Thank you for writing such an informative post about the benefits of gamification in the learning environment! I appreciate that you explained what gamification was, prior to relating it to your personal experience. This formatting made it easy to understand the topic, and enabled your blog post to flow in a logical manner. The one question I have is: I wonder if adding section headers for each of your segments of text would make your formatting clearer?
In addition to the logical flow of your blog post, I also liked that you added both photos and videos to your post. I especially enjoyed the video you selected which explained Kahoot, for it applied the Modality Principle by pairing graphics with narration (Mayer, 2014). In doing so, the video effectively delivered information by not visually overloading viewers with both animations, and on-screen text. Further, while learning about gamification in our readings this week, iClicker questions came to mind for me too; therefore, I enjoyed reading about your experiences with them, and how they helped contribute to your learning. Like you, I also found I was more motivated to complete assigned readings for classes which had iClicker questions, and the class environments were often more engaging and collaborative.
When talking about Fixed and Growth Mindsets, the term “mindset” is used to describe how people think about ability and talent (Spencer, 2017). The Fixed Mindset suggests one’s abilities and intelligence are innate and unchangeable; therefore, individuals with this mindset view failure as permanent, and believe if they fail a task, they are incapable of improvement due to their fixed abilities (Spencer, 2017). Comparatively, the Growth Mindset suggests intelligence is “malleable and improvable” (Ng, 2018, p. 2). Unlike the Fixed Mindset, learners with a Growth Mindset view failures as part of the learning process, and as an opportunity to improve and grow (Ng, 2018). In fact, in a study conducted by Blackwell et al., results revealed students with a Growth Mindset outperformed those with a Fixed Mindset, and this was attributed to their increased desire and motivation to learn (2007). For a more in-depth review of the differences between both mindsets, please watch the video linked below.
(Spencer, 2017)
My Experience with Fixed and Growth Mindsets
Although I consider myself as someone with a Growth Mindset, I have been in situations where I had a Fixed Mindset. During my first year at UVic, I signed up for a computer science (CSC) class which focused on coding. At the beginning of the semester, I was able to keep up with the material relatively well, and possessed a sufficient understanding of the basic concepts; however, as the term progressed, I found myself increasingly struggling to comprehend the course material, and had difficulty completing my assignments. Once my progress in the class began to dwindle, I started to believe my brain was “not wired” for coding, and I accepted failure as my only outcome. Looking back on that class now, I no longer believe my abilities for coding were fixed. Rather, my mindset prevented me from progressing in the class: I felt defeated by failure, and therefore considered my intelligence as stagnant. Currently, I would say I possess a Growth Mindset towards learning. For instance, while taking a statistics class at UVic, I did not perform as well on an assignment as I would have liked to. Instead of enforcing the belief that I did not have the innate intelligence required to successfully complete the assignment, I used the assignment as a learning opportunity to develop my abilities further. At the end of my statistics course, I was able to achieve a grade I was satisfied with; however, had I adopted a Fixed Mindset after performing poorly on one assignment, it is unlikely I would have arrived at the same outcome.
Figure 1: Characteristics of a Growth Mindset (Piccard, 2018).
Promoting a Growth Mindset
To determine if you possess a dominantly Fixed or Growth Mindset, take this quiz. My results indicated I have a dominant Growth Mindset; however, during my educational experience, I do not recall any of my instructors explicitly encouraging students to have a Growth Mindset. Regardless, a study conducted by O’Rourke et al., revealed an online educational game, which encouraged perseverance and incentivized effort, helped low-performing students develop a Growth Mindset (2014). Given this, it is likely my previous instructors implicitly promoted a Growth Mindset through various class activities and exercises. Additionally, if your quiz results indicated you have a dominantly Fixed Mindset, the study by O’Rourke et al., suggests a Growth Mindset can be developed with the appropriate support and resources (2014).
References
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: a longitudinal study and an intervention. Child development, 78(1), 246–263. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00995.x
Ng, B. (2018). The neuroscience of growth mindset and intrinsic motivation. Brain sciences, 8(2), 20. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci8020020
O’Rourke, E., Haimovitz, K., Ballweber, C., Dweck, C., & Popović, Z. (2014). Brain points: a growth mindset incentive structure boosts persistence in an educational game. In CHI 2014: One of a CHInd – Conference Proceedings, 32nd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 3339-3348). (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems – Proceedings). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/2556288.2557157
Piccard, P. (2018, September 23). [Characteristics of a growth mindset]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/150885343@N04/43058632290
Spencer, J. [John Spencer]. (2017, Mar 26). Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/M1CHPnZfFmU
I really enjoyed reading your blog post about the top 300 tools for learning. Your writing was clear and concise, and I like how you personalized your post by writing about which tools you use and for what reasons. Like you, I also use applications such as YouTube, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams for personal and work matters; therefore, I agree it is not surprising the platforms are ranked as the top learning tools.
