retrieved. Apparently the use of IWBs is quite spread among dutch schools: more than 90% of both primary and secondary schools have at least one interactive white board within their facilities. The use of Interactive white boards in theory allows, among the other things, the implementation of pictures and video in the lesson. According to the multimedia principle [1], these visuals increase comprehension and simplify the information in a learning context.

According to the Four-in-Balance monitor 2010 by Kennisnet [2] the majority of teachers nowadays base their methodology on a knowledge-transfer approach: their teaching is based on a repetition practice of instructions and pupils are assessed on how much they have learned. In this kind of

schools having:

approach the role of ICT is envisioned mainly for enriching these instructions with images and interactive add-ons. Nonetheless the ICT would have a much more appropriate and fit use in a knowledge-construction teaching method, since the inquiry-based learning approach allows the use of digital simulations and interactive contents to stimulate pupils to reflect and reason. The most common trend now, according to the research led among dutch schools by Kennisnet , is a knowledge-transfer approach, with a limited use of IWBs, even if they predict for the future a more spread use of IWBs associated with knowledge transfer methodologies and, beside that, an extension of the knowledge-construction approach, with a more extensive use of IWBs. Nonetheless it is important to start facilitating and improving the use of this tool in the classroom, understanding the weaknesses of the current system. Nowadays teachers blame the material conditions: the ICT infrastructure and the learning material, whereas school managers blame teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; vision and expertise. The possible solutions envisioned by Kennisnet for this problem are: to guarantee

an ITC policy plan

a centralized vision about the way ICT should be used

teacher deciding whether they should use ICT

teachers: needing a common vision from the school

using computer in class

low: the 46% of the teachers said that they never use IWB during their lessons. Nonetheless when they were asked wether the IWB fitted their teaching methodology, almost the 50% were answering positively and they all agreed on the fact that the IWB use potentially incentives the involvement and the creation of a rich learning environment for children. When they were asked how they were actually using the IWBs, the majority of the teachers indicated the display of digital material and the student interaction with it as the main purposes of use. Speaking about resources, the main source for teacher to find the didactic material is the web, mainly under suggestion of colleagues. Moreover web sites of schools and universities, text books and IWB producers web sites are alternative sources. No one of the teachers interviewed ever looked for a digital resource on a museum web site. Six out of thirteen teachers confirmed that they were modifying and or adapting the resources they download from the web. In the interviews led at the school and in one comment within the online poll, teachers expressed their displeasure about

a more easy and fast access to digital resources for teachers, to help teachers in gaining acceptance of the resources through ownership, to stimulate schools to clarify aims and needs respect to the IWBs, to raise the government awareness about the need of having a set of policies concerning the educational use of ICT. Some teachers were interviewed and a poll was conducted via web [3]to involve as many teachers as possible. 13 teachers from the RISS Wolfert participated to the survey. The poll was meant to investigate the way teachers approach the IWBs in their lessons, the main educational purposes behind their personal use of this tool and the way they find and/or build resources. The results from the poll confirmed the phenomena observed in the research within the classroom environment. Teachers do not have a real guidance from the school: almost 40% of the teachers interviewed did not know about the existence of an ICT (Information and communication technology) policy plan from the school, and only the 15% was aware of such policy plan. The frequency the IWBs are used is pretty

Interactive white board in use by students

1. Iark, R.C., Mayer, R.E. (2008). Applying the multimedia principle. E-learning and the science of instruction (3rd ed, pp. 447-478). San Francis, CA: Pfeiffer.

the availability of resources, the low quality of the free resources, the scarce training they received from the school about the correct use of the IWBs. The teachers pointed out the involvement and the creation of a rich learning environment as the main advantages of using the IWBs for students. As to the teachers themselves, the teaching support and the interactive way of dealing with contents were addressed as the main advantages in the teaching practice. Teachers have different contrasting opinion whether this tool changed their educative role: some of them think that the IWB introduced a new way of teaching, involving more the students and simplifying the tasks of the teacher, whereas other teachers think that it is a surplus in their lesson and that they could easily teach without the IWB The overall picture of the results shows a shift between the expectations of the teachers and of the pupils towards the introduction of this tool in the classroom routine and the effective use of the IWB.

2. Ten Brummelhuis, A., van Amerongen, M. (2010) Four in Balance Monitor 2010. ICT at Dutch schools. ÂŠ Kennisnet, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands 3. https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewfo rm?formkey=dGdac3ZIdG42Ri05bDBCNXp 5ZWRKM1E6MQ

gesture-based installation at the Science museum, London

learning and interactivity: museums 1.2 and pervasive in everyday life, are already quite spread as educational tools: mobiles are used to supply contextual information to engage the visitor and allow them to make connections between objects and ideas, people, places, and institutions; social media provide the museum the possibility to dialogue with visitors in a direct way. Nonetheless, the fact that museums are on social media does not mean they are successful in using these platforms. A research conducted on behalf of MuseumNext and Sumo in April 2011 in the UK [2] showed interesting results about social media usage and museums. According to the findings of this survey social media were found being used by a large part of the population, including people aged over 65. Almost the half of the people interviewed were revealed being followers of some brands on social media platforms, but only the 18% of them was aware of the use of social media by museums and only the 10% of those asked were followers of fan of a museum. These data are relevant considering the fact that 83% of those interviewed stated that they would be more likely to visit an

All cultural and public institutions in the past decades have been facing the need to stay up to date with the latest advancements in the field of technology and media. In the case of museum, they have been trying to make a smart use of technology in order to enhance the museum experience and engage the visitors more and more. The Marcus Institute of Digital Education in the Arts, with its 2010 Horizon report: Museum edition [1], examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in education and interpretation within the museum environment. The six technologies featured in the 2010 Horizon Report: Museum Edition are placed along three adoption horizons that indicate likely time frames for their entrance into mainstream use for museum education and interpretation: the near-term horizon (one year); the mid-term horizon (2-3 years); and the far-term(4-5 years). In the near term horizon, they envisioned the technologies of mobile phones and social media as the most likely to be applied and implemented in the museum experience. Indeed these tools, beside being present

and awards points to users that check in from those and other venues. Users can add “to-do” items related to places they visit, and museum staff can add tips and to do recommendations as well.

exhibition if a friend of them recommended it. In the upcoming 2-3 years, according to the same report [2], they see the possible use of augmented reality and location based services to enhance and enrich the museum visit. In the very restrictive museum space, augmented reality is a powerful tool to enhance the information we perceive with our senses. Many augmented reality examples nowadays are developed in the field of entertainment and marketing, but they are slowly appearing also in the museum context. An example is the augmented reality screen used during the “A Future for the Past” exhibition of Allard Pierson Museum (http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=0UODkvUTnAU). Location-based services offer a number of interesting possibilities to engage in a deeper level of interactivity with visitors. Many museums are already taking advantage of location-based tools and applications. Foursquare (http://foursquare.com), for example, is a mobile application embraced by many museums that determines a user’s location, suggests a list of nearby places,

In the long term horizon gesture-based computing and semantic web are seen as the possible technologies that would be implemented in the museum context. The everyday media and devices we use are more and more towards the development of interfaces based on natural human gestures (from the i-Phone to the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Kinetic). Gesture-based interfaces and tools may help visitors to more intuitively understand the operational aesthetic of objects, introducing a playful and smooth interaction between the visitors and the exhibits. Rather than being used only in touch screens with interactive contents, the gesture-based technology can open up completely new possibilities in the way of interacting with the exhibits, allowing the virtual manipulation of different elements. A perfect example of how this technology can be applied in this sense is the project of real time hand tracking with a colour glove

model, the project has implemented three different components/tools in the CHIP demonstrator: Artwork Recommender (a Web-based rating dialog for artworks/topics to build a user profile, based on semanticsdriven recommendations), web-based virtual Tour Wizard (a Web-based tool using the user profile to generate semi-automatically personalization virtual museum tours for each user) and PDA-based Mobile Tour (a PDA-based tool to map virtual tours into the physical museum space with constraints; to give guidance to users and to synchronize the user profile on the web and in the PDA).

by 3Gear System (http://www.threegear. com/): a lycra glove allows the camera to track the movements of the hands through a simple colours patchwork, letting the user manipulate virtually elements on the screen. As to the semantic web, the idea behind is that, although online data might be easily available for searching, their meaning is not: making a research through keywords can be very easy, but the searching engine can be really bad at understanding the context in which keywords are used. Semantic searching is currently used primarily to streamline scientific inquiries, allowing researchers to find relevant information without having to deal with apparently similar, but irrelevant, information. The semantic web and its applications can allow museums to virtually re-contextualize collections in a way that is much more meaningful to the museum visitor and offers some promise in resolving issues related to exploiting this rich knowledge. The result of this contextualization will provide visitors with a deeper understanding of collections. An example is the Cultural Heritage Information Presentation (CHIP) project: based on the semantically-enriched data

On the other hand, future does not mean only technology. In the era of Google art project (www.googleartproject.com), museums need also to rethink to the uniqueness of the museum visit, being able to offer a compelling experience, above all for children. Nina Simon (http://museumtwo.tumblr. com/) developed her idea of participatory museum to address the lack of attractiveness of this cultural institution among young people [3]. She worked with different museums and institutions to build

PDA game, Centre of New Enlightenment, Glasgow

1. Johnson, L., Witchey, H., Smith, R., Levine, A., Haywood, K., (2010). The 2010 Horizon Report: Museum Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

exhibitions and educational programs based on a visitor-centred approach. One example is the project â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Ministry of Rulesâ&#x20AC;? (http:// ministryofrules.npugh.co.uk/) in which children were asked to act as if they were inspectors in charge of questioning the rules on which is based a gallery or museum and came up with critics and new proposals. They had to envision and act future scenarios in which the museum staff was not there anymore and they would be able to reinvent the rules of the museum visit. They came up with really creative and out-of-the-box ideas.

2. http://www.museumnext.org/2010/blog/ research-social-media-audiences-and-themuseum 3. http://www.participatorymuseum.org/

Kunsthal, Rotterdam

Kunsthal 1.3 The analysis of the specific features of Kunsthal follows the general analysis about the museum context. The physical building of this cultural institution has already a really strong concept. The Kunsthal was conceived as a square crossed by two paths (fig.1) creating autonomous regions within the building (fig.2): three major exhibition spaces, all of which can function together or separately, and a restaurant area. The ramp of the paths creates a continuous pedestrian circle within the building (fig.3). The whole project is based on the tension between the continuity of the path and the instability of the contrast: there is indeed a high contrast between the different spaces created from the cut of the main square. The building suggests the visitor to have an explorative attitude, stimulated by the inclined planes of the ramps and by the fragmentation of the space. The other remarkable point about the strong identity of this museum is the fact that, being an exhibition gallery rather than a traditional museum, Kunsthal does not own a permanent collection, hosting around 25 temporary exhibitions per year.

