Posts Tagged ‘badges’

badges for teachers

start with the teachers, not with the students

OPINION So You Want to Drive Instruction With Digital Badges? Start With the Teachers

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-10-31-so-you-want-to-drive-instruction-with-digital-badges-start-with-the-teachers

Participating teachers advance through a series of inquiry-based professional development modules. Teachers are awarded a digital badge for the successful completion of each 10-hour module. To accomplish this, they must complete the following steps: 1) study module content, 2) participate in a focused discussion with peers working on the same module, 3) create an original inquiry-based global lesson plan that incorporates new learning, 4) implement the original lesson plan in the classroom, 5) provide evidence of classroom implementation and 6) reflect on and revise the lesson created.

The final product of every module is a tested, global lesson plan that articulates learning objectives, activities, assessments, and resources for each stage of inquiry. Upon completion, teachers may publish finalized lessons in a resource library where they can be accessed by other educators. As designed, the HISD badging system will be a four-year, 16-badge approach that equates to 160 hours of professional learning for teachers.

five key features that taken together increase significantly the likelihood that the learning experience for a teacher will lead to results in the classroom for students — which, after all, is the point of professional development:

 

  • Badging requires demonstrating understanding and implementation of a target content or skill. 
  • Badging provides recognition and motivation. 
  • Badging allows for knowledge circulation among teachers. 
  • Badging can be tracked and assessed. 
  • Badging is a scalable enterprise. 

 

Improve Professional Learning

7 Ways to Improve Professional Learning in the 21st Century

  1. Sandbox environments.
  2. Model classrooms.
  3. Walkthroughs. Pro-tip: there are several tools available to guide the “look fors,” such as this one from the Teaching of Robust Understanding Framework.
  4. Lunch and learns/Drop-in sessions.
  5. Unconferences/EdCamps.
  6. Coaching.
  7. Micro-credentialing/Badges.

More on use of badges in this blog:

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=badges&submit=Search

Trends Tomorrow’s Teaching and Learning Environments

Innovating Pedagogy: Which Trends Will Influence Tomorrow’s Teaching and Learning Environments?

Stefanie Panke

In November 2015, the Open University released the latest edition of its ‘Innovating Pedagogyreport, the fourth rendition of an annual educational technology and teaching techniques forecast. While the timelines and publishing interval may remind you of the Horizon Report, the methodology for gathering the trends is different.

The NMC Horizon Team uses a modified Delphi survey approach with a panel of experts.

Teaching and Learning Environments

10 Innovative Pedagogy Trends from the 2015 Edition:

  1. Crossover Learning: recognition of diverse, informal achievements with badges.
  2. Learning through Argumentation: To fully understand scientific ideas and effectively participate in public debates students should practice the kinds of inquiry and communication processes that scientists use, and pursue questions without known answers, rather than reproducing facts.
  3. Incidental Learning: A subset of informal learning, incidental learning occurs through unstructured exploration, play and discovery. Mobile technologies can support incidental learning. An example is the app and website Ispot Nature.
  4. Context-based Learning: Mobile applications and augmented reality can enrich the learners’ context. An example is the open source mobile game platform ARIS.
  5. Computational Thinking: The skills that programmers apply to analyze and solve problems are seen as an emerging trend . An example is the programming environment SCRATCH.
  6. Learning by Doing Science with Remote Labs:  A collection of accessible labs is ilab
  7. Embodied learning: involving the body is essential for some forms of learning, how physical activities can influence cognitive processes.
  8. Adaptive Teaching: intelligent tutoring systems – computer applications that analyse data from learning activities to provide learners with relevant content and sequence learning activities based on prior knowledge.
  9. Analytics of Emotions: As techniques for tracking eye movements, emotions and engagement have matured over the past decade, the trend prognoses opportunities for emotionally adaptive learning environments.
  10. Stealth Assessment: In computer games the player’s progress gradually changes the game world, setting increasingly difficult problems through unobtrusive, continuous assessment.

