Key Elements to a Gameful Learning Community

This is one of my reflections from my class, Leading Change: Go Beyond Gamification with Gameful Learning.

The key elements to a gameful learning community are as follows:

Attendance is voluntary. The idea behind gameful learning is that much of the involvement is voluntary and people are taking part because they are interested.

There is a sense of belonging. Members of a gameful learning community feel a sense of belonging and everyone welcomes new members. We understand what it is like to be trying a new pedagogical approach without the benefits of others in our district trying the same thing, so we work together and help each other out.

There is open discussion. Members of a gameful learning community appreciate the input of others and often seek out feedback and advice from those who have been trying out this approach for a longer period of time. Moreover, those with advanced knowledge are absolutely willing to share with the group, whether it is advice, constructive feedback, or stories of their successes and failures. There is a real sense of mutual respect and willingness to help.

Having a forum such as Twitter to have these open discussions with a gameful learning community is an excellent way to operationalize the elements. Twitter chats such as #XPLAP are a great example of this. People share ideas, give positive feedback, and share successes and failures, which helps other people develop activities for their own classes. This is exactly how gaming forums online work. People ask questions, receive answers, and can talk about what works and what hasn’t worked for them in their game.

If people are responding to questions and giving constructive feedback, the people receiving that feedback are supported. They are respected for their questions and input and are supported by a group that wants to see them succeed.