This VLOG is the second in my Gamification videos. This is about Gamification and the importance of Student Choice and Grading inside a class. I hope everyone will think and reflect about this and think of ways to implement it in a classroom.
http://youtu.be/xkEhX52hmy0
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Friday, April 25, 2014
Mastery Learning and Gamification
Gamification and Mastery Learning
by Keenan KibrickToday's Blog Post is the first part in multi-part series on Gamification and Education. Each of these videos will cover a small part about the concept of Gamificaiton and Education. Each video shows a concept from video games that relates to prior models of education, and how they have been merged in schools to improve education. Today's first video is on the topic of Gamification and Mastery Learning. I hope you will all use the information to improve education in the classroom. When you do please let me know about your successes so that I can compile a list of successful implementations.
Finally a special thanks to Erik Ward of the Oxnard Union High School District who taught me about Gamification and Education. The teachers of his district were inspiring and are some of the examples in this video. I hope you all will enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WnRgBLvn7c
Monday, April 14, 2014
Education through Video
by Keenan Kibrick
I decided to change the format
this week for the blog. Instead of
reading it’s time to watch. I have 2
videos for you that are both very good and about education. One is quick and the other is longer, but
both will make people think and reflect about the practice of education.
Extra Credits: Games in Education
Why I Watched It: I love so many
videos from Extra Credits and I think they are great educational
resources. I recently watched one about
Games in Education and I wanted to compare it to the idea of Gamification (the
concept) in education.
Why I wrote about it: This video
addressed a misconception about the gamification of education that I felt
needed clarification. When people first hear about the concept of gamification
of education their first thought is it means bringing games into the
classroom. In reality, it’s about making
the classroom a game. This video
reflects why bringing games into the classroom isn’t necessarily a plan for
success. It focuses on the aspects about
video games that make them so enjoyable to play, and highlights that bringing
them into the classroom may hinder a games appeal. The choice of playing a game impacts a
student’s desire to play games, and the piece focuses on how a classroom
requirement might reduce that choice. If video games are placed in a class for
a grade or credit then the students lose that choice over their actions and the
game becomes ineffective in the classroom.
Technology in education is great for the future of education, but we
need to be cognizant about how we implement technology in the classroom. Imposing technology is like imposing games,
it’s not as effective as allowing technology to naturally blend into the
classroom. This is another great
commentary on education and technology and I recommend all read it to spark
creativity on ways to implement games in the classroom.
It’s perfect for: Wanting to implement games in the classroom,
Technology implementation best practices, Favoring pedagogy over technology and
letting learning lead technology implementation
Why I watched it: I
know the interviewer Tim Green very well.
He was my professor when I was in Graduate School at CSU: Fullerton. He posted up this interview and at first it
was just interesting about creativity, however by the end when they discussed
merging technology and creativity it became a video that I began taking notes
on to help apply to classrooms.
Why I kept reading it: It was research
based, and it focuses on defining the word creativity and trying to help
standardize the terminology in terms of the education community. It gives example of how to phrase questions
for students to evoke creativity in their writing, and helps faculty be
cognizant about question writing on assignments. Around 16 minutes in is a great discussion
about how a 15 word instruction for assignments hindered creativity for an
entire class. The realization of this
gave me pause, and helped me reorganize the words I use on assignments. 20 minutes into the video they begin the
discussion of technology and creative output which is also fascinating, and
really helps guides the academic discussion about the online community as a
place that fosters creativity.
It’s perfect for: Rethinking learning, wanting to improve creativity in
the classroom, researched/tested methods of incorporating creativity
Monday, March 31, 2014
MyLibrary - Library Resources at your Fingertips
MyLibrary Helps Students Find Library Resources
by Alan ReganIn almost every course site is a little tool called MyLibrary. If a student clicks this tool, it will present information tailored to their subject area or even their specific class and section.
How the Tool Works
When a student or professor clicks the tool, it looks at the course site. If it finds a specific match for that class site, section, and semester (e.g. ENG 101.01 F16), then it displays custom information for that class. If it doesn't find an exact match, then it looks for the subject area (e.g. ENG), and displays the general information for that subject. Finally, if it finds no matches at all, then it displays a list of all general resource lists and the main library information.The tool can also support up to two subject librarians per course. For example, if the primary subject librarian is at the Malibu campus, and there is an additional subject expert at the Irvine campus, then a student can click the link at the bottom to display the other librarian's contact information.
