“It Helped to Know I Wasn't Alone”: Exploring Student Satisfaction in an Online Community with a Gamified, Social Media-Like Instructional Approach

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v26i3.3340

Keywords:

Gameful experience, gamification, social media, social presence, disruptive innovation theory, disruptive technology

Abstract

This descriptive study offers lessons learned from students’ experiences with a gamified, social media-like instructional approach in eighteen courses from spring 2021 through spring 2022.  Researchers at a mid-sized university in the southeastern United States leveraged Christensen’s (2011) disruptive innovation theory as a guiding framework to explore student satisfaction with this instructional method. This first phase of the study measures learner satisfaction with this approach using the Ritzhaupt (2019) Electronic Learning Satisfaction Survey (eLSS).  Preliminary results suggest that learners (n=145) rated their experience with this disruptive technology above average on all Likert scale questions on the eLSS. Identified best practices for instructional design using similar approaches include repeating the game rules, reframing the purpose beyond the game, helping students appreciate their community, guiding students to lead their own posts and gain reactions, and thwarting those trying to game the system. Initial findings across multiple courses suggest that instructors can leverage the gameful experience and social media-like engagement to foster critical connections and increase course satisfaction. 

Author Biographies

Suzanne Ensmann, The University of Tampa

Assistant Professor

Instructional Design and Technology Program

Department of Education

Suzanne Ensmann is an assistant professor in instructional design and technology M.S. program at The University of Tampa. Ensmann creates, develops, and teaches hybrid and online courses in the area of instructional design, distance education, research, human and program performance, and evaluation. Ensmann implemented the first Adult Education comprehensive online program offered at a state college in Florida and had been appointed to the iCivics Teacher Council by Justice O'Connor to support educational simulations and resources. Her research interests include digital-game-based learning, focus on the whole student’s health and well-being using digital devices, and global education. Ensmann’s most recent peer-reviewed articles include Connections Before Curriculum: The Role of Social Presence During COVID-19 Emergency Remote Learning for Students in the Online Learning Journal with Aimee Whiteside, Lina Gomez-Vasquez, and Ronda Sturgill and Digital Games to Improve Learning in Haiti in TechTrends.

Aimee L Whiteside, The University of Tampa

Aimee Whiteside is an associate professor at the University of Tampa who chairs the Online Teaching and Learning Committee. She co-edited the 2017 book, Social Presence in Online Learning: Multiple Perspectives on Research and Practice, with Amy Garrett Dikkers and Karen Swan. Several peer-reviewed journals feature her work, including the Online Learning Journal, Journal of Interactive Online Learning, International Journal of E-Learning and Distance Education, EDUCAUSE Review, and the Online Learning Consortium’s Effective Practices. Additionally, she has written chapters in several books, such as Emotions, Technology, and Learning and Computer-Mediated Communication across Cultures: International Interactions in Online Environments as well as special volumes in Advances in Research on Teaching and the New Directions in Teaching and Learning.


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Published

2022-09-01

Issue

Vol. 26 No. 3 (2022)

Section

2022 OLC Conference Special Issue

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