Presentation delivered to the Nevada Conference on Digital Learning, April 12, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1. Applying
Gamification
Principles to
Online Faculty
Professional
Development

2. Presenter
Michael Wilder
Instructional Design Coordinator
Destiny has led Michael on a dual career path of
education and technology. As a result, he's a
hybrid with skills and perspectives from both
fields. He has worked as educator and trainer in
a variety of environments, serving as
instructional designer, learning technologies
specialist, Blackboard administrator, and
university instructor.

3. M. Kody Stimpson
Instructional Designer
Kody Stimpson is an Instructional Designer
for the Office of Online Education. Kody has
extensive experience in online, blended, and
mobile learning. Kody’s research areas
include increasing learning through the use of
interactive multimedia, mobile learning
devices, and blended learning technologies.
Presenter

4. Learning Objectives
By attending this presentation, participants will be able to:
• Discuss the challenges of online professional
development (PD)
• Identify potential solutions for providing PD to higher
education faculty
• Define essential gamification principles
• Develop a basic badge issuing system
• Analyze a case study applying these methods

5. Questions
• How many ever taught an online course?
• How many have ever received formal training
on online teaching and learning pedagogy and
tool use?

6. The Problem
• Enrollment in online learning
is rapidly increasing.
• All 50 states offer online
learning opportunities.
• 21st century educators need to
be prepared to teach online.
• Very few institutions offer
practical training
opportunities.
(Kennedy & Archambault, 2012)

7. UNLV Online Education
• 300 – 400 online or hybrid
sections per semester
• Similar # of instructors
• Many courses taught by
part-time instructors
• Many new instructors every
semester (with little or no
prior online teaching
experience)

8. Our Mission
Provide online professional
development for online instructors.
• Online teaching and learning pedagogy
• Course planning and development
• Best-practice models for faculty to see
what the environment looks like
• Opportunity for faculty to experience an
online course as a student
• Experience with technology and tool use
• Identify helpful resources

9. The Art & Science of Teaching Online
Version 1.0
• Initial planning stages in late 2010
• First section taught March 2011
• Six-week sessions
• 25 credit hours / six modules
• Cohort based / 5-15 participants per cohort
• Instructional designer facilitated
• Incentives provided

10. The Art & Science of Teaching Online
Version 1.0
• Originally based on
Conquering the Content by Robin Smith
• Mainly covered:
• Planning
• Organization
• Assessment
• Navigation
• Best practices

13. The Art & Science of Teaching Online
Version 1.0
• Thirteen sections
• 148 participants
• 67 graduates
• 45% completion rate
• Several faculty taking the course repeatedly
67 complete
81 incomplete
148 total

14. Questions
Imagine yourself in a position to provide professional
development to online educators.
• What are some ways you could encourage higher
completion rates?
• How could you build flexibility so that educators
keep coming back for additional training?

15. Key survey results
• Online educators have diverse
professional development content
needs.
• Online educators are very busy.
• Online educators need flexibility
with scheduling.
• Online educators want an
interface that is both simple and
engaging.

16. Open ended
• No start or end date
• Complete on your own schedule
• Certificate of completion after all
six modules
Solution

17. Non-linear
• “Choose your own adventure”
• Modules can be taken in any
order
Solution

18. “Gamification is the application of game elements in non-
gaming situations, often to motivate or influence behavior.”
”7 Things You Should Know About Gamification," Educause Learning Initiative
Solution

19. Gamification
• At least 35 elements of
game design
• Many already exist in
learning management
systems

22. Case Study
The Art &
Science of
Teaching Online

29. • OE Development Process
• Syllabus Requirements
• Measurable Learning Objectives
• Course Development Template

30. • Content presentation & types of
content
• Selecting appropriate materials
• Online Resources
• OE Custom Solutions
• Using the Blackboard Content
Editor

31. • Strategies for an effective learning
community
• Posting announcements and email
• Using blogs, wikis, and groups for
collaboration

32. • Authentic assessments
• Performance-based
assessments
• Rubrics
• Formative and summative
assessments
• Blackboard Assessment tools

33. • Strategies for nurturing student success
• Planning and preparing for an
upcoming semester
• Facilitate effective communication
• Accommodating students with
disabilities

34. Future enhancement: Mini quests
Learning Theory?
-
Learning Theory?
Learning Theory?

35. Questions
• What additional topics could be added for
online faculty professional development?

36. Table of Contents

37. Learning Guide

38. Learning Objects

39. Instructional Art

40. Research and data

41. Images, Videos, Slideshows, etc.

42. Discussions

43. Project based and collaborative learning
activities

44. Rubrics

45. Faculty are encouraged to share
challenges and successes,
resources, ideas, and thoughts

46. Includes UNLV Support Offices and
who to contact, additional support
options, etc.

47. Questions
• What faculty support resources would be most
important to include?

50. Badges
“Digital badges are a validated indicator of
accomplishment, skill, quality or interest that can be earned
in various learning environments.”
"A Future Full of Badges," The Chronicle of Higher Education
Example badges from Codecademy

51. Badges
• Bullet point #1
• Bullet point #2
• Bullet point #3
• Bullet point #4
• Bullet point #5

53. Badges
• Bullet point #1
• Bullet point #2
• Bullet point #3
• Bullet point #4
• Bullet point #5

54. Badges
• Bullet point #1
• Bullet point #2
• Bullet point #3
• Bullet point #4
• Bullet point #5

56. The Future
• Leaderboard
• Learning community
• Discussion rating
• Mentoring
• Mobile integration
• Additional “mini quests”
• Social media integration

57. Questions – Tie Breakers
How many people harvest crops on Farmville
everyday?

58. Questions – Tie Breakers
“Over 5 million people play an average of _____
hours a week of games.”

59. Questions – Tie Breakers
“As a planet, we spend ______ hours a week
playing video and computer games.”

60. Questions?

61. The Office of Online Education
E-mail: online@unlv.edu
Phone: 702-895-0334
Fax: 702-895-0637
Web: http://online.unlv.edu
Michael Wilder
michael.wilder@unlv.edu
(702) 895-2258
Please help us improve our presentations by
completing our short, online evaluation:
http://tinyurl.com/86vahp5
M. Kody Stimpson
Email: kody.stimpson@unlv.edu
Twitter: @Kodystimpson