Figure1: the two main paths crossing the building

Figure2: exhibition spaces

Figure3: pedestrian path in the Kunsthal building

group of children visiting Kunsthal

This means that also the perception people have of Kunsthal is not related to a specific artist or piece of art, but it is more related to the educational role and cultural offer that the institution is able to provide. Therefore it is really crucial to stress the important educational and cultural role of Kunsthal, promoting new initiatives to enrich the already interesting curriculum of the gallery. In the specific case of children, the education department of Kunsthal offers a range of activities, educational programs and tools for primary and secondary school students and for families. During the visit itself they usually provide booklets with small exercises and questions to trigger childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s curiosity towards the pieces of art they are watching. They try also, when it is possible, to tailor these tools according to the age group the children belong to.

The educational material is usually low-tech not only for reasons of budget, but also because the educators at Kunsthal would not like children to be focused on a smart device rather than enjoying and exploring the exhibition. The main aim of the educational programs is to involve more children in the museum context, giving them the tools to explore, understand and interpret the exhibits. In the exhibitions specifically targeted at children the topic and the exhibits are accurately chosen in order to be aligned to the curriculum children follow at school. The effort to guarantee a support to the educational and learning syllabus of the schools could be even more enhanced, working on the potential role that the institution could play in a broader educative scenario which would link the school activities directly with the museum visit.

the design brief 1.4 The Kunsthal in Rotterdam features at least one exhibition per year specifically targeted at children. These exhibitions are mainly visited by school classes and the main topics are most of the time related to the curriculum children follow at school. For this reason, when Kunsthal has been proposed to develop a playful and engaging learning experience for children, they expressed the need of bridging the gap between the school and the museum with a game which could link the two educational context in a unique learning experience. The interactive white board was envisioned since the first stage of the project as a potential medium and tool for this experience. The experience was therefore meant to be structured in three phases: a preparation in the classroom, a museum visit and a moment of reflection back in the classroom.

Kunsthal asked for a flexible platform which could be able to be reused also for different future exhibitions. Nonetheless, for this specific case, the Mummies! exhibition will be used as case study for the design. Other requirements that the Kunsthal set were that the museum visit should try to be low tech mainly for budget reasons but also because the curator prefers children to be free from devices or technological tools which could easily distract them. The approach to the project was decided to be an experience driven design approach: a general framework of playful and engaging experience would have been built in order to analyse the current situation and guide the design process. Users would have been addressed and involved throughout almost all the phases of the project.

2 Playful and engaging learning experience?

Observational research has been done in a Secondary school in Rotterdam in order to better understand the real use of the Interactive white boards and the way it affects the level of engagement of the students. Two creative session focused on playfulness and museums have been led with the aim of getting useful insights on the way children perceive the museum visit and on what extent they associate it to a playful activity. Literature research has been done to better understand the psychology of children and their approach to formal and informal learning.

This chapter illustrates the different research steps which have been done to understand the dynamics of learning in the classroom and in the museum. Particular attention has been given in this phase to the concepts of playfulness and engagement. The aim of the research was to understand what is a playful and engaging activity for a child and what is now missing in the learning experiences both in the museum and at school. In order to gain empathy with users, different context mapping techniques have been used.

english lesson with the IWB at the Rotterdam International Secondary School

2.1

learning experience: the classroom to the teacher on how to use properly some of the functions of the IWB (scroll, zoom, etc.) . In the maths lesson (pag 30), the teacher was using the IWB to draw trigonometric identities figures, sometimes trying to use the drawing tools of the IWB (circles, compass). Nonetheless the amazement the pupils expressed was a clear symptom of the fact that it was the first time the teacher was using such drawing tools. The students were asked to solve problems at the IWB. One of them asked if he could use â&#x20AC;&#x153;the normal markerâ&#x20AC;? since the pen of the IWB was not working. Beside the lessons observations, a Biology teacher agreed on showing me how she used the IWB in a common lesson. She was saying that she mainly uses IWB to draw graphs and write notes, as she would do with a normal board. Moreover she set up a Wiki-space on line, organized per classes, in which she posts all the contents she uses for the lessons: digital material, videos, articles and virtual lab experiments she finds on specific web sites (Universities and other subject-related web sites) She was frustrated by the fact that she could not

An observational research was led in the Rotterdam international Secondary School. The aim of the research was to understand and analyze the dynamics of the interactions in a classroom using the IWB. Two lessons were observed, an English lesson and a Math lesson. Pictures and videos were taken during the observation, to allow further analysis later on. The observer was also taking notes about remarkable aspects of the interaction. Beside the observational research, pupils and teachers were interviewed about both the actual and potential use of the IWB. During the English lesson (pag 28) the teacher was mainly showing PDF files on the IWB. Sometimes she was underlying words using the pen function of the IWB. The students were underlying on the printed file they had the same notes the teacher was writing on the board. In another case the teacher was asking the student to fill in a tab using the IWB. At the end of the theoretical lesson, they were watching on the IWB a DVD movie about the same educational content they were dealing with in the previous part of the lesson. The students were giving general suggestions

maths lesson at the Rotterdam International Secondary School

are still too naive about the technological capabilities of smart-phones and they mainly see them as a source of distraction or as a threatening tool for cases of bullysm towards teachers or towards peer students. In the observation conducted at the school, they were using mobile phones also to show each other something, to update/ check social networks or to share different contents. They were socializing in age-based groups and the older they were, the more the groups were mixed in terms of gender. The one of social networks is also a hot topic when it comes in school context. The most famous social network, Facebook, is indeed setting up a specific training for educators [2], for them to understand the possibilities of using Facebook with educational purposes and in a school context.

save the notes she writes in the lesson in a digital format which could be easily posted on her Wiki. She was also aware that she was not using all the potentialities of the IWB and she addressed as the main causes for that the lack of time to actually select or prepare fully interactive resources and the scarce training that teacher received about the use of the IWB. She was sure the IWB improved the quality of her lessons and she believed the interactive features of the IWB are engaging and motivating, above all for younger students. A small observation was also led in the recreational area during the break students had. The observer tried to mingle with them and to observe their behaviour being as less obtrusive as possible. Some of the students were then interviewed about their opinion on the use of IWB in the classroom. Most of them were using a mobile phone, a smart-phone or a music player either to communicate or to listen to music. Most of them kept on using the mobile also in the classroom. According to a research led my the Nationale Academie voor Media & Maatschappij [1] on a sample of 120 Dutch schools, educators and school managers

1. Nationale Academie voor Media & Maatschappij. Mobieltjesbeleid op scholen ware chaos Samenvatting onderzoek â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mobieltjes op schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Mei 2011 2. http://facebookforeducators.org/

creative session at ESI, The Hague

2.2

children, museums and playfulness represent a problem for the communication, different international schools, organizations and international families have been contacted in order to find English or Italian speaking children. The target group was 7-14 years old. Two sessions have been planned: one with a heterogeneous group of italian children at the ESI (Ente Scuola Italiana) in The Hague (fig. 3), another one in a international family in Schiedam (fig. 4). In the first session the children were 6: two girls of 6 and 11 years old and four boys of 8, 11 and 13 years old. In the second session the children were one girl of 13 years old and a boy of 10. The two groups were different in terms of background and social class. The students of the Italian school were from socioeconomic high positioned families: they attended private and international schools and they were really acquainted with museums and cultural institutions because their parents use to bring them quite often (the mother of three of the boys was a museum guide as well). In the case of the brother and sister in Schiedam, they came from an average middle class family and they attended public

Research questions: The aim of this qualitative research was to discover which kind of activities are perceived as playful and engaging by children and how do they perceive and experience the museum visit. The research questions were the following: Which experience can be defined engaging and/or playful? Where does it take place? When does it happen? Under which circumstances does it happen? Which are the main factors of engagement? Are they internal or external factors? Are they related to the activity? How they experience the museum visit? Which parts of the visit they like? Which elements they dislike? What are they missing in this experience? Methods: Recruiting participants: Since the language of the researcher could

Dutch schools. Sensitizing: A booklet has been prepared (Appendix 1) to sensitize the children before the session. In the case of the school the researcher would deliver the booklet personally one week before the session, gaining acquaintance with the children beforehand. In the case of the family, the booklet was sent in advance to the house of the children by post. The children were addressed as experts of playfulness: the researcher presented herself as a student who needs their expertise. The booklet consisted in small exercises focused on engagement and playfulness on a daily life base and on an ideal level: children were asked to write on a timeline the most boring and the most exciting moments of their typical day. Then they were asked to specify for the most exciting moment and for the most boring one, why they think it was exciting/ boring, what were they doing, where were they and with whom. In the last part they were asked to describe an ideal exciting and engaging day: how it would be and what would they do.

Figure3: Creative session in the italian school in The Hague

Figure4: Creative session at Natalie and Arthurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home

The third exercise (15 min) consisted in an A3 map with different places (home, school, museum) which they had to evaluate in terms of level of engagement. Also in this case pictures and words were provided in order to trigger their personal associations. In the fourth and last exercise (20 min) the children were asked to focus on the museum: they had to explain the experience they have in the different museum areas (entrance, exhibition space, workshop) represented on a A3 sheet. The research was held in the first case in the Italian School classroom in The Hague; the teacher and one mum were attending the session. In the second case the session was held in the house of the participants where the mother was present as well. The resulting artifacts were in the form of drawings, collages, maps, models, stories, storyboards, plans and expressed memories. This method let the children think about the subject in a different way, which made it possible to find latent knowledge and more specific, latent needs [1]. After each exercise the children were asked to explain their artifacts to the group. Moreover the researcher was asking

Session: The children knew each other in both the session. The researcher introduced herself and briefly the purpose of the session. The creative exercises were meant to elicit intuitive relations of patterns or processes [1] and open the minds of the children by stimulating them to make associations and revive memories. It is an accessible technique since making associations is more easily done with images and words as stickers available. The first exercise was an ice-breaker and consisted in showing different pictures of children with an engaged, excited and involved expression and in letting the participants make in 3 minutes as many drawings as they could of something that brought them in the same mood. All the outcomes were praised for them to understand that, in the exercises, there was no right or wrong answer. For the following exercise (20 min) they were asked to look back at the booklet and to analyse their boring activity: they had to transform it into an engaging activity. A set of pictures and words was provided to them in order to stimulate their associations.

questions in the meanwhile of the creative process, to get more specific and to-thepoint information.

