Hybrid Learning Environments –Taking Game-Based Learning Outdoors
Mart LaanpereTallinn University
Learning environment
• A tricky concept – everyone uses it, a few try to make sense of it or change it
• Narrow and broad definition: from the physical setting for learning to everything that surrounds and affects the learners
• Taken for granted, changing slowly• Often the first target to be radically changed by
innovators (schools without walls) • Digital world is seeking its place in learning
environment
Outdoor learning
• Experiential learning in authentic, natural environment, using all senses, doing/acting, passing forward what you have learned
• Opposing traditional classroom learning environment, taking learning outside of the school building
• Heavily game-based since beginning• Different traditions: scouts, school yards, educational trails,
medical perspective, adventure learning, camp schools• Outdoor learning in Estonia: Scandinavian influence, adding
cultural heritage (music, ancient games, handicraft, stories) and esoteric aspects
Outdoor classrooms
Outdoor learning and games
Charta for Outdoor Learning
• Five cornerstones: – SENSE: use all senses for learning– LANGUAGE: be able to name it, express it– ACT: learning by doing– STORY: compose your personal story– POINT: analyze your experience
• Outdoor learning is recommended in the new national curriculum
Experiential learning (Kolb)
Challenge: Digital vs Nature
• Digital world is not yet integral part of learning environment, more so in outdoor learning context
• Outdoor learning community of practice often defines their identity through opposition to everything technological
• Yet, without technology it is difficult to support steps 2 and 3 in Kolb’s experiential learning cycle
Digital + nature in teacher training
• Annual summer schools for Estonian teachers 2005 – 2013, digital workshops since 2006
• Game-based learning in hybrid (digital+natural) learning environment:– Geocaching, shutter spot– Tallest tree– Video reports on inquiry projects– Quiz trail with QR-codes– Tagging game
Ajapaik.ee: pedagogic scenarios
• Ajapaik.ee: Estonian re-photography portal• Design-based research, involving teachers in
creating GBL scenarios that make use of Ajapaik.ee: – ReSpot: an individual game, aiming at finding the
closest spot to original location of taking the first photo;– TeamHunt: a team game, where teams of 2-3 students
compete with each other to reach as many the spot of untagged photo;
– QuizTrack: a game that can be played both by groups and single players, involving quizzes that are unlocked after submitting correct re-photo.
Technology & Innovation
• Cross-curricular theme ‘Technology & Innovation’ in the new national curriculum for Estonian secondary schools
• Project-based learning, serving the needs of a client (a local company, school, municipality)
• Five example scenarios, one of them is creating a geocaching game for local B&B
• Students learn more from creating the games for learning than from playing one
Towards hybrid learning environment
• Estonian national strategy for lifelong learning: by 2020, the digital culture should have become a natural and integral part of learning environment in all levels of educational system (1:1 computing)
• Game-based learning has an important role in it, if used in a smart way
• Outdoor learning community has adopted game-based learning, but it is a challenge to introduce digital components in their pedagogical scenarios