Posts
7 Things You Should Know About Gamification
Abstract
Gamification is the application of game elements in non-gaming situations, often to motivate or influence behavior. The rewards or the spirit of competition can spur students’ concentration and interest and lead to more effective learning.
The use of gamification is wide-ranging in higher education, from extra-credit awards and in-class team competitions to complex multi-level schemes that can pervade a course. Although gamification can be deceptively difficult to employ effectively, it has the potential to help build connections among members of the academic community, drawing in shy students, supporting collaboration, and engendering interest in course content that students might not have otherwise explored.
Gamification offers instructors numerous creative opportunities to enliven their instruction with contests, leader boards, or badges that give students opportunities for recognition and a positive attitude toward their work
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7 Things You Should Know About WordPress
Abstract
WordPress is an open-source web application that is fundamentally a tool for publishing content, and a broad array of colleges and universities have made use of WordPress and encouraged its use among faculty members, staff, and students.
For campus-wide use, IT staff can install a local instance of WordPress with the multisite feature enabled; where institutions have not undertaken an installation, some individual instructors have set up their own WordPress instances. WordPress offers a stable, flexible, and highly configurable platform that provides a one-stop shop as a web development tool and a publishing forum for students and faculty.
It offers students the chance to write reflectively for various audiences, giving them practice in having their voices heard and their views considered by a wide variety of individuals.
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Source: EDUCAUSE
