Abstract:

Education is a process in constant evolution that requires constant updating and innovation in terms of content as well as the use of techniques and tools that are in function of the increasingly diverse needs of students.

Several decades ago, in the 20th century, games exceeded the scope of entertainment to become key tools in the teaching-learning process. In this way, games have gone from being seen as a form of entertainment to an educational and even therapeutic tool, being a source of motivation and social inclusion, ideal to be applied in distance learning processes.

Considering this information, three teachers of the Social Communication Major of the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), Ecuador, taking as reference the competences and learning outcomes of the Educommunication subject, which is taught in the Open and Distance System of the UTPL decided to start a teaching practice with the use of games to encourage innovation and improve the teaching-learning process of the students. The main objective was to design a practice that would create a real learning environment based on the qualities that Web 2.0 and digital technologies.

First of all, it is necessary to define the term innovation; Morin and Seurat (1998) mention that it is «the art of applying, in new conditions, in a concrete context and with a precise objective, sciences, techniques, etc.». Considering this concept, a playful activity was developed using the Educaplay tool, where three games were designed to understand advertising. The results were visualized through a digital collaborative gamification platform called Wix. The students had to log in the platform (https://medialab5.wixsite.com/educomunicacion), in which they explained the objective of the pedagogical strategy, the theme and purpose of each game.

Finally, the use of this innovative activity offered students the opportunity to internalize the concepts of crossmedia and transmedia, through the reading of articles and the visualization of the games that were elaborated under these parameters.

In order to know the level of satisfaction of the students, an online questionnaire that allowed to know first first-hand information if the good practice, served to improve its use.

Keywords:

Games, gamification, wix, digital platforms, educommunication.