The document summarizes research on the value of fun in online learning. It describes open studies conducted with over 1,000 participants across multiple countries. Quantitative survey results showed most students felt learning should involve fun, happiness, and enjoyment. Qualitative findings linked fun to activities, content, and positive engagement. While some saw fun as distracting, most views were positive. Analysis related students' epistemic beliefs about constructivist learning to valuing fun. Recommendations encourage integrating enjoyable real-world activities, personalized learning, and a variety of interactive resources to promote student satisfaction and retention in online education.

1. Dr Alexandra Okada
Online Learning and FunLAF
Rumpus
we explore fun

2. Teaching and learning cannot take place
outside of search, beauty, and joy.
FREIRE, P.(2004). Pedagogy of Autonomy

3. Fun is an important part of lived experience
However, its meaning is underexplored by literature

4. 2010 2013 20152011 2018 2018 2018
McManus
& Furnham
Lesser
et.al.
Tews
et.al.
Blythe and
Hassenza
hl
Dichotomy
Work
x Leisure
Unnecessary
distraction
Turner
Unsuitable
in the
serious HE
Whitton &
Langan
Trivial
experience
Glaveanu
enjoyable &
self-motivating
Bisson &
Luckner
performance
1996 2005
Prouty
Koster
Fluid state
Feel good
take risks
fail forward
Feel safe
2008
Ungar
Reduction
of stress.
Crosnoe
et al
Ambivalent
difficult
No clear
definition
2004

5. INTRODUCTION

6. Okada (2018)
To increase awareness of the ways of learning (epistemic beliefs)
and fun to support students’ success in Higher Education.
Our specific objetives are to:
1. Generate an open database with an open reflective tool for studies across the world
2. Co-create open participatory research based on learners’ needs
3. Raise the number of funded projects with open science about fun in learning
4. Innovate curriculum with open policies for enjoyment, diversity & equity
OPEN RESEARCH PROJECT
LAF aims
1

7. LAF
Study 1 (Feb- Mar 2020):
4.500 students invited from OUUK
551 participants
Study 2 (Jun- Jul 2020):
2.500 Open Learners invited
446 participants
Source: http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/rumpus/index.php/projects/olaf/
CoLearn
OU-UK
PUC-BR
UAb-PT
UNED-ES
UNESA-ID
PARTICIPANTS & PARTNERSHIPS
South America – Europe – Asia
4 Studies in development (Oct - Nov 2020):
UAb-PT UNED-ES PUC-BR UNESA-ID
2

8. Various factors will affect
educational systems;
in particular, high dropout rates
and low learning outcomes in
schools and higher education.
SOCIETAL NEEDS
Source: Our world in Data
3 UNESCO (2020), WORLD BANK (2020)

9. A key priority in Higher
Education is to enhance
student access,
retention, attainment
and progression
4
Source: Adapted from The Higher Education Academy (2015)
4
HIGHER EDUCATION PRIORITIES

10. Source: Adapted from The Higher Education Academy (2015)
What is the value of fun in
Online Learning
during COVID-19?
4
Open
Education
Open
Science
Open
Schooling
Open
Policy
What are the factors and
recommendations to
support students’ enjoyment
of online learning with fun?
OLAF – OPEN RESEARCH QUESTIONS
enjoyment
with

11. METHODOLOGY

12. APPROACH
RRI was created by the
European Commission to
align
Research & Innovation
with societal needs,
priorities and expectations
responsibly
5
Source: RRIdata.com
to shape a sustainable world
and a desirable future for all
RRI data . com

13. RRI approach
1. Responsiveness & Adaptive
 Responsive open reseach projects
2. Diversity & Inclusion
 Diverse participants in Education
3. Openess & Transparency
 Open reflexive tool & Open data
4. Anticipation & Reflexivity:
 Open findings & recommendations
Principles
LAF
6
Source: adapted from RRI - Tools

