Leslie Van WolvelearIn reading the title & description on the schedule, I missed the fact that the session is specifically for D2L. I’m still hoping I can take something away from the session.Leslie spent the first bit of the session talking broadly about gamification, does it help students learn, and who the intended audience is. https://twitter.com/evinsmj/status/834071249819140098https://twitter.com/barrydahl/status/834071711599493120The technique that Leslie talks about and uses is a scavenger hunt. Some ideas to keep in mind:
- Clear and consise instructions
- Use of images for the visual learners
- Links to LMS
- Points for completing assignments
Leslie had an issue with students using the electronic syllabus for the scavenger hunt, so this semester she went back to using hard copies. I’m not sure what the issue is, but continual improvement is important, so whatever works for her. Some of the activities include a scavenger hunt quiz, a welcome discussion, uploading a profile picture, and a conference with the instructor. Note: clicking live links (like to the syllabus PDF) is done in a new tab/window so it’s easy to get back.One of the things that Leslie has all of her students do is send an email through the LMS messaging tool. This helps students learn how to use the LMS in addition to making sure they can follow directions. The quiz she sets up is multiple choice, true false, and short answer. She indicates in the quiz directions that she manually grades the short answer questions. One of the last assignments in the syllabus activities is the welcome discussion, allowing students to talk more about what their goals are (in the class, life, etc.).Leslie also has some orientation videos for the various websites needed throughout the class. She has 2, 1 for D2L and another for WileyPlus (Accounting software). Those videos are re-recorded each semester.Overall, I really like the session and what she’s done with gamifying the syllabus. I would love to incorporate some of these ideas into a course. Now I just need to find a course to teach. As Brenda Boyd put it:https://twitter.com/QMBrenda/status/834077643754598400Possibly, but I don’t think so.
Matthew Evins 