F-formations and collaboration dynamics study for designing mobile collocation

Mobile devices offer great opportunities in the field of collaborative learning for providing digital information while still supporting social interactions between group members. We designed and tested an orienteering mobile learning game to better understand how device use shaped collaboration in highly mobile conditions. The study involved four groups of three students all equipped with tablets. We focused our analysis on the relationship between participants' arrangements (F-formations), their device usage and coordination mechanisms (i.e. awareness, regulation, information sharing, and discussion). Our results emphasize the importance of considering the transitions between arrangements. From these observations we derive recommendations for the design of relevant interactions techniques for mobile collaborative activities.