Modelling learning from Ingress (Google's augmented reality social game)

This is a concept paper looking into how Google's worldwide augmented reality game called Ingress could be used to inform the development of learning from games. Ingress is Google's attempt in creating a game based on augmented reality of actual physical locations where a story line is set to guide two different factions of agents to move around geographical locations with mobile devices to capture strategic places called portals which are based on actual artefacts. This paper describes how Ingress, through the use of mobile devices and augmented reality, incorporated within its gameplay the elements of MOOC, badges, crowd learning, seamless and geo-learning, and learning from gaming which are considered as new and emerging forms of pedagogies identified in Open University's 2013 report on innovating pedagogy. Initial findings of an online survey on the motivation to play and continue playing the game will be presented. This paper will end with a discussion on the potential of using the Ingress model with its integrated forms of pedagogies, and the limitations and issues that might arise. The conclusion is that although the process to enhance learning experience through gamification is not without difficulties, there exists a vast potential of benefits which justifies continuous research and exploration in this area.