6 Themes of Pedagogical Innovation

Based upon a review of previous editions, the report tries to categorize pedagogical innovation into six overarching themes:

 “What started as a small set of basic teaching methods (instruction, discovery, inquiry) has been extended to become a profusion of pedagogies and their interactions. So, to try to restore some order, we have examined the previous reports and identified six overarching themes: scale, connectivity, reflection, extension, embodiment, and personalisation.”

  1. Delivering education at massive scale.
  2. Connecting learners from different nations, cultures and perspectives.
  3. Fostering reflection and contemplation.
  4. Extending traditional teaching methods and settings.
  5. Recognizing embodied learning (explore, create, craft, and construct).
  6. Creating a personalized path through educational content.

Further Reading

Follow these links to blog posts and EdITLib resources to further explore selected trends:

full article can be found here:

http://blog.aace.org/2016/01/31/1688/

tech ed trends in 2016

What’s Hot, What’s Not in 2016

Our expert panelists weigh in on education technology to give us their verdict on which approaches to tech-enabled learning will have a major impact, which ones are stagnating and which ones might be better forgotten entirely.

By Greg Thompson 01/12/16

https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/01/12/whats-hot-whats-not-in-2016.aspx

  • Bring Your Own Device (BYOD): Lukewarm to Hot

  • Social Media for Teaching and Learning: Lukewarm to Hot

  • Digital Badges: Mostly Lukewarm

  • Open Educational Resources (OERs): Mostly Hot

  • E-Portfolios: Losing Steam

  • Learning Management Systems (LMS): Lukewarm to Hot

  • Flipped Learning: Mostly Hot (but Equitability a Question)

  • Blended Learning: Unanimously Hot

  • Student Data Privacy Concerns: Unanimously Hot

  • Apps for Learning: A Mostly Lukewarm Mixed Bag

  • Games for Learning: Hot

What are the hot devices?

Cameras like the Canon VIXIA, the Sony HDR-MV1 or the Zoom Q4 or Q8 range from $200 to $400. The secret of these small devices is a tradeoff between video flexibility and audio power. With digital-only zoom, these cameras still deliver full HD video (or better) but with limited distance capabilities. In return, the audio quality is unsurpassed by anything short of a professional boom or wireless microphone setup; most of these cameras feature high-end condenser microphone capsules that will make music or interview recordings shine.

The Chromebook is hot. Seventy-two percent of Chromebook sales were education-related purchases in 2014.

The smartphone is hot. Every day, the smartphone becomes less of a “phone” and more of a device for connecting with others via social media, researching information on the Internet, learning with apps and games and recording experiences with photos and videos.

bettshow

British Educational Training and Technology Show

http://www.bettshow.com

an annual trade show in the United Kingdom that showcases the use of information technology in education. The show has also expanded from being a purely technology show, and whilst it has played host to companies ranging from multinationals Microsoft, Google and Apple Inc. to small single-product firms, it has also created themed zones for exhibitors, such as those specialising in SEN provision. New for 2015 is its “Bett Futures” feature, which aims to select and promote 30 educational technology start-ups, selected by a panel of expert educators.[3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BETT)

Examples:
http://www.bettshow.com/Content/Microsoft-Learn-Live-Theatre
Minecraft in Education
1:1 with Surface at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (http://www.bettshow.com/content/Microsoft-Learn-Live-Theatre#ixzz3x8gaFOrQ)

15:10 – 15:40
Technology in Higher Education Summit
As we continue to move into a more digital world, the digital badge has been heralded as a means to demonstrate evidence of work online, an alternate method of accreditation, and a solution to support, guide and motive learners. With examples from a university ahead of the curve in the use of digital badges, learn what roles badges could have in your teaching

http://www.bettshow.com/Seminar/Spotlight-on-e-porfoilios-and-digital-badges#ixzz3x9DOjm94

Educause 2015

Gamify! Play! Learn! Turn Campus Resources into Exciting Learning Experiences

Thursday
Oct 29th, 2015
4:30 PM – 5:20 PM
Eastern Time
Sagamore Ballroom 3
slide 6
  • Gamification is the use of game mechanics and
    game design techniques in non-game contexts.
  • Gamification uses the natural desire for competition, achievement, status, altruism and/or collaboration (depending on the personality type).
slide 8 Gamification Mechanic Types
  • Objectives: A behavioral mechanic type, requiring the user to take action for the reward.
  • Progression: Move the user through the content.
  • Feedback: Informing the user of their status

Gamification Mechanic Benefits       Each gamification mechanic result in one or more benefits.

