Application Domains for a Location-based Mobile Application Creator

Abstract

In recent years, the use of mobile applications and computer-based games as pedagogical tools has become more and more popular. Additionally, many mobile devices enhance the user experience by providing different sensors, e.g. to deliver location-based educative information. In this article we introduce an online tool for easily creating location-based mobile applications that combine teaching and gaming activities to make users aware of their current environment or situation. First, we briefly present the Location-based Mobile Application Creator (LMAC), an online framework for creating such mobile solutions and discuss potential application scenarios. Then, we introduce a first mobile application for educational purposes created with LMAC in more detail: a game-based scavenger hunt for children enabling them to learn facts about the city of Graz, Austria. Similar to a traditional scavenger hunt, users are able to gather geo-referenced information with mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) and learn about the environment in a playful way. With LMAC, teachers can easily create individual scavenger hunts adapted to the current subject matter. This paper is an extended version of our work published in 2014 at the IMCL-conference.