Online education has a common misperception as being an inferior method of teaching and learning. For many, they are not seen as comparable to traditional methods of teaching and learning. Lack of interaction has been cited as the most common reason for student dissatisfaction in online courses (Cole, Shelley, & Swartz, 2014). Students dropout of online courses due to feelings of isolation and disconnectedness (Willging & Johnson, 2009). On the other hand, Gamification or “the use of game design elements in non-game contexts” (Deterding, Dixon & Khaled, 2011, p. 10) has been shown as a way to alleviate these issues and increase student engagement (Abramovich, Schunn & Higashi, 2013; de Freitas, 2006; Ibanez, Di-Serio & Delagado-Kloos, 2014).

The Meaningful Gamification workshop is a flipped or hybrid faculty development workshop meant to introduce participants to meaningful gamified learning. Meaningful gamification is “the integration of user-centered game design elements into non-game contexts” (Nicholson, 2012, p. 5). It encourages design of gamified learning that is intrinsically, rather than extrinsically, motivating to students.

At the heart of the workshop is a Open Educational Resource (OER) learning module created by the team. The module is unique in that it is based on empirical research but presented in a way that is easily understood by teachers and practitioners. The module is divided into three sections:
- What is Gamification?
- How Do We Implement Gamification That Works?
- Ways You Might Use Gamification in Your Class

Research suggests it is best to pair content with an intrinsically integrated narrative to help connect the learner with the situation (Malone, 1981; Habgood, 2005). In developing the module and workshop we attempted to do just that. The narrative of the learning module followed two faculty members (one expert, one novice) as they discussed the pros and cons of various gamification methodologies. The workshop then followed this narrative as group leaders (gamification experts) lead individual groups (novices) in a series of activities.

Workshop participants are asked to complete the module (approx. 25 minutes) and complete a reflective worksheet which primes them for the in-person workshop activities.The workshop is an hour and a half long. Participants are divided into groups based on game elements they are interested in learning more about (badges/achievements, roleplaying/fantasy/simulation, uncertainty/surprise, competition/collaboration). Group activities start with introductions, and a review of the reflective worksheet. From there the groups further divide into smaller groups of no more than 4 people to develop their gamified activities. After approximately 50 minutes, there is a quick 10 minute surprise activity to break things up. After that, the groups continue to work on their activities for 20 more minutes. The workshop ends with a group tournament-style competition based on all the elements discussed.

All content (module, handouts, workshop guides) are OER and can be freely downloaded by anyone wanting to conduct their own workshop (bit.ly/UBMeGa). Complete descriptions of all workshop activities can be found in the uploaded artifacts.

UB Meaningful Gamification Academy website: bit.ly/UBMeGa
Practical Guide to Meaningful Gamification Learning Module: http://gseweb.gse.buffalo.edu/org/game/
Shared Google Drive folder (all handouts): https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BzTkK-42plWeUlRWUjBSSHpyXzQ&usp=sharing

All supporting documents including the results of a post-workshop survey are included in the following shared Google Doc folder: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BzTkK-42plWeUlRWUjBSSHpyXzQ&usp=sharing

The learning module can be found here: http://gseweb.gse.buffalo.edu/org/game/