E-learning innovations

Brief Introduction

I started my online learning innovations from being inspired from games and specifically role playing games and real time strategy games on the computer. As a person, I found games to be therapeutic and fulfilling when the world around me showed me that the path to achieving success may not be as clear as I wanted it to be. This was largely to do with the way I physically see and perceive the plane of existence, for example, when I drive my car or walk on a road, I can only see straight ahead of me and I am unable to see what is ahead of me. Therefore playing certain games enables me to see everything and what is awaiting for me along the way and at the end as well as locations which I could visit, where can I be fully equipped with the right tools to achieve my goal.

Games are fantasy worlds which are allegorically simulated to reflect our challenges in real life. I saw that similarity in the classroom where we constantly simulate the realities of applying tacit knowledge, skills and understanding in the projects based on likely scenarios of the industry with the intention of providing our graduates the opportunities to get prepared for employment. Since then, I began my journey to search and seek out solutions which involves pedagogies which incorporate gamification frameworks and my experimentation began that way. I first began with using Classcraft (https://www.classcraft.com/), which a gamified Learning Management System (LMS) which applies Fantasy Role Playing Game elements in the classroom, essentially making the entire class experience to be part of that perceived fantasy world.

What I discovered in Classcraft was that there was much enjoyment and engagement which took place in the lessons. The classroom was transformed and it was never a mundane moment especially when the students were aware that they will be getting more XP points through their hard work. However, in higher education the relevance of XP points and weightage needs to be clarified and made visible as well. This means XP points need not be just a fantasy score but a relevant score to benefit them. That is when I discovered other approaches and I truly intended to create my own gamified approach. This time it was taking the XP points to total assessment weightage to the next level. Then I began taking gamifying the assessment more seriously. The game got serious! Based on studies and the experiences of Ms. Mariana Garcia Serrato (http://www.teachingabovethetest.com/2013/11/gamification-starting-really-small.html), I began my serious study on the implications of gamified assessments with classroom or gamified simulations, which also led to a gamified simulation framework which was the center of my PhD thesis. Since then I have invented my own gamified assessment framework and prototype which has gone through many semesters of application and research till today.