Opening Thoughts
Chapter 1-2 Reflection from the book:
Reigeluth, C. M., & Carr-Chellman, A. A. (2009). Instructional-design theories and models: Building a common knowledge base (Vol. III).
While reading the opening chapters of Reigeluth and Carr-Chellmann, I am thinking about how instructional design relates to my interest in gamification. One of the key things that I like about gamfication – using gaming mechanics in non-game situations – is that is allows the player (learner) to work at their own pace. As the player (learner) understands how the game works, what the skills are, what the relationships are, they are able to move to more complex parts of the game. This ties back to what Reigeluth and Carr-Chellmann said when talking about what a new paradigm is needed (p. 12). When learners are able to learn at the pace that suits them, the learner benefits.
Another key idea in our reading that also ties into gamification is learner centered learning (p. 15). In most games today, especially video games, the player is doing the learning. The player chooses when to play, what his/her environment will be, and how long to play. The tutorials that most games use to teach players how to play often allow the player to learn with minimal direction. The player truly chooses the pace of the learning – making the player the center of the action. Some games, like Skyrim, allow the player several different and unique learning opportunities that do not necessarily tie to the main story – but allow the player to build skills needed to advance the main story. Learner centered – the player can choose how to do the learning.
From the second chapter, the sequencing resonated with me. Again this is related to my interest in gamification. Most games are designed so that the easier levels are the first levels explored. While learning how to play the game, what the rules are, the skills needed the difficulty is less challenging than you will find at the end of the game. Along the way you can see the easy-to-difficult (p. 32) sequence develop, where the player needs to continue to learn and master new skills in combination with old ones to be successful.