Abstract:

From different perspectives (anthropologic, cultural, social and technological) we can find reflections upon the importance of playfulness for the development of the human being and culture. There are current references to the comeback of the “Homo videoludens 2.0” (Scolari) taking place at the same time as the technological revolution. As we all know, there is also a significant growth of videogames and we are witnessing continuous implementation of gamification in different sectors. Among these sectors, teaching might be considered as the most “natural” since playfulness is the first way to learn and through which children experience reality and are helped in the process to adaptation. Later on, this way of learning will be abandoned in favor of other rational, more abstract methods, which have been questioned in different moments of history; nowadays this questioning is also present and “the ludic experiential attitude” (Esnaola) is a prerequisite to adapt to a technological environment in continuous change; the immersion and participation fostered by these technologies are part of the ways to be in the world (flow).

We witness a revolution which affects directly the teaching-learning process and is demanding a revision of methodologies and teaching approaches. There is a clear orientation towards the acquisition of competencies before acquisition of contents, focusing on participating and collaborating (Lenhart and Madden) in the learning process. The distinction between formal and informal learning tends to blur.

Even though there are different methodological approaches to change the traditional model of class, in this communication we will focus on the flipped classroom, fostered by authors like Bergmann. The main feature of a flipped classroom is turning the traditional class: by viewing the lessons at home, the student faces the concepts, which are put into practice in the classroom, fostering participation and interaction. This way, the teacher’s role is facilitator and guide, being able to obtain more time in the classroom for other formative and activities related to competencies, complementing those related to the content. This methodology, between the traditional model –relies in content- and innovative –incorporates technologies-, raises some questions: will we turn the student into a passive spectator of materials, mainly videos which contain the contents of lectures? Are the audiovisual language and the interaction through view controls enough incentive?

Our proposal pretends to improve this methodology by integrating gamification in it. Since implementing interactive serious games is nowadays quite costly, we opt for a connectivist approach. This approach promotes that the students are competent to search, generate and manipulate information, adapting it to the needs and form of entertainment of other users s/he might be working with. Our proposal is subsidiary of what some authors (Bloom, Anderson or Churches) have provided on the field, within the superior order of thinking skills.

Through the base provided by the images of videogames, students are invited to integrate in them concepts and curricular contents of different subjects. The objective is to generate videos to teach others to learn, which, as Blair observes is the most effective way of learning.

Keywords:

Flipped classroom, gamification, videos for learning, multimedia, videogames.