-Going to school is not considered a boring activity a priori. They like learning new things, they like the social aspect of being with their peers and socializing. - It is boring for them when the teacher cannot keep the class and when they are not challenged by the teacher. - They like the introduction of computers in the school environment and they like to learn through computer games. -They are fascinated about the interactive white boards that are now really spread in the Dutch schools. They think is a cool object to use during the lessons, even if they do not think the lesson is more fun with it. - The interactive boards are mainly used as a display of contents. Only in some cases they play games on the boards (e.g. Mastermind) -The home environment is more boring for them, above all if they have no brothers or sisters. -Sports and physical activities are present in the leisure time of most of them. - They are acquainted with computers and computer games. Girls like playing them as much as boys. -They know how to use internet. They mainly use it to research material for school

Results: The data collected in generative sessions are rich and diverse. The data is qualitative and consists of the audio and video recorded session, pictures by the researcher and artifacts created by the participants. According to the paper â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Context mappingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; [2] there is no standard for analysing the information related to these sessions. The data is not meant to support or reject hypotheses, but to find blind spots in the context of product use. A good approach to analyse this sort of data is based on Grounded Theory (Corbin and Strauss, 1990), which means to discover structures in the data instead of using pre-set structures to study the data. The video and audio material was revised and after that the data was searched for interesting indicators: -There is no substantial difference between the way girls and boys perceive fun activities.

Nemo). They also have high expectations about the interactive elements themselves (moving things, projections, intelligent systems) -Some of them took part in some sort of treasure hunt game in the museum, and they thought it was too easy. -The boys who had a museum and art education because of their parents and who are used to go to the museum often are more likely to perceive the museum in a more positive way: it still cannot be defined as a fun activity for them but it is seen as a pleasurable activity.

assignments. They use it also for leisure time and sometimes for other purposes, e.g. Artur (10 y.o.) sold his old toys on the internet. -They are fascinated by products like i-Phone and i-Pad. In most of the cases they know how to use those products and they are familiar at least with one of them. -Their first favourite console seems to be the Wii, the second is the Nintendo DS. -They are familiar with the internet and the older they are (>10) the more likely is they have an account in Facebook or Hyves. The oldest (Natalie, 13) uses the social network on a daily base. -They like stories on different levels, probably according to the need state: storytelling, fantasy games and fantasy realities, role play, movies and books. They are likely to be fans of some character or story they like. -They associate playfulness with a place in the case of indoor playgrounds. -They attend museums mostly with their parents, rarely with their school. Therefore they see it as a family activity in most of the cases. -They associate the interactivity more with natural and science museum (Naturalis,

Conclusions: Which experience can be defined engaging and/or playful? Where does it take place? When does it happen? There is not a specific place or time for children to experience a playful activity. It is more likely to happen when they are in group, with their friends. The only association they have with a physical place is with the outdoor and indoor playgrounds and with theme parks (e.g. Efteling). Those places are indeed completely devoted to

playfulness and to children. Under which circumstances does it happen? The novelty plays a big role in the initial involvement of the child: they are really curious about new things they can explore and learn. Being in a group with peers facilitate the feeling of playfulness, since they tend to associate a pleasurable experience with a collective activity. It is engaging for them also relating external contents to their personal world and life: they like to be addressed and to be asked to express their opinion. Which are the main factors of engagement? Are they internal or external factors? Engagement results to be a mix of internal and external factors: children need to be triggered by something new and stimulating for them, in order for them to be curious about it and to raise their interest. It is also related to the level of effort and they are required to put in an activity and to the level of confidence they gain afterwards. They need to feel challenged in what they are doing. There should be a good balance between what they are capable to do and

what they are asked to do. Are they related to the activity? The activity itself and the way it is structured play a big role in providing the feeling of engagement. There should be a clear goal to reach and there should be a clear path to follow. They need to feel confident about what they are asked to do. Moreover is always nice to have unexpected elements in the activity flow, in order to keep they interest and their curiosity alive. How they experience the museum visit? Which parts of the visit they like? The museum visit is a moment for them to look at new things and to explore a new environment. They like interactivity in the museum, but they associate it more with science and natural museum, not with art museums. They like also hands-on activities in the museum where they can express themselves. Since now the museums are open for birthday celebrations, they associate this area of the museum to some birthday parties they attended. Above all when they are older (>10 y.o.) they like to get information about what they see. The ones who experienced scavenger hunter

1. Panos Markopoulos, Janet C Read, Stuart MacFarlane, Johanna Hoysniemi. Evaluating Children’s Interactive Products: Principles and Practices for Interaction Designers. Elsevier Science & Technology Books 2008 2. Stappers, P.J. Context and conceptualization: reader ID4215. LinkDelft University of Technology, Faculty of Design, Engineering and Production. Delft : TU Delft, 2007

games in the museum expressed positive comments about it. Nonetheless they showed some disappointment for the game being ” too easy”. Which elements they dislike? They do not like when the exhibition takes too long for them without stimulating or entertaining them. They like going with their parents but they prefer going with their friends. They sometimes find unfriendly the employees of the museum and they do not like how they are treated by them. What are they missing in this experience? Some of them expressed their wish to find in the museum experience is some sort of storytelling/role-playing environment. The gaming element is also they would like to find within the museum experience. They also have high expectations about interactive elements which could make the exhibition more intriguing and more alive.

2.3

different perspectives on learning to different media practices. The categories they identified are more related to the genre of participation to those practices. The research of MIT analyzed not only the broad range of gaming practices, but also the way teens used media and public networks to socialize, make friends, engage themselves in creative productions and works. They basically define two main types of participation: the friendship-driven “hanging out” and the interest-driven “geeking out”. Without diving into detailed description of these two categories, it is sufficient for the sake of this analysis to say that both these practice are ruled on a peer based way of learning: peers play a crucial role in determining and assessing status, affiliation and competition. In the case of friendship-driven activities, the knowledge gained refers to social status, norms and rules of social behaviour. In the case of interest-driven groups, kids share knowledge and learn skills about really specific fields. Once the technical knowledge and the skills among the peers of the groups have become a mainstream, each of them compete to differentiate,

From the context mapping research it emerged a picture of education as a complex adult-youth negotiation over literacy, learning and authoritative knowledge. Most of the time this negotiation fails to be successful and both parts, children and educators, end up being frustrated about each other. Another striking finding was the importance of social activities and communication, above all for teens. With the purpose of investigating deeper these important issues, from a psychological and sociological point of view, literature research was led and, among other valuable readings, the MIT research about children and learning with new media was considered the most useful and valid for the purposes of this project. How can we transform education and cultural institutions in order to be closer to the nature of engagement children have with other different media practices? This is one of the research questions the MIT research “Hanging out, messing up, geeking out” is trying to answer, investigating the different approaches that a sample of american teens showed to have in respect

gaining a more and more specialized form of expertise. It is clear how far is this kind of learning from the one kids are used to in standard education, where there is no real differentiation according to the personal skills and capabilities and where the kids are assessed for their work with a view to an uncertain time and a future job, rather than having a validation in terms of status and reputation of what they do hic et nunc. The critic raised to educators by the MIT researchers and similarly by Ken Robinson [2] is the lack of personal growth given to kids in standard education: schools are far from workplaces and kids are forced in agesegregated groups based on standardization of learning practices. The tendency children are showing through engaging and using new media goes in the opposite direction: an interest-driven and self-regulated peer-based way of learning in which knowledge are shared and built together and in which knowledge is the key for social recognition and reputation, becoming therefore representative for status.

The answers they give to the former research question are, for educators: -to embrace the media ecologies of children as a tool to promote social and recreational activities beside the standard curriculum activities; -to promote peer-based learning; -to be able to find, stress and enhance the personal skills and capabilities of their pupils in order to value diversity and allowing them -to gain confidence and recognition in their community of interest; -to be part of the interest-driven groups as contributors.

1. Ito, Mizuko, Sonja Baumer, Matteo Bittanti, Danah Boyd, Rachel Cody, Becky Herr, Heather A. Horst, Patricia G. Lange, Dilan Mahendran, Katynka Martinez, C.J. Pascoe, Dan Perkel, Laura Robinson, Christo Sims, and Lisa Tripp. Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out: Living and Learning with New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2009 2. Ken Robinson, Changing Paradigms, RSA talk (http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U)

3 Framework of playful and engaging learning experience

For this reason a framework was built on the basis of an existing framework of experience and implemented and enriched with features belonging to game design and theories of engagement.

The following chapter focuses on the creation of a framework as both an analytical tool and a guide for the conceptual design phase. Since the chosen design approach was an experience-driven one, the framework represented the most logical and useful starting point of the process: in order to design a playful and engaging learning experience it is important to know how a generic experience is structured and perceived, and which features within the same experience are the keys for playfulness and engagement.

The framework was used in this stage of the design process to analyze existing learning experiences under an engagement and playfulness perspective. Case studies from museum exhibitions and school lessons were taken into account for this analysis.

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building the framework In the framework of experience developed by Wright et al [1], the experience is defined as composed by four inter-twined threads: the compositional thread, related to the structure and to the relation between the parts and the whole; the sensorial thread, linked to the sensory engagement of the user; the emotional thread, which has to do with the emotional response evoked but also with the userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s motivation; the spatio-temporal thread, related to the perception of space and time. Trying to relate each of this thread to the analysis of this project, more specific parameters were identified for each of them, through the use of other diverse sources.

they contribute to structure the experience itself and whether they contribute to achieve the flow. The list of features was built up using different literature and web sources: the book Finding flow of Csikszentmihalyi [2] was useful to understand the basic psychological principles which contribute to the feeling of engagement in everyday life activities; general theories about gamification, to investigate the potential of the use of gamelike thinking, mechanics and dynamics in places that are not traditionally games [3,4,5,6]; The list of parameters is the following: Goals: virtual or physical representations of having accomplished something. Appointments: game dynamics in which at a predetermined times/place a user must log-in or participate in game, for positive effect. Bonuses: a reward after having completed a series of challenges or core functions. Combination of tasks: used often in games to reward skill through doing a combination of things. Community collaboration: work together to

Compositional thread The compositional thread, being the one related to the structure of the experience, was meant to be investigated through the use of storyboards combined with a set of features belonging to the world of game design. This set of features was introduced in order to analyze on what extent features belonging to game design can be translated and applied into a learning experience, how

solve a riddle, a problem or a challenge. Discovery: the players are guided to discover and learn something new. Epic meaning: players are led to believe they are working to achieve something great, something awe-inspiring, something bigger than themselves. Levels: system by which players are rewarded an increasing value for an accumulation of points. Ownership: game dynamic based on giving the player the control over a property. Points: a running numerical value given for any single action or combination of actions. Progression: a dynamic in which success is granularly displayed and measured through the process of completing itemized tasks. Quests: a journey of obstacles a player must overcome, known also as challenges. Customization: the possibility for the player to transform some elements according to personal specifications or individual requirements. Feedback: response of the system to a playerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s action meant to correct, confirm, explain or diagnose the same action. Role-play: the player changes his/her behaviour to act out an adopted role.

