Learn with Lynda: Gamification of Learning

This month, we’re shining the ‘Learn with Lynda’ spotlight on Gamification. Gamification is the introduction of ‘game-like’ features and processes such as ‘levelling-up’,  reward systems and challenges into non-game environments such as education. The approach is being posited as a means to increasing learner autonomy and motivation.
Karl Kapp’s Gamification of Learning course is just over two hours long and can be completed in bite-sized sections in order to introduce you to the theory and practice of gamifying your course. The Lynda course is broken down into the following topics (approximate timings):

• Introduction (4 mins)
• Exploring Gamification (17 mins)
• Gamification in Action: Three Case Studies (12 mins)
• Theory Behind the Practice (22 mins)
• Gamification Dynamics (23 mins)

You don’t necessarily need technology to emulate a gaming experience in education, but there are certainly plenty of tools fit for the job, particularly in the area of audience response systems (Socrative, Poll Everywhere etc.),  tracking engagement (Rise Board or Moodle Reports) and rewarding advancement with Open Badges (Open Badge Factory, Credly, Moodle etc.). We’d love to hear from you if, after hearing more about the fundamentals of Gamification, you are interested in exploring how to apply this to your context.
Gamification has also become popular amongst conference organisers as a means of adding an extra element of fun, encouraging interaction amongst delegates, and stimulating engagement with the conference material.  We have once again decided to ‘gamify‘ the upcoming Talking about Teaching – our annual event that gives staff the opportunity to engage in conversations about learning, teaching and assessment. Delegates’ participation with a series of challenges based around use of the conference’s Twitter hashtag are tracked using a leaderboard platform. The most active delegates are rewarded with open badges. We are currently resetting the leaderboard, finalising the challenges and designing the open badges, so watch this space for more details soon!
Don’t forget to let us know what you think of the course! Was it helpful? Was there anything you would add? Any takeaways you can apply to your teaching or would like to explore further?
Róisín