On the afternoon of December10, 2020,Dr. Lawrence May from the University of Aucklandwasinvited togive an onlinelecture entitled“Learning Through Play: Games and Gamification”via VooV Meeting. Nearly200 teachers and students fromthe School of Foreign Languagesattended the lecture.The lecture was hosted byAssociate ProfessorMei Bing of Henan University.
Deanand Prof. Yang Chaojunbriefly introducedtheeducational experience andresearch fieldsof Dr. May.At the beginning of the lecture, quoting a famousremarkfrom the ancient Greek philosopher Plato,Dr. May asked the first question:Why teach and learn through game play?The combination of learning and interactive entertainment is based on gameplay.Then he mentioned the concept of "digital natives", that is, young learners born during or after the widespreadadoptionof digital technologies.Dr. Lawrence May believes that educational games can solve some of the problems faced by educators, that is, students lack motivation and self-confidenceof learning.Compared with traditional teaching, educational strategies that include educational games canmakestudents learnbetter.Video game play has been associated with theimprovement of a range of cognitive skills suchasimproved creative thinking, problem solving,time management, leadership skills, goalsetting, initiative taking, decision making, andpersistence in the face of difficult challenges.Then he mentioned the concept of“Gamification”, that is,the application ofgame mechanicsand principles tonon-game environments.There are manyelementsthat make a thing playful, such as fiction,autonomy and collective. Finally, he pointed out,in future education,the connection betweenlearning and gameplaywill be more close.
Dr. May’s excellent analysis and explanationsof game and gamificationimpressed theparticipantsdeeply.Itnot onlybroadenedthe horizons of theparticipants, but alsoprovidedtheoretical and practical referenceininnovatingteachingmethods. (Author: Sun Mengwen)
