Gamification / Interactive Virtual Field Trips / Geotechnologies
A New Kind of Context for the Classroom: Introducing Live, Interactive Virtual Field Trips
Teaching and Learning with Geotechnologies in Distance Learning Courses
What is Gamification?
This article is the first in a three part series explaining the concept of gamification. The series is written by gamification expert Karl M. Kapp who has written two books on the topic and authored a Lynda.com course titled “The Gamification of Learning.”
In recent years, a new spin on distance learning has begun to develop—the concept of gamification. Faculty members, instructors, and teachers have become interested in leveraging game elements to enhance learning and increase motivation. The idea is to make distance learning more engaging through the addition of game elements and not entire games. The gamification elements can enhance course interactions and engagement of students at all levels.
Before jumping head first into gamification, it is important to first understand the term and its meaning and uses.
Gamification has been defined as the “process of using game thinking and mechanics to engage audiences and solve problems” (Zichermann, 2010), as “using game techniques to make activities more engaging and fun” (Kim, 2011), and as “the use of game design elements in non-game context” (Deterding et al., 2011, p. 1).
From an instructional context, the most relevant definition is one that combines elements from the above definitions and defines gamification as “using game-based mechanics, aesthetics, and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems” (Kapp, 2012, p. 10). However, gamification is a broad term and it can be further refined into two types: structural gamification and content gamification.
Structural gamification
“Structural gamification is the application of game-elements to propel a learner through content with no alteration or changes to the content” (Kapp, Blair & Mesch, 2013, p. 224). The content does not become game-like, only the structure around the content. A common implementation of this type of gamification is to take the scoring elements of video games, such as points, levels, badges, leaderboards, and achievements, and apply them to an educational context (Nicholson, 2012).
Structural gamification accesses students’ progress immediately as they complete portions of content, take quizzes to gauge knowledge acquisition, and move toward the prescribed educational goals. The continual, real-time assessment of progress provides important information to both the student and the instructor at all the stages of the learning process. The assessment of progress provides for diagnosing students’ strengths and weaknesses as well as developing knowledge of each student’s skills and abilities.
An example of structural gamification in a learning context is when a student receives content to be learned through a quiz-type game on a daily basis for a semester via email or a mobile app. Students receive an email with a quiz question containing content to be learned. If they answer correctly, they earn points and progress toward earning a digital badge. If answered incorrectly, they are immediately presented a short instructional piece designed specifically to address the topic covered in the initial question. Questions are repeated at various intervals until the student demonstrates mastery of the topic. The entire process takes 30-90 seconds each day and is done at either the beginning or end of the day, based on the choice of the student. As the students are progressing through the content, the number of questions they answer correctly is indicated on a leaderboard for the entire class to view, enabling students to assess their progress relative to others. Or the score can be group by team to allow team-based learning.
Instructors could also set up systems for earning badges, competing with other students, and moving up on an academic leaderboard. Of course there are issues with displaying student grades and progress across an entire class, and gamification proponents have to carefully navigate FERPA guidelines.
Content gamification
“Content gamification is the application of game elements, game mechanics, and game thinking to alter content to make it more game-like” (Kapp, Blair & Mesch, 2013, p. 237). A common implementation of this type of gamification would be to add elements such as story, challenge, curiosity, mystery, and characters to content to engage the learner.
In content gamification, it is possible to stimulate the student through an optimal level of challenge, mystery, or a well-crafted story. This can tie into a student’s motivational drive to complete a lesson. For example, positive emotions, such as curiosity, generally enhance motivation and facilitate learning and performance. Curiosity is an element in gamification, as is mystery and fantasy, and all of those attributes positively influence a student’s emotional state.
Adding story elements to a series of math problems to place the student in a fantasy context or starting a classroom dialogue with a challenge instead of a list of objectives are both simple methods of content gamification.