Background
MyLibrary was a collaborative effort between Pepperdine IT and Pepperdine Libraries and has evolved over the years. It began in 2007 when the library approached us about students not knowing where to go or who to speak with regarding research for class papers and projects. Working with library staff members, we mocked up some options and developed an initial tool for our previous learning management system (LMS). This version was originally created with Java, Flash, and Actionscript, which were popular at the time.In 2009, we started our pilot of Sakai as a replacement for our previous LMS. We ported our prior version of the tool to a Sakai-friendly version. This version was also based in Java, Flash, and Actionscript. Slowly, we started to see more and more mobile devices appear on campus, and many devices were not compatible with Flash content. In 2012, we began a revision, and starting spring 2013 we launched the revised MyLibrary in HTML5/Javascript so that iPad and iPhone users could benefit from the tool.
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We're very grateful for our collaboration with Pepperdine Libraries and hope that students and professors alike benefit from library resources and contact details readily available from their class sites.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Exploring all aspects of education and technology
Exploring all aspects of education and technology
by Keenan Kibrick
I decided to change the format and instead of writing headings “why
I clicked it” and “why I wrote it”. I
wanted to replace it with the actual terms that I mean. Instead it will begin with why I read it for
myself, and the second part is why I wrote about it and wanted to tell others
about it. The writing and reasons will
be similar then they were before, but the section choices will better reflect
what I actually write about in those sections.
I hope you all enjoy the change.
Today’s wrap up is a mashup of educational material. It covers a lot of topics from inquiry based
learning, the role of a teacher, and gamification motivation. While it is a mashup of material I hope the
techniques will be beneficial to faculty in their pursuit of improving
classroom achievement.
Role of the Teacher in a Blended Learning Classroom
Note you have to sign in to read the article, but it is just for
verification.
Why I read it: The separations
into the rule, the example of the rule, and the technology Dos/Don’ts were easy
to navigate. I liked reading the Dos and
Don’ts and felt they provided good tips for technology in the classroom.
Why I wrote about it: The content embedded
in the format is wonderful to read. It covers so many vast important topics of
the 21st century classroom that are applicable to all classes. It covers data driven culture, high
expectations of students, relevant and engaging learning, positive feedback in
classes and many more. For each topic
the separation of sections is wonderful.
The rule is simple to follow and the explanation of how each rule works
are just one page. After, they give a
detailed example of a school that enforces the rule and exemplifies its
success. Finally it ends with a few
quick tip dos and don’ts for the rule. These
tips are powerful and can help guide someone to success in exploring the topic.
This is a long paper compared to my brief entries, but it is
valuable information about 21st century learning best
practices. I encourage all faculty to
read this, and if need be (because of length) not all at once. Try working on one tip at a time, and using
the information to improve the classroom.
Use as much or as little of this as you want, but please read it because
each topic is succinct and valuable to transforming education.
It’s perfect for: Understanding 21st century learning,
creating a toolkit of best practices, wanting examples of support to justify
teaching techniques.
Can University Professors Benefit from K-12 Progressive Teaching Tactics
Why I read it: I enjoyed the narrative
of a college educator in a k-12 education conference. It is interesting to see how different
college and K-12 think they are, yet when they are put side by side how similar
they really are. The perspective kept me
interested and the more I read the more I got hooked on the epiphanies that
this College Professor had.
Why I kept reading it: One paragraph in
particular hooked me into this paper.
The assignment about apples paragraph in the middle of the paper is a
must read. It shows a perfect example of
education in the future using the inquiry model, and it’s flawless in its
design. It succinctly explains how the
classroom should be a place of inquiry where students should be encouraged to
explore multiple topics while learning the main topic of a class. If students can be motivated to learn through
tangential exploration into side topics that lead to the main topic it’s
perfectly acceptable and should be encouraged in a class. It focused on the purpose of what students are
learning and highlighting the importance of emphasizing that purpose inside a
class. This is just one example of the
great ideas form this article. The
article focuses on how College faculty can benefit from High School Principles
of learning. I believe the ideas in this
article are inspiring and should be lessons for all educators regardless of
classroom level.
It’s perfect for: Learning the basics of the inquiry based model,
rethinking the college classroom, venturing outside the comfort zone of
academia to find innovation.
Rewards of Glory and Other Ways to Keep Gamification Interesting
Why I read it: I am always fascinated
with gamification reward structures. I
know many, but they always feel stale sometimes. The idea of rewards for glory and multiple
reward systems is a great idea. From the
first bold words of rewards of glory I was hooked and wanted to implement these
reward systems in classes.