Exploration: searching and looking around with the purpose of discover things or information. Surprise: finding or getting through something unexpected Competition: two persons or groups vie on the same goal/task Sensorial thread In order to specify the sensorial thread, the theories of Marco Rozendaal [7] about the relation between richness and engagement were applied. According to this theory, the engagement is related to the visual and behavioural richness provided by the system.The visual richness is identified in the formal features of the system: colours, details, symmetry, diversion. The behavioural richness is the extent a person is able to influence, manipulate and form the content of the system and can be identified as the sum of the following parameters: -Direct feedback of the system -Possibilities of actions offered by the system -Freedom in action of the user -Level of influence of the user

Emotional thread The emotional thread, being the most difficult to analyze and categorize, has been based on the user perception of himself in relation to the system. Moreover the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for the user to interact with the system have been added to the analysis.

Spatio-temporal thread The analysis of the perception of the space and time was extended also to the influences this perception has on the behaviour.

3.Thörnkvist, M.; Walfisz, M.; Paharia, R.; Ryding, P.; Buttfield-Addison, P.; Rosvall Jönsson, B.; Ponnert, S., Gamification: how we can use game mechanics in areas that are not a game, 2011 Media Evolution.

2.Csikszentmihalyi, M., Finding Flow: the psychology of engagement with everyday life, 1997 Basic Books.

4. http://www.slideshare.net/dings/justadd-points-what-ux-can-and-cannot-learnfrom-games 5. http://gamification.org/wiki/Encyclopedia 6.http://janemcgonigal.com/ 7. Rozendaal, M. C. , Designing Engaging Interactions with Digital Products, 2007 PHD thesis, TU Delft

Centre of New Enlightenment, Kelvingrove Art & Galleries Museum Glasgow

Find the future, New York public library

Who am I?, Science Museum London

Atmosphere, Science Museum London

museum case studies

Fortress and Fantasy, Tower of David Jerusalem 50

3.2

analysing museum case studies In order to understand the dynamics and the factors involved in a museum experience and be able to identify the weaknesses and the strengths in terms of playfulness and engagement, a methodology was built up and different case studies were selected among playful and engaging experience with educative and learning purposes.

Washington 12: Science and technology museum, Saudi Arabia 13: The mystery of the Mayan Medallion 14: Who am I?, Science Museum London 15: Atmosphere, Science Museum London 16: Fortress and Fantasy, Tower of David, Jerusalem 17: Kit for invention, Learning centre for study of invention 18: AR Mirror, Singapore Science Centre 19: Science and technology park, Hong Kong 20: Scavenger Hunt,Chicago History museum

The former list was composed by 20 case studies: 01: Shangai Children’s museum 02: Funky forest, interactive installation at CineKid festival 03: “You are the conductor”, Boston Children museum 04: Kiosk, National Museum of History, China 05: Sancai Tour, National Museum of History, China 06: Bubbloo, Denver Art Museum 07: Centre of New Enlightenment, Kelvingrove Art & Galleries Museum Glasgow 08: Find the future, New York public library 09: New York scavenger hunt game 10: Docent tour guide, I-phone application 11: “Portraits alive”, National Portraits Gallery,

Each case study was placed into different matrices in order to find which of them fitted the most the design criteria of the project and was, therefore, a potential model. The design criteria used for the axis of the matrices were the following: Educational-Playful: on this axis it is possible to visualize whether the case study’s aim is for users to learn rather than to enjoy and play; Physical-Digital: on this axis is evaluated

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Moreover the case studies were analysed under a game-design and gamification perspective, in order to understand which features of game design were the most present and common among those case studies (see pag 52).

the level of physical interaction and physical involvement of the user, versus a more digital and virtual experience; Broad target-Narrow target: this axis is meant to analyse how broad is the age group targeted or fit for the case study;

Five case studies (pag 50) were selected according to their position in the matrixes and according to personal preferences with regard to the provided sense of engagement. Each of these five case studies was analysed in a template based on the threads of experience defined in the framework. (A sample of two out of five templates is in the Appendix #3 of this report).

Individual-Group: on this axis is visualized the tendency of the case studyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s activities to be individual or group activities; Low tech-High tech: based on the Horizon report study (see paragraph #1.2), this axis is meant to show the level of technological complexity of the case study; Low richness-High richness: the axis shows the level of behavioural richness (see paragraph #3.1) required from the system of the case study. In each matrixes the white area is the one in which the final outcome of this project aims to be placed. The matrixes are in the Appendix #2 of this report.

to participate to something that would have changed history. A really important aspect of the structure of this experience was the challenge participants had to perform at home in order to be selected: this was a crucial point to raise the expectations of participants, boost their motivation and providing already information about the effective game in the library, letting them arrive already prepared.

The analysis of the different case studies under an experience-driven perspective led to some reflections about the internal and external factors which influence the museum experience and their interrelations. Compositional thread As to the composition and the structure of the experience, in most of the exhibition is composed by sub-parts which are independent from each other and which provide a different sub-experience, like in the case of the exhibitions Who am I? and Atmosphere. Within the case studies analysed further, the only example of experience which is built and conceived as a unique flow is the case of Find the future. In this exhibitions the goal given to the participants is clear and preset and the experience is structured in level in order to reach that goal: subscribe to the challenge in order to be selected, participate to the exciting night in the library, look for objects and perform the challenge related to the objects, write a book together. Moreover it was possible to find in this case the game feature of the epic meaning: people were told they were going

The most common and applied game features were Exploration and Discovery, linked often with small Quests or to Goals to perform. A general observation was that the more the goal is specific and challenging, the less visitors appear to freely explore the exhibition, being focused only on those parts of the exhibition strictly linked to performing the goal-related tasks. Another important game factor, essential for the feeling of involvement and engagement of the user, is the feedback: providing the visitor a real-time response to his/her actions, not necessarily with the purpose of correcting or evaluating them. The feedback can also be a mere confirmation of the system registering the presence of

which the duo are motivated to move from an art piece to another through small quests and challenges. A great influence on the perception of space and time has the visual and behavioural richness (sensorial thread). The higher the visual complexity and the behavioural possibilities are, the more the visitor is going to have an explorative attitude towards the space.

the visitor. In some cases the feedback is given in the form of earning Points (like in the different games and challenges of the exhibition Atmosphere). Nonetheless it was considered more effective in a exhibition context to link the feedback with a specific Discovery or a Surprise, in order to reward also the user with information and with exhibitions contents. In the case study of the exhibition Fortress and Fantasy is evident how they use the surprising setting and the interactive games as a form of final reward and as a feedback of having accomplished correctly the small previous quests.

Emotional thread The challenge of interpreting and building an exhibition using game features lays also in the fact that the failure is not a possibility. You cannot fail in an exhibition, you are not going to spend all the time you have trying to succeed a museum challenge. That is probably why the challenges and tasks have been scaffolded or even scattered, in order to have smaller and more controllable actions and experiences. Another solution is represented by the introduction of personal information as a task: when it is about you and your personal data or opinion, you cannot fail, there is no right or correct answer. By doing this, the museum visit gains also an emotional value,

Spatio-temporal thread The way visitor engage with the space is influenced not only by the physical arrangement of the space, but also by the type of activity and the consequent user behaviour. In a goal-directed and task-driven exploration, the visitor is less likely to wander around and find his own way in the exhibition. It could also be that a wise structure of the tasks lead the visitors to follow a path they do not perceive as a fixed path, as in the case of the Centre of Enlightenment exhibition, in

WHO AM I? Explore the science of who you are

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Sensorial thread The visual and behavioural richness were already mentioned in relation to other threads, since they influence the perception of the space and time in the exhibition, changing the behaviour and the explorative attitude. In a rich experience, the user is more likely to follow free emerging goals rather than being focused on one main task, since there are multiple visual stimuli and behavioural possibilities. Whether the freedom in action and the possibilities influence the perception, the feedback and the level of influence play a big role in the feeling of involvement of the visitor in the exhibition.

since the visitor feels he/she is actively contributing to the exhibition, like in the case of Who am I? and Find the future. Being a meaningful part of the experience was, for some of the case studies, one of the extrinsic motivation for people to attend the exhibition, together with the more common willing to explore and to know new things. It is noticeable how, in the case of Find the Future, the pre-selection that the followers are asked to participate to is a good trick to raise peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s curiosity and expectations towards the event, and therefore to higher their motivation to participate. The intrinsic motivation is tied in most of the cases to the quality of interaction of the different parts composing the experience: the visual and behavioural richness play an important role also on the personal motivation to continue. Within the behavioural richness, the feedback and the level of influence on the system are the most influent factor on visitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s motivation.

math lesson at the Rotterdam International secondary school

3.3

analysing school case studies the teacher, the exploration of the possible answers/solution, the cooperation between peers and between teacher and pupil for the resolution of the problem/quest, the feedback provided mostly by the teacher and a bit of competition between the pupils. It is important to notice that, even if there is a fundament of challenge and a goal oriented activity, the variegate skills of the different pupils are not really taken into account. Moreover the reward is given by the teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appreciation and finally by the grade, but knowledge does not represent a status indicator hic et nunc and does not provide an appropriate positive reinforcement or gratification.

