Using technology to make learning fun: technology use is best made fun and challenging to optimize intrinsic motivation and engagement

Abstract

Educators have incorporated technologies designed to “gamify” or increase the fun and reward of classroom learning, but little is known about how these resources can be employed to create positive learning climates. Informed by self-determination theory (SDT), two experiments investigated a number of strategies teachers can use to frame one such technology, the student response system (SRS), when they use it as an educational tool to enhance its fun and contribution to positive learning environments. Participants (n = 30) in a pilot experiment were randomly assigned to a 2-month experiment that showed that using SRS versus non-technology-based learning increases academic well-being. A primary study (n = 120 students) experimentally manipulated the use of SRS with and without motivational framing strategies that were anticipated to enhance its effects, specifically by employing teamwork, friendly competition between students, and giving students a choice to participate. Results showed that motivational framing strategies enhanced students’ need satisfaction for autonomy (sense of choice), competence (sense of efficacy in relation to learning), relatedness (to others in the classroom), and academic well-being (interest and engagement). In short, the use of interactive technology and how it was implemented in class was vital for enhancing students’ learning outcomes.