Gamifying “Whole-Person Education”: The Development of a Mobile Application With Augmented Reality

Abstract

Whole-person education is what many educational institutions aim for, especially in these times of rapid technological innovations. Silliman University, one of the oldest universities in the Philippines, offers whole-person education to achieve total human development. This study is an innovative technology integration in the classroom of the course “whole-person education”. Specifically, this paper describes the development of a mobile game application that integrates augmented reality. Applying the gamification theory, a learning trail about the 5Cs of Silliman Education - Classroom, Church, Culture, Court, and the Community, was integrated. The learning trail consists of three learning paths, and each path consists of ten checkpoints. Three qualifying questions were embedded to determine the player’s learning path. Each checkpoint is augmented using QR codes. Players need to complete the game in the shortest possible time. The educational game mobile application was developed using Appery.io, a rapid development, integration, and deployment platform. The mobile application runs on the Android operating system as part of the first release. A survey was conducted among 244 players of the game application. A 4-point scale questionnaire is integrated into the game app, asking the players about their level of agreement with the statements representing their game evaluation. The result shows that the game application was evaluated positively by the respondents, with a mean of 3.69. Expressly, the players agreed ( = 3.69) that they learned a lot about the AR trail. The students also agreed ( = 3.35) to the statement, “I would like my teachers to integrate apps like this in my classes.” The result implies that augmented reality and gamification as teaching strategies in the classroom are perceived positively and accepted by the students. The educational game promotes the understanding of whole-person education especially in a developing country where digital divide is a pressing issue.