CC BY
35
DOI: 10.24411/2470-1262-2019-10066
УДК (UDC) 372.862
Irina Kostina, The University of Iowa, Iowa, USA Anastasia Pryanikova, E-Studio, LLC, Stamford, USA
For citation: Kostina Irina, Pryanikova Anastasia, (2019).
Innovations in Teaching with Technology: Gamified Online Course on Russian Folklore.
Cross-Cultural Studies: Education and Science Vol. 4, Issue 4 (2019), pp. 90-96 (in USA)
Manuscript received 19/10/2019 Accepted for publication: 26/11/2019 The authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
CC BY 4.0
INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY: GAMIFIED ONLINE COURSE ON RUSSIAN FOLKLORE
ИННОВАЦИИ В ПРЕПОДАВАНИИ С ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕМ ТУХНОЛОГИИ: ИГРОВОЙ ОНЛАЙ КУРС ПО РУССКОМУ ФОЛЬКЛОРУ
Abstract
Teaching and learning innovation can significantly change work in the large courses and transform lecture-centered classrooms into student-centered, student-driven, collaborative classrooms that utilize differentiation using educational technology. Three best practices of increasing engagement in the classroom are explored - storytelling, scenario-based learning and gamification - with the goal of developing an online course to introduce Russian folklore, culture and traditions to American students.
In the proposed course, the main character Ivan is traveling through five Russian kingdoms of spirits, witches and wizards, vampires and werewolves, gods and the kingdom of the Sun to find his kidnapped bride Marya. During his journey, Ivan must accomplish various tasks to find his bride that bring him to different tribes of Ancient Russians, spirits, gods, and other characters of Russian folklore as he learns about customs, traditions, art and culture of old Russia.
The course will use multimedia, including videos, audio and text to support storytelling and scenario-based approach to learning, as well as reward points and leaderboard, as gamified mechanisms of student engagement. In the context of blended and online learning, engagement becomes one of the main predictors of student retention and success. Our research aims to demystify the concept of engagement that many instructors want to achieve but very few know how to develop in their classrooms. We would like to implement further research on learner engagement utilizing the proposed course on Russian Folklore in real classrooms.
Keywords: Motivation, innovation, lecture-centered classroom, student-driven course, educational technology, engagement, retention, performance, differentiation, immediate feedback, storytelling, scenario-based learning, gamification, articulate storyline
Introduction and observation
The main motivation of this article is to show how teaching and learning innovation can significantly change work in the large courses and transform lecture-centered classrooms into student-centered, student-driven, collaborative classrooms that utilize differentiation using educational technology.
This approach is aimed to address the following teaching and learning challenges.
Lack of student engagement during lectures:
While there is a definite shift towards student-centered classrooms and student engagement in the field of education, lectures are still conducted in a traditional teacher-centered manner, where learning happens in a passive way and students' roles are limited to "receivers of the information". It is physically impossible for a teacher to make sure each student is engaged in the learning process, especially in such large courses that attract 200 + students, like our Russian Folklore, at the University of Iowa. In the times of shortened attention spans (20 seconds face-to-face, 8 seconds online), a teacher's fight for student engagement becomes even more difficult.
Student retention and performance:
Undergraduate students are often "trying" various courses in the General Education category to see which field will pique their interest. Therefore, it is crucial for them to have a good experience - as one failed course may result in these students not considering the entire field of study, which otherwise may be a perfect fit for them. A disengaged student in a large lecture hall often feels invisible and distant, which increases his or her chances of failing or dropping the course, as the feeling of isolation is a number one reason for student withdrawal. On the contrary, research shows that an engaged learner is more likely to stay in the program and succeed. Our technology mediated approach is meant to increase students' interest in the program, retention and student performance.
Ability to use differentiation in a large classroom:
Differentiation is nearly impossible in a large classroom led by one instructor. Thus, the needs
of many students that come to the class with various levels of performance and educational backgrounds are often not considered.
That is where technology can leverage teacher's time and create high engagement of the students. Students who already use mobile devices (and often are distracted by these gadgets during big lecture classes) can use them in order to become active participants in a big lecture room, collaborate with each other and provide evidence of successful understanding for the lecturer. Instead of dreaded pop quizzes that are used by professors to check student attendance or comprehension, students can participate in a fun game that increases student learning and shifts teaching from "lecturing" to co-creating. Besides, the professor has a control which unit of the game to give to which students, thus accounting for differentiation in the classroom. We cannot continue to be "digital immigrants" when our students are "digital natives" and have already surpassed us in technology.