The two different lessons observed were treated as case studies for the classroom experience and were therefore analysed through a template according the framework of playfulness and engagement (see Appendix #4) . Compositional thread The classroom experience is structured according the teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s will. Usually the lesson is divided in a more theoretical explanation of new contents and in a part of assessment in which students have a more active role and in which they are asked of showing their level of preparation on the subject. In this sense the introduction of the IWB did not change the structure of this interaction: it only provided a more flexible tool for teachers to present their lessons, introducing new media (video, wiki pages). As to the students, the IWB allows them to have a more flexible and modern tool for them to show their knowledge, but it did not really change so far the modality in which this knowledge is shown. The game design features present in a lesson are mainly the goal/quest given by

Spatio-temporal thread The time is scheduled and managed within the two main frames described before (explanation phase and assessment phase). When these schema is changed by the teacher either the pupils receive a notice in the previous lesson, or they are unpleasantly surprise by a test . Therefore the lesson is mostly seen as a predictable routine in terms of time. The space is also really structured according a hierarchical principle:

of contents of the lesson itself. On the other hand they do not feel enough prepared and/ or trained to just try and explore it, therefore they give up because they are afraid of being mocked by the pupils. Nonetheless, whenever teachers face some difficulty in the navigation or in the operation of the IWB software, pupils are always ready to give advice and to help the teacher solving the problem and/or getting unstuck. In these situation is interesting to notice how the pupils feel themselves almost at the same level of the teacher, since they perceive they also have something to teach back.\In terms of motivation, being up-to-date and trying new and more modern educational tools, widening the range of media in the lessons, are the main reason why teachers start approaching the IWB. Moreover, while using it, they realize that it is visually and interactively pleasant to use and students do have a positive reaction to it. To contrast this motivations there are factors like the scarce training they receive and the time needed to search, modify or build the resources. As to the students, their extrinsic motivation to use the IWB is mainly tied to their participation to the classroom activities and

the pupils are in one part of the class and the teacher is on the other side, close to the IWB or behind the computer, uploading the material. The physical approach they have with the IWB is the same they would have with a normal white board. The only difference lays in the fact that they use the hands to scroll document or to operate the IWB as it would do a mouse on a computer screen. The way both teacher and students navigate the big screen of the IWB is quite structured and clear: they try to accomplish the goal they have in the less time possible. Nonetheless the students show more confidence in the use of the different tools of the IWB software, while the teachers are less keen on exploring possibilities and features. Emotional thread As it was already stated, the teachers are less confident in the exploration of the possibilities and features of the IWB. On one hand they would like to try using this tool to the upmost of its potential, since they foresee the improvement it would lead in terms of pupilsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; involvement and in terms

richness, in the current use of the IWB there is a big shift between students and teacher regarding the freedom of use and the level of influence in the experience. Again, potentially the IBW, being an open platform, allows a wide range of possibilities and activities, a quite high freedom in action, being the digital and flexible translation of a strict physical tool as the white board and allowing different levels of interaction, together with different possibilities to influence the system, operating different media and choosing different modalities of interaction. Nonetheless the way it is used now limits this potential, since the IWB is mainly used to display contents through different media and to take notes. The contents are not manipulated or modified, apart from really rare occasions.

to their more or less strong will to be a good student, whereas the intrinsic motivation refers to the familiar feel the use of the IWB provides them and to the pleasant interaction they experience by using their hands to manipulate contents. The majority of the students would like to interact more with the IWB, the use of which is mainly teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prerogative now. Sensorial thread The visual and behavioural richness of the IWB is mainly dependent on the contents and resources displayed, being therefore influenced by the choice of resources by the teachers. Potentially the IWB enhances the visual richness of the lesson, allowing a wide range of media (from video, to rich images, from games to on-line tests and web sites navigation). As to the behavioural

4 Design vision

4.1

listing requirements and structuring the experience museum has been done, to reflect on the visit and evaluate the experience. As to the pupils, the research about children psychology and teensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; approach to new media was useful to understand the main concerns of the age group of this project: it will be really important in the game to consider a peer-based acquisition of the knowledge, a system of acquisition based on personal skills and capabilities and an effective reward in terms of reputation and/ or status. The museum, and specifically the Kunsthal, will be involved in the second part of the game as the physical space where the game takes place. Therefore it will be important also to take into account the physical and spacial properties of the building itself, trying to take advantage of the strong concept behind it for the sake of the game. Moreover, it will be important to raise awareness in the museum context about the importance and the smart use of new media and front-end technology for an educative purpose.

The problem statement which lays at the basis of this graduation project is the following: how to design an educational game for children (12-14 years old) to play digitally at school on the interactive white board and to be continued later on physically in a Kunsthal exhibition. The analysis of the context summarized so far in this report led to a set of requirements related to the main parties involved: school, museum and children together with the definition of the ideal structure of the experience that is going to be designed. Within the classroom context, it will be really important to consider the role of the teacher in the game: the resource/game should be easy to access and to use. The possibility to customize the game will give the teachers the impression of ownership which is really important for them to actually start using the game. The game should be flexible enough to allow teachers to select the contents they need or want to display and the ones they want to neglect. Moreover the game should provide the possibility, once the visit of the

to allow a more cooperative behaviour within the class. Speaking about useful game features, also the presence of levels could be a useful mean to allow different age groups and classes to participate to the game. An appropriate definition of the goals will be really important to define the level of freedom of the different phases: in the classroom, where the freedom of movement and actions is limited, a more goal-oriented activity will limit an extreme exploratory behaviour which does not really fit the classroom context. On the other hand, a less specific goal will allow children to have a more explorative attitude in the museum context. The feedback, which is a really important element in the game dynamics, will be provided in different way according to the context (in terms of information and knowledge in the class, and in terms of surprise and discovery in the museum).

The framework of playful and engaging learning experience (paragraph #3.1) has been used to structure the intended interaction of the concept. The four threads are explained hereby: Compositional thread Considering the experience framework (paragraph #3.1) as a basis for the formulation of the ideal experience which is going to be designed, each thread has been isolated and an ideal set of parameters and requirement has been defined for each one of the threads. The structure of the experience will be split in three different parts mutual dependent on each other. The first part will take place in the school and it will have the function of preparing the children to the visit and raising their expectations. Game features such as Epic meaning and Appointments are useful to reach this sense of expectation. An element of competition could be also added to higher the motivation of the class to participate. The competition could be between students of the same class or, even better, between different classes and/or schools,

Sensorial thread The visual richness of the game, both in its digital and physical form, will be an important key to attract and enhance the intrinsic motivation of participants (also

being up-to-date with teaching methods and new technology without changing their authority and their role.

teachers), trying to find the right balance between richness and simplicity of the structure. The behavioural richness, enhanced in the museum part, will aim to balance the disparity between students and teachers, playing above all on the level of influence they have on the system: on one hand teachers should have control and influence on the contents provided in the classroom, on the other hand students will be the ones responsible for the final outcome of the game, having a lot of influence on the final result and having the feeling that they are completely part of the game/system. Letting the system include different possibilities or parallel paths will provide a lot of freedom to the participants and will guarantee the flexibility and the adaptability of the game to the different situations.

Spatio-temporal thread In the part of the game which will be played in the classroom the space will be partly virtual, partly physical. The physical space of the classroom will be ideally perceived differently, with a less hierarchical structure and with a more open access for children to the use of the IWB. Moreover the physical interaction with the IWB, therefore with the virtual space of the game, will be more involving and interactive, trying to get all the potential of this tool expressed. The perception/manipulation of time will also be an important issue: the first part is meant to be a preparation for the second part and it will enable to build a sense of expectation which will higher the motivation of participants. In the museum part the ideal engaging situation entails the time elapsing without them even noticing it.

Emotional thread In terms of emotions, it will be really important to play on the different concerns of the roles involved: students and teachers. It will be therefore crucial to let children achieve social recognition, whereas the ideal situation for teachers will be to let them

5 Idea generation

Those ideas were evaluated according to the parameters and requirements resulting from the previous phase, in order to understand which idea was the most fit to provide the intended interaction previously defined. Moreover the three ideas were presented to a group of children in order to get relevant feedback from the main users and to have more criteria for the choice of the final concept.

The previous phase was focused on understanding the context of use of the project, visualizing an intended interaction in terms of product experience and defining therefore the guidelines for the design. The set of requirements and guidelines of the previous step were the basis for the idea generation phase. Two structured brainstorming with both the parties involved (Northernlight and Kunsthal) led to the development of three main ideas.

brainstorming at Northernlight, Amsterdam

5.1

brainstorming play, to get some inspiring insights. Three inspiring words were selected by each participant, not necessarily from three different mind-maps. Each person was then asked, according to the Dynamic Brainwriting technique by Crawford [1], to come up, for each of the selected words, with an idea answering to the problem statement above. After few minutes the participants at the table were swapping the paper sheets they were using, and they started working on other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ideas and words. One of the main advantages of this technique is that people can concentrate more quietly on each other ideas.

Two different brainstorming sessions were conducted with the two different parties involved in the project: Northernlight and Kunsthal. The reason why they were addressed separately was first of all logistic (they are located in different cities). Moreover the people of Kunsthal, who are not used to these kind of techniques, would have probably felt limited in expressing their ideas. In both the session the brainstorming was structured according to specific techniques belonging to the creative facilitation set of tools by Marc Tassoul [1]. At the beginning the following problem statement was presented to the participants: How to design a game for a classroom (12-14 years old) to play digitally on the interactive white board and physically in the museum exhibition. The participants were then invited to compose mind-maps based on the following topics: physical, digital and educational game. The words were chosen to better investigate the specific field of the project (educational game) and to clarify and broaden the meaning of physical and digital

1. Tassoul, M., Creative facilitation, a Delft approach. VSSD, 2006.

5.2

three ideas real movie in Kunsthal (see pag 72 for the storyboard of this idea). In Educity the student have the possibility to build a virtual city. They choose the functions and facilities they want to have in their city and, once in the museum, they collect the â&#x20AC;&#x153;bricksâ&#x20AC;? of information they need for this purpose. The idea behind is to connect abstract information with real-life functions and facilities (see pag 73 for the storyboard of this idea).

The result of the two brainstorming session was a collection of rough ideas and hints which were clustered and revised into three main ideas fitting the design brief: DoKUmentary, Educity and Virus. The first idea, DoKUmentary, is based on a set of different movie formats which are presented to the classroom. The students decide together with the teacher which format they want to use and develop. According to the format, they are asked to retrieve and collect different information in the museum visit. Once in the museum they gather all the information they need. Moreover during the museum visit other information, characters, events pop up and they need to be included in the final movie. Once they come back at school they organize the information and the classroom with the nicest storyboard will make the

In the Virus idea children identify with a set of viruses, they gain their powers and form groups. Their mission is to unlock secret information in the museum visit. Coming back to school, each group of viruses presents its own findings and shares the things which were discovered in the museum (see pag 74 for the storyboard of this idea).

DoKUmentary

chose the characters, the main events and structure of the story

select the format (e.g the documentary is more focused on science, the movie takes into account the historical aspects)

collect the material for the movie in the museum

post it on the website and compete with other classes/schools to realize the movie unexpected information pops up, incorporate them in the movie

realize the final storyboard of the movie

Educity

customize your city and decide which functions you want to have within it

perform the tasks in the exhibition

understand the missions you need to accomplish to build each of the functions

discover the application in the reality of the abstract information collected

check the level of growth of the city. you can win a prize for the best educity.

Virus

DECODE INTERPRET UNRAVEL

select the â&#x20AC;&#x153;virusâ&#x20AC;? you want to be

play to gain virus powers: codes, tools compose teams (the teams could have different hacking themes: history, society, science)

unlock images retreive objects

decoding messages

you solve clues/ unlock information

different groups sometimes cross their way, exchanging information

the groups present each other their achievements

5.3

evaluation according the design requirements groups according to their interests or personal skills, enhancing the possibility for a personal reward in terms of status based on the fact that each child help his/ her group, contributing with his/her most strong skill or competence, gaining status among his/her peers. In this sense Virus has a strong advantage because of its possibility of creating profiles or avatar which could facilitate the process of identification.

