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Getting Serious About Serious Games - McTigue & Henning Uppstad (2018) - Kristina Campanelli 

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Getting Serious About Serious Games - McTigue & Henning Uppstad (2018) - Kristina Campanelli 

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McTigue and Henning Uppstad (2018) focuses on the use of computer games in classrooms for literacy learning. Their work highlights some common myths, yet they also provide recommendations for teachers by focusing on the principles of the TPACK framework, which includes the interaction of technological, pedagogical and content knowledge. Through their debunking of myths, some main takeaways were the importance of motivation, collaboration and the role of the teacher in providing instruction, guidance and modeling.

McTigue and Henning Uppstad (2018) highlight that in many cases, motivation needs to be fostered through “competence and relatedness/community”, as these are two needs in motivation theory (self-determination theory) that are not necessarily inherent to playing computer literacy games. More specifically, to foster relatedness and community, students should collaborate and engage with peers, which in turn may result in better learning outcomes overall. In my opinion, the most important component is the role of the teacher in providing instruction, guidance and modeling. We cannot assume simply because students were born into the “age of tech” that they are proficient in all tech tools. During computer literacy games, teachers still need to provide instruction, connect learning goals between the game and course content, ensure that literacy skills are transferring from one context to another, model appropriate use of the technology and explain the games rules, instructions and functions and track students’ goals and progress. Although computer games are an excellent tool to make literacy fun and exciting for students, it must be used as a complementary tool to other methods of instruction.

As McTigue and Henning Uppstad (2018) explain, technology must enhance learning. I agree and do not believe that it can be used and relied on solely to teach students about literacy. Although I do not work in a primary or secondary setting, I still have witnessed this in my current context, which is post secondary education. Some teachers have implemented tech in their classrooms as a way to occupy the time and keep students engaged by their screens, but this defeats the whole purpose of introducing tech into the classroom because it is trying to connect it to content and pedagogy, however in their concluding insights, McTigue and Henning Uppstad (2018) illustrate that “an important point is also the direction of movement, going from the known fields (content/pedagogy) toward the unknown (technology), not vice versa” (p.459). However, many of the myths that have been outlined in the reading as well as my experience with teachers in my context, “often represent the opposite movement: from technology into content and pedagogy” (p.459). Teachers I’ve worked with have often taken a “hands-off”approach when utilizing tech in the classroom because they expect the tech to do the work but it is evident from McTigue and Henning Uppstad’s (2018) work, that the continued presence and role of the teacher in these learning environments is vital for learning to actually take place.

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Oriana Sutorius-Gamification in Learning-Tulloch et al., 2018 article and McCarthy, 2016 web article.

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Oriana Sutorius-Gamification in Learning-Tulloch et al., 2018 article and McCarthy, 2016 web article.

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I chose to explore gamification in learning as this is newer territory for me. My colleagues often talk about 'gamifying the curriculum' and I understand this in an introductory way. The concept of badges, rewards and levels is something that already exists within our classrooms but after exploring McCarthy's (2016) "Gamifying Your Class to Meet the Needs of All Learners" web article ,and Tulloch et al.'s (2018) study "The politics of gamification: Education, neoliberalism and the knowledge economy", I've understood that building a learning experience for students requires much more intentionality and depth. I particularly liked how McCarthy (2016) outlined that gamifying learning could unlock opportunities to better differentiate for student interest, readiness and motivation. From a teacher planning standpoint, I appreciated the point about familiarizing myself with the 4 player archetypes and the importance of planning with game mechanics/game dynamics in mind.
An excellent counterweight to the many web articles on the affordances of gamifying the curriculum came from Tulloch et al.'s (2018) article about the rise of gamification and its ties to our capitalist economy. Concerns were raised about how often EdTech stakeholders gloss over the obvious concerns of apps. tracking students' learning (surveillance), and the limited argument that 'gaming' is the answer to educational institutions' 'failures' to engage young minds.
Video game theorist Ian Bogost went even further to suggest that 'gamification' be rebranded as "exploitationware" because:
"Exploitationware captures gamifiers' real intentions: a grifter's game, pursued to capitalize on a cultural moment, through services about which they have questionable expertise, to bring about results meant to last only long enough to pad their bank accounts before the next bullsh*t trend comes along." (2011, as cited in Tulloch et al., 2018, p.213).
When considering the differing approaches to the current trends of gamified learning, I see teachers' creating their own game-based learning experiences which I think may be a balanced approach to some of the concerns raised above. My plan for Assignment #3 is to explore this balanced approach further which does not open up the floodgates for every EdTech company to swoop into my classroom, but does take an open approach to incorporating games into the curriculum so that my students' learning experiences remain novel.

