Popularization of mobile and personalized services motivates the adoption of learning strategies supported by the principles of ubiquitous computing. However, because it is a new field, there is a perceived lack of ubiquitous learning environments, based on reference architectures, and open source software. Against this backdrop, this article aims to present the Youubi; one u-learning environment that was developed as a component-oriented reference architecture, applied to the context of formal and informal learning. For validation, the Youubi was used and installed by undergraduate's students and teachers in their smartphones. The method applied in this research includes design process and quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques, with the goal of identifying scenarios of ubiquitous learning and realize the impressions of students and teachers about the playful and motivational aspects, and its contribution to learning. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.