Implications of Gamification & Digital Game Based Learning (DGBL)
IMPLICATIONS
The implications of the Gamification and Digital Game Based Learning trends on the way I instruct over the coming years could be massive! When I look back 20 years ago, when I was graduating high school, I can reflect on the dial-up internet era, textbooks, and written assignments.
During my PIDP 3100 course, Foundations of Adult Education, my learning partner Chris and I discussed that there seems to be a demand for instant gratification with today’s learners. There is no more handing in an assignment and waiting several days to receive your mark. I can see the gamified learners expecting instantaneous feedback in the way of marks. I discovered that there will be a need to manage their expectations by stating up front just how long it takes to provide this information (i.e.: 24 hour turn around time).
We pondered where things will be in the next 20 years. Will the upcoming generation of students even know how to print or write cursive letters with a pen and paper? Or will there ever be a need anymore for that? Technology is changing at such a fast rate that we wonder when it will hit its roadblock.
Looking further at Gamification and Digital Game Based learning, we felt that this trend could feed the ‘anti-social generation’ of up and coming learners, unless we as teachers are careful in how we steward this concept in our classrooms. To prepare for this trend, we need to look at how to incorporate games in a positive manner that still encourages interaction with others, friendly competition, and an avoidance of shaming. This can be done through researching best practices.
On a more positive note, I can see that this engaging way of learning would bring an increase in not only class participation, but also attendance, which should positively correlate with improved student performance.
The more formal ways of teaching are falling by the wayside as the needs of today’s students are much more 'digitally wired'. This is significant, as colleges and universities strive to attract, retain, and engage these digitally savvy students.
I feel there are many opportunities to fill the void that traditional education is creating. Online curriculums that use Gamification to teach can speed up the learning curve for this up and coming generation of learners.
The older demographic who do not use computers on a frequent basis may not easily accept games as an effective way to learn, however, I believe that this methodology could be readily accepted by adult learners in the age ranges of 18-50 with minimal trouble. Many people these ages are playing games such as Angry Birds, or Candyland. Some are even on Minecraft.
These trends will change the way I instruct in the future as the upcoming students are hungry for fun ways to engage their minds, after all, this is the norm for their generation. While I am not overly tech savvy myself, I could still develop the ‘idea’ for a game, and have someone else develop it. To stay at the forefront of leading education, I believe this is a necessary component to acquire and keep students coming to our program.
I plan to start small, developing a game for just one of our units; for example, I could develop a jeopardy game for learning about estheticians in the medical field. It would be a great way for the students to earn points, and to see the value in answering the more difficult questions. This would aid in learning from their peer group, and would help those who learn by means of ‘auditory stimulation’ to hear the answers provided by others.
I also plan to look for games that may already be on the market that I may be able to integrate into our classroom (i.e. chemistry games). This would involve me learning how to play the game, and ensuring that the game is appropriate for a university setting. Having said this, we would have to change the current classroom rules to allow personal devices in the class which could carry its own set of challenges!