14. What are the learners’ views about: the ways of learning & fun? .
Open Network for
researchers using
WordPress & WhatsApp
OpenLearn articles
for learners with
survey & findings
1 2 3 4Open
Policy
Open
Science
Open
Schooling
Open
Education
7
Open journal paper for researchers
Frontiers: Recommendations
e-Curriculum: Value of Fun
Open data &
recommendations
Reflexive
Instrument
Diverse
partners
Report &
studies
OLAF Policy
Brief
in
development
METHODOLOGY
Sources:
OECD reports (TALIS)
2008, 2013, 2018
Sheehy et.al (2019)

15. 1. Self-Reflective survey
Students’ epistemic beliefs
8
OPEN TOOLS 2. Open Activity (optional)
What is your opinion about fun in online learning?
Likert: 1- strongly disagree, 5- strongly agree

16. FINDINGS
QUALTRICS SPSS 27 NVIVO 12

17. To learn effectively,
students must enjoy
their learning
To learn effectively,
students must be
happy whilst learning
Learning should
involve fun
Fun activities can
get in the way of
student learning
I am enjoying
studying this
online module
76%
20%
3% 1% 1%
48%
8%
2% 1%
41%
48%
41%
9%
1% 1%
37%
26%
21%
11%
5%
47%
39%
5%
7%
2%
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
Most of participants highlighted that learning should involve fun happiness and enjoyment
However some participants indicated that fun can get in the way of learning.
QUALTRICS
9
Do students value fun in learning?

18. CONTENT ANALYSIS
10
• Motivation, enjoyment, engagement, interest,
• (Well-being) life, feel better, great, no stress / pressure
• (Performance) knowledge, experience, achievement
QUALTRICS
What is fun in online learning?

19. CODE ANALYSIS
11
FUN Learning Student Material
Tutorials
Activities
Online
7 codes
79 categories
nVivo
What is the relation between fun and online learning?
Fun was linked to actvities, content, teaching, tutorials, learning, materials ...
Positive views (engaging, helpful, effective) and negative opinions (forced, unrelated)

20. 12
SENTIMENT ANALYSIS
1
2
3
4 5
6 7
8 9
There are positive views in various categories apart from
[ 5 ]“tutorials”, [ 6 ]“fun activities” and [ 9 ] “group” work
Source: nVivo
Are students’ views positive or negative about fun in online learning?

21. How positive are students’ views about fun in online learning?
POSITIVE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS
Students’ positive views indicate that they found fun good, helpful
It makes them feel good, engaged and enjoying their learning
They are more interested, motivated, able to learn, with focus, passion, to achieve …

22. How negative are students’ views about fun in online learning?
NEGATIVE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS
Students’ negative views show that they found fun difficult, hard, forced, …
In particular online, when they struggle, and need to focus, and have short time …
It may result in distraction, annoying and worries …

23. PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS
13
(1)Fun is relevant
in socio-constructivist learning
C1 Fun =
(V19+V09+V03+V18+V02+V05+V04+V01+V08)/9
(2)There is NO fun
in traditional transmissive learning
C2 No fun =
(V17+ V07+ V16 +V06 + -V21)/5
(1)Fun disturbs
constructivist learning
C3 Fun bad (hampers learning) =
(V10+V20+V11)/3
Are students’ epistemic beliefs related to their views about fun?

24. MIXED METHOD ANALYSIS
Optimal learning
Socio-constructivist learning
Constructivist learning
Traditional learning
Emancipatory learning
14
In what ways is Fun related to students’ epistemic beliefs?

25. 551 Self-reflective
responses (LIKERT)
Id,Date, previous education
& qualification goal
206
Narratives
3 sets of
Themes
PCA
indexes
21 shared
Recommendations
Qualtrics NVivo SPSS NVivo15
OPEN DATABASE WITH QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE CODES & FINDINGS
Database reordered
Based on PCA indexes and
3 sets of themes
This enabled to consider
diversity of issues, select
students views and
prepare recommendations

