Introduction to the GaLA Conf 2018 Special Issue

Introduction to the IJSG Special Issue dedicated to the best papers of Games and Learning Alliance Conference (GaLA Conf) 2017, Lisbo

To reward and beyond: Analyzing the effect of reward-basedstrategies in a MOOC

Producción CientíficaDespite the benefits of MOOCs (e.g., open access to education offered by prestigious universities), the low level of student engagement remains as an important issue causing massive dropouts in such courses. The use of reward-based gamification strategies is one approach to promote student engagement and prevent dropout. However, there is a lack of solid empirical studies analyzing the effects of rewards in MOOC environments. This paper reports a between-subjects design study conducted in a MOOC to analyze the effects of badges and redeemable rewards on student retention and engagement. Results show that the implemented reward strategies had not significant effect on student retention and behavioral engagement measured through the number of pageviews, task submissions, and student activity time. However, it was found that learners able to earn badges and redeemable rewards participated more in gamified tasks than those learners in the control group. Additionally, results reveal that the participants in the redeemable reward condition requested and earned earlier the rewards than those participants in the badge condition. The potential implications of these findings in the instructional design of future gamified MOOCs are also discussed.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (projects TIN2017-85179-C3-2-R / TIN2014-53199-C3-2-R)Junta de Castilla y León (project VA257P18)European Commission (project 588438-EPP-1-2017-1-EL- EPPKA2-KA

GAMIFICATION APPLIED TO FACULTY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY

GAMIFICATION APPLIED TO FACULTY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUD

Escape to Your Future - Desenvolvimento de um Massive Open Online Course Gamificado

Nesta dissertação desenvolveu-se um Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), com conteúdos educativos e orientados para a promoção do empregojovem, endereçado a uma população desfavorecida e com dificuldades de integração no mercado de trabalho. No preâmbulo das teorias de aprendizagem, onde nesta investigação se deu destaque ao Behaviorismo, Construtivismo e Conetivismo, o método de ensinar tem vindo a ser pensado e estruturado consoante diferentes pensamentos e teorias. Neste sentido, pretende dar-seênfase ao potencial do ensino a distância, baseando os métodos e atividades em conteúdos audiovisuaiscomuns neste modelo de ensino-aprendizagem. Recorreu-se, ainda, ao conceito de gamificação, como uma abordagem inovadora, desta forma, utilizou-semecânicas de jogos, no contexto de ensino-aprendizagem, com o intuito de promover a motivação para a aprendizagem e a aquisição deconhecimentos e competências. Com base nisso, planeou-seuma abordagem orientada para os jovens, onde se procurou promover o interesse de várias atividades e processos para resolver problemas relacionados com a educação e o ensino.O estudo desta investigação incidiu-se sobre o MOOCgamificadodesenvolvido, estruturado em três módulos, utilizando umaabordagemmista. Os resultados obtidos, depois de organizados, demonstraramque a utilização de conceitos de gamificação aplicados aos MOOCs no âmbito do ensino-aprendizagem, conseguem motivar e envolver mais os participantes neste tipo de cursose, por outro lado, a utilização de vídeos curtose intermédia duração, demonstraram ter uma maior aceitação.In this dissertation, a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) was developed, with educational and youth employmentoriented contents, addressed to a disadvantaged population and with difficulties in integrating into the labourmarket. In the preamble of learning theories, where this research emphasized Behaviorism, Constructivism and Conetivism, the teaching method has been thought and structured according to different thoughts and theories. In this sense, we intend to emphasize the potential of distance learning, basing the methods and activities on audio-visual content common in this teaching-learning model. The concept of gamification was also used as an innovative approach, using game mechanics in the teaching-learning context to promote motivation for learning and the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Based on this, a youth-oriented approach was planned, where the interest of various activities and processes to solve problems related to education and teaching was promoted. The study of this research focused on the developed gamified MOOC, structured in three modules, using a mixed approach. The results obtained,after being organized, showed that the use of gamification concepts applied to MOOCs in the context of teaching-learning, manage to motivate and engage participants more in this type of courses and, on the other hand, the use of short and intermediate length videos, proved to have greater acceptance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Desarrollo de un XBlock en Open edX para apoyar las analíticas de aprendizaje