Gamification Personality Types

People are motivated to play games differently.

Explorers: Pride themselves in exploring all facets of a game or the context surrounding it.

Killers: Driven by player vs player competition. Always comparing themselves to others.

Socializer: Prefers to chat, play cooperatively, and share game experiences with others.

Achievers: Look to achieve all objectives available in a game. Desires to beat the game itself.

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Adaptive Learning in Online Learning: Results from an Ongoing Evaluation

Wednesday
Oct 28th, 2015
11:40 AM – 12:30 PM
Eastern Time
Wabash Ballroom 2
This session will present results from an evaluation of the integration of RealizeIT adaptive learning technology into three fully online courses: General Psychology, Pathophysiology for Nursing Practice, and College Algebra. Presenters will discuss the impact on students, faculty, and the university.

Adaptive learning systems provide each student with a personalized learning experience, adapting the presentation of the content, and possibly the assessment to the individual ability of the student
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Badges: A New Mode for Faculty Development

Wednesday
Oct 28th, 2015
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Eastern Time
Poster Sessions, Exhibit Hall H-K
Co-developed by Learning Technologies and the Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Indiana University, a digital badge pilot (badges.iu.edu) was launched to support faculty professional development and growth. This session will cover the competency levels, topics of study, and the badging platform to document levels of achievement.
Outcomes: Understand the basics of a three-tiered framework for digital badges * Review the online badging platform * Explore topics for faculty development

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Open Digital Badges: Microcredentials and the Higher Ed Landscape

Wednesday
Oct 28th, 2015
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Eastern Time
Poster Sessions, Exhibit Hall H-K
Because they contain claims and evidence and circulate in networks, open digital badges are transforming credentialing. We will highlight the findings from a two-year study of 29 badge development projects, introduce a new project supporting badge innovation in major learning management systems, and interactively discuss the future of badges in higher education.
Outcomes: Understand the open badge ecosystem and how it benefits learning in higher education * Review digital developments in badge delivery * Discover contexts for the future of badges. Daniel Hickeyhttp://www.educause.edu/library/resources/where-badges-work-betterA Framework for Interactivity in Competency-Based Courses: http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/8/a-framework-for-interactivity-in-competency-based-coursesBadging in a Learner-Centered Context  http://er.educause.edu/multimedia/2015/8/badging-in-a-learner-centered-context



Mozilla Open Badges 101: Digging into Badges (a webinar)

personalized learning or competency-based does not resolve it. GPA does not respond to employers search
regimenting credentials. digital representation of of skill or achievement. represent achievements on the web. social status (foursquare). granular, evidence-based and transferable. badge ecosystem (across multiple areas), this is why open badges; open system. Open Badge Standard: issuer information; earner information; criteria URL; evidence URL; Standards Alignment; Taxonomy Tags

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Data Visualization: The What, the Who, and the How

(overlaps with infographics)
Wednesday
Oct 28th, 2015
2:30 PM – 3:20 PM
Eastern Time
Meeting Room 231-232
Data visualization tools are becoming much stronger and are now targeted at a much wider audience. This panel will explore what we should be trying to do with data visualization, who will be doing it, and how we might support and steer it.
OUTCOMES: Identify multiple opportunities for use of data visualization * Learn about multiple user communities, including those not centrally managed * Explore ways to support users and steer them toward good practiceshttp://www.educause.edu/sites/default/files/library/presentations/E15/SESS029/Data%2BViz%2BEducause%2B151028%2BFINAL1.pptxslides 7: What works well for technically savvy developers may not work for faculty or staff without those same credentials.