Sources:

https://www.edutopia.org/article/gamifying-your-class-john-mccarthy

Tulloch, R., & Randell-Moon, H. (2018). The politics of gamification: Education, neoliberalism and the knowledge economy. The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 40(3), 204-226.

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What if you could do something similar in a learning curriculum? What if each student could choose to do additional skill tasks, readings, and experiments? Gamification can create this opportunity-and can allow for differentiation as students choose which of the additional elements they will take on. The key is to gamify learning experiences with the right combination of game mechanics. Here are some of my favorite mechanics for building engagement and learning.

1. Experience Points and Leveling Up

Create a leveling chart that shows students the amount of experience points needed for each level. Experience points are earned by completing required and optional tasks, or by earning achievements and badges, or by participating in free play and special events, all of which are described below. Students also earn experience bonuses for sharing innovative contributions that benefit the entire class. Experience points help students reach a required level, at which point they are eligible to take on a boss challenge-a key assessment.

Do not include experience points as part of students' course grade-doing so can inflate grades. In place of extra credit points, the appeal for students is that they must earn experience to reach the target level that opens up the boss challenge.

2. Boss Challenges

A boss challenge is a major or key assessment, and students must reach a certain level to attempt each one. For example, on reaching level five, students may attempt a section assessment. Students must complete all required work to reach the level. You can create a boss challenge with several difficulty levels within the curriculum outcome, depending on each learner's needs. The teacher might offer two or three versions from normal to difficult to insane, to meet the needs of all learners.

3. Achievements and Badges

Achievements and badges require learners to spend more time on practice and exploration of lesson outcomes. They are non-competitive ways for individuals to explore areas of personal interest and push themselves to accomplish the required goals. Students can earn achievements for attaining specific levels, trying out a new skill for the first time, reading a number of articles or books, or demonstrating skills like collaboration or creativity.

Badges require students to complete multiple tasks. For example, an author badge might require students to go through two revisions of their paper, each peer reviewed and each containing at least one major change or improvement. A scholar badge may require extra readings, or posted reflections based on optional content videos.

Badges support differentiating for students' skill levels because they are tiered. Students who complete a foundational badge or achievement in science or math are ready to move to a more complex option. Advanced learners can start on the badges or achievements that will stretch them. Ultimately, students choose what they want to accomplish.

4. Free Play

My favorite games are so-called open sandbox games like Minecraft, Terraria, and Guild Wars 2. Players build and explore where they choose without the constraint of following a storyline. They create their own narrative.

With that concept in mind, you can create differentiation by having a massive choice board or learning menu where students pick the tasks they want to do. For example, prepare eight to 15 options about a science or math concept or an informational reading standard. Enhance the differentiation with a mix of articles, videos, story problems, and writing prompts. Allow students to choose the tasks they will accomplish. Each completed task earns experience points for leveling up and opportunities for special achievements and badges.

Students will likely spend more time doing extra work in and outside of class than they would normally.

5. Special Events

Offer time-limited events around your curriculum so that students can earn bonus experience points and unique achievements and badges. Events can be tied to content reviews, learning stations, or makeup homework. Offer optional activities such as live webinars, school or community arts performances, or a museum showing. The key is that the event should directly tie to the curriculum. Students should be able to earn experience points, achievements, and/or badges as part of the event.

6. Game Replay (Assessment Retakes)

Game replay is an important gamification feature that strongly supports the diversity of learners. Gamers know that beating the boss sometimes takes multiple attempts. Even in the professional world, where a test is required for certification to practice law, accounting, and teaching, for example, multiple retakes are allowed. Proficiency is all that matters.

Educators know that students learn at different paces. Learners who do not succeed with an assessment should have the opportunity to replay the boss challenge. Sometimes the retake turnaround is immediate, and other times reteaching or a set of study tasks (achievements) must be completed before a student makes another attempt at the boss. Ultimately for student achievement, proficiency is all that should matter.

Trying This Yourself

Gamifying a lesson or longer learning experience provides powerful differentiation opportunities to support achievement so all can learn. The best way to start gamifying is to try it with one lesson. Having gamified whole courses, I recommend starting small-try developing some achievements and badges. (Find more game mechanics at Badgeville Wiki.) If you are concerned that students might not do work if they're not earning extra credit, establish experience points and levels. As in open sandbox games, adding one game mechanic at a time can transform your classroom. Contact me with your questions or share in the comments below. Take the plunge-excite and amaze your students.

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Gamifying Your Class to Meet the Needs of All Learners

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What if you could do something similar in a learning curriculum? What if each student could choose to do additional skill tasks, readings, and experiments? Gamification can create this opportunity-and can allow for differentiation as students choose which of the additional elements they will take on.

