Towards a Model of Playful Learning

Abstract

What is the role of play in learning? What ways can we as educators leverage our students' extracurricular digital lives in meaningful ways in our digital and physical learning environments? What roles can the elements of game mechanics and game thinking serve towards these ends, especially in a blended learning environment? These are some of the initial questions that guided my action research at the American Community Schools, Athens (ACS). My project considers the efficacy of employing gamification strategies within a blended learning environment. This chapter in turn provides a brief narrative account of my research experience, focusing on an entrepreneur simulation in the ACS Academy (High School), and a series of gamified interventions done with ACS middle school students. It closes with a brief gamification toolset, a series of practical considerations drawn from this field experience and relevant research that may be helpful for teachers and administrators interested in exploring ways to gamify their own digital and physical learning communities or spaces.