22067f


 * Proposal submission #22067**

Building a Learning Community with MAGGIE
 * Title**

Judy Gnarpe, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, judy.gnarpe@ualberta.ca Bonita Bray, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, bonita.bray@ualberta.ca Bob Boufford, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, bob.boufford@ualberta.ca
 * Presenter(s)**

Student learning and success are largely dependent on the students' interaction with course material, their connection with their fellow learners and their attitude towards the course. An interesting strategy for increasing all three elements is using a multi-player asynchronous learning game. At the University of Alberta, we provided a prototype of an asynchronous multiplayer game to students enrolled in Medical Microbiology courses over a period of 2 years and gathered information about student activities and experiences. The majority of students reported that using a learning game was fun and provided an enjoyable way to study and review their course material. The instructor also noticed that students built a considerable learning community through the games, even though they used aliases. From the students' perspective, learning games were seen as enhancing the learning experience. Based on the success of a prototype, MAGGIE (Multi-player Asynchronous Game Generator In E-learning) was initiated. The goal of this project was to build a software platform that would enable instructors to easily insert their own course-specific questions and create games for their students. MAGGIE will include extensive reporting for validation of questions, parameters of student achievement and the ability to use the game instances as a testing opportunity if desired. We anticipate that MAGGIE will become a versatile resource that can easily be added to or changed in future iterations. The forum will discuss the development of asynchronous multiple e-learning games, provide examples of the various games and allow participants to play some of the games.
 * Description**

Forum Not previously published All audiences
 * Notes & Comments**