Hoy en día, cuando los usuarios utilizan los sistemas de información, generan una gran cantidad de datos que dejan un rastro como resultado de su interacción, por ejemplo, cuando los estudiantes acceden a materiales educativos en Entornos Virtuales de Aprendizaje (VLE – Virtual Learning Environments). Esto se ha convertido en lo que ahora conocemos como Cursos Masivos Abiertos en Línea (MOOC – por sus siglas en inglés), que tienen millones de estudiantes registrados. Debido a la gran cantidad de datos que se generan dentro de los MOOC, las analíticas de aprendizaje (LA – Learning Analytics) ha surgido como una alternativa para mejorar los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje a través del análisis de datos. Open edX en un intento de incorporar LA en su plataforma de desarrollo Insights, que proporciona visualizaciones muy simples. De igual manera, se han sumado otros proyectos que con el paso del tiempo han quedado obsoletos o no brindan el apoyo suficiente para mejorar el proceso de aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Debido a lo anterior, este trabajo de titulación propone el diseño, desarrollo y evaluación de un dashboard de analíticas de aprendizaje para la plataforma Open edX. La herramienta incorporará indicadores de éxito académico en sus visualizaciones para mejorar el proceso de aprendizaje dentro de la plataforma. Con el propósito de desarrollar la herramienta de LA, se realizó un análisis exploratorio del comportamiento de los estudiantes para determinar variables y secuencias de aprendizaje, se diseñaron visualizaciones para ser incorporadas dentro del dashboard de docentes y estudiantes. Para llevar a cabo el desarrollado del componente de LA, denominado XLEA (XBlock for LEarning Analytics), se empleó la metodología LATUX (Learning Awareness Tool – User eXperience), la cual consta de cinco etapas agrupadas en dos enfoques. Finalmente, luego de haber evaluado la herramienta XLEA con el cuestionario Evaluation Framework for Learning Analytics (EFLA) y con el cuestionario de experiencia de usuario UEQ, por estudiantes y maestros de la Universidad de Cuenca, se logró evidenciar un alto grado de aceptación y conformidad por parte de los participantes al usar XLEA. La mayoría de participantes se enfocaron en aquellas visualizaciones que permiten tener una comprensión del comportamiento histórico por semanas de las diferentes actividades que desempeñan dentro del curso, por ejemplo, videos, lecturas y problemasNowadays, when users use information systems, they generate a large amount of data that leaves a trace as a result of their interaction, for example, when students access educational materials in Virtual Learning Environments (VLE). This has evolved into what we now know as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), which have millions of students registered. Due to the large amount of data generated within MOOC, Learning Analytics (LA) has emerged as an alternative to improve teaching and learning processes through data analysis. Open edX in an attempt to incorporate LA into its Insights development platform, which provides very simple visualizations. Similarly, other projects have been added that have become obsolete over time or do not provide sufficient support to improve the student learning process. Due to the above, this degree work proposes the design, development and evaluation of a learning analytics dashboard for the Open edX platform. The tool will incorporate indicators of academic success in its visualizations to improve the learning process within the platform. With the purpose of developing the LA tool, an exploratory analysis of student behavior was carried out to determine variables and learning sequences, visualizations were designed to be incorporated into the dashboard of teachers and students. To carry out the development of the LA component, called XLEA (XBlock for LEarning Analytics), the LATUX (Learning Awareness Tool – User eXperience) methodology was used, which consists of five stages grouped into two approaches. Finally, after having evaluated the XLEA tool with the Evaluation Framework for Learning Analytics (EFLA) questionnaire and with the UEQ user experience questionnaire, by students and teachers of the University of Cuenca, a high degree of acceptance and conformity was evidenced. by participants when using XLEA. Most of the participants focused on those visualizations that allow an understanding of the historical behavior for weeks of the different activities that they carry out within the course, for example, videos, readings and problemsIngeniero de SistemasCuenc

Gamification and Advanced Technology to Enhance Motivation in Education

This book, entitled “Gamification and Advanced Technology to Enhance Motivation in Education”, contains an editorial and a collection of ten research articles that highlight the use of gamification and other advanced technologies as powerful tools for motivation during learning. Motivation is the driving force behind many human activities, especially learning. Motivated students are ready to make a significant mental effort and use deeper and more effective learning strategies. Numerous studies indicate that playing promotes learning, since when fun pervades the learning process, motivation increases and tension is reduced. Therefore, games can be very powerful tools in the improvement of learning processes from three different and complementary perspectives: as tools for teaching content or skills, as an object of the learning project itself and as a philosophy to be taken into account when designing the training process. Each contributions presented in this book falls into one of these categories; that is to say, they all deal with the use of games or related technologies, and they all study how playing enhances motivation in education

Training, Education and Research in COVID-19 Times: Innovative Methodological Approaches, Best Practices, and Case Studies

The global COVID-19 pandemic has posed a major challenge in all aspects of life, including how graduate training of healthcare practitioners is conducted. In Saudi Arabia, there were over 14,000 graduate health professional trainees in different stages of their training in various specialties distributed in many healthcare facilities across the country. The vast geographical distribution and diversity of health specialties training programs and activities have remarkably magnified the challenge posed by the pandemic. However, recently, the SCFHS implemented a health training governance reform that granted more autonomy to accredited training facilities in supervising training activities according to preset policies. This autonomy was crucial for mitigating various risks imposed by the pandemic, especially during the extended periods of strict lockdown. The ultimate mandate is a knowledge management primer. We need to once again focus on the basics of human creativity and knowledge creation: Create the content/knowledge; Utilize knowledge; Document knowledge; Communicate knowledge; Enable an integrated training, education, and research ecosystem; Utilize the integrated platform. Our volume is a contribution to the scientific debate for the added value of COVID-19 to our training, education, and research capabilities. We continue this debate with a new Special Issue in the Sustainability journal. We look forward to your contributions to this discussion

International Open and Distance Learning Conference proceedings book = Uluslararası Açık ve Uzaktan Öğrenme Konferansı bildiri kitabı

The 4th International Open & Distance Learning Conference- IODL 2019, which was held at Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Türkiye on 14-16 November, 2019