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)
• 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 ([email protected])
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