Technology and globalization have increased accessibility and openness to higher education. However, with the amplified number of opportunities come with some uncertainties. In the past few years, the concept of online or distance learning has prolonged to include a growing number of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs), free higher education courses open for enrollment for any user with the internet connection regardless of the device (as most MOOCs are available to support multi-platforms). MOOCs are a recent trend in distance learning promoted by several prestigious universities especially in North America and the UK. In this personal reflection I will try to discuss the characteristics, advantages, and challenges of the program. Also, I will try to discuss how MOOCs enhance accessibility, student engagement the Fun part, and experiences for lifelong learning. In addition, challenges educators are facing in the assessment part and quality management.
Last week, I completed a MOOC on Coursera.com called “Gamification” delivered by Prof. Kevin Werbach from University of Pennsylvania. The course was divided into 12 modules consisting of video lecture sections each of which includes 45 to 60 minutes of substantial course material with embedded exercises. At the beginning there was one unit per week but later on two units were assigned each week along with 8 weekly quizzes and 3 written assignments extended all over the course. The course concludes on a final exam worth 30 percent of the total. The syllabus also comprises the suggested readings and optional material.
According to Prof. Werbach Gamification is the application of digital game design techniques and game elements to non-game problems, such as business and social impact...
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...zes and assignments makes you want to learn more about Gamification that Professor Werbach discussed in this course. I am sure this may be new field for many of us but this might be the only survival for reestablishing the collapsing economic structure of our financial markets or to maintain the motivational level of our students especially in the part of the world where students are paid more than teachers to come to school and get education or to the areas where employees are bored and frustrated to the routine cycle of activities in businesses.
Works Cited
Bogost, I. (2011). Persuasive Games: Exploitationware. Gamasutra.com. Retrieved 27 April 2014, from http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6366/persuasive_games_exploitationware.php
Werbach, K. (2014). Video Lectures. Coursera. Retrieved 27 April 2014, from https://class.coursera.org/gamification-003/lecture
In Laura Pappano’s essay, “The Year of the MOOC”, she describes a MOOC, or a Massive Open Online Course, an online course to build a higher education for people around the world. After examining “Chunky Peanut Butter”, by James Gregory, I am convinced he’s the best college applicant to attend a MOOC because he’s flexible and can work with anyone, he’s active in the community and he never gives up.
Video games have become a huge part of the culture of young people and adults alike, and many educators are finding ways to incorporate a love of games into their teaching practice, through options like “edutainment” and “gamification”. Edutainment is media that has both a high degree of educational and entertainment value. Gamification is the use of game mechanics and thinking in an educational setting, like earning points to level up or earning achievement badges for tasks completed. Both of these methods work well to engage students in learning. However, outside of edutainment and gamification, some educators are using non-educational video games, like Minecraft, to teach a wide variety of subjects and ...
The use of computer based games as learning tools in the classroom has steadily increased over the past several years and is a trend that David Martz, sales VP of education software company Muzzy Lane, believes will continue in the future. Among the games developed by Muzzy Lane is Making History, in which the player leads a European nation in the years preceding World War II (Electronic Education Report 2). Playing a game such as this one allows the learner to immerse himself or herself in the period they are learning about rather than...
The industry of games is undoubtedly appealing and it has been just a matter of time until their alluring power entered in our day by day activities. The concept of gamification may look as a new idea at a first sight, but if you track down the history of gamification it is evident that this notion of using game mechanics and dynamics has always been in our lifestyle. However, technology has been progressed, thus creating new opportunities but the foundation of gamification remains the same: Gamification applies game dynamics and mechanics to activities beyond traditional games. Assuredly, the idea is very promising and it is too worthy to be ignored.
In today’s world one thing you don’t hear everyday is learning is fun. For some it can be, but many children aren’t that excited to learn. What if there was a way to make learning fun for kids? Well there is, its called gamification. Gamifiction is the process of using game thinking and game mechanics to engage audiences according to Gabe Zichermann an educational gaming expert. Though its been said that video games cause laziness and violence in kids, we now know that video games can be a significant learning tool in early child development. Research has shown that video games help children with multitasking skills and can also increase fluid intelligence, which is the intelligence we use to solve problems (Zichermann). Video games may be more beneficial than we thought.
