Student Engagement in my Project - Gamification

I must confess that before reading the article I was not really aware that ‘Gamification’ was such an intricate science and can play such an important role in significantly increasing our intelligence quotient…my exposure to video games started from Pac man to Tetris and then thanks to my kids, Crash the Bandigot! I can’t help but wonder, could I have been any brighter J

Raymer’s article Gamification: Using game mechanics to enhance eLearning is a very enlightening read. I completely agree with part where ‘wanting and liking’ are mentioned as the two essential components of ‘engagement’. Understanding the subject matter is not enough, understanding our audience is also a necessary ingredient for the development of good software. The importance of ‘cognitive fatigue’ should also be kept in mind while designing the activity be it in the form of software or conventional teaching tools.

My project is the use of Wimba Live for blended learning. I have implemented it in my class lessons and the student response was strong positive. My experience with Wimba, so far does not give the flexibility to imbed interactive software for gamification. I have, though, used an online ‘Lemonade Game’ in one of the earlier courses to engage students and prepare them for a more intense ‘Business Simulation Game’ later on in the semester. Both of these games gave them a feel of the real business environment and its dynamics. They had to face the consequences of stock outs and make decisions such as quantity, price and R&D in an environment where the simulation controlled the macro economic factors. It turned out to be quite a completive experience as the teams competed against each other and the results were quarterly.

New Technologies, new pedagogies: Mobile learning in higher education

An insightful e-book by A.Herrington, J. Herrington and Jessica Mantei which delves deeper into the discussion of the usefulness of incorporating mobile devices in higher education. The chapter that I chose in addition to ‘Design Principles for Mobile learning’ is ‘Faculty development for new technologies: Putting mobile learning in the hands of the teachers’.

‘Faculty development for new technologies: Putting mobile learning in the hands of the teachers’ investigates the potential of two mobile devices, a smartphone and digital audio/video player. As faculty is usually hesitant to invest their time and energy into learning new technology, emphasis is put on the combination of practice and theory. Many successful faculty development activities move beyond the idea of ‘one-off’ workshops to integrate long term programs that focus on developing relationships and reflection as well as skill and knowledge development (Carew, Lefoe, and Bell & Armour 2008).

It was interesting to see twelve staff volunteers go through an action learning framework based on both formal and informal learning activities over six months and then implement their projects with students over the following twelve months. Five initial key understandings were required for implementation: Understanding of the theoretical framework and mobile learning, affordances of the technology at hand, identifying the new pedagogies, model the practice through authentic tasks and the reflection on the implications for the development of new pedagogies.

‘Design Principles for Mobile learning’ refer to characteristics of a planned learning design - what it should look like, or its procedure - how it should be developed (Van den Akker 1999). Such designs are not fixed. For example the summary of substantive and procedural elements of the findings of the project is presented in the form of a table in this chapter with emphasis on purpose, characteristics and methodology. While much has been learnt about the capabilities of the devices and appropriate designs for teaching and learning through this project, these ‘first generation, studies may well be insufficient to prompt the widespread uptake of mobile learning in higher education institutions (Traxler 2005).