Conclusion
Regardless of the type of gamification a faculty member is considering implementing, both types can lead to success. In fact, the proper use of gamification provides motivation and focused learning needed by many students studying online, especially since the “underlying dynamics that make games engaging are largely already recognized and utilized in modern pedagogical practices, although under different designations” (Stott & Neustaedter, 2013 p. 1).
Now that we have defined gamification, the next article will discuss integrating gamification into a curriculum.
References
Deterding, S., Khaled, R., Nacke, L. E., & Dixon, D. (2011, May). "Gamification: Toward a definition." In "Proceedings of CHI 2011 Gamification Workshop," (pp. 1-4). Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Kapp, K. M. (2012). The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Case-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education. New York, NY: Pfeiffer.
Kapp, K. M., Blair, L., & Mesch, R. (2013). The Gamification of Learning and Instruction Fieldbook: Theory into Practice. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Stott, A., & Neustaedter, C. (2013). Analysis of Gamification in Education, (TR 2013-0422-01). Connections Lab, Simon Fraser University, Surrey, BC, Canada. Retrieved from http://carmster.com/clab/uploads/Main/Stott-Gamification.pdf
Zichermann, G. (2010, October 26). Fun Is the Future: Mastering Gamification [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O1gNVeaE4g
Bio
Karl M. Kapp, Ed.D., is a professor of Instructional Technology at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, PA. He teaches classes on the subject of online learning, gamification, games, and learning technologies. He serves as the Director of Bloomsburg’s Institute for Interactive Technologies, which works with organizations to create interactive instruction including games and simulations. Karl has authored six books including The Gamification of Learning and Instruction and has served as a Co-PI on two NSF grants related to simulations, games and learning. Karl’s body of work explores the research, theoretical foundations and application of effective game-based and interactive learning. He regularly blogs at http://karlkapp.com/kapp-notes/
A New Kind of Context for the Classroom: Introducing Live, Interactive Virtual Field Trips
By Maura Gaughan, Director of Marketing and PR, Georama, and Nihal Advani, Founder and CEO, Georama
In recent years there has been a renaissance in classroom learning. The rise of mobile devices and applications has created new ground for access to information and engagement. Laptops and iPads are staples in classrooms, and the apps that fill them are tailored to the modern learner who is seemingly wired to absorb information with these tools. Other rising technology trends include gamification of learning and tools for parents to understand instantly their child’s progress and pain points in each class. While apps and mobile technology are enhancing common core learning within the classroom, a new trend is coming up—one that uses technology to bring the outside world into the classroom.
The live, interactive, virtual field trip
There’s no doubt that the world is more connected than ever before. Consider how many people FaceTime or Skype™ on a daily basis with others, not only across the country, but the globe. These modern ways of connection are extremely applicable in the classroom. In fact, several schools around the world have implemented programs where they Skype or teleconference with a classroom in another city or country. This is a step in the right direction; however, these programs are limited to the classroom. There are also efforts underway to let students experience the outside world. For example, Google Cardboard, an inexpensive virtual reality headset for smartphones, helps facilitate virtual expeditions for classrooms. While this approach and others offer an immersive experience, they showcase pre-recorded content. Georama, on the other hand, focuses on live experiences. Because Georama enables real-time interactivity, experiences are personalized to the students or classroom watching and are more effectively tailored to the curriculum.
Not only is the virtual field trip progressive, it’s a way for the modern teacher to combat budget cuts to areas like arts education. The virtual field trip can be a way for history teachers to weave in art lessons in ways that may be more effective than ever practiced in the past. Think about what a European history lesson plan may be, and imagine adding live, interactive tours of the Louvre. While there, students can see the Mona Lisa in real-time and decipher for themselves what her famous expression means. Furthermore, virtual field trips also level the playing field when it comes to opportunity. A student from the most prestigious private school in the Northeast and a student from an under-served community in the Southwest can both visit Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and gawk at the exquisite ceiling. Regardless of opportunity, it is critical that all children understand the world that exists around them, and the role of technology in the classroom makes it easier than ever to show them.
