Across the globe, over 3 billion hours a week are devoted to gaming, and with the ubiquitous presence of mobile technologies, gaming is now also mobile. A well-developed video game will keep a player enthralled for hours on end. What if educators could engage learners the way video games engage players? In fact, many educators are turning to gamification to do just that. Gamification uses game-based mechanics, and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, and promote learning. The principal goal of this research is to assess the potential of a new mobile learning tool Explorez. Explorez was created for first-year University French students in order to bridge the gap between gaming and education through quest-based learning and augmented reality. Using GPS, Explorez transforms the University of Victoria, B.C. campus into a virtual francophone world, where students interact with characters, items, and media as they improve their French language skills and discover their campus. This paper explores potential benefits and limitations to this prototype learning-tool, via a case study.

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As design-based research, this study describes the development and analysis of two location-based augmented reality (AR) serious learning games (SLG) for French second language (FL2) learning. Explorez and VdeUVic are collaborative quest-based SLGs. At different locations on campus, players interact with characters that give them quests including clues or options to further the storyline. These interactions take place in the form of either written text, or audio and video recordings, encouraging students to develop language skills both written and oral. Students choose their own learning path and advance at their own pace. Three cohorts of FL2 university students play-tested the games, with 58 of the 77 students choosing to participate in the study. The design-based research framework for the development of the game iterations and subsequent testing was an iterative process with each stage producing output that became input for the next stage. The evaluation of the AR language tools was implemented by means of a mixed-method case study, collecting data of both a qualitative and quantitative nature, through pre and post-play questionnaires, interviews, and video recordings of student gameplay interactions for analysis. Informed by situated cognition, one of the goals was to provide a contextual and immersive learning experience. Additionally, this research drew on sociocultural theory and the social nature of language learning, emphasizing learner interactions as a principal learning force. This research examined the learners’ perceptions of their learning experience, as well as the ways in which students collaborated to complete the tasks. Employing a situative approach framework informed by social regulation and content processing, student learning patterns were examined. Distinct types of learner interactions amongst teams during gameplay were shown. Patterns in the emergence of learners’ high-level co-regulation during collaborative learning are indicated in the findings. Key elements for the development and implementation of location-based serious games to foster collaborative learning are highlighted.