  • Data Wrapper
  • Raw
  • Infogram
  • Tableau
    • Oracle suite of OBIEE (Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition) has been very successful for CSU
    • Cognos (IBM) is another tool that is very popular for developers and has been used by USG central office
    • D3 (For Data Driven Documents)
    • Fusion Charts
    • Chart js
    • Google Charts

slide 11: Two primary design goals supported through Data Visualization:

  • Discovery and Exploration

–What story is the data telling you

–Identify patterns and exceptions

  • Decision-making

–Compare, contrast, choose

–Explain, make a point, decide

slide 15:

qTo communicate

qPresent more clearly or more forcefully than would be accomplished with text or tables

qReports, dashboards, infographics, etc.

qTo discover

qAllow us to see what would be difficult or impossible to see if not presented in a useful visualization

qRealm of research but moving into the mainstream

qCan same visualization serve both purposes?

======================

iPad, You Pad, We All Pad: Transforming Teaching and Learning

Wednesday
Oct 28th, 2015
2:30 PM – 3:20 PM
Eastern Time
Meeting Room 237-238
California State University Northridge, Lynn University, and Jackson State University have all deployed one-to-one iPad tablet initiatives, with the objectives to increase student engagement and learning, improve the quality of teaching materials, and decrease student costs. This session will discuss the transformational educational opportunities afforded by the iPad and highlight technology and pedagogical lessons learned.
Outcomes: Learn about the transformational impact of one-to-one iPad initiatives in the classroom * Understand the need for extensive faculty development and faculty adoption strategies * Appreciate deployment and support challenges====================

The Avalon Video and Audio Repository for Libraries and Beyond

Wednesday
Oct 28th, 2015
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Eastern Time
Poster Sessions, Exhibit Hall H-K
The Avalon Media System provides an open-source streaming media solution, based on Hydra/Fedora repository technologies, focused on delivery of library media collections, but it is finding other uses, including support for publication, teaching and learning content, and digital scholarship. As a result, new features enhance support for additional research and instructional use cases.
Outcomes: Understand the problems Avalon solves * Understand the extended use cases addressed with Avalon, both present and intended future * Learn how best to engage with the Avalon project.========================

 Karuta: Design Your Own Portfolio Process

Wednesday
Oct 28th, 2015
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Eastern Time
Poster Sessions, Exhibit Hall H-K
The Karuta Open Source Portfolio, currently under incubation by the Apereo Foundation, offers dramatic flexibility for designing portfolio workflows with rubrics to assess learning outcomes. Karuta is LTI enabled for integration with the LMS for easy access and transfer of evidence of learning. Subsequent releases will add functionality for showcasing as well as reporting. Outcome: Learn how Karuta can flexibly support your programs and institution through leveraging its functionality
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Supporting the Discovery and Adoption of Open E-Textbooks

Wednesday
Oct 28th, 2015
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Eastern Time
Poster Sessions, Exhibit Hall H-K
The California Open Education Resources Council comprises faculty from the three CA higher education systems working together to identify open textbooks for high impact courses. The selected open textbooks are in the process of being peer reviewed and curated in the CA Open Online Library.
Outcomes: Identify quality open textbooks for general education, high-impact courses * Learn how to interpret textbook peer reviews with a faculty-created rubric * Understand how to reference these resources for the discovery of quality no- or low-cost materialshttp://www.educause.edu/sites/default/files/library/presentations/E15/PS58/COOL%2BEducause%2BPoster%2B2015.pdf
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Seminar 12P – Six Secrets for Evaluating Online Teaching (separate registration is required)

Tuesday
Oct 27th, 2015
12:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Eastern Time
Meeting Room 241-242
What makes online teaching different from face-to-face teaching? How can we tell when it’s done well? Faculty members, administrators, and IT leaders will learn six evaluation “secrets” from the authors of the new book Evaluating Online Teaching. You will leave this seminar with use-them-now strategies, tools, and templates to take back to your campus.
OUTCOMES: Distinguish online content and practices that “count” as teaching behaviors * Design self-, peer-, and administrative-evaluation analytic tools * Develop a 6-stage, campus-wide program for evaluating online teachinghttp://www.educause.edu/annual-conference/2015/seminar-12p-six-secrets-evaluating-online-teaching-separate-registration-required