Field trips are among the most memorable times in the student experience—elementary through high school. For students, it’s a break from the classroom, and for the teacher, an opportunity to expose students to experiences outside the classroom relevant to their coursework. However, physical field trips can only be done so often—whether it be due to financial reasons or logistical reasons—and they typically can’t go too far.
Now there is a new option—real-time virtual field trips. Georama is a company that is a leader in this space, facilitating live and interactive virtual field trips to help students explore and learn about the world even when they may not be able to physically travel there at the time. These virtual trips are not meant to replace physical field trips. Instead they are meant to help students take additional field trips beyond physical trips. Virtual field trips have no boundaries—they can be done anywhere in the world, with any number of students, and are flexible in regards to length. Imagine taking your students to London for lunch: students sit under the London Bridge or Big Ben and take in the architecture while discussing the Revolutionary War from a new perspective. After lunch, students go for a walk around town and witness the culture, from the way the British dress to how they eat. All this, of course, is made possible via a knowledgeable, lively guide or guest teacher who is using a wearable camera (such as a GoPro®) or a smartphone and Georama’s technology, which live streams the guide’s point of view in HD to students in a classroom who watch on the class projector or on their laptops, iPads, or mobile devices. What’s most interesting is that this is more than just watching a live video. In fact, students can interact with the guide in real-time to ask questions and make suggestions, thereby seeing what they want to see while the guide is walking around indoors or outdoors.
Today, technology fuels everything from toothbrushes to Teslas, and the young learner has grown up seeing and understanding it as part of life. As educators continue to adopt new technology into the classroom, they now have the opportunity to go beyond the status quo and strive to create one-of-a-kind experiences. Georama’s platform provides the ability to bring curricula to life in real-time through live, interactive, guided tours that are designed to inspire, educate, and entertain students of all ages. Learn more about Georama’s virtual field trips at business.georama.com.
Teaching and Learning with Geotechnologies in Distance Learning Courses
Joseph Kerski, Ph.D., GISP
People have always been fascinated with investigating their home—the earth. Today, geography is more relevant than ever before, as issues of climate change, economic globalization, urban sprawl, biodiversity loss, sustainable agriculture, water quality and quantity, crime, energy, tourism, political instability, and natural hazards grow in importance on a global scale but also increasingly affect our everyday lives. For centuries, maps have stirred imaginations and inspired explorations of the unknown. Today, spatial relationships are analyzed using maps in digital form within a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) framework. In a GIS framework, these maps are dynamic, able to be combined with other maps and data sets, as well as charts, databases, and multimedia. GIS, together with Remote Sensing and Global Positioning Systems (GPS), make up the geotechnologies that help people make everyday decisions and plans more effectively and efficiently.
GIS offers powerful decision-making toolkit
In education, GIS offers a powerful decision-making toolkit that can be used in educational administration, educational policy, and in instruction. GIS offers administrators a way to manage everything from campus safety, campus infrastructure, routing campus and school buses, planning school openings and closures, and strategizing recruitment efforts. GIS provides educational policymakers with tools to see patterns in educational achievement and where to target new programs. In instruction, GIS in the hands of students helps them to understand content in disciplines such as geography, history, mathematics, language arts, environmental studies, chemistry, biology, civics, and many more. GIS is used as an inquiry-driven, problem-solving, standards-based set of tasks that incorporates fieldwork and provides career pathways that are increasingly in demand. It helps students think critically, use real data, and connects them to their own community. It does so in informal, primary, secondary, and university settings and appeals to today’s visual learners.