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Alysha Wood - Manzano-León et al (2021) 

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Alysha Wood - Manzano-León et al (2021) 

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Manzano-León et al.’s (2021) article explores the impact of gamification in education Within this study, I was most interested in the results of the fourth question; what are the advantages of gamification in educational settings? The most significant benefits of gamification across all educational levels included academic achievement, engagement, and intrinsic motivation. I think I would have liked to learn more about the methodology and application of gamification in the classroom. I would like to be confident in planning for appropriate games or selecting game elements that actually enhance a student’s learning.

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Eco-education and AR - Huang et al. (2016)

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Eco-education and AR - Huang et al. (2016)

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I chose to read the Huang et al. (2016) article on using AR in an ecological education setting. The authors highlight that much of eco-education is still done in classrooms or limited guided experiential programs, much of which is passive. The study by the authors wanted to investigate if using AR could help students be more active in their ecological learning, 3 groups of students explored a botanical garden in Taiwan. The first group just had devices with AR activities, the second group had a guide plus AR activities, and the third control group had just a guide/traditional experience. The results found that group 2 (AR + guide) had the most positive experience. By combining the novel and interactive AR activities with an expert to guide them, students were able to have a rich experience with the botanical garden. While Huang et al. (2016) do stress this was a very small scale experiment, it shows there is potential for more active ecological learning when thoughtfully combined with technology. As was outlined on Brightspace this week even in just classroom settings AR/VR can also be used to give students experiences that would in the past have been limited to going to a botanical garden/outdoor experience in the past. I chose to read this since while I primarily am an EFL educator, my background is actually in Earth systems science and I recently started a position where I am creating an EFL ecological experience program at an arboretum. So I would definitely like to explore more research on combining eco-education and tech tools. I think it could be interesting to try using AR to create small activities/interactive quizzes as part of their outdoor exploration.

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Alyssa Oddi - Allcoat and von Mühlenen (2018)

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Alyssa Oddi - Allcoat and von Mühlenen (2018)

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I read the article by Allcoat and von Mühlenen (2018) this week, which discussed virtual reality as a method for learning and education applications. The study consisted of 99 participants, who were then assigned to one of three learning conditions: traditional style learning, which involved a hardcopy textbook, Virtual Reality learning, and a video learning, which exercised passive control. It was found that participants in the traditional and VR conditions improved their overall performance of learning, which included knowledge acquisition and comprehension of the subject matter), while those who simply watched the video did not show these improvements. The virtual reality participants displayed enhanced performance on remembering and recalling knowledge than the other two groups. The virtual reality group showed an increase in positive emotions, and a decrease in negative emotions, while there was a decrease in positive emotions for both of the remaining groups. Given how positive the learning experience was with the VR group, I think that it gets students excited to learn, because it engages them with an entirely new way of establishing technology in the classroom. Plus, virtual reality is a video game for most, so seeing it implemented in school setting would help students to see that learning can be fun and effective. My fiancé has a virtual reality device, which I have tried out and thoroughly enjoyed! Now that I am thinking about it, I could use the exploration features of it to entice students in my geography class for example. It is all about helping students to understand that learning does not have to just look like a paper and pencil; it can involve them actually experiencing things, and learning as a fun result!

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I read the article by Yang G. et al. (2020) where they studied the use of VR in the process of comprehension writing performance. The specific VR they used in the study was Spherical Video-Based Virtual Reality. They found that the experimental group who used the Spherical method actually produced better results than the control group. I think the use of Virtual Reality in the classroom is really exciting because it gives the students an immersive experience. Being a French teacher I think this could be really unique when dealing with the conversation aspect of learning French. I would love to use this technology in my classroom as I think that this is a perfect example of technology in education changing for the better. It gives the student more learning opportunities and experiences while still being in the classroom. I definitely need to do more research on Virtual Reality to see how I could source it out for my future classrooms. However, more research on the use of Virtual Reality in the language classrooms would be beneficial first to see if it would actually be effective in improving the learning experience for students.

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Personalisation of L2 learning - Kukulska-Hulme (2016)

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Personalisation of L2 learning - Kukulska-Hulme (2016)

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Hi all, I read the Kukulska-Hulme (2016) article which discussed mobile technologies for language lwarning. It provides an overview of what benefits mobile technologies have for language learning and the potentials of personalisation of learning and also includes some case studies with specific examples of apps and screenshots of those apps. This was particularly interesting to me both as a language learner and teacher to adult lamgauge learners, many of us use mobile technologies for language learning. I have actually found mobile technologies as only a supplement to my learning but some of the tools have been vital in supporting my learning. It is clear that mobile technologies will be a necessary aspect to language learning in the future and something we should be both wary and aware of!