Dive Brief:
- Saint Leo University has embraced Alternate Reality Learning Experiences, games that give participants a chance to learn through activities that move between fictional stories and real life, for educator professional development.
- Campus Technology reports a recent online professional development course used an ARLE to teach educators about the education system and education reform through an immersive experience that gave them a chance to have fun and still learn strategies they could take back to their own classrooms.
- Working with Edchat Interactive and Games4Ed, facilitators presented through video platform Shindig, which gives participants a chance to break up into groups and easily shift views to see different speakers.
Dive Insight:
The U.S. education system, both K-12 and higher ed, has turned to gaming to engage students in learning experiences. As educators try to reach younger generations that have spent more of their lives with digital technology, gaming seems to be a good strategy. In the higher education realm, however, Kentaro Toyama, an associate professor at the University of Michigan and author of "Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change From the Cult of Technology" sees the “gamification” of education as a capitulation to this generation’s lack of intrinsic motivation.
Toyama believes students should learn how to do things that aren’t fun as a lesson for life. In professional development, though, perhaps it’s time to give educators opportunities to take their medicine with a little sugar.