WEEK 2 BLOG POST: HOW DO WE LEARN?

Prompt:

1. Examples you have been a part of in your classes of Game Based Learning
2. Examples you have been a part of in your classes of Gamification

In this week’s blog post, I am going to talk about my experience of game based learning and also my experience in creating gamification in the workplace.

First, I will talk about an example I have been a part of in my classes of Game Based Learning. In my grade 8 science class, my teacher encouraged Game Based Learning in her classroom. For this assignment, we were required to either write a song on the topic, or create a game to do with the topic. I clearly remember creating a board game for my class and having to be able to explain the game clearly for all my fellow classmates. I found this difficult because it allowed me to realize that just because something made sense to me, it did not necessarily mean it made sense to my classmates. Therefore, I ensured that my game was accessible for all, as well as that it helped everyone retain and understand the content needed for our test. In our board game, we were required to incorporate certain definitions and gain or lose points based on the learners understanding/answer. For my board game, I created a game similar to monopoly where each property was a definition and each chance card required answering questions about the definition. I found this interactive learning style of Game Based Learning extremely helpful in understanding and retaining information!

Secondly, I am going to talk about my experience in creating Gamification in my workplace. As a summer camp leader, although we are not educating all the campers in an academic way, we still used Gamification to encourage and motivate our campers. As most of our campers varied in age but fell in the younger ages, we used teams and point systems to encourage and help teach good behaviour. For example, each week we would separate our campers into groups of 5-6 people. This would be their team for the week. Every time the campers played games, or went on out-trips, or helped with cleaning, etc., we would offer points. For example, if a child was positively encouraging their teammate in a game, we would acknowledge their positivity and reward them with a point for their team. We would also take away points for negative behaviours. I found this form of gamification extremely helpful in my work environment as it helped my campers to realize that if they did participate in negative or positive behaviours, the points would not just benefit or consequent them, but their team as well. At the end of the week, the team could choose a prize together using their points. Overall, I found this gamification in my work environment very beneficial to both myself and my campers!