Justifying Gamification - What's the Rationale?
I fundamentally believe that in order for innovative pedagogies to become adopted and result in sustainable change for our learners, we need to disrupt the status quo, and to do this we need to transform the educational paradigm (J. Anderson & Rainie, 2014; Christensen, Johnson, & Horn, 2008; Cohen, 2011; Dicheva et al., 2015; Gee, 2013; Jones, 2008; Lee & Hammer, 2011; Pink, 2009; Saveri & Chwierut, 2010; Zhao, 2012).
This means we need to rethink and alter our mindsets around what school looks like, its function, and our roles within the system. A review of current educational literature defends the rationale for using non-traditional pedagogies with our students, particularly to support personalization and increased student motivation, through the development of autonomy, mastery and purpose (Pink, 2009).
To be blunt, we can no longer rely on our students arriving at school motivated to learn, and it is our obligation as educators to change our methods, rather than forcing our students into outdated models based around our ideals.
Creating a piecework model for gamification, rather than just marketing a finished product, makes it easier for individual teachers to use part or all of this framework. It reduces upfront workload for educators, especially in the DL world where teachers often have a demanding scope of courses to instruct. The tools and resources available on this website may be implemented in part or in whole, opening the door to more choice and options for student personalization, while keeping the amount of redesign work manageable.
Because the design incorporates the gamified elements into the structure of the course, rather than as an occasional occurrence, it has a more likely chance of being effective, as both students and teachers will develop the necessary fluency and comfort with the technology being employed. “The key to stickiness is not just the design of the innovation, it is the process of being embedded in the learning environment and the learning day” (Fullan & Donnelly, 2013, p. 17).
This means we need to rethink and alter our mindsets around what school looks like, its function, and our roles within the system. A review of current educational literature defends the rationale for using non-traditional pedagogies with our students, particularly to support personalization and increased student motivation, through the development of autonomy, mastery and purpose (Pink, 2009).
To be blunt, we can no longer rely on our students arriving at school motivated to learn, and it is our obligation as educators to change our methods, rather than forcing our students into outdated models based around our ideals.
Creating a piecework model for gamification, rather than just marketing a finished product, makes it easier for individual teachers to use part or all of this framework. It reduces upfront workload for educators, especially in the DL world where teachers often have a demanding scope of courses to instruct. The tools and resources available on this website may be implemented in part or in whole, opening the door to more choice and options for student personalization, while keeping the amount of redesign work manageable.
Because the design incorporates the gamified elements into the structure of the course, rather than as an occasional occurrence, it has a more likely chance of being effective, as both students and teachers will develop the necessary fluency and comfort with the technology being employed. “The key to stickiness is not just the design of the innovation, it is the process of being embedded in the learning environment and the learning day” (Fullan & Donnelly, 2013, p. 17).