Lack of immediate feedback during the learning process:
In large classrooms of 200+ students, students typically receive feedback when they take quizzes or exams or actively speak out in the classroom. This is not nearly enough for effective monitoring of all students' performance. This is especially a challenge for undergraduate students, who may not have a clear indication of how they are doing in class and may not actively seek out help in a timely manner. For the instructor, the grading of 200+ traditional quizzes require a huge time commitment and limits the instructor's capacity to offer more performance assessments during the semester. Technology allows us to turn quizzes into gamified activities where students get immediate feedback as to how they are doing, can receive a score and progress from level to level, based on their performance. All the assessment rubrics are programmed into the gamified course, thus saving the instructor's time and efforts.
Methods.
Enhancing student learning through an innovative application of technology.
We plan to develop a gamified, scenario-based digital course (available on desktops and mobile devices) on Russian Folklore. The course will be in English, suitable for the blended learning format to be used in conjunction with our current course on Russian Folklore at the University of Iowa.
We are using 3 best practices/methods of increasing engagement in the classroom: storytelling, scenario-based learning and gamification.
1. Storytelling
Digital storytelling provides avenues for experiential and social learning, reflective practice, effective communication, as well as community engagement. When the story resonates with the listener, the brains of the storyteller and listener show similar patterns of activation, suggesting a deeper human connection. (Stephens et al., 2010) Stories entertain, educate and engage us on the emotional level. The brain organizes information in story form to make sense of events and 92
transmit important information to others (Zak, 2016). Story captures and holds our attention. Its "transports" students into the characters' world, creating emotional resonance. When learners can relate to the characters in the story and their journeys, they can use the story to test their own assumptions, beliefs, fears, and hopes. Asking learners to take perspectives of different characters in the story may help them be more receptive to other points of view and build empathy.
2. Scenario-based learning
Scenarios prepare us for the unexpected and encourage flexibility. Human brains evolved to look for structure in the world. According to research conducted by Scott Huettel (2002), human brains are wired to recognize patterns and make predictions, based on our previous learning and experiences. Scenarios capitalize on the brain's predictive power, allowing learners to consider multiple options in contexts that are relevant to them. Scenarios that introduce variations in the familiar patterns capture the brain's attention, inviting learners to come up with more creative solutions. They also boost learner-centered practices, by placing students in the middle of the scenario and requesting him or her to make decisions.
3. Gamification:
Gamification (use of game elements in a non-game environment) introduces the elements of challenge and reward. Rewards trigger the release of the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine, which Professor David J. Linden calls "the Compass of Pleasure" (2011). Dopamine increases learners' internal motivation and desire to learn and is responsible for focused attention and more pleasurable experience. It increases learner's desire to engage with the course and succeed. Gamification also soothes out the demotivating feelings associated with failure and encourages learners to continue. Gamification helps learners achieve a state of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014) and be fully engaged with the learning process.
Results.
A couple years ago we worked on a STARTALK grant project, training teachers of Russian on the use of educational technology. As a result of that summer program, we created a course in Russian that used the themes from Russian Folklore to teach the Russian language to American students. That online course laid the foundation and served as an inspiration for the current project that would develop the Russian Folklore themes that were already popular among students, judging by the enrollment statistics for this course. This online course will introduce Russian folklore, culture and traditions to the wider audience of American students, engaging them through this new technology-mediated, gamified course.
The premise of the course: The main character Ivan is traveling through five Russian kingdoms of spirits, witches and wizards, vampires and werewolves, gods and the kingdom of the Sun to find his kidnapped bride Marya. During his journey, Ivan must accomplish various tasks to find his bride that bring him to different tribes of Ancient Russians, spirits, gods, and other characters of Russian folklore as he learns about customs, traditions, art and culture of old Russia.
Students will actively engage in the course by working with the course navigation, clicking
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on, opening and moving the objects. The course will use multimedia, including videos, audio and text. While passing each kingdom, students will receive various rewards and can also compete using the leader board.
A plan of work.
1. Assemble the team; assign tasks; set up project management platforms and processes.
2. Develop the learning objectives, course outline and content (5 kingdoms, 10 activities in each kingdom for the total of 50 activities)
3. Graphic design of the course elements
4. Voiceover recordings
5. Translate Russian materials into English
6. Collect and develop all remaining course materials (including text, images, sound, video, animation or other learning objects)
7. Input all the activities into Articulate Storyline
8. Set up the course URL; develop gamified platform and navigation features.
9. Review and edit Articulate Storyline input
10. Transfer raw files into the course platform
11. Course review and testing
12. Develop the User Manual and course access
13. Course pilot launch
The specific learning objectives of the course.
