Myla´s Blog

  Using Gamification to Ignite Student Learning Gamification taps into the power of noncompetitive play and students’ desire to improve their skills. In education, gamification is intended to transform traditional lessons into an enhanced learning experience where students choose to explore and practice content, earning badges and status benefits. These might seem extrinsic, but the true rewards come from the students’ internal drive to study content, gain depth of understanding, and master material that leads to badges, achievements, and status. Success comes not from the rewards, but from how the learning journey is crafted for students to travel. Combining game mechanics with intentional exploration of aligned content will result in students’ participating willingly.   3 KEYS TO QUALITY GAMIFICATION EXPERIENCES 1. Every student can reap the rewards of badges, achievements, and status by completing all required tasks. Gamification provides powerful experiences th...

 What Is Inquiry-Based Learning? Inquiry-based learning is a student-centered teaching method that encourages students to ask questions and investigate real-world problems. In this type of learning environment, students are actively engaged in the learning process and are given the opportunity to explore their natural curiosities. This type of learning is often hands-on and allows students to connect what they are learning in the classroom and the real world. Inquiry-based learning has been shown to improve critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, and creativity.   The 4 Types of Inquiry-Based Learning 1. The Structured Inquiry Approach The structured inquiry approach is a sequential process that helps students learn how to ask questions and investigate real-world problems. This type of inquiry-based learning is often used in science classes, where students are given a problem to investigate and are taught how to use the scientific process to find a sol...

Many teachers think that creating or finding sources for students to use outside of class is the most difficult part of implementing a flipped classroom. However, most of the benefits of a flipped classroom depend on what happens in the classroom instead of lecture. That makes it necessary to first plan how you will use class time before you begin to look for resources for students to use at home. A flipped classroom model involves a lot of work by students outside of class. Students will resent this work if they do not see how it frees class time to do things that help them learn. You can chose to use this method in all or some of your classes. Either way, you'll want to follow these steps: Decide how you will use your class time and design those activities.  Again, if you do not have a reason to flip your course, you should consider other active-learning strategies or wait until you have an idea for how you could better use your class time. Find or create resources for stude...

  What Are Active Methodologies? Active methodologies are teaching and learning strategies that place the student at the center of the knowledge acquisition process. For it to be effective, the student needs to be mature and actively participate in the process. There are different methods that can be used, such as problem-solving, project development, the so-called “flipped classroom”, among others.   The benefits of active methodologies for the student The active methodology helps in understanding content and solidifying the acquired repertoire. Among other advantages, we can mention the increased interest on the part of students in relation to the subjects taught, acquisition of knowledge made in a more playful and faster way, improvement in the ability to solve problems in a collaborative way. It is important to highlight that the active methodologies are complementary, that is, more than one can be used throughout the student’s education. Also, because among the ob...