Research on guidelines for designing mobile instructional games

Chen Wei Dong
Suzhou University of Science and Technology
Suzhou, China

This paper considers the potential application of industry practice to the development of mobile instructional games, and its appropriateness; and it identifies guiding principles that can be used in the development of educational games. It expands the usability dialogue, beginning where these discussions have left off, and draws on interviews with educational game developers, game design theory and game analyses to put forward design principles intended to be useful for the development and evaluation of mobile instructional games. Mobile learning games have the potential to offer players agency -- rather than just trickery and a perception of control. Situated learning experiences that give players the opportunity to not only write the content of their own stories but also create structurally the games they play are only a mobile device away. Before this is achieved and embraced by the learning community, however, frameworks for the design and delivery of meaningful pedagogical materials need to be carefully researched, tested and evaluated. The principles outlined in this paper represent an important first step towards this goal, particularly in the area of mobile learning.