Geotechnologies, along with biotechnologies and nanotechnologies, are the three key skills and job markets identified by the U.S. Department of Labor for the 21st Century (Gewin 2004). What is the relationship between birth rate and life expectancy? Why does this relationship exist? How does acid mine drainage in a mountain range affect water quality downstream? How will climate change affect global food production? With GIS, students explore the relationships between people, climate, land use, vegetation, river systems, aquifers, landforms, soils, natural hazards, and more. With the flood of information available to students today, they need to be able to deal with uncertainty about data, to understand its limitations, and to effectively manage it. GIS provides holistic computer and management skills for students, a part of a geospatial technology competency model recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor (2010) that includes computer, personal, and organizational competencies.
Using GIS provides a way of thinking about the world
Using GIS provides a way of exploring a body of content knowledge and also provides a way of thinking about the world (Bednarz 2004; Kerski 2008). These skills were identified as essential to kindergarten through 12th grade education by the National Academy of Sciences (2006). The geographic perspective informs other disciplines. When epidemiologists study the spread of diseases, scientists study climate change, or businesspersons determine where to locate a new retail establishment, they use spatial analysis. In each case, GIS provides critical tools for studying these issues and for solving very real problems on a daily basis.
GIS in instruction also incorporates and depends upon fieldwork, which is critically needed for understanding and appreciating our world (Louv 2006). Students gather locations with GPS or smartphones with information about tree species, historical buildings, water quality, and other variables on a field trip or on their own school or university campus.
GIS-based questions begin with the “whys of where”—why are cities, ecoregions, and earthquakes located where they are, and how are they affected by their proximity to nearby things and by invisible global interconnections and networks? After asking geographic questions, students acquire geographic resources and collect data. They analyze geographic data and discover relationships across time and space. Geographic investigations are often value-laden and involve critical thinking skills. For example, students investigate the relationship between altitude, latitude, climate, and cotton production. After discovering that much cotton is grown in dry regions that must be irrigated, they can ask “Should cotton be grown in these areas? Is this the best use of natural resources?” GIS helps students to act on their investigations, to put their recommendations in place, and to improve the quality of lives of people and the health of the planet. Students present the results of their investigations using GIS and multimedia, such as in Story Maps (http://storymaps.arcgis.com). Their investigations spark additional questions, and the resulting cycle is the essence of geographic inquiry.
Like other technologies, GIS has evolved into a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) model. Platforms such as ArcGIS Online (www.arcgis.com) can be accessed on laptops, tablets, and smartphones, and thus can be effectively used in distance learning courses. Live web maps, hands-on activities, discussions, quizzes, and core readings can easily be integrated in a variety of Learning Management Systems. In fact, 95,000 students have enrolled through three cohorts in Penn State University’s Maps and the Geospatial Revolution MOOC over the past two years. I have taught online courses using the ArcGIS Online platform, as well as other tools such as the Urban Observatory, Gapminder, Worldmapper, and the Change Matters viewer, for educators and students alike, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Our world is constantly changing. These changes include those brought about by physical forces such as erupting volcanoes, meandering rivers, and shifting plates, and also those brought about by human forces, such as urbanization. Students use GIS to understand that the earth is changing, think scientifically and analytically about why it is changing, and then dig deeper: Should the earth be changing in these ways? Is there anything that I should be doing or could be doing about it? This captures the heart of spatial thinking, inquiry, and problem-based learning. It empowers students, as they become decision-makers to make a difference in this changing world of ours.
References
Bednarz, S. “Geographic information systems: A tool to support geography and environmental education?” GeoJournal (60: 191-199, 2004).
Gewin, V. “Mapping opportunities.” Nature (427, 376-377, January 2004).
Kerski, J. “The role of GIS in Digital Earth education.” International Journal of Digital Earth. (Volume 1, Issue 4, 2008).
Louv, R. Last Child In the Woods. (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2008).
Learning to Think Spatially: GIS as a Support System in the K-12 Curriculum. (The National Academies Press, 2006).
U.S. Department of Labor. 2010. Geospatial technology competency model. http://www.careeronestop.org/competencymodel/pyramid.aspx?GEO=Y.