10 Handout – Forms and Resources
3 MB, PDF
08 Handout – Ten Principles Operationalized
355 KB, PDF
07 Handout – Checklist for Campus Readiness
140 KB, PDF
06 Handout – Institutional Audit
305 KB, PDF
05 Handout – The Three I’s
188 KB, PDF
04 Handout – Penn State Faculty Online …
87 KB, PDF
00 Workshop Presentation File
12 MB, Powerpoint Slides

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Reimagining Learning Space Design across the Disciplines

Thursday
Oct 29th, 2015
8:00 AM – 8:50 AM
Eastern Time
Meeting Room 235-236
Learn how the University of Pittsburgh is creating a scalable classroom model for active learning on a traditional campus. Administrators, faculty, and instructional technologists and designers recently collaborated to reimagine legacy large-enrollment lecture halls. The focus of this session is on the learning space design process across the disciplines.
Outcomes: Identify and apply the principles of active learning associated with learning space deign * Understand the design process * Assemble an effective learning space design teamhttp://www.educause.edu/annual-conference/2015/reimagining-learning-space-design-across-disciplines

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Thinking Digitally: Advancing Digital Literacy with Personalized Learning Tools

Thursday
Oct 29th, 2015
8:00 AM – 8:50 AM
Eastern Time
Wabash Ballroom 2
The session will outline a scalable framework for integrating digital literacy in higher education curriculum, supported by tools that allow for active and personalized learning. Research and examples from Georgia State University’s experience implementing a pilot program will be used as a catalyst for interactive discussion and idea generation.
Outcomes: Understand the value of incorporating digital literacy into curriculum * Select from emerging personalized learning technologies to support digital literacy across diverse academic scenarios * Adapt a methodology for developing partnerships to advance digital literacy across the organizationhttp://www.educause.edu/annual-conference/2015/thinking-digitally-advancing-digital-literacy-personalized-learning-tools===============

What’s That Droning Overhead?

Thursday
Oct 29th, 2015
8:00 AM – 8:50 AM
Eastern Time
Meeting Room 201-202
Session Type: Concurrent Session
A discussion of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and drone activities that either take place on campus or impact a campus from the outside. The state of federal aviation regulations and guidelines for drones will be covered. Attendees can share their experiences with official and rogue drone activities at their institutions.
Outcomes: Learn about the drone devices in use, from miniature to massive * Understand the impact of drones on academic institutions, for better or worse * Learn what drone activities are legally allowable, banned, or discouragedhttp://www.educause.edu/annual-conference/2015/whats-droning-overhead

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4vcm8Bg5pkcWFlaQ1J3b3duc2M/view

5. Using small unmanned aerial vehicles  today is similar to the “fair use” of media

http://www.dronesurvivalguide.org

Resources – Higher Ed Drone Policies
The Ohio State University
Iowa State University
Indiana University
University of Kansas
Penn State University
University of New Mexico

The Association of College and University Policy
Administrators (ACUPA, acupa.org)

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Mobile Computing

Thursday
Oct 29th, 2015
8:00 AM – 8:50 AM
Eastern Time
Meeting Room 239
Session Type: Discussion Session
Join this lively discussion and discovery of innovative and functional uses and support for mobile computing. We will explore creative ideas for projects using mobile devices in teaching, learning, and administration. Topics may include hardware, applications, tools, special uses, wireless and mobile connectivity, web services, support issues, and security.