The three ideas have been evaluated on the basis of the requirements listed for each of the parts involved: children, teachers and Kunsthal (see chapter #4) As to the teachers, DoKUmentary does not respond to their need of being in control of the game with the minimum of the effort, since it requires an high level of guidance during the movie-making activities. Virus and Educity, on the other hand, would allow them to be part of the game without being in charge of extra work. Moreover, Educity allows them to choose the types of content they want to focus on with their class. All the three ideas would be easy to access for the teachers since they will be available on the web site of Kunsthal.

The building space of Kunsthal, in the way it was conceived and designed, demands an explorative attitude. The three ideas, in different way, stimulates children to explore and discover the building. As to the specific request in the design brief to have a reusable platform, DoKUmentary presents different issues and problems in the replay value. On the other hand, Virus and Educity could be easily adapted to different exhibition, with different results: in the case of Educity with the advantage of having your city growing more and more, and in the case of Virus, empowering the Viruses with new skills and powers.

Changing perspective and embracing the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; point of view, Educity and Virus are the ideas which would most likely fit with a peer based acquisition of the knowledge, since they are both based on a group cooperative activity. Moreover Virus and Educity allow children to make

children discussing the storyboards of the three ideas

5.4

feedback from users A classroom of students in a secondary school was addressed at this stage. The idea were presented to the children through storyboards and they were asked to express their opinion with the help of a questionnaire. In this phase of concept developing, the main aim of this evaluation was mainly formative: getting userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opinion about the ideas in order to be able to chose, understand the role the product should play in the specific context and how should be the idea revised and detailed further. The students involved were 15 (10 boys and 5 girls), all from the Rotterdam International secondary school Wolfert. They were all among 12 and 14 years old. They were divided in 5 groups of 3 people each and the three storyboards were given to them. Each group was asked to choose which idea they preferred the most and to explain their choice to the class. Moreover they were asked to judge through a questionnaire the level of fun in the classroom and in the museum for each idea and to answer different questions concerning specific aspects of the three presented scenarios.

a teacher reading the storyboards of the three ideas

level of fun in the class

level of fun in the museum

Graph 1: questionnaire results

would you suggest it to your teacher?

The results of the questionnaires show that the children perceived the level of fun in the school quite similar among the three ideas (Graph 1). On the other hand the level of fun in the museum was considered higher on average (Graph 1), having the Virus scoring higher than the other two ideas. When asked whether they would suggest the game to their teacher, again the virus scored the highest, followed by Educity and DoKUmentary. They were also asked to rate specific aspects of each idea. It was interesting to notice in this case how high the creative features of each idea scored (make a movie was the highest, followed by building a virtual city and having hacking powers).

These results brought to a set of conclusions: First of all the idea of the virus was the most popular among children. Listening to their comments about this idea, it was visible how they understood the Virus hacking attitude of going around, being curious, being active. Nonetheless the preferences they expressed for some of the features of the three ideas (e.g. making a movie and building your own city) proved their predisposition of having a creative and collaborative activity as part of the experience. They were also noticing that there is no failure in the case of a creative activity. On the other hand, in a game structured experience, there are tasks and challenges that you need to accomplish and they thought, in this specific case, it would not work.

identification

immersion

the role of the three phases of the game in the Virus idea

interpretation

5.5

the choice the game is easily accessible, the teacher has only to follow the game instructions. Kunsthal could easily reuse the framework for different exhibitions, re-adapting the creative outcome to the specific contents of the related exhibition. Moreover the hacking and curious attitude of the viruses would fit the multi-layered structure of the physical building as well. The choice of the Virus idea was confirmed also by the feedback children gave about the three ideas. Thanks to the insightful input of the evaluation, the final part of the idea, which originally was a presentation of the different virus groups about the findings in the museum, was replaced with a more cooperative and inventive activity which entailed the combination of the information collected by the different virus groups in the exhibition into a creative outcome.

Through the guidance of the userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feedback and the requirements resulting from the analysis phase, it was decided to bring the Virus idea further , up to a concept level. The analysis phase defined different requirements and criteria for the intended experience (Chapter #4). The Virus idea fulfils most of these requirements on different levels. Having different virus profiles, allowing children to make groups according to those profiles, letting them learn from each other: all these features fit with the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s need for a peer based learning system which could enhance and validate their personal skills. To better achieve this, a clear definition and representation of the different virus profiles it is needed. As to the teacher, she/he is not required to prepare any kind of content: as long as the interface of the game is clear and well structured and

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5.6

tailoring the idea to the framework of game dynamics, since all the groups which have been playing separately come together and can learn from each other in a more cooperative way. In terms of perception, it will be important to create a climax of perceptional richness, starting from the first and most simple part of the identification with the viruses, mainly based on a visual richness, going through a more physical and behaviorally rich experience in the museum, stimulating the exploratory behavior of the players, ending back at school with a combination of visual and behavioral richness, merging in the virtual space of the whiteboard the information gained in the physical exploration of the museum. Addressing on a emotional level the different concerns of both students and the teachers, the experience should provide the possibility for teachers to have their pedagogic role untouched, however not requiring too much work from them: e.g. leading the first virus identification phase or guiding the creative production phase at the end. In the case of children, it has already been stated the importance for them to gain social recognition and to feel the

The framework of playful and engaging experience described in paragraph #3.1 was used to define the different parts of the Virus idea in relation to the four threads: perceptional, compositional, emotional and spatio-temporal thread of the experience. As to the compositional thread of the experience, the idea in itself was already structured in three phases: a preparation to the visit at school, the exploration and game in the museum exhibition and the final reflective/creative moment back at school. These three moments should have a different validity in terms of game dynamics: the first part should be crucial to raise interest and a sense of expectation in the children through the use of game features such as Appointments and Epic meaning. The second part should represent the main core of the game, in which challenges and clues are presented and played in the museum space, overcoming the boundaries of the digital space. The third part should represent, on one hand, a feedback of the physical museum part, since you could access it only if you have completed all the tasks in the museum. On the other hand the last part should also have a role in terms

main actors of the experience. The key to achieve this involvement is to lever on their extrinsic motivation to play in the first part of the game, triggering their curiosity and raising their expectations; on the other hand the latest parts should be more based on intrinsic motivation to play, which should be interrelated and proportional to the climax of perceptional and behavioral richness of the experience. The spatio-temporal structure of the experience it is already pretty defined by itself. The space is meant to be expanded from virtual to physical and then to be shrinked again in the third digital part. In the museum space, it will be important to define clear paths for the different viruses, to promote an exploratory behavior through a set of goals. Time perception should be considered carefully: the experience is spatially and temporarily happening in three different phases. It will be important to find a strong link between the result of each phase and the activity of the following one.

5.7

the three phases acquire the information (Fig.6). Moreover they give also a hint on the disciplines and kinds of information preferred by each learning style. Therefore the distinction of the viruses according to the learning styles can be useful to direct the different groups of children towards activities and contents which fit their personal interests and attitudes. The virus identities are visually recognizable and probably colour coded (Fig.5). A brief description/list of features will follow each virus, in order to make the assignment process easier and smoother. The virus identities are either chosen by the children themselves according to the representation and description of the virus, or is the teacher who assigns the virus identities to the pupils.

So far the experience has been divided and defined in three different parts: identification, hacking and combining. For each of these parts, a series of detailing questions were formulated in order to define and detail further all the three parts. 1 Identification: Children, together with the teacher, get to know the mission of the game and create groups, identifying themselves with the different viruses. Questions /On which criteria are the virus identities based? /Are the viruses revealed from the start or are they the result of a selection/test? /How does a virus identity get assigned to each child? /Which is the teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in this phase? /How do you represent and communicate the different identities? Answers The virus identities are based on the Kolbâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learning styles [1,2,3]. The four learning styles refer to the different ways children

Figure 5: Hypothesis of virus graphic

strategist

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teacher assigning the virus identities to the students

The choice is up to the teacher. The virus identities are explained from the start, since the selection via test would complicate the system and the following parts of the game. The viruses acquire powers the more they know the system they have to hack. Therefore in this first part the four groups have to solve small cues and riddles in order to get the basic information about the

exhibition. The small exercises are customized according to the area of interest of the different viruses. Once they complete the small exercises their viruses are visually empowered. They get the appointment for the real museum hacking visit and they receive a hint of the challenge they will fully get once in the museum.

strategist

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Figure 6: Learning styles from Kolbâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theory

Answers In the museum each pupil will get a different booklet and a pair of decoding glasses according to the virus group he/ she belongs to. On the booklet they will find a set of questions. They will need to use the glasses to decode secret hints in the exhibition which will help them answer to the questions. They have to write down all the answers on the same booklet (Fig.7). Each virus group has questions concerning its own topic. The different groups follow different paths, which will be showed on their booklets. This will avoid them overlapping in the same room (Fig.8). At the end of the visit, once they fill in all the answers, they get a code which they can use to continue playing once at school.

2 Hacking: Children decode and unlock secret information in the museum exhibition. The different groups have access to different kind of information. They get a cracking code at the end which allows them to continue playing the game once back at school. Questions /How do they collect information? /Which kind of information do they get? /How is the information different according to the virus? /How do they store information? /How is the space involved?

start

intro after life work shop

picture room

Figure 7: Hacking secret information

after life

Figure 8: Different starting points for the virus groups

3 Combining: children make sense of the information they gathered in the exhibition combining them into a story line. Questions /How do they bring the information from paper to digital? /How they are supposed to use the information? /What do they create out of it? /Which is the final reward?

will recognize they have solved all the cues in the museum correctly. All the information they retrieved is therefore displayed on the whiteboard. At that point they will enter in the storyline of one of the mummy, Anchor. The storyline (a combination of text and images) has some gaps and they need to fill it in with all the information they found in the museum. Dragging the words in the right place the images will get animated (Fig.9). Completing this part, they will access to the “best mummy” competition. If they will win, they will go to London to see the Anchor’s grandfather in the British museum.

Answers They insert the code they found in the previous phase in the game and the system

1. http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-explrn.htm 2. http://www.icels-educators-for-learning. ca/index.php?option=com_content&view= article&id=50&Itemid=65 3. http://www.learningandteaching.info/ learning/experience.htm

Figure 9: Elements will be dragged in the storyline

6 Museumvirus: the concept

The implementation of the flash game for interactive white board has been done together with the programmer Peter Remmerswaal.

The final concept has been developed and implemented for an exhibition at Kunsthal, in Rotterdam. The topic of this specific exhibition is ancient Egypt, mummification techniques and their relation with modern medical techniques of body scanning. The exhibition opened to the public the first of October. The contents of the final concept has been provided by Annemieke van Leeuwen and Mirjam van der Ham, from the Kunsthal educational department, Charlotte Van Lingen, curator, and Eva van Diggelen, assistant curator at Kunsthal.

In this chapter the three different phases of the final concept, described also in the previous chapter, will be illustrated and explained in their implementation. Moreover a paragraph will be dedicated to the communication and diffusion of the game in the schools.