Additionally, I like that you applied the Multimedia Principle to your blog post by adding videos to further explain Kahoot and Mentimeter. I particularly enjoyed the video which described Mentimeter, for it applied the Modality Principle we learned this week. More precisely, the video provided graphics through a screencast, and narration instead of on-screen text. Considering people learn better when graphics are paired with narration instead of printed text, the format of the video helped improve my understanding of Mentimeter (Mayer, 2014).
Although you mentioned you agree with the ranking of the top 300 learning tools, one question I have is whether you would reorder any of the tools on the list? While both Kahoot and Mentimeter are ranked as relatively popular learning tools, you stated you did not know what the platforms were prior to reading the list; therefore, are there any applications you would rank higher than Kahoot and Mentimeter? For instance, perhaps you would consider WordPress a better learning tool than Kahoot, for it enables learners to apply more of the principles for designing multimedia learning environments. What are your thoughts?
According to Mayer, the term multimedia refers to the simultaneous presentation of both words and pictures (2014). Comparatively, multimedia learning refers to “the learner’s construction of knowledge from words and pictures” (Mayer, 2014, p. 3). As demonstrated in our readings this week, there exists various basic principles to optimize the design of multimedia learning environments. Example principles include the Modality Principle, Signaling Principle, and Segmenting Principle. The videos below describe each principle, and in the subsequent section I will describe how I applied these principles when designing a multimedia learning experience.
The Modality Principle: People learn better when graphics are paired with narration instead of printed text (Mayer, 2014).
(Tyler, 2020a)
The Signaling Principle: People learn better when key information is emphasized through application of cues (Mayer, 2014).
(Tyler, 2020b)
The Segmenting Principle: People learn better when multimedia messages are divided into appropriate learning segments instead of being presented as continuous units (Mayer, 2014).
(Tyler, 2020c)
Application of Principles to Designing Multimedia Learning Experiences
TransportTracking is an application used by porters and requesters (e.g., unit clerks, nurses, hospital staff, etc.) to coordinate the internal transportation of patients (Teletracking, 2012). During my co-op in the Health Information Science program at Fraser Health, one of my tasks was to create new training videos using PowerPoint for TransportTracking. While creating the training materials for this application, I applied the principles listed above to facilitate learning. For instance, rather than overlaying screenshots of the application with printed text, I narrated each slide with instructions regarding which steps the learner should take. This enabled me to apply the Modality Principle, and therefore reduced the learner’s cognitive load (Tyler, 2020a). Additionally, I applied the Signaling Principle when creating the training videos for TransportTracking: to emphasize key functionalities, I used arrows to direct the learner’s attention to buttons I described in my narration. Regarding the Segmenting Principle, I applied this concept to ensure the learner could complete their training in segments at their own pace. More precisely, I created separate learning modules for different tasks which could be accomplished using TransportTracking (e.g., How to Request a Porter, How to Accept a Request, How to Cancel a Request, etc.). The application of these principles enabled me to take a learner-centered approach, by allowing me to use multimedia in a way that supports human cognition (Mayer, 2014).
Hi everyone! My name is Xinh, and I am a fourth year student in the Health Information Science program at UVic. Throughout my curriculum, I completed three co-ops with the Provincial Health Services Authority, Fraser Health, and Island Health. During my work terms, I participated in projects where new applications were being launched across the organization, and I was often tasked with creating quick reference guides to support learning. Additionally, at the end of each co-op, I created various training materials for subsequent co-op students to facilitate knowledge transfer. The training materials I produced came in different forms, such as word documents with embedded images, interactive PowerPoints, videos, and more.
Given the nature of the tasks I was assigned during my co-ops, I decided to take EDCI337 to learn more about how different media types can impact learning. For instance, a few questions I have are: which media types are most effective to facilitate learning, and is it beneficial for learners if several media types are combined? Additionally, I have previously taken EDCI338 and EDCI339, and thoroughly enjoyed the content of those courses; therefore, I believe EDCI337 will be another exciting class for me. I am looking forward to our next few weeks together!
Hi everyone! My name is Xinh, and I am a fourth year student in the Health Information Science program at UVic. Throughout my curriculum, I completed three co-ops with the Provincial Health Services Authority, Fraser Health, and Island Health. During my work terms, I participated in projects where new applications were being launched across the organization, and I was often tasked with creating quick reference guides to support learning. Additionally, at the end of each co-op, I created various training materials for subsequent co-op students to facilitate knowledge transfer. The training materials I produced came in different forms, such as word documents with embedded images, interactive PowerPoints, videos, and more.
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