Catch the Open! A Gamified Interactive Immersion Into Open Educational Practices for Higher Education Educators

Area of Science:

• Educational Technology
• Open Learning Initiatives
• Higher Education Pedagogy

Background:

• Open Education (OE) and Open Educational Practices (OEP) offer global learning opportunities and resource sharing under a legal framework.
• Higher Education (HE) institutions need strategies to integrate OE and OEP into their teaching and learning environments.
• An OE competences framework for HE educators was previously developed by the Erasmus+ OpenGame project.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and foster open policies in HE institutions through a gamified learning experience.
• To develop and present the design of the gamified interactive application, 'Catch the Open!'
• To evaluate the effectiveness of 'Catch the Open!' in educating HE educators about OE and OEP.

Main Methods:

• Development of a gamified, web-based 2D virtual HE institution for interactive learning.
• Integration of an OE competences framework to underpin educational content.
• Piloting the 'Catch the Open!' application with 153 HE educators across six institutions.

Main Results:

• The gamified learning environment was found to be effective in facilitating learning about Open Education.
• Participants provided feedback for improving the gamified experience, including adjusting the duration of learning missions.
• The study demonstrated a successful link between pedagogical and technological approaches in the application's design.

Conclusions:

• The 'Catch the Open!' gamified application serves as a viable tool for enhancing HE educators' understanding of OE and OEP.
• Gamification can be a successful strategy for professional development in Open Education within HE.
• Further refinement of the learning experience is recommended based on user feedback to optimize engagement and learning outcomes.