Case: L-Mo

The university of Nottingham, collaborating with Sharp Laboratories of Europe Ltd (SLE), are working on a project called L-Mo (Language - Mobile). The system will work on current mobile devices using gaming to make learning about languages more fun and engaging. Education experts have found that students can enjoy the learning experience more through the use of games rather than traditional methods.

At the moment the system is targeting children between 7 and 12, living in Asia, who are learning English, but the idea could quickly transform into a revolutionary new teaching method - one that we could adapt to any sort of educational device/application we decide to produce.

The article can be found here.

Case: Exergaming

Nexgym's mission is to make kids aged between 3 and 14 more healthy through the use of revolutionary exercise machines, to tackle the high rates of childhood obesity.

The machines make use of video gaming and virtual reality to make exercising fun and appealing to children - Exergaming. Apparently it has been a big success, with children begging their parents to take them to the gym.

The group has already discussed making a useful piece of technology aimed at improving children's health, so perhaps we can draw inspiration from this article.

The original source contains more information about Nexgym and Exergaming and can be found here.

Image taken from the Nexgym website depicting their Exergaming machines:

Case: Augmented Reality

A research project, jointly carried out by Harvard, MIT and the University of Wisconsin, uses wireless handheld devices to engage students in an augmented reality-based educational enviroment. The Handheld Augmented Reality Project (HARP) is quite a complicated mix of technology, which attempts to make Literacy and Numeracy fun.

The system works by superimposing images in the real world setting, such as virtual characters and other sensory information. HARP utilises GPS technology to track the user's movement and when the person enters a hotspot, he or she is confronted with computer-generated image pertaining to the story - Alien Contact!

It sounds like a really exciting idea, where users will be able to investigate why the Aliens have landed through solving clues that a special agent gives to them. The device could be used to portray all sorts of environments both fictional and non-fictional, aiding other modules such as Geography and History.

Perhaps we could do something similar if we decide to go down the education route. Have a read of the whole article as it contains a lot more information on the Alien Contact game and the technologies behind it.

The original article can be found here.

Image showing hotspots around the school campus: