Teaching – The eLearn Blog

Can Gamification Increase Student Productivity?

Denise Doig — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:07:39 +0000

Games can increase customer loyalty, incentivize employees, and help achieve personal improvement. It’s been said that globally we spend 3 billion hours a week playing video games. For many it’s hard to imagine a world before video and digital games, especially now that smartphones have become so ubiquitous. The link between education and gaming is strengthening. Let’s move beyond the idea of bringing “fun” into the classroom; gaming can stimulate the brain’s reward system. So how can we harness the power of games to truly impact the way we learn?
Gamification is the integration of game mechanics in non-game contexts, such as employee training and development or standardized test preparation. The concept is gaining traction as an innovative way to engage students in education and participation in learning beyond traditional teaching methods.

Badgeville, a behavior platform company, has found success using gamification to incentivize learning for Deloitte and Beat the GMAT, a social network for MBA applicants. Deloitte’s Leadership Academy, a digital education program with 10,000 senior executives at more than 150 companies around the globe, tracks and rewards behaviors. The program includes completing lessons, watching full educational videos, answering quizzes, and all the way up to earning an optional diploma. Beat the GMAT empowers members to learn, share, teach, and support each other. Those studying for the GMAT are motivated to compete against their peers, driving the competition towards getting a better score on the exam.

Still not convinced?

Many students have at least one subject they struggle with or find boring; gamification can add an element of fun into an otherwise not-so-fun subject.
Gamification encourages performance, displays progress and shows individual strengths giving students confidence and motivating them to achieve at the same time.
Gamification platforms can be used to track student progress, rewarding students with certificates for completing levels, being in the top ranking an can be viewed when applying for different colleges and future opportunities.
Gamification rewards those who do well, which can be a motivator for others. Those who are falling behind in a class see successful peers and feel compelled to keep up.

What do you think? Is gamification just another buzzword?

For more on the topic of gamification, here are some related articles:

Are You a Social Media Star?

Denise Doig — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:58:55 +0000

Social media has changed how educators engage with each other and their students online. Recently, BestCollegesOnline.com compiled a list of the “50 Teachers Who Are Social Media Stars.” You may already be familiar with some of these names:

More importantly social media is being used to eliminate barriers to learning–from preschoolers using iPad apps, to professionals climbing the corporate ladder. Recently the New York Times reported on how the Kahn Academy is using YouTube to teach math and science to high schoolers, while global organizations like Deloitte are using Yammer to create an internal social network enabling employees to share and connect.

In the past year eLearn Magazine has published a range of articles that tackle the issue of utilizing and managing social media in the online learning space:

What about you? How are you utilizing Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Google , Tumblr, and Slideshare? Are you blogging?

If you’ve answered yes, then keep it up! You may be on next year’s list. If not, there’s no better time than the present.

Learning on the Go

Denise Doig — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:17:26 +0000

Coinciding with Allison Rossett’s most recent article on mobile learning, earlier today I came across an insightful yet humorous infographic created by Float Mobile Learning.

The abacus, See ‘n Say and Rubik’s Cube were all learning tools I loved as a child. Something a parent could throw in their bag and pull out for an impromptu lesson. Now we have smart phones, iPads and Kindles. Yet there still seems to be a disconnect between these innovative tools and their usefulness for learning at an organizational level. Allison attempts to answer the question: If mobile learning and support are wonderful, why aren’t they everywhere? Take a look at the “history of mobile learning” below.

The Value of Public bPortfolios

Janet Clarey — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:00:30 +0000

David Hopkins used the time waiting for his iOS5 update more productively than I did (my nails are red). He read (and thankfully wrote) about an academic paper on public bPortfolios (blogging portfolios). Dubbed in the abstract as a “holistic alternative portfolio assessment system”, bPortfolios provide a way to reflect on academic (and professional) work in a socially interactive environment well beyond the walls of a college (or organization). So, yeah as I said, blogging. David goes on to talk about the efficient, inexpensive, scalable thing that WordPress is and wonders if bPortfolios will kick ePortfolios, which never really got much traction, to the curb or just muck up the ongoing discussion about engagement. What I liked about the paper is the mention of metacognition (in this case critical reflection) applied to professional practice. While this is an academic study, the idea behind it applies just as much to corporate L&D – it’s important to document your learning not just what you learned. And (as they note) it’s better when the public can see it. The whole idea is to make the process of critical reflection as simple as possible.

Link: ‘ePortfolios are out, ‘bPortfolios’ are in (apparently), David Hopkins, 10/25/11

The Efficacy of Online Instruction

Lisa Neal Gualtieri — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 02:37:01 +0000

Kevin Kvalvik, a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, posted responses to a question seeking recent findings on the efficacy of online instruction from student and faculty points of view. There are seven sites mentioned, including articles from eLearn Magazine, and the post includes useful descriptions of the results.

Simple Tricks to be a Better Teacher

Jill Duffy — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:13:00 +0000

NPR’s Talk of the Nation had a recent piece with Doug Lemov on the very simple things teachers can do to be a better teacher.
If you don’t have 39 minutes, the first 6 minutes are the most inspirational.
Enjoy!