educause 2015

8:00 AM11:30 AM

Meeting Room 231-232
Session Type: Morning Seminar
Meeting Room 140-141
Session Type: Afternoon Seminar
Meeting Room 241-242
Session Type: Afternoon Seminar
Sagamore Ballroom 6
Meeting Room 132-133
Session Type: Discussion Session
Sagamore Ballroom 4
Poster Sessions, Exhibit Hall H-K
Session Type: Poster Session
Poster Sessions, Exhibit Hall H-K
Shoji Kajita
Session Type: Poster Session
Poster Sessions, Exhibit Hall H-K
Session Type: Poster Session
Poster Sessions, Exhibit Hall H-K
Leslie Kennedy
Session Type: Poster Session
Poster Sessions, Exhibit Hall H-K
Jon W. Dunn
Session Type: Poster Session
Sagamore Ballroom 4
Rob Peregoodoff
Meeting Room 237-238
Session Type: Concurrent Session
Meeting Room 231-232
Session Type: Concurrent Session
Meeting Room 132-133
Session Type: Discussion Session
Meeting Room 203-204
Wabash Ballroom 2
Session Type: Concurrent Session
Meeting Room 201-202
David Stack
Session Type: Concurrent Session
Meeting Room 239
Rose A. Rocchio
Session Type: Discussion Session
Sagamore Ballroom 5
Jaime Casap
Session Type: Featured Session
Meeting Room 201-202
Session Type: Concurrent Session
Meeting Room 203-204
Meeting Room 134-135
Tanya Joosten
Session Type: Discussion Session
Meeting Room 237-238
Session Type: Concurrent Session

Badges

Case Study 6: Mozilla Open Badges

http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/case-study-6-mozilla-open-badges

Badges can play a crucial role in the connected learning ecology by acting as a bridge between contexts, making these alternative learning channels and types of learning more viable, portable, and impactful. Badges can be awarded for a potentially limitless set of individual skills—regardless of where each skill is developed—and a collection of badges can begin to serve as a virtual résumé of competencies and qualities for key stakeholders, including peers, schools, or potential employers. Specifically, badges support capturing and communicating learning paths, signaling achievement, motivating learning, and driving innovation and flexibility, as well as building identity, reputation, and kinship. Thus, badges can provide a way to translate all types of learning into a powerful tool for getting jobs, finding communities of practice, demonstrating skills, and seeking out further learning.

Peer badges were also built around the peer-to-peer interactions and were awarded directly from one peer to another. Finally, participation badges were based on stealth assessment and data-tracking logic built into the learning environment. While the sample size was small due to constraints of the course cycles, the pilot resulted in a solid proof-of-concept of the potential for badges and these approaches to assessment.

How Badges Really Work in Higher Education

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2013/06/20/how-badges-really-work-in-higher-education.aspx

The badges have several layers, Wisser says. While the top level signifies that you completed elements of the coursework, the badges have stripes for other accomplishments such as leading a discussion or teaching peers. “These badges are visible to other students, and if you are struggling in one area, you could turn to someone more accomplished–as shown by their badge–for help. Or if you were strong in a certain area and saw someone else was struggling, you could reach out to that person.”

More in this IMS blog on badges:

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=badges

Creating a Library App: Things to Know Before You Go Mobile
Tuesday, April 28, 2015 11AM-12PM PDT
Registration link: http://www.cla-net.org/?861

Mobile apps are a popular topic in libraries. But what does it take to create one and what kind of programming can you do with apps? Is an app the right solution, or should you create a responsive website? What is the process like, and what resources are needed? How do you manage privacy, security, and legal concerns? Who do you need to get the job done, and what skills should they have?
These are all important questions that should be asked (and answered) before you think about creating a mobile app. Learn from expert panelists from libraries and nonprofits who have created, developed, and managed mobile apps for their organizations. Panelists will share practical advice and information based on experience, as well as helpful tools and resources.

