Chapter 14
Augmented Education: Location-Based
Games for Real-World Teaching
and Learning Sessions
Peter Mozelius, Jimmy Jaldemark, Sofia Eriksson Bergström
and Marcus Sundgren
Abstract GPS-equipped smartphones have enabled the construction of
location-based games. In augmented reality (AR), fantasy worlds are mapped
to real-world settings. Two location-based AR games that use historical markers as
points of interest are Ingress and Pokémon GO. This chapter describes and discusses
how PokéStop statues in Pokémon GO can be used in primary school outdoor
sessions. A case study was conducted on how fifth-grade students learned about
local history, social sciences and humanities during game sessions. Findings suggest
that AR could be an inspiring extension in educational settings, if activities are
aligned to the surroundings and learning objectives and outdoor gaming activities
are followed up in more traditional classroom sessions.
14.1 Introduction
The new generation of GPS-equipped smartphones have opened up new ways of
outdoor gaming in which engaging fantasy worlds can be combined with real-
world settings. Computer gaming has traditionally been associated with a sedentary
lifestyle (Telama et al. 2005), but emerging trends such as location-based games and
augmented reality are extending the boundaries. Location-based games are often
designed with the idea of mapping real-world settings to parallel virtual gaming
worlds, where a majority of the interplay occurs at so-called points of interest (POIs).
The navigation between the game’s POIs often involves the use of maps that can be
physical maps or digital built-in maps (Nadarajah et al. 2016).
A broad definition of augmented reality (AR) is a system that combines real-
world objects with virtual objects or superimposed information (Bacca et al. 2014).
In the system, virtual objects appear to coexist with real-world objects, and both
can be mixed in games or simulations (Azuma et al. 2001). The most well-known
location-based game that uses POIs in an AR mix is Pokémon GO, a game that
gained worldwide popularity in the summer of 2016. One week after the game’s
P. Mozelius (B ) · J. Jaldemark · S. E. Bergström · M. Sundgren
Mid Sweden University, Östersund and Sundsvall, Sweden
e-mail: peter.mozelius@miun.se
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
V. Geroimenko (ed.), Augmented Reality Games I,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15616-9_14
217