Implementing Gymkhanas with Android Smartphones: a Multimedia M-Learning Game

Smartphones are becoming common in everyday's life. They provide new possibilities as they integrate communication, geopositioning, cameras, velocimeters and so on. In this paper, we present how we have used smartphones to implement gymkhanas, a game that consists in surpassing challenges; once a challenge has been solved, participants will obtain the next one. Gymkhanas can be used for m-learning activities where participants can learn skills and competencies while at the same time having fun. The use of the technologies that smartphones provide offers the possibility of enriching gymkhanas as well as empowering organizers to have a much closer control of the participants. Our implementation is based on Android mobile phones; therefore we have developed a client-server system that allows easy creation and monitoring of the gymkhana through a web interface by organizers. Participants on the other hand may face challenges that involve taking pictures with the smartphone camera, using the geopositioning information from the GPS or considering augmented reality. The result of our implementation is very cost effective and has been tested in three experiments with high success.