GAMIFYING FACULTY DEVELOPMENT WITH WORDPRESS AND GOOGLE DRIVE – A PILOT PROGRAM

Adeline Meira (@addymeira)txwescetl.com/nmc-presentation#nmc14 #GamifyFD

About Us

Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) Staff

Lisa Hammonds Nakia Pope Addy Meira Pressly Smith

Our Mission

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Texas Wesleyan University (CETL) promotes a student-centered university by providing resources and

professional growth opportunities to faculty on enhancing instructional practice, integrating technology, and promoting essential student skills.

Our Program

We cater to:– 225 Faculty (110 Full-Time + 115 Part-Time) – 223 Staff (Full-Time)

Spring & Summer 2013 – Overall Attendance = 98

Our Problem– What else can we do to promote and reward faculty

professional development?

Gamification

The Theory Behind It– On the surface

• use of game mechanics to make learning more fun– Deeper

• engagement, overcoming challenges, accomplishmentOptions– Badges per workshop– Badges per course– Points + Badges

Our Brainstorming Process– 5 team brainstorming sessions

Our Plan for Action– Points + Badges– Use Google Drive to keep track– Use Wordpress to showcase

Our Badges

Blackboard Badge30 points

Critical Thinking Badge30 points

Online Learning Badge50 points

Friend of the CETL Badge20 points

CETL BFF Badge50 points

Mobile Learning Badge30 points

Flipped Classroom BadgeTBD

Innovation Badge50 points

Teach Int’l Student Badge15 points

Socially Engaged Badge20 points

Trendsetter Badge60 points

Smartboard Badge10 points

Student Engagement Badge30 points

Course Design Badge30 points

Trailblazer Badge75 points

Community Badge35 points

Earning Badges

Activity Point Value Badges Possible

Workshop Attendance 5

Individual Consultation 10

CETL Blog Comment 5

Blog Post 15

Liking the CETL FB Page 2

Following CETL on Twitter 2

Having more than 50 followers on Twitter

2

Checking in at the CETL on Foursquare or Facebook

2

Presenting a CETL Workshop 20

Stopping by to say hi 2

*Bringing us food *10000

Keeping Track

Google Drive– Storage and synchronization service provided by Google– FREE (15GB)– Allow for cloud storage, file sharing, collaboration

Google Drive services– Google Docs

• Forms• Presentations• Spreadsheets• Word editor

– Accessible from any mobile device

Displaying Badges

Wordpress– Free blogging and CMS platform– More than 20 million downloads

Benefits– FREE– Customizable themes– Plugins– User friendly– Multi-user– Mobiles– Analytics

About Our Program AFTER Badges

Fall 2013 – Overall Attendance = *200

Spring 2014 – Overall Attendance = *170

Badges Earned– Total = 156– Showcased via Wordpress/Social Media and Stickers

*Includes workshops, individual consultations, guest speakers

Initial Data

# of Faculty + Staff– 225 Faculty (110

FT+115PT) + 223 Staff

Participants– n=28

Classification– Staff (n=7); Full-Time

(n=18); Part-Time (n=3)

Awareness of system– 89% Yes; 11% No

How they became aware– 42% CETL event; 39%

CETL staff; 19% other way

Participation– 75% 0-5 Events

Knowledge of Points– 30% Yes; 70% No

Understanding of point system– Mean 3.18

Points = Motivation– Mean 2.62

Badges = Motivation– Mean 2.62

Leaderboard = Motivation– Mean 2.66

Where Do We Go From Here?

Faculty Feedback

“I love the Badges and Points system! Badges and Points is a motivating system

for faculty professional development.”

“Good idea, but hard to track points and badges for evaluation. Electronic badges might be better

than stickers.”

“Great and fun way to be acknowledged for the work

and professional development we're doing.”

“I don't like them; it's like we are in grade school trying to make an external party happy. I like to think that I attend events to improve my teaching or learn

something new to help my students. The points seem to reward just attending and accumulation of

points. I find I am very busy and cannot attend many of the events and the points just make me feel bad.”

“CETL is very professional and helpful resource, but I find the badge system

akin to high school. Professional development can be demonstrated on a

CV, not badges.”

“Not an incentive for me one way or another. I attend CETL events as they improve my teaching and

overall skill level.”

“Reminds me of scouts--not interested.”

Where Do We Go From Here?

Other Feedback (n=16)

Do you think gamification has the potential to improve faculty participation in professional development activities?

If you are responsible for creating professional development activities, would you consider

incorporating a reward system based on badges and points?

Yes=68.75% No=0% Perhaps=31.25% Yes=93.75% No=0% Perhaps=6.25%

“Yes, I have thought of ways to encourage faculty to use the resources I created, with varying success. This is

an additional possibility.”

“Yes I would consider it, but be cautious about dedicating too

much time into it.”

“Yes, especially as our monetary reward system looks endangered. Also,

for smaller faculty development sessions that incur no monetary

rewards.”

“As manager of a busy Instructional Design team, I have contemplated this for some time. We

haven't pursued it because we are unsure of the cost/benefit. It would take considerable cycles from a team member to implement. From your

initial survey, I can't say there are any firm conclusions as to effectiveness, if the goal is to improve "enrollment" in development activities.”

“Yes, but I am also concerned that it may be seen as childish, as you pointed out.”

Plans for the Future

Continue Data Gathering Efforts

Additional Game Elements

Public Display of Badges

Increased Faculty Awareness

How To Claim Your Badge

Create an account with Cred.ly

Make sure to complete the survey from handout or at http://txwescetl.com/nmc-presentation/

Check your email– Click on “Save & Share”

On Credly– Go to “My Credit,” then to “Earned,” and finally accept the badge

in your inbox.

References

EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. "7 Things You Should Know About Badges." EDUCAUSE. N.p., June 2011. Web. 6 Aug, 2013.

Kapp, K. (2012). The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Rehak, A., & Hickey, D. (2013). “Digital Badge Design Principles for Recognizing Learning.” Hastac.org. Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory. Hastac.org, 20 May, 2013. Web. 6 Aug, 2013.

http://txwescetl.com/nmc-presentation

Contact Us

TXWES.EDU/CETL

@TXWESCETL

CETL@TXWES.EDU

#nmc14 #GamifyFD

Addy Meira– @addymeira