Kunsthal web site with the link to the game

6.1

getting to know the game Kunsthal has a already a mail list of schools which are informed each time about the agenda of children exhibitions. In the case of the Mummies! exhibition the special educational program including a game for interactive white board was introduced briefly in the communication email for the schools. On the 5th of October a conference was organized at Kunsthal only for teachers. In this occasion the educational programs of the featured exhibitions was presented and the Museumvirus game was explained in all the three phases to the teacher who were present. Moreover a dutch magazine about education, spread among dutch schools, will feature

the project in one of its articles. The game is accessible through the museum web site, in the educational section of the related Mummies! exhibition. Having the game online will hopefully broaden the accessibility to the game itself. For those who do not hear about the game before going to the museum, specific signs with the virus profiles are welcoming the groups at the entrance of the museum. children can choose their virus group and get the related booklet from the desk at the entrance. Once they play in the museum they will get the cracking code which will allow them to play and possibly access the third part of the digital game back at school.

screen of the game: the viruses explain their mission

6.2

phase1: identification preferred date of the visit. The number of children for each group is recorded from the previous screen. This information is useful to the museum to logistically prepare the kits beforehand, avoiding long cues and waiting lines at the desk at the moment of the visit. The teacher will receive a mail to confirm the date of the visit from the museum. The first phase ends at this stage. Children are asked to remember their virus once at the museum and to get ready for the real hacking mission. The first part does not contain any reference to the specific topic of the exhibition, apart from the last screen, in which there will be a textual reference to the Mummies! topic. In this way the first part can be easily reused for another exhibition, simply editing the text in the last screen which refers to the specific exhibition Kunsthal is hosting at the moment.

In the first phase the virus pop up in the screen, presenting their mission (to hack the system of the exhibition) and introducing themselves. The colour of the viruses were dependent on the available colour for the decoding glasses the children will use in the second Hacking phase. The choice of the visual representation of the viruses was done together with children: an online poll was launched ( h tt p : / / m u s e u m v i ru s . wo r d p r e s s . com/2011/08/17/5/) and children were asked to participate and to vote the viruses they preferred the most. Once they get to know the different virus profiles, children are asked to join the virus groups according to their preferences. All the viruses need a group to successfully accomplish the mission. The following stage is a request form the teacher is asked to fill in, specifying the

screen of the game: make the virus groups

screen of the game: request form

first version of the paper booklet

6.3

phase2: hacking The question were formulated by the educational department of Kunsthal taking into account the learning type the virus was representing. The hints for the answers or the answers themselves are spread in the form of messages throughout the museum exhibition, close to the artwork they refer to. The messages in the museum will be colour coded as well. On the paper guide there will be a specific field in which they have to fill in their answers. Once they complete all the fields, in the highlighted box a word will be formed. Each virus group will then use the letters of this word as a code to access the third and last part of the game once they get back at school.

Once the classroom gets to the museum, children receive a paper booklet and a pair of decoding glasses of the same colour of the virus group they belong to. The booklets are made according to the subtractive colour mixing theory: the decoding lenses of the different glasses are absorbing the similar wavelengths, filtering the other colours of the spectrum. Therefore the booklets are readable only with the glasses and each virus can read and decode its own booklet. The guide displays a map of the exhibition, to show the starting point and the route of the specific virus. The four groups start from a different point of the exhibition, not to overlap each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s way On the booklet there will be also a set of questions the virus group needs to answer.

example of a game screen with the story text and the related illustration....

100

6.4

phase3: combining To access the third part of the game the students are asked to insert the code they obtained from the previous stage. Once they insert the right code, a story in five chapter is shown on the white board. The story follows the same logical path of the exhibition and combines all the information of the different virus groups into a single story-line. For each chapter the text is displayed together with the illustrations of the story. The story text has some gaps which need to be filled. On the side of the text children can find all the words missing in the text, which basically correspond to all the answers the four virus groups should have filled in their paper guides in the museum. Dragging the words in the right place within the story, the illustrations get animated and children can go on in the game, completing the next chapter of the story. At the end of the story they will get access to the final challenge: building their own mummy and sending the picture to the museum. If selected, they can win a trip to London, to visit Anchoorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grandfather.

....and the animation result of the same illustration

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7 Concept evaluation by users

The concept at this stage has been evaluated by a classroom of children between 12 and 14 years old in the Rotterdam International Secondary School Wolfert. The main aim of the test was to evaluate the overall smoothness of the concept in its three phases and to assess the concept in terms of product role, user performance and user experience. For the first and last phase the working prototype of the game online was used. The second part of the game, related to the museum visit, was simulated in the school context. The overall results of the evaluation were positive: the children and the teachers expressed positive comments on the game and the interaction in the three different phases was quite smooth and linear. Nonetheless some details related mainly to the game interface and to the wording of the questions were considered difficult to understand and/or operate and were therefore changed in the last phase of the product implementation.

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evaluation study performed in a classroom of the international secondary school

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7.1

user test Aim of the study The aim of the evaluation study was to assess whether the game was able to provide the intended interaction defined at the beginning of the process. Moreover the researchers were interested in a purely functional test of the game interface and of the game dynamics, in order to be able to adjust the concept for the final design. To be able to assess the functional performance of the concept, an high fidelity fully working prototype was used for the online game. To reproduce the museum visit in the class, pictures of artworks and the hints for the questions were hung on the walls of the classroom.

Methods To guarantee the assessment on a level of user experience and functional performance, the method chosen was the unstructured observation [1]. Three researchers were present in the room and they had different roles: one was taking pictures, another one was taking notes and the third was observing and answering to possible questions. The game was briefly introduced to the classroom and the teacher. After that, they were told to act as if they were actually supposed to play the game by themselves. The observer were therefore meant not to interfere, even in the case the users were operating the game not in a proper way, unless specifically asked for help by the same users. The participants were 14 children, 6 boys and 8 girls, all among 12 and 13 years old. The test was conducted in one of the classroom of the RISS Wolfert and it was planned to last 2 hours. Two teachers were present during the evaluation.

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user test: identification with the viruses

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Session For the first part of the game the teacher was asked to play the game online. The teachers and the students did not receive any kind of instruction. For the second part of the game a museum gallery was simulated in the classroom by hanging pictures of artworks on the walls. Moreover the hints to answer the questions were hung close to the artworks. The booklets with the questions (one per group) have been partially filled in for a reason of time management. The children were asked to complete the three questions which were still not answered. For the third part of the game, they were again operating the interface without any instruction from the evaluators.

user test: pictures of artworks were hung on the walls to simulate an exhibition

107

user test: student filling in the answers in the booklet

108

Results In the first part the teacher seemed not to understand fully the small tutorial which explains the different phases of the game. For the rest the choice of the viruses went pretty fast and smooth. The teacher was explaining to the students some difficult words in the virus profiles description and she was asking the student to repeat the viruses names, to make sure they would remember that later on. She tried to equally divide the class in 4 groups. She was operating the game mainly from the computer, not from the board. The students were not asked to come to the board either, but the teacher was asking them questions about the virus profiles meaning and about their preferences and they looked involved. Despite some misunderstanding about the function of some buttons, the operation of the game went quite linear and smooth. user test: students decoding the questions of the booklet

In the second phase of the game, children found some difficulties with the wording of some of the questions. Moreover at the beginning they did not understand that the hints were colour coded as their viruses and

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user test: students and teacher completing the story in the game

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beforehand, in order to suggest the right words to drag. Children were enthusiastic about the animations, but they were too quick to be noticed by the teacher or even by all of the children. The children were involved in the choice of the right word to drag. At the end of the evaluation session the children and the teachers were asked to express comments and/or remarks about the game. The children pointed out some difficulties with the questions. They expressed positive comments about the graphic and the animations of the game. The teacher were positive about the children reaction to the game and about the game itself. They thought it was simple but nice to play.

booklets. They found it difficult to answer to some of the questions; they were expecting the hints to be more helpful and specific and they even thought they could find the answers in the hints themselves. As a consequence they were asking the teachers to help them with the most difficult questions. They discussed a lot within the group to find the right answers. They were not sure they could write on the booklet and they were also deleting and correcting some answers different times. All of them understood how to get the secret code out of the answers. The third phase of the game required children to insert the secret code to continue playing. The teacher and the students got confused by the fact that, once pressed the box to insert the letters of the code, the corresponding number disappeared. The teacher even tried to write in the boxes with the white board specific marker. Once accessed the storyboard, thee story font resulted being too small and the words were difficult to drag with the board apparently. That is why the teacher continued the game at the computer. She also said she would have preferred knowing the answers

1. Panos Markopoulos, Janet C Read, Stuart MacFarlane, Johanna Hoysniemi. Evaluating Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Interactive Products: Principles and Practices for Interaction Designers. Elsevier Science & Technology Books 2008

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7.2

conclusions useful to give the teacher beforehand all the solutions of the different parts of the game (the booklet answers and the missing words in the story). The students were actively cooperating to find the answers and even the teacher noticed that they were eager to complete the game. The definition of the goals (more specific and restricted for the first and third phase and broader for the second one) was effective in eliciting a more explorative behaviour in the second part. It has to be questioned though whether in the museum children would focus on the secret messages rather than the exhibition itself. The balance between physical and digital space in the first and third part was not fitting the intended interaction the designer wanted to reach. Apart from few weak attempts, the teacher was not operating the game from the board but from the computer. Also the students were not asked to come and play from the board. This might be due partly to the game graphics which are not inviting users to play from the board and partly to the reluctancy teachers still have about the use of the interactive white boards, as the same teacher confessed during the test.

The aim of the test was to evaluate the concept on a level of user experience and product performance. In terms of product functionality, the game interface presented some unclear buttons and text. Moreover the font size of the story represented a problem for the readability. As to the booklets, the colour coded questions were sometimes not easy to read and difficult in terms of wording and a specific reference to the related virus was needed for the hints. In terms of structure of the experience, since the three phases were tested all together in the same day, it was not possible to verify whether the continuity of the flow among the different parts was assured. Nonetheless it was clear that the three parts were matching the assigned functions: arising curiosity and expectations, playing and reflecting. The interaction among students and between students and teacher was close to the intended one. The role of the teacher was revealed being crucial in all the phases of the game, maintaining therefore the authority of the teacher in the class. In order to give the teacher more confidence and control on the game itself, it might be

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8 Kunsthal Museumvirus: final design

After the users evaluation, the weaknesses of the concept in terms of game flow and functionality were revised and adjusted. The concept was fully implemented as part of the educative program of the exhibition Mummies! at Kunsthal. The game was launched on line and made fully accessible from the Kunsthal website. Throughout the exhibitions the coded hints were hung on the walls and the booklets were printed and distributed to the visitors. In this chapter the final concept will be shown and explained in all its parts. Moreover recommendations for further improvements will be made. Museumvirus is a educative game which has been specifically designed for Kunsthal to fit different exhibitions and contents. Nonetheless it might be easily adapted and used in other museums and galleries, since the dynamics of the game and its implementation do not demand a specific connotation of the space.