26. Consensual review method
Three representatives from teaching staff, course
team and undergraduate student were invited to
review the recommendations.
Five types of feedback enabled reviewers to
suggest improvements:
1.Reduce (too long, use short sentence),
2.Specify (very broad, use specific words),
3.Connect ( unrelated, focus more on the data )
4.Simplify (complicated, use familiar vocabulary),
5.Clarify (confusing, revise the meaning).
RECOMMENDATIONS

27. RRI
Alignment between research-based recommendations with participants’ needs
Participants’ Needs
Practitioners
Recommendations to enhance students’ confidence and satisfaction with online learning and fun
are highly relevant in a world in which distance education has rapidly become a necessary practice
in response to the global the pandemic.16
Research-based
RECOMMENDATIONS

28. RECOMMENDATIONS

29. Butterfly of fun
A conceptual
& Practical framework
built from
mixed methods analysis
interpreted under the
lenses of
Piaget, Vygotsky
Csikszentmihalyi and Freire
Freire
Vygotsky Piaget
Csikszentmihalyi
valueFRAMEWORK
Okada (2020)17

30. What are the OLAF recommendations for Students?
Apply your learning to your real world
by selecting activities that are
enjoyable and useful in your life.
Enjoy fun activities that
makes you feel motivated,
focused and engaged
Be open-minded to interact
with others may be helpful to
overcome loneliness/isolation
Make your online learning
fun and pleasant by identifying
the factors that affect your involvement
Identify what in your learning is
very difficult (causes anxiety) or
very obvious (causes boredom)
and discuss alternatives with
your peers and teaching staff
Study with autonomy, flexibility and good time
management to enjoy work-life balance.
Communicate with other
students may be fun and
supportive.
18

31. What are the OLAF recommendations for Teaching staff?
Enhance students’
engagement with a variety
of fun learning activities
useful in their life.
Allow students to discuss
any topic (coffee chat)
for them to find
common interests
Investigate students’
preferences and ways of
learning to promote fun
personalised online education
Understand the needs and
expectations expressed by
students and propose
choices.
Design different types
of activities for
students to
choose freely
Plan icebreaking
activities carefully
with clear purpose
as part of learning
Teach with joy in forums or tutorials, with fun activities
as it might enthuse students with the learning topic
19

32. What are the OLAF recommendations for course teams?
Integrate "real life" activities
with content that are useful
and practical for meaningful
online learning
Offer a selection of material
with interactive tasks (games,
cards, maps, graphic, áudio,
video, diagram, quizzes)
Design a variety of
engaging activities for
individuals and groups
based on their preferences.
Create a personalised learning environment with
adaptive fun materials to help students with different needs.
Elaborate a course with a
balanced mix of reading text,
interactive resources and practical
projects for students who find
reading boring
Support online learning
experiences that are engaging
and meaningful for students to
gain skills and knowledge at
their own pace
Link free choice fun activities
to small learning goals for
students to see their
progress
20
Source:rawpixel Creative Commons

33. Okada (2020) Butterfly of Fun.
Effective and engaging online learning with fun is necessary to
empower learners to shape a sustainable and enjoyable world

34. LAF
Okada, A and Sheehy, K (2020). The value of fun in online learning: a study supported by responsible research and
innovation and open data. Revista e-Curriculum, 18(2) pp. 319–343. 30th June 2020
Okada, A.(2020). OLAF - Online learning and fun to enhance enjoyment and retention in higher education during covid-19
LSME 7th Internactional Conference about RRI. 19th August 2020
Okada, A.(2020). Distance education: do students believe it should be fun? OpenLearn Article Open University UK
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/education-development/learning/distance-education-do-students-believe-it-should-be-
fun. access: 12th May 2020.
Okada, A and Sheehy, K (2020). Factors and Recommendations to support students' enjoyment of online learning with fun:
a mixed method study during COVID-19 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2020.584351/abstract
November 2020
References
Okada, A., Almeida, M., Barros,D; Gonzales,M. (2020) OLAF - Online learning and fun studies and network fun HUMANITAS
International Conference 7 October 2020
Okada, A . (2020). The Value of Fun in Online Learning: A Mixed Method Study During COVID-19
19th November 2020 OEGlobal Conference