Educational research is supported by a well-defined collection of methodologies, but are there methodologies elsewhere that can provide fresh perspectives? The use of video games in learning is becoming more accepted, but are there other things we can learn from games?
Though there are fundamental differences between games and instruction, such as the fact that one seeks primarily to entertain and the other to enlighten or educate, it turns out that the practices, processes and theories behind playtesting games can in fact inform aspects of pedagogy—particularly those that relate to engagement.
In game design, the primary focus is on the player experience, and there has been considerable research into ways to assess and measure the player experience through playtesting. Playtesting is concerned with such things as whether or not the game is fun, which parts are too easy or hard, and whether and when people become bored. All of these properties have relevance to teaching and learning, even though they may not appear to be directly connected with meeting learning objectives. Rather, playtesting is concerned with the motivation of the player/student to continue the particular course of learning, which speaks to the success of the methodology in capturing the student's imagination. Sometimes, simply taking a novel approach to evaluation can yield insights that were not uncovered by more common approaches. This presentation will provide a brief overview of formal playtesting procedures and highlight ways these approaches could be used in the classroom as well as how this could inform pedagogy.
Of Interest to: Online and distance education, Post-secondary education, K-12 educators, Instructional designers, Researchers, Educational technologists
How can traditional higher education programs learn from competency-based assessment strategies? Existing assessment models remain suspended in traditional frameworks and have not kept pace with the high-tech environment distance education students currently demand. Competency-based education will disrupt these instruction models by offering more flexibility, reduced cost and an accelerated path to success. In today’s hyper-connected environments, students have access to a plethora of online learning resources. Educators and institutions must develop a secure structure for assessing knowledge in a manner that reduces the spiraling costs of face-to-face learning. A competency-based model offers a self-paced approach that meets the needs of nontraditional students seeking skills for the highly competitive, worldwide workplace.
Attendees can expect to learn the following:
Of Interest to: Online and distance education, Post-secondary education, K-12 educators, Instructional designers, Researchers, Educational technologists, Administrators
This presentation will discuss the integration of information literacy and research skills into the curriculum of Distance and Open Education History self-paced courses, offered online by Athabasca University. Learning takes place through interactive, automated modules delivered at distance and online. The modules teach students through the course the information literacy skills they have to demonstrate to complete their research essay assignments satisfactorily. The modules offer students flexibility and feedback and teach the information literacy skills that students require in most History or Humanities courses and which frequently cause frustration to improperly instructed students and their instructors: library skills, critical reading, research, academic essay writing, documentation and academic integrity (avoiding plagiarism). Students’ information literacy skills are assessed in three ways: automated quizzes, assignments and the final examination. The mastery of these literacy skills prepares students for academic success and intellectual satisfaction. The above teaching and learning strategy has been implemented in Moodle successfully, and currently the course is open and students are enrolled. An evaluation project to assess the literacy information skills modules is being conducted.
Of Interest to: Online and distance education, Post-secondary education, Instructional designers, Educational technologists
This presentation, of interest to individuals teaching online and at a distance as well as those working in instructional design, outlines the results of a multi-year, design-based doctoral research study. This study examines the use of a socially networked online learning environment as a virtual classroom offering openness through its capacity to create, annotate, rate and comment upon persistent artefacts. Additionally, the study examines how students engage a dynamic course archive containing artefacts from current and past learners. The archive is used to support learners in an online graduate level course by offering access to the day-to-day conversations of current and prior learners along with various artefacts created in these current and prior course sections. The study looks at the use, value and perceived barriers in the use of such an archive and it attempts to challenge our current understanding of what students benefit from in their learning processes.
Of Interest to: Online and distance education, Post-secondary education, Instructional designers, Researchers, Educational technologists
