InterpTech2017

Discovery Agents: Getting Youth Active Outdoors in a Digital Age

Kids today spend increasingly less time outdoors, are not getting nearly enough physical exercise, and are glued to their screens. Discovery Agents has found a revolutionary way to utilize the technology that kids can’t get away from and turned in into a tool for outdoor recreation and education. Discovery Agents is a place-based mobile game that motivates kids to get outside and actively learn about the world around them. Discovery Agents works with forest rangers, park interpreters, and environmental educators to enable them to create engaging gamified "Missions" that kids can only play by moving and exploring their public lands. This hands-on session will allow participants to try out the program for themselves and develop their own very own Pokemon GO style mobile game. Bring your laptop and mobile device and create, publish, and play Discovery Agents and explore the power of gamification in outdoor recreation and education!

• Learning Outcome #1: Participants will play the Discovery Agents game on their mobile devices and understand how the technology works
• Learning Outcome #2: Participants will practice using the “Mission Builder” web-based platform to create and publish their own mobile games, thereby witnessing the adaptability of the program and understanding how it could be used at their own location.
• Learning Outcome #3: Participants will gain new insights about the educational and recreational power of technology from various organizations that are currently employing the Discovery Agents game to engage kids at their location.