Use game technology to promote online learning - Bunting

Western Bureau:

Peter Bunting, the Opposition spokesman on education, wants schools to use modern technology, including interactive gaming software, to access learning material and promote online networking among students.

Addressing teachers in Montego Bay, St James, on Wednesday, Bunting explained that students could be convinced to pursue online learning through a system that puts them in competitive events and awards them points, similar to video game experiences, thereby making the learning process fun for them.

“There is now a trend towards ‘game-ification’ of learning, where you use competitive scenarios and give points and reward systems to make learning fun. It does not feel burdensome to the child because they are playing a game, but they are actually learning and being engaged by these games,” said Bunting.

“All this needs to be wrapped into an integrated learning management system that gives students access to course material and other resources, but they themselves can also add resources. So when they are networking online, they can share information, work on group projects, and interact with instructors; and the education technology allows students to engage in an ongoing cycle of learning,” added Bunting.

VIRTUAL INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP COURSE

Besides being a possible extension of the present online learning programme adopted by schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bunting’s suggestion could also go hand-in-hand with the virtual instructional leadership online course which was launched on June 1 by the Ministry of Education. That course is aimed at equipping school administrators with the skills to effectively manage their institutions remotely.

Bunting also said that students should be equipped with laptops and e-book versions of their recommended textbooks, in order to cut down on the costs for booklists per term.

“Not every textbook has an e-book version, so just use the ones that have the e-book version. So instead of a student lugging along a pull-along bag because they have so many books, all they would need is a laptop and all the materials relevant for their age and the courses they are doing, which would be downloaded at the beginning of the term, and it would cost a lot less. One of those laptops would last you for three years and would cost less than three years’ worth of booklists,” said Bunting.

In the meantime, University of the West Indies (UWI) lecturer Dr Andre Haughton, the People’s National Party’s candidate for West Central St James, told the meeting that the COVID-19 pandemic could push teachers to find new solutions for the problems they now face in carrying out their mandate as educators.

“Across the country and across the Caribbean, teachers are facing issues where the COVID-19 crisis has brought on new problems that we need to address now. While we do so, it is important that we look to the future, where we are headed as teachers, and try as best as possible to put plans and infrastructures in place for us to be able to carry out our plans and duties with relative ease,” said Haughton.