Perryer, C., Celestine, N. A., Scott-Ladd, B., & Leighton, C. (2016). Enhancing workplace motivation through gamification: Transferrable lessons from pedagogy. The International Journal of Management Education, 14(3), 327-335. doi:10.1016/j.ijme.2016.07.001
There has been an increasing movement of advocates that want to take this concept and apply it to video games, a gamification of education. All this would really entail is that formal institutes of education need to engage students through the use of games and design elements from these games. The theoretical simplicity of this goal does not mean that this goal should be dismissed as easy or not worthwhile. Schools are facing a crisis right now in which students are having trouble being engaged in school; a problem of engagement is not limited to schools alone, this is an issue that concerns society at large. As a society, too much time and effort has been placed on making recreational activities, our play, more engaging and fun that real life activities have been been growing with more and more negative connotation. Work is boring, frustrating, and it is something that should be left alone in favor of play. If refreshing your social media wall is more engaging than school or work, than something is wrong. The goal of gamification, and indeed all institutes of work and education, should be that all work should be play and that all play should enrich our lives. This should be the purpose behind
Skiba, Diane, J. "Disruption In Higher Education: Massively Open Online Courses Moocs." Nursing Education Perspectives 33.6 (2012): 416-417.CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.
In 1999, Mark Bonner of PricewaterhouseCoopers accurately predicted, “Online learning will rapidly become one of the most cost-effective ways to educate the world’s expanding workforce.” Fifteen years later, his statement is truer than ever, as the price of going to a four-year university skyrockets, and technology required to get the same degree online becomes more available. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, from 2000 to 2010, the average cost for undergraduate tuition, room, and board at public institutions increased over forty percent.
The concept of “edutainment”- the hybrid of education and entertainment has existed almost as long as video games have. Evidence of this is The Oregon Trail, a game about the colo...
I can still see that there’s a lot of potential in the field of Education Gamification. Clearly there should be a way to help kids learn from what they do best – play. This is why many educators are looking into a variety of new tools and techniques in Education Gamification.
...design and use of learning games through promoting collaboration among scholars, teachers, developers, producers, and so on.” LGN also hopes to educate the youth through well-designed and developed educational games. They help arrange partnerships with developers, educators, and media specialists, and they try to expand the educational gaming field.
In the article, “The Professor’s Big Stage,” published in the New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman, is enthusiastic about MOOCs and has raised many question, about the difference between online learning and a fifty thousand dollar education as they both result in a piece of paper. He states that institutions must move from a model of “time served” to a model of “stuff learned,” as the world only cares about what you can do with what you know. Friedman believes that MOOCs will be creating a competition that will force every professor to improve their pedagogy and that universities will have to nurture unique blended experiences to improve education outcomes in measurable ways at lower costs. Ultimately, Friedman encourages his readers, Americans
The implementation of online learning in many universities has proven to be a successful method of course delivery (Regan, Evmenova, Baker, Jerome, Spencer, Lawson, & Werner, 2012). Dickson-Dean, Galyen, and Moore (2011) proposed that online learning can promote successful learning opportunities for students as well as rewarding benefits for all educational stakeholders. Factors that contribute to the success of online learning include, but are not limited to, flexibility and accessibility, cost reduction, increased retention, and varied learning opportunities (Neely & Tucker, 2010). Online learning and associated technology is becoming increasingly adaptable and can be used to meet the educational needs of all students while providing opportunities for differentiated instruction (Krishnakumar & Kumar, 2011). Online learning provides both students and instructors with opportun...
Abstract: Recently, there has been a rush to create web-based instructional courses. The approach that is being taken to create web-based courses is to create websites that will function as the central distributors of information and materials. Based on the format and content of the course, the student is to go through lesson by lesson to complete courses. In this paper, I address some of the problems inherent in this approach, especially with respect to 18-22 year-old undergraduate education.