Technology enhanced and gamified learning.

World Heritage Awareness Campaign for Youth in Southern African Development Community (SADC)

Nadzeya Kalbaska, PhD- Post-doctoral researcher, Lecturer USI – Lugano, Switzerland- General Secretary of International Federation for IT and Travel and Tourism

eLearning Africa Conference 2015 (Ethiopia, May 2015) paper:

“Technologies for informal learning: An awareness campaign about UNESCO World Heritage Sites in SADC” by Asta Adukaite, Izak van Zyl, Nadzeya Kalbaska and Lorenzo Cantoni

Digital technologies and (in)formal learning

• The latest generation of digital technologies: social media (Bull et

al., 2008), mobile devices (Donner, 2008; Pucciarelli & Cantoni, 2012; Traxler, 2009),

and digital games (Gee, 2003; Prensky, 2006) accelerated research on ICTs and (in)formal learning

• ICTs blur the distinction between formal and informal learning (Selwyn, Gorard & Furlong, 2005)

• Actual learning has to be positioned on a multidimensional continuum between the two polarities (Colley et al, 2006)

What is Gamification?

Motivate/engage users Enhance user’s overall value creationRaise awarenessDevelop skillsEnhance knowledgeSolve problemsChange behavior

Why Gamification?

Use of game elements and game design techniques in non-game contexts (Deterding et al., 2011)

Selective integration of various game elements into a specific system without a fully-fledged game as the end product

For profit business goals or social impactEducation, health, environment, marketing, tourism etc.

Gamification and learning

• Engagement is the main objective in applying gamification (Kapp, 2012; Huotari & Hamari, 2012; Dixon, 2011)

• Gamification isn’t about turning the classes into a game

• Although gamification technique is not truly an academic methodology, it may improve the performance of students in the learning process (Pozo, 1993; Trilla, 2011; Xu, 2012; Carr, 1998):

• Increase motivation & raise interest in specific subjects (de Freitas &Oliver, 2006)

• Increase students’ engagement & drive desirable learning behaviours (Lee & Hammer, 2011; Kapp,

2012)

• Empower students with low levels of self-efficacy (Sitzmann, 2011)

• Improve critical thinking skills

The most common integrated game design elements in learning (Nah et al., 2014)

1. Points

2. Levels/stages

3. Badges

4. Leaderboards

5. Prizes

6. Progress bars

7. Storyline

8. Feedback

Tourism & learning

• Tourism and heritage places offer vast opportunities for learning experiences, both formally and informally (Van Winkle & Lagay, 2012; Falk et al., 2012)

• The UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 1007 places worldwide of significant cultural or natural value

• attract increasing attention from tourism and education sectors

• the reconciliation of the protection of heritage and tourism

• communication of the heritage value

• fostering of responsible and respectful behaviour among visitors

• Potential of ICTs to facilitate sustainable tourism through awareness raising, valorisation, sensitization, and guidance for locals and tourists (Touray & Jung, 2010; Scott & Frew, 2013; Ali & Frew, 2013; Schieder, Adukaite & Cantoni, 2014)

WHACY PROJECT

World Heritage Awareness Campaign for Youth in Southern African Development Community (SADC)

39 World Heritage Sites in SADC 19 natural, 17 Cultural, 3 mixed

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• Gamified ICT application, quiz-like tool

• Score, levels, reward, feedback,aesthetics

• Raise awareness

• Foster informal learning

• about heritage and sustainable tourismin Southern Africa

• Primary audience: students 16-19 years old

• Also wider public

Goals of the campaign

TOOLS

• Dedicated • Website: www.whacy.org

• Wiki: wiki.africaheritagetourism.org

• Facebook page: www.facebook.com/africaheritagetourism

• Quiz platform:• www.whacygame.org/round1/welcome

• www.whacygame.org/round2/welcome

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Facebook Photo contest•February – June, 2014

•27 contestants (27 eligible pictures)

•In total campaign attracted 1446 Facebook users who engaged with it by voting, sharing and commenting the pictures

SOME RESULTS (May-October 2014)

Online

• Round 1 was played 900 times (487 unique players)

• Round 2 was played 588 times (122 unique players)

Offline

• 2’482 schools have received the CD-ROM and the paper version

• Estimation: more than 104’244 students have been exposed to WHACY

• Participants from 13 SADC countries were exposed to the game (no Swaziland and Angola)

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Next step: Integration into TourismCurriculum in SADC

• Tourism is tought as a high school subject in 6 SADC countries (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, Mauritius)

• Integrating WHACY into tourism teaching practices• to increase students’ motivation and interest in tourism subject

• as an assessment tool

• Pilot project in South Africa• Responsable, PhD Candidate Asta Adukaite (asta.adukaite@usi.ch)

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THANK YOU!

asta.adukaite@usi.chnadzeya.kalbaska@usi.ch

www.whacy.orgwww.unescochair.usi.ch

www.elearning4tourism.org