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Fun and learning
The document discusses the role of fun in learning, highlighting that while fun can enhance engagement and promote a positive learning environment, it can also distract and detract from educational goals. A consensus workshop was conducted with educators to identify and categorize elements of fun, resulting in two taxonomies that differentiate between fun associated with learning and that which is not. Key takeaways include the contextual nature of fun, its multi-layered aspects, and the necessity for educators to create a safe environment for engaging learning experiences.
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Fun and learning
- 1. Rebecca Ferguson, MarkChilds, Ale Okada, Kieron Sheehy, Mimi Tatlow-Golden, Anna Childs –The Rumpus Group Creating a Framework of Fun and Learning: Using Balloons To Build Consensus ECGBL 2020
- 3. ECGBL Fun “Games thusshould make learning fun” “loves being able to introduce techniques and tools to make learning more fun and engaging” “provide more engaging and fun learning experiences” “Too much learning tends to drain the fun, and too much fun hides the learning potential” “engaging and fun learning is not equivalent with learning being autotelic” “educational games could be just as fun as their mainstream titles” “serious games also attempt to make the experience more engaging and even fun“ “Learning activities should be motivating and fun” “it was a fairly normal sort of lesson, only that it was quite fun and interactive”
- 4. H Reflection moment Name onething that is definitely fun. If you can, Tweet your answer. #ECGBL20
- 6. Fun is… Poris: • Competitive •Creative • Empowering • Family-orientated • Friend-orientated • Rebellious • Relaxing • Silly • Sports-orientated • Surprising/adventurous McManus & Furnham (2010) Psychology 1(03): 159. Poris (2006) Young Consumers 7(1): 14-22. McManus and Furnham: • Achievement • Contentment • Ecstatic • Sensual • Sociability
- 7. Fun is contextual Poris:Kids scoring highest on relaxing fun were quite ethnically diverse, with a strong over-representation among African-Americans and Hispanics. Relaxing fun also skewed higher for only children, kids in single-parent households, and kids in lower-income households “ ”McManus and Furnham: Younger, agreeable, extraverted females associated fun most with merry-making sociability, while older, open males more with flow-type achievement activities McManus & Furnham (2010) Psychology 1(03): 159. Poris (2006) Young Consumers 7(1): 14-22. “ ”
- 8. Fun is goodfor learning • Prompts learners to engage • Promotes the desire to continue • Opens learners to new experiences • Removes fears that can block progress • Learners feel safe to take risks • Increases emotional and physical resilience • Enhances problem- solving abilities • Increases optimistic thinking • Creates a bonding experience. • Prompts engagement • Promotes the desire to continue • Opens learners to new experiences • Removes fears that can block progress • Learners feel safe to take risks • Increases resilience • Enhances problem- solving abilities • Increases optimistic thinking • Creates a bonding experience.
- 9. Fun is bad forlearning • Distracts students • Increases cognitive load • Perceived as inappropriate • Regarded as juvenile, artificial, or contrived • Replaces learning opportunities • No clear link between fun and learning gains • Misleads students into expecting an easy ride
- 10. Research questions • Whatelements of fun do a group of educational practitioners identify within a Consensus Workshop? • How do these participants see these elements translating to a learning scenario? • Can a Consensus Workshop be used to collaboratively create a taxonomy of fun? • What practical and conceptual issues present barriers to this being conducted effectively?
- 11. Consensus workshop 1. FocusQuestion 2. Rational Aim (what the group needs to produce by the end of the workshop) 3. Experiential Aim (how the group needs to be by the end of the workshop) 4. Context/Set the stage 5. Brainstorm/Generate new ideas 6. Cluster/Form new relationships 7. Name/Discern the consensus 8. Resolve/Confirm the resolve
- 12. Brainstorm / generate new ideas •Individuals thought of a time when they had experienced fun • Worked in pairs to identify the elements of that fun • Wrote each concept on a balloon
- 13. Cluster / form relationships •Pairs were brought together in groups. • Groups compared words. • If a word was duplicated or irrelevant, burst one of those balloons in a fun way. • New words/balloons could be added.
- 14. Name / discernconsensus Participants worked in two large groups to classify their balloons and label those classifications.
- 15. Name / discern consensus •Groups attached balloons to ’Learning’ or ‘Non-learning’ trees. • They could also challenge the other group’s decisions
- 16. Resolve / confirmresolve Discuss concepts associated with fun and their relationship to learning.
- 17. 30 elements offun 25 were placed in the taxonomy of one of the two groups wordclouds.com
- 18. 30 elements offun Five remained unclassified wordclouds.com
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- 21. Not associated withlearning
- 22. Discerning the consensus Elementson the learning tree were linked by feelings of safety and security. Is fear fun? Within limits, if participants feel safe Does fear have a part to play in learning?
- 23. Fun is contextual https://twitter.com/dotsandspaces/status/1149295391877337088 Workshoprelated to ‘ecstatic’ elements of fun (playful, crazy, excited, spontaneous) Not the ‘sensual’ elements of fun (loving, private, intimate, lustful) Results reflected this.
- 24. Gaps McManus & Furnham Includesensual elements Exclude the silly, childish and transgressive Poris Excludes sensual elements Includes the silly, childish and transgressive Everybody Excludes making fun and poking fun
- 25. Contradiction Related to learning Relatedto learning Unrelated to learning
- 26. Takeaways • Fun ismulti-layered. Some types of fun support learning better than others. • Even playful practitioners don’t associate all aspects of fun with learning. • Educators have a role in making places safe for fun. • Fun is contextual. We undertand it in different ways at different times. • The way in which fun is researched influences how it is understood. • ‘Inappropriate’ fun isn’t covered by existing research.
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