Gamification of learning feedback | English homework help

Guided Response: Respond to the initial posts of at least two of your peers who were assigned the opposite side of the debate. Draw on brain research to persuade your peer to see your assigned perspective.

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We have learned that in order for sensory inputs to reach the higher processing areas of the brain we can use novelty and curiosity to increase students’ attention. Willis and Mitchell (2014) argue that strategies that promote accurate predictions would motivate students to sustain attention as the resulting reward for being correct switches on the dopamine reward cycle. Gamification is often employed in education to counteract boredom in favour of higher engagement and attention through the application of fun, new and entertaining features.        However, it is unclear weather gamification should be applied in the classroom. Games establish a competitive atmosphere that encourages students to play against each other where one of the parties may fail.  Becker and Nicholson (2016) state, “The same ranking that drives some students to push on and succeed can also demotivate students who realize they are not making progress and do not have a chance to catch up compared to the other students”. The students on the winning side may be boosting up their dopamine levels but for the students at the bottom side of the scoreboard it can lead to frustration, boredom and refusal to play.       Additionally, the ability for gamification to increase motivation for students may not prove to be successful in all instances. While games can bring in a fun point to traditional teaching strategies, some students are not competitive in nature. Faiella and Ricciardi (2015) state, “gamification is not an important motivating factor for all of them because some students do not like to compete with their classmates”. Usually, games are integrated into classroom settings on a mandatory basis meaning that all students have to play. Those students that are discouraged by competition can’t usually opt out of games by waiting while the rest of the students play.       Traditionally, games involved simple exercises where students could earn stickers and badges for completing an assignment. Today, gamification has extended into more complicated teaching techniques involving individual and collective propositions based on the idea that traditional teaching strategies are inefficient to learning. However, while gamification may be attractive and new, thus attracting the attention of educational institutions that might want to step away from traditional techniques, it is not that clear whether the magical idea of gamification revolutionizing learning, also translates into actual learning.

by Linda Webster

M-Z: Argue in support gamification in learning

For this week’s discussion I was assigned to the group whose last name started with (M-Z: Argue in support gamification in learning). In my opinion I think teachers should have gamification in their classrooms to help their students learn. The article “Debates about Gamification and Game Based Learning (#GBL) in Education’ by Justin Marquis Ph. D (2013) gave five reasons why gamification is good for education and they are: 1.) technological literacy, 2.) multitasking mentality, 3.) teamwork, 4.) long-range planning, and 5.) individualized instruction.

1.)   Technological literacy: game play promotes literacy at many different levels, from technological to social-emotional (Marquis, 2013). Gaming can help students become more social able with other students.

2.)   Multitasking mentality: games enhance this ability by forcing players to balance multiple kinds of inputs simultaneously in order to be successful (Marquis, 2013). Students will learn to multitasking when it comes to their school work and at home with their chores. Having students multitasking while game playing will help as well when it comes to their school work and at home.

3.)   Teamwork: many current games are built on a social networking paradigm that not only allows for teamwork and collaborative play, but often requires it to be successful (Marquis, 2013). All students need to learn teamwork when it comes to class projects that they have to do together. Student who play games together will build teamwork skills.

4.)   Long-range planning: well-designed games and sees importance in the concept of “blissful productivity” where players become so absorbed in the game that they lose track of time while working hard to achieve goals (Marquis, 2013).

5.)   Individualized instruction:  each student playing and learning for themselves, individualized instruction is a natural part of the equation (Marquis, 2013).

As teachers I think having gamification in our classrooms could be beneficial to our students. Depending on the type of game that is being used in the classroom should be taken into consideration and how will it benefit our students learning. Is the game teaching our students math, reading, spelling, science, social studies or other subjects? Students should be able to work as a team or do it individually. Some will say that there should not be any gamification in the classroom because it takes away from the teacher teaching a lesson. Students play games to practice reading skills or math. They use the gamification to study for a quiz like spelling. As teachers we can set a time of how long each student will be allowed to play a game as long as it is educational. By setting a specific time they are allowed to play teaches them to be responsible and share with other students in the classroom.

Reference:

Marquis, J. Ph. D (2013). Debates about Gamification and Game Based Learning (#GBL) in Education. Classroom Aid. Retrieved from http://classroom-aid.com/2013/04/07/debates-about-gamification-and-game-based-learninggbl-in-education/