Why I kept reading it: While
this article isn’t about gamification in education. These same concepts can apply to almost any
gamification experience. Each of them is a great way to help engage
students in very simple practices the drive achiever learning style students.
Rewards of Glory are a great idea. People need to repeat actions in classes
sometimes and motivating repetition is great for classes where repetition is a
necessary practice. Rewards of access
are great for students who want to explore a class, and who want to feel
rewarded for exploring outside the general class. Further, by rewarding students with access it
lets students realize there are alternative paths to success. Each of the rewards is a great way to inspire
student motivation in class and can be used in class to motivate students to
perform tasks they are not usually willing to perform in a class. I recommend faculty playing around with these
different rewards and seeing how students respond to each in class.
It’s perfect for: learning how to reward students in a class,
motivating student achievement, designing a gamification based class
Friday, March 14, 2014
Knowing our Learners
Knowing our Learners
by Keenan Kibrick
Knowing our learners is extremely important to meeting their
needs. The problem however, is we must
ask ourselves, how well do we know our students? Our students are very different learners then
we are, and the question becomes how should we teach them? Should we design classes towards their
learning styles, or have them conform to ours?
A mixed path I feel is a great way to do this, and to help these are
very good links to articles that help us better understand our students and
their learning process to better the education we can provide.
The Key Components of a Learner-Friendly Interface Design
Why I
opened it: I was curious to read about interface design,
because I was making videos on the topic.
I wanted to confirm my video knowledge, and to learn a little more about
what to add to the videos.
Why I
kept reading it: This article went beyond what I imagined. It’s not just one article it’s a starting
point that lead into many fascinating articles.
Each link is another step to great interface design in an e-learning
classroom. If you have a blended class,
online class, or even use Sakai in a face-to-face class this hits so many key
points in design it’s almost a crucial read.
It covers 4 primary topics graphic clarity, readability, usability, and
learnability. However, each topic has
links to must-reads and they are must-reads.
How learners read on screen was fascinating, and made me realize how I
should change my online class design. It
covered so many key issues in education.
Like the idea that students don’t read more than 8 seconds at a time and
only read 20% of what we present to them.
The ideas on how to handle this and thought discussions about this issue
were fascinating. Another must read
“experience is everything” focuses on design tips to make students experience a
class rather than just read it like a website and they are easy to follow. This website is a
valuable article that I
will reference many times and I recommend faculty also reference.
It’s
perfect for: Redesigning and online or blended class, using courses
as a tool in the classroom, learning more how our students think, designing
classes to fit student needs.
How Technology Trends Have Influenced the Classroom
Why I
opened it: Sticking to the theme of
design I was curious to see how technology changes the classroom.
Why I
kept reading it: It followed those same philosophies from the
design article above. It highlights
primarily how students think and interact with technology. It gives very good overviews of specific
technology facts, and after every overview it presents classroom outcomes
gained from these technologies. The
classroom outcomes are very valuable and help reflect on ways we can change our
classroom practice. Great examples
gained: Flipped teaching to meet the
needs of the “on-demand” student, and tips to increase interactivity in the
class.
It’s
perfect for: learning more how our students think, wanting quick
tips to help change classrooms, trying to meet the needs of a changing
population of students
Learning Theories Gone Wild – Urban Myths that Hurt Your Learning Designs
Why I
opened it: It was catchy looking and eye
appealing, and when I skimmed the article I landed on the last theory and was
hooked.
Why I
kept reading it: I almost stopped when I started because it was
too font weird and eye distracting.
However, when I looked past the eye distracting fonts and pictures I
loved the information delivered. I loved
that it included Myths and more importantly it had ways to move away from the
myths. That was the best part for
me. It wasn’t alternatives but ways to
move away. The line alone was catchy and
signaled that they understood change is a process. Further, when we look at the tips to move
away from the myths we see that they are small steps to take to improve
classes. I enjoy small steps some times
and I hope many readers will also. If we
can take small steps to improve our practice they will turn into larger steps
in the future. This entire article had
great small steps to improve learning.
The last step was all about research proven methods leading the
classroom and dispelling the rumors that learners know best. It’s all about making sure to cater to our
students by doing what is proven and what’s best rather than just what the
students want. The rest are equally as
insightful and it is a fascinating article that I hope many will read and learn
from.
It’s
perfect for: Questioning how we learn (even newer practices),
wanting to take small steps to success, reading more on the theory of learning.
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