A1: Gamersizing
Our first 'analytical' project involved analyzing an 'existing mobile application, service, program, technology, or platform of specific relevance to their scholarly and/or professional objectives.' I chose to look deeper into the concept of gamersizing as more and more classes are using body breaks as a form of self-regulation, and the health/beauty industry is cashing in on this idea creating more and more apps which gamify exercise. Basically, gamersizing involves using games or incentives incorporated into exercising apps which theoretically will increase one's health.
The beginning of this course reviewed research reflecting on behaviourist and constructivist theories and how they influence mobile technology.
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Key concepts that stood out to me in this course were:
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Mobility is the technology of the future. The web, icloud processing and face-to-face communication with anyone around the world, all are now at anyone's fingertips. Learning management systems have the capability to be accessed on mobile devices anywhere there is internet service. Pedagogy and curriculum need to be updated to provide educational services make accommodations so that learning accessible to everyone, breaking cultural and socioeconomic barriers.
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Gamification of learning is becoming an LMS norm. Educators and employers are coming to the understanding that to promote learning within the education system and workforce, various design tools such as learning badges, reward mechanisms, progress tracking, and opportunity for collaboration, need to be incorporated into daily learning experiences.
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ETEC 565m helped me reflect on where I am at in the scope of 21st Century teaching/leading, to challenge myself to think outside the box, and to invent plausible future tools used in mobile technology.
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ETEC 565m
A 2: Gamification
As gamification has become a buzz-word in the field of Educational Technology, our group was eager and enthusiastic about getting started. On Google Docs, we brainstormed directions under our topic of gamification, but quickly discovered, that our project could go in an infinite number of directions. This was overwhelming. We decided to create a resource for educators and employers which provides theoretical evidence behind gamification, and suggested apps that help educators gamify learning.
The site starts off introducing the subject of gamification, giving the viewer a deeper understanding of what gamification is and why 'Gaming Can Make a Better World.' Within the introduction, is an explanation of the 'gamification badges' and criteria that need to be met to be awarded particular badges. Branching off of the introduction, pages examine how gamification can be incorporated into specific areas of education (primary, intermediate, online, and the workplace), and apps that 'gamify' are suggested and rated. We hope that this resource can be useful for educators who are interested in 'gaming up' their learning environment.
A 3: Cultural Place-Space
The final project ended up being the one that I am most proud of. The assignment involved authoring a 'future dimension in mobile teaching and learning.' The end result of the project ended up to be a project that I am most proud of. It is an idea for an app that uses GPS and mobile camera technology. It is meant for the use of tourists and educators when they want to learn about the First Nations culture of a specific area, plant or artifact. Once the app is downloaded, one can use google maps to search for place markers that have cultural information embedded into them, or the user can scan an artifact or plant, and the cultural information will be presented.
I thoroughly enjoyed creating this artifact as my creative abilities were able to shine through in the concept as well as through the Adobe Spark tool.
References
ETEC 565M: Special Topics – Mobile & Open Education. (n.d.). Retrieved August 09, 2017, from http://met.ubc.ca/etec-565m/
