Using Games in an Open and Distance Learning Environment

Abstract

Research in education has been conducted over the decades to find the best practices in learning. Although there is no one size that fits all, gamification is one element in learning that has been proven to carve a niche for itself in many aspects in education. This has led to the creation and development of various types of games to suit various needs in education. Funlinguistics is a linguistics game for students taking Language and Linguistics course. It covers topics like morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. It adopts structural gamification approach that uses Microsoft PowerPoint as the main platform with Visual Basic Applications (VBA). The game consists of questions set at different difficulty levels based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. The game can be used to in a conventional classroom as well as during synchronous Open Distance Learning (ODL) environment. It is also well received by students who indicated their liking for it through an online survey.