115

game interface: screen added to split individuals from schools

116

8.1

concept implementation The Museumvirus game is accessible through this link: www.kunsthal.nl/game. In the first part of the game, functional for the identification of the children with the viruses, there is no reference to the exhibition topic apart from some text. The purpose is to guarantee as much as possible the game to be reused for future exhibitions. Kunsthal wanted also families or children to play the game from home. Therefore, after the introduction of the virus profiles, the children are asked whether they are school or home and the game flow is split in two parts (see page 116). If they are at school, there are asked to specify how many children per virus group they have and they fill in a request form for the museum visit, indicating a preferred date for the visit as well. If they are home, they skip this part and they go directly to the last part of this phase, in which a brief introduction to the exhibition is given. Signs were made with the 4 virus profiles, to be put at the entrance of the museum for those children/classrooms that did not have the possibility to access the game before the visit. In this way they could still play the game in the exhibition.

signs with virus profiles at the entrance of the exhibition

117

child answering the questions with the help of the hint on the wall

118

For the second part of the game, the museum visit, four sets of booklets (one set per virus) has been printed. On each booklet children can find the map with the indication of the starting point and the route. The starting points of each virus are also specified with signs in the exhibition. Children can use the decoding glasses to read a set of 10 questions. They are asked to answer the questions with the help of the hints they will find throughout the exhibition. The hints are placed close to the artwork they refer to, in a way not to be obtrusive for the exhibition itself. The hints are colour coded as well, like the questions, and they have the character of the virus printed on top. In the booklet specific boxes beside the questions need to be filled in with the answers. Some of the boxes are highlighted because, when all the answers are complete, the letters within the coloured boxes will form a word. The letters of that word will be used by the children as a code to continue the digital game once back at school. The museum game could also be played as a standalone game. In that case the final result that the child gets is the set of the complete answers and the word formed in the coloured boxes.

parents playing with their children

119

printed booklets and decoding glasses for the four viruses

120

children playing in the exhibition

121

game interface: a code is required to access the last part of the game

122

In the third part of the game children are asked to fill in a code to access the game. This code is made up with all the highlighted letters of the answers from the four different booklets. The fact that the code is a sentence allows them to edit possible wrong letters, correcting the words for the sentence to make sense. Once the code is correct, they can access the story : 5 chapters about ancient Egypt discoveries, gods and religion, the mummy Anchhoor, mummification process, modern medical processes to scan or preserve the bodies. Each chapter comes with a text and an illustration. Some words in the text are missing. On the left of the text a list of words (corresponding to most of the answers the children have on the booklets) are ready to be dragged into the story. Only the correct word will stick into the text. Once the chapter is completed the illustration some features in the illustrations get animated in loop and they can proceed to the next chapter. At the end of the story a small competition is launched for the class: creating a slogan for the mummy they saw in the exhibition. The class will compete with other schools and they can win a gadget.

teacher dragging the words into the story

123

example of illustration animation in the story

124

8.2

recommendations In order to understand the real potential of Museumvirus, the game needs to be tested in another Kunsthal exhibition, to verify the flexibility of the platform to adapt to different contents. In a broader perspective, it could be useful also to run the project with another gallery/ museum, to assess the validity of the game in a different context and to understand the limits and the potential of the framework of playful and engaging experience the game is based on. Considering the project, above all in its digital expression, as part of the media ecology the teens are immersed in nowadays, it could be interesting to investigate the possible role in the game of other tools and platforms belonging to this media ecology network: devices like mobile phones or platforms like social networks.

This project has been implemented thank to the work of the education department of Kunsthal and the programmer Peter Remmerswaal. Nonetheless it has to be considered a pilot project and there is still room for improvements and for further refinements. Starting from the virus identities, they should be explained better, to let children understand the differences between them and to clearly communicate the learning types they represent. A good solution for this might be to create a short story about the viruses and to give them specific characters and connotations, making them act differently in the story. As to the interface, the flow can still be improved in terms of smoothness and intuitive functions of the elements. Moreover the graphics and illustrations should be polished and tailored on the basis of the preferences of the target group. The interface should visually invite children and teachers to operate the game on the board and not on the computer. Also the paper booklets need to be improved, since some colour are still difficult to decode and read.

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9 Appendices

127

1: context mapping booklet

128

129

2: analysis matrixes of museum case studies 01: Shangai Children’s museum 02: Funky forest, interactive installation at CineKid festival 03: “You are the conductor”, Boston Children museum 04: Kiosk, National Museum of History, China 05: Sancai Tour, National Museum of History, China 06: Bubbloo, Denver Art Museum 07: Centre of New Enlightenment, Kelvingrove Art & Galleries Museum Glasgow 08: Find the future, New York public library 09: New York scavenger hunt game 10. Docent tour guide, I-phone application 11. “Portraits alive”, National Portraits Gallery, Washington 12. Science and technology museum, Saudi Arabia 13. The mystery of the Mayan Medallion 14. Who am I?, Science Museum London 15. Atmosphere, Science Museum London 16. Fortress and Fantasy, Tower of David, Jerusalem 17. Kit for invention, Learning centre for study of invention 18. AR Mirror, Singapore Science Centre 19. Science and technology park, Hong Kong 20. Scavenger Hunt,Chicago History museum

130

matrix #1 EDUCATIONAL

8 PHYSICAL

11 17

13 1 15

3 19 6

16 18 2 PLAYFUL

131

12 10 14

DIGITAL

matrix #2 INDIVIDUAL

10 18

9 14

BROAD TARGET

6 16 2

15 11 20

GROUP

132

17 13

NARROW ARGET

matrix #3 HIGH RICHNESS

2 15

7 19 16

HIGH TECH

11 20

1 14

8 9 4

10 13 6

LOW RICHNESS

133

LOW TECH

3: analysis templates museum case studies

ise

rpr Su

Discover your own strengths and improve your self-confidence

Kelvingrove museum, Glasgow 2007

Fee

ion petit Com

CENTRE OF NEW ENLIGHTENMENT

19 18 17 16

dba

Custo

15 14

miza

tion

Quests

12 11 10

Progression Points p Ownershi

9 8

ls Leve ing ean ic m

6 5

take a picture of yourself

paint your canvas....

read the cues

answer to questions

find the related artwork

get feedback

134

Goals

of n io at

bin

..with your partner

get the PDA

2 1

create duos

lla

storyboard

tio

a or

int Bo me nu nt s s

imitate the sculptiures

CENTRE OF NEW ENLIGHTENMENT Discover your own strengths and improve your self-confidence

parameters

emotion and motivation

education

playfulness

physical

digital

narrow age group

broad age group

group activity you interpret and relate the exhibition to yourself

motivation: being part of it discover new things

estrinsic

play together multimodal interaction roleplay

intrinsic

individual activity

high tech

low tech

engagement low

spatio-temporal analysis

visual richness direct feedback freedom in action level of influence possibilities behavioural richness:

structured behaviour small goals cooperation

free emerging goals

set goals

135

high

New York Public Library 2011

ion

se rpri

A collection of 100 ways to make history and change the future

petit

Com Su

FIND THE FUTURE

pla

18 17

Fee

dba

15 14

Custom

izatio

13 12

Quests

Progression

Points p Ownershi

Epic

ls Leveing n mea

8 7 6

5 4

tio

n of t int Bo ask me nu s nt s s

1 9

Goals

tio

storyboard

l Co

answer the quest to be selected and download the app.

gain powers

appointment at the library: stay over the night with a group of 500 people

write a book together

136

try to find specific objects

scan their QR code

meet the related writing challenge

FIND THE FUTURE A collection of 100 ways to make history and change the future

parameters

visitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interaction

education

playfulness

physical

digital

narrow age group

broad age group

group activity

you are important for the success of the main goal

individual activity

high tech

low tech

engagement motivation: win get inspired be part of it social comparison

estrinsic

exciting situation social interaction

intrinsic

low visual richness direct feedback freedom in action level of influence possibilities behavioural richness:

spatio-temporal analysis

structured behaviour combination of tasks cooperation

free emerging goals

set goals

137

high

4: analysis templates school case studies

pl le

sto

tition

ati

rise

r plo

Wolfert Rotterdam International Secondary School 2011

Compe

Surp

ENGLISH LESSON: IWB IN USE

tio

est

Progre

ssion

Ownership

Levels ning

mea

nts tme oin

Goals

s App

bi n

lla

r bo

Dis

Epic

storyboard

scroll a document to read text

teacher

underline important parts with the markers

students fill in a tab

138

teacher fills in the tab

watch a movie

students

ENGLISH LESSON: IWB IN USE Wolfert Rotterdam International Secondary School 2011

parameters

emotion and motivation

education

playfulness

physical

digital

narrow age group

broad age group

group activity

individual activity

high tech

teacher

low tech

motivation: being up to date try a new teaching method involve students in the lesson

extrinsic

easy interaction good response from the class visually pleasant

intrinsic

low

spatio-temporal analysis

students motivation: participation to the class activities accomplish tasks being a good student being recognized by pairs

extrinsic

easy familiar interaction involvement in the lesson

intrinsic

high

visual richness direct feedback freedom in action level of influence possibilities behavioural richness:

structured space teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s supervision

free emerging goals

set goals

teacher

139

students

ition Compet

sto

ion

rat

plo Ro

Wolfert Rotterdam International Secondary School 2011

rise Surp

MATHS LESSON: IWB IN USE

tio

est

Progre

ssion

Ownership Levels

ning

mea

nts tme oin

Goals

teacher

App

tio

lla

r bo

Dis

Epic

storyboard

student solves a problem. teacher helps on the normal board

theoretical explanation: choose the circle tool

draw geometrical figures

140

keeping on drawing circles instead of lines

explore new tools for drawing

students

MATHS LESSON: IWB IN USE Wolfert Rotterdam International Secondary School 2011

parameters

emotion and motivation

education

playfulness

physical

digital

narrow age group

broad age group

group activity

individual activity

high tech

teacher

low tech

motivation: being up to date try a new teaching method involve students in the lesson good response from the class precise drawings

extrinsic

intrinsic

easy familiar interaction involvement in the lesson solving problems

low

spatio-temporal analysis

students motivation: participation to the class activities accomplish tasks being a good student being recognized by pairs

high

visual richness

extrinsic

direct feedback freedom in action level of influence possibilities

intrinsic

behavioural richness:

structured space

free emerging goals

set goals

teacher

141

students

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fun is just another word for learningâ&#x20AC;? Raph Koster