For as long as I’ve been interested in mobile learning, I’ve been on the lookout for apps that allow instructors to use mobile devices to structure student learning experiences outside of the classroom. Maybe you want students to go the Art Institute, look at three paintings in person and answer questions about them. Maybe you want students to visit seven buildings downtown with different architectural styles. Maybe you want students to go to the Bird and Butterfly Sanctuary and take pictures of migratory birds. Or maybe you want students to visit a few different ethnic neighborhoods, and you just want verification that they actually went.

There’s no shortage of “tour guide” or scavenger hunt” style apps, but every one I had evaluated had an issue that made it difficult to recommend for a classroom context. There might be privacy issues if the app required you to use a social media account and posted student location activity publicly, or there might be accountability issues if there were no way for the instructor to verify student participation. In short, these apps were made for the general public, not for teachers.

GooseChase is the first of these types of apps that I’m comfortable recommending to an instructor. GooseChase bills itself as a game-based scavenger hunt app available for iOS or Android. It allows you to set up different kinds of activities, or “missions” that students can complete alone or in groups, which earns them points.

• GPS Missions—This allows students to check in at certain locations using their phones’ GPS. You can select a location on a map and then how large or small of an area you want to count. (Note: GPS is never 100 percent exact, so I wouldn’t use this for any more precise location than a building.)
• Text Mission—You set up a question for which students need to input the correct answer to get points. You can input more than one possible correct answer. You can pair this with a GPS Mission to ask location-based questions.
• Photo/Video Mission—These require students to take a photo or video of something that you specify in the mission description. You can review the photos and videos and decide if students met the requirements and should get points.

Students find your “game” by searching in the GooseChase app, and you can set a password to make sure only your students enroll. You can see all of your students’ activity (individually or by group depending on how you set it up) as well as point totals.

Unfortunately, the free version of GooseChase for Education is pretty limited, allowing only a single active game with up to five groups. But the Plus version is fifty dollars for a year and should cover most use cases.

If you are sending students out into the city with a mobile-learning activity, make sure you check out the safety tips on the DePaul Teaching Commons Mobile Learning page. DePaul instructors can reach out to the Mobile Learning Initiative (MoLI) for help getting started.