Keele University’s Dr Russell Crawford has presented his work on technology-enhanced teaching and gamification at the Effectively Utilising Technology-Enhanced Learning Across Higher Education conference.

The conference, organised by Inside Government, focused on digital learning at multiple levels - institutional, discipline and individual. Dr Crawford, who was winner of ‘Most Innovative Teacher of the Year’ at the Times Higher Education Awards 2017, was one of a small number of guest speakers at the event, which took place in London.

Dr Crawford explored the benefits of the ‘gamification’ of learning, and explored how this approach can deliver enhanced outcomes for students, drawing on his work using gamification in several areas within Keele University.

Dr Crawford discussed the development and use of Braincept, an innovative game that boosts knowledge and understanding for pharmacology students at Keele University, and how integrating the game into the teaching process enhanced student confidence and comprehension, while encouraging teamwork and communication skills through play.

Dr Crