Contribuciones en la creación y aplicabilidad de juegos serios (serious games) en el ámbito del geoposicionamiento

Abstract

In recent years, research has been conducted on how to use video games for purposes beyond mere entertainment. These video games are known as serious games, and applied to teaching, they offer an approach that is attractive to students but also has advantages for educators. For example, students can apply their knowledge, experimenting and learning from their mistakes, or they allow the simultiion of real processes in a personalized and safe way for each student. With the rise of mobile devices, their applicability has also expanded, since it is possible to use the students' own devices and serious games can be expanded to new areas such as, for example, outdoor activities for contextualized learning in the real world. This is the case of geopositioned games. This game format has received a major boost in popularity thanks to Pokémon GO, a globally acclaimed game where the main game mechanic is the exploration of virtual elements superimposed on real-world spaces. Despite the potential and benefits of serious games, their use in education is still limited, This may be due to different reasons such as, for example, that the teacher feels that he/she loses control of the class when using them, that it is difficult to analyze whether the students have benefited from the game session or that, in many cases, there is a lack of formal validation of their effectiveness..