Zeth Lietzau is the Manager of Digital User Experience and the Community Technology Center at the Denver Public Library. He’s the leader of their Virtual Services initiative, which defines the direction of DPL’s online services, mobile & otherwise, including the Volume Denver project which is available as a mobile-responsive site.
A303_Lietzau Makers, Hackers, and Badges at the Denver Public Library

Anna Jaeger and her team at Caravan Studios create mobile apps that are designed in partnership with nonprofit and community-focused organizations to meet the needs of their constituents. Anna has been a frequent speaker on nonprofit and environmental technology since 2007. Prior to her work with Caravan Studios, Ms. Jaeger was a founder and co-director of TechSoup Global’s GreenTech initiative and the director of TechSoup Global’s IT Engineering department.
https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/s/meetingArchive?eventId=li2t1jz4hoy6

Ani Boyadjian has been a working librarian since 1990. An LAPL staffer since 1996, she is now Research & Special Collections Manager at the Los Angeles Public Library, where she also oversees the Library’s Digitization efforts. She most recently spearheaded the development of the ARchive LAPL app in a partnership with USC and app developers Neon Roots, to use augmented reality to tell stories about the historic Central Library.

More on mobile apps in general on this IMS blog:

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=mobile+apps

Recommendations for games and gaming at LRS

Gaming and Gamification in academic and library settings (paper)
Short URL: http://scsu.mn/1F008Re 

Based on the literature regarding games, gaming, gamification, game-based learning, and serious games, several clear trends emerge:

  1. Gaming and gamification in the sense of game-based learning is about using games and game-like tactics in the education process, for greater engagement and better learning outcomes. However, this is only the first level of such initiative. The second and higher level is about involving students in the game-building and gamification of the learning process (as per Vygotsky’s Zone of…) thus achieving student-centered and experiential learning.
  2. When hosting games and gaming in any library, “in-person” or electronic/online games are welcome but not sufficient to fulfill their promise, especially in an academic library. Per (1), an academic library has the responsibility to involve students and guide them in learning how to engage in the building process required in true game-based learning.
  3. Game-based learning, gaming and gamification in particular, in educational (academic library) settings must consider mobile devices and the BYOD movement in particular as intrinsic parts of the entire process. Approaching the initiative primarily by acquiring online “in-person” games, or game consoles has the same limited educational potential as only hosting games, rather than elevating the students to full guided engagement with game-based learning. If public relations and raised profile are the main goals for the academic library, such an approach is justified. If the academic library seeks to maximize the value of game-based learning, then the library must consider: a. gaming consoles, b. mobile devices as part of a BYOD initiative and c. cloud-based / social games, such as MineCraft, SimCity etc.
  4. Design for game-based learning, gaming and gamification in educational (academic library) settings must include multiple forms of assessment and reward, e.g. badges, leaderboards and/or certificates as an intrinsic part of the entire process. Merely hosting games in the academic library cannot guarantee true game-based learning. The academic library, as the forefront of a game-based learning initiative on campus, must work with faculty on understanding and fine tuning badges and similar new forms of assessment and reward, as they effectively implement large scale game-based learning, focused on the students’ learning gains.

Recommendations for LRS

  1. In regard to LRS, the gaming and gamification process must be organized and led by faculty, including housing and distributing the hardware, software and applications, when needed.
  2. The attached paper and the respective conclusions summarized in four points demand educational and experiential background, which is above the limits of the LRS staff. In addition, the LRS staff has clearly admitted that the pedagogical value of gaming and gamification is beyond their interest. This recommendation is not contradicting to the fact and opportunity for LRS staff to participate in the process and contribute to the process; it just negates the possibility of staff mandating and leading the process, since it will keep the gaming and gamification process on a very rudimentary level.
  3. The process must be further led by faculty with a terminal degree in education (Ph.D.) and experience in the educational field, since, as proved by the attached paper and 4 point conclusion, the goal is not a public-library type of hosting activities, but rather involving students in a pedagogically-sound creative process, with the respective opportunity for assessment and future collaboration with instructors across campus. This recommendation is not contradicting the fact and opportunity for LRS library faculty to participate actively in the process and contribute to the process. It just safeguards from restricting the process to the realm of “public-library” type of hosting activities, but failing to elevate them to the needs of an academic campus and connecting with instructors across campus.
  4. This conclusions adhere to and are derived from the document recommended by the LRS dean, discussed and accepted by LRS faculty in 2013 about new trends and directions in academic libraries, namely diversification of LRS faculty; breaking from the traditional library mold of including faculty from different disciplines with different opinions and ideas.

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