Gamification

What is gamification? 

This is a technique that utilizes games and game concepts to engage students in lessons and learning. 

• What are some important things to consider when using gamification in your classroom?

Some important things to consider when using gamification in the classroom are:

• Is your game age and level appropriate?
• Is this a game that the children need direct instruction from the teacher or can they figure it out by themselves?
• Does the program have a way for the teacher to see the progress the students are making as they go or do they have to rely on the student to report their progress?
• Is it something that they can use for specific lessons or just for general practice?

• What is the best example of gamification you've seen?

The best example of gamification that I have seen was the game played in class called Prodigy. I liked this game because it was teacher-backed and had ways for the teacher to have access to what the children were accomplishing throughout the game. I think the story line and the graphics would also be intriguing for a wide range of age groups and that is important because it keeps the child engaged. However, this is a game I'd let my students use when we had time for extra practice on math skills or during indoor recess because math is a subject that needs more attention with an instructor than to be self-taught or to be taught by an online program. 

• Do you think Gamification is good/bad or just a fad?

I think that gamification is a good resource because it is able to engage the students in different ways. I do not think that it is just "a fad" because technology is being used more and more in the classroom and gamification will evolve with the technology as it progresses. Along with that, children and adults are highly motivated by rewards and playing and "winning" these games is motivation to get through them and be engaged in what the program is teaching. 

How Students Learn

This week I will be discussing how students learn.

• How did you learn best as a student?
  

From my own experience, I learn best through hearing what is being taught. I have always responded well to verbal instruction and although lectures can get very boring, those are the settings in which I retain the most information. 
As a child, I liked the hear my instructions verbally and then be able to read them or have some sort of visual clue. This still holds true throughout my college education. Usually, while the professor talks I will follow along with notes or in the book. 

• How do you think this will affect you as a teacher?

As an educator, I do not think this will effect me tremendously. I understand that students learn in a multitude of ways. My goal is to be able to tailor lesson plans accordingly and plan them to best suit my students' needs, not my own. 

• Do you think humans need some type of reward as motivation or not?

I think that humans do need some type of reward as means for motivation. The reason why so many people are successful or strive to get good grades is for some type of reward, whether it is monetary compensation or recognition, motivation lies within the reward. How does the saying go- the end justifies the means? This is true for humans and will always have truth behind it. Our motivation derives from the ultimate outcome or reward.

Virtual and Augmented Reality

Virtual vs. Augmented 

Virtual reality is when the user is completely engaged in the alternate reality. Augmented reality is when there is a 3-D image that is layered on top of a graphic.

The two types of reality are becoming more popular in today's society. There are many different ways that they are also being incorporated into teaching and education as well as gaming and communication. 

In the future, I think that augmented reality will be more widely used by your average Joe than virtual reality. This is a useful resource because it is just a layer on top of a graphic, but it allows us to be able to access a 3-D model of that graphic which is more interactive than the 2-D version. Also, it is cheaper to use augmented reality than virtual because the VR headset can be very expensive, whereas augmented reality can be accessed by using certain apps on your cellphone. 

How will this be useful in the classroom?

Augmented reality will be useful in the classroom because technology like cellphones and portable tablets, like iPads, are being more widely accepted in classrooms. It is more realistic for a school to purchase this type of technology and buy interactive augmented reality apps than it is to purchase a class set of virtual reality head sets. Virtual reality would be nice to have because the students would have access to places and new experiences to things they may never be able to see in real life. However, the augmented reality can be used in classrooms to create a more engaging environment that better promotes learning because it is more hands on than what is offered now

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