The FUSION of game mechanics with education secures award for Fanshawe
Desire2Learn (D2L) awarded
Fanshawe College for its Massive
Open Online Course (MOOC), the
school's first ever in applied sustainability.
MOOCs are a new development in distance education, which were originally courses for the technology field. Today,MOOCs make it possible for anyone to take free courses from schools worldwide.
D2L holds a conference called FUSION for the D2L user community, which recognizes collaborations, impact and innovation. This year, the conference was held in Boston from July 15 to 17.
Fanshawe was awarded for “gamifying” itsMOOC in order to engage users with nontraditional offerings. The award was presented to MOOC coordinator Wendy Wilson and technologist Ryan Walmsley.
“OurMOOC included online field trips exploring real-life examples of sustainable buildings and neighbourhoods, gardens and city infrastructure,” said Wilson. “We also offered course completion levels ranging from green to platinum, each requiring higher levels of participation from students.”
To achieve a green-level completion, students were required to pass weekly quizzes; the silver level was achieved through discussion; the gold level involved tasks; and the platinum level required a design project submission.
“The gradebook showed the completion colour rather than the grade, and colour-coded letters of completion were generated when the students finished the level they had chosen at the end of the course,” said Walmsley. “The colour-coded levels really engaged our students and encouraged them to complete the MOOC.”
Of the 537 students who signed up for the MOOC, 94 completed the course — a 17.5 per cent completion rate. Because of this offering, course completion was high compared with Coursera, an educational technology company that offers a range of MOOCs, which has an average completion rate of 7.5 per cent.
“From the group that completed the course, 33 completed one of the advanced levels — 14 platinum, four gold and 15 silver,” said Wilson. “Several students commented that if we offered the course again they would like to try the platinum level, which was seen as the big challenge. The work we got from the platinum students was amazing, especially the sketch-up designs they created.”
“I would like to congratulate Wendy Wilson, Ryan Walmsley and the rest of the MOOC team for this well-deserved award,” said Dr. Lane Trotter, Senior Vice-President, Academic. “The Fanshawe MOOC is one of the many ways the College is building experience with online formats to provide learners with more educational options that meet their needs.”
MOOCs are a new development in distance education, which were originally courses for the technology field. Today,MOOCs make it possible for anyone to take free courses from schools worldwide.
D2L holds a conference called FUSION for the D2L user community, which recognizes collaborations, impact and innovation. This year, the conference was held in Boston from July 15 to 17.
Fanshawe was awarded for “gamifying” itsMOOC in order to engage users with nontraditional offerings. The award was presented to MOOC coordinator Wendy Wilson and technologist Ryan Walmsley.
“OurMOOC included online field trips exploring real-life examples of sustainable buildings and neighbourhoods, gardens and city infrastructure,” said Wilson. “We also offered course completion levels ranging from green to platinum, each requiring higher levels of participation from students.”
To achieve a green-level completion, students were required to pass weekly quizzes; the silver level was achieved through discussion; the gold level involved tasks; and the platinum level required a design project submission.
“The gradebook showed the completion colour rather than the grade, and colour-coded letters of completion were generated when the students finished the level they had chosen at the end of the course,” said Walmsley. “The colour-coded levels really engaged our students and encouraged them to complete the MOOC.”
Of the 537 students who signed up for the MOOC, 94 completed the course — a 17.5 per cent completion rate. Because of this offering, course completion was high compared with Coursera, an educational technology company that offers a range of MOOCs, which has an average completion rate of 7.5 per cent.
“From the group that completed the course, 33 completed one of the advanced levels — 14 platinum, four gold and 15 silver,” said Wilson. “Several students commented that if we offered the course again they would like to try the platinum level, which was seen as the big challenge. The work we got from the platinum students was amazing, especially the sketch-up designs they created.”
“I would like to congratulate Wendy Wilson, Ryan Walmsley and the rest of the MOOC team for this well-deserved award,” said Dr. Lane Trotter, Senior Vice-President, Academic. “The Fanshawe MOOC is one of the many ways the College is building experience with online formats to provide learners with more educational options that meet their needs.”
