Well, I did it! I managed to find a way to upload my digital project for the class. (Thanks Scorm Cloud!)
Along with uploading it and learning about the topic, I also managed to find I new found love of feedback based on the prospect of not receiving any feedback at all (as described in my last post). I was actually afraid of not hearing about my mistakes when normally that can be a bit of painful process that I don’t always look forward to.
Aside from the uploading challenges, the digital project was a lot of fun to create. It was a topic that I was very interested in and was engaged not only in learning the content but also taking it and applying it to my current workplace.
As with anything though, the real growth lay in the most difficult areas. The most difficult part of writing about gamification was in actually defining the concept. It seems to be an area that a lot users of gamification struggle with as the theory doesn’t refer to creating a great learning game but adding game elements to an activity that is not a game but name itself certainly sounds like it has much more to do with building a learning game or adding one into a learning curriculum. It’s any easy enough mistake to make. As I researched the digital project, I would often uncover something that I though would make a great example but as I examined it, I would realize that it was just a learning game and not an example of gamification.
Finally I realized that the best way to outline the common misconception was to tackle it head on and talk about the area where I was confused. I added a new section after the definition. Now I had a slide titled “What is Gamification?” and “What is Not Gamification?” It outlined and contained the topic better than a simple definition would and helped me understand the concept better. I can only imagine that the audience would have the same confusion as me, so hopefully it addressed their confusion as well.
It was good reminder to consider all the factors and contexts of subject when teaching it.
Josh Stubbs 3250 