A cloud software system for visualization of game-based learning data collected on mobile devices

Digital game-based learning is a type of gameplay with a set of defined learning outcomes. Such gameplays are typically instrumented to collect data for assessing the learning outcomes. However, when the gameplay and data collection take place on a mobile device such as iPad, it becomes very difficult for a teacher to view the collected data on dozens of mobile devices used by students. This paper presents a cloud software system (CSS) under the client-server architecture to remedy this problem. We developed CSS using the Java platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) with IBM WebSphere Application Server, IBM DB2, and MongoDB. We also developed an educational iPad game called Taffy Town. Game-based learning data are collected on the iPad during the Taffy Town gameplay and are transmitted to our CSS over the Internet. Players (students) and teachers can login and view dynamically created visualizations of the collected learning data.