Objectives and goals of the course:
1. During the course, the students will be acquainted with different genres of Russian Folklore including fairytales, myths, legends, and songs.
2. The students will be able to recognize and describe the main Russian spirits, fairytale characters, vampires, witches and pagan Gods.
3. The students will be able to describe the rituals, surrounding the main life events in old Russia, such as marriage, burial, clothing, festivals, etc.
4. The students will become familiar with authentic Russian songs, sayings and poems and will be able to discuss the historic and cultural significance of these authentic materials.
Implication. What we plan for future and what we already have access to.
In the context of blended and online learning, engagement becomes one of the main predictors of student retention and success. Through our research, we want to demystify the concept of engagement that many instructors want to achieve but very few know how to develop in their classrooms. We would like to conduct research on learner engagement utilizing the proposed course on Russian Folklore in real classrooms. For this research, we would utilize the User Engagement Scale (UES) developed by O'Brien et al (2010). We would administer the survey to participating students and collect self-reporting measures of the following facets of engagement: focused attention, felt involvement, novelty, endurability, aesthetics and perceived usability.
We have a fully functioning language course in Russian, which includes a platform like the proposed course: five kingdoms with 10 activities in each with the built-in leader board and gamification elements. The similar set-up will allow us to adapt the existing platform to our proposed course development needs.
The activities are developed in Articulate Storyline program, which offers templates and design elements that can be re-used for other courses and don't need to be developed from scratch. Articulate Storyline has a great library of templates, images and resources to allow for time-efficient course development. We can build on the existing templates.
We also have the content for the Russian Folklore course, based on Folklore, SLAV: 1531:0001.
We are planning to:
1. Translate the relevant course materials into English;
2. Edit and develop new activities.
3. Add graphic design elements as needed;
4. Write User Manual for the course;
5. Input the course materials/activities into Articulate Storyline;
6. Adapt the gamification platform to the current course and set it up.
References:
1. Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. The Systems Model of Creativity: The Collected Works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Dordrecht: Springer, 2014.
2. Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow and the Foundations of Positive Psychology: The Collected Works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Dordrecht: Springer, 2014.
Linden David J. "The Compass of Pleasure", 2011.
3. Stephens Greg J., Lauren J. Silber, and Uri Hasson. Speaker-listener neural coupling underlies successful communication. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, June 18, 2010.
4. O' Brien Heather L., Paul Cairns, Mark Hal. A practical approach to measuring user engagement with the engagement scale and new UES short form. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 112 • April 2018
5. Huettel, S., et al. "The effects of stimulus duration upon visual cortical activation: Evidence from functional MRI and intracranial ERPS." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, M I T PRESS, Apr. 2002, pp. 89-89. https://psychandneuro.duke.edu/people/scott-huettel
6. Phillips, R., Bain, J., McNaught, C., Rice, M., & Tripp, D. (2000). Handbook for learning-centered evaluation of computer-facilitated learning projects in higher education. Retrieved May 8, 2005, from http://www.tlc.murdoch.edu.au/archive/cutsd99/handbook/handbook.html
7. Rice John W., The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-Based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education., Department of Learning Technologies, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA. 2012.
8. Shuvan Wang. Enhancing Teaching and Learning with Digital Storytelling. The University of Southern Mississippi, USA Hong Zhan, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, USA. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 6(2), 76-87, April-June 2010
9. Spector J. Michael. Finding Your Online Voice: Stories Told by Experienced Online Educators. Psychology Press, 2007
10. Zak, Paul J. "Why Inspiring Stories Make Us React: The Neuroscience of Narrative." Cerebrum: The Dana Forum on Brain Science 2 (2015). Web. 28 Feb. 2016.
11. Zak, Paul J. "Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling." Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Review, 05 Nov. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
Information about the authors:
Irina Kostina (Iowa, USA), Ph.D., Associate professor of Instruction, Director of the Undergraduate Russian program, the University of Iowa, e-mail: [email protected], over 30 articles in the field of education and methodology of teaching.
Anastasia Pryanikova (Stamford, USA), M.A., J.D., Educational Technology Consultant, EStudio, LLC, e-mail: apryanikova@gmail. com, two chapters in anthologies on storytelling and technology, articles on cross-cultural studies.
Contribution of the author. The author contributed equality to the present research.
