Spotlight: How Blended Learning and Gamification Increase Student Engagement

Let me introduce you to Rob Schwartz, a teacher at Sheridan Technical High School, a blended learning magnet school in Fort Lauderdale, FL. I came across this article when he was interviewed by Dan Gordon for T|H|E Journal (January 27, 2015) and brings us two decades of expertise teaching technology. This is a great read and reminds us what really engages students and develops the foundational skills for careers and life.

First of all, blended learning is a current positive trend which allows students to work in-person as well as virtually. Some feel it is the best of both worlds and Schwartz agrees, although he also admits

it is possible to create community and connections among online students; it is just more challenging to do so. I believe if an educator fails to master that ability to connect his or her students, a crucial marker is missing no matter the venue for the education.

The gist of his focus is the need to give assignments that encourage or require students to interact, problem-solve, and use the skills they are learning as opposed to testing for right and wrong answers. Face it, the world is all about the Internet in every way (when was it you last wrote a paper check or deposited one without scanning it on your smartphone, hmm?) and as the role models for how to use it to learn and grow, we need to do just that: use it! While I agree that hands-on problem-solving and gamified approaches are positive, I do disagree with his personal assessment that online course content looks more like a textbook rewrite and cannot adequately engage collaborative efforts. My feeling? It's about the strength of the educator as an online facilitator as I asserted before.

Check out BrainBuffet, a website developed by Schwartz's students based on assignments given. It is robust - scroll down past the blog area and the real meat of the site will jump out at you. There are linked resources, eye-popping graphics, evidence of their work, gamer scores, and free tutorials. Click into the visitors section (the link is on the top tabbed menu) and find more gold buried there. I suspect if traffic really picks up, maybe the number of hits might open new venues for this excellent educator and his students. If you have considered using Wordpress to build your own blog and click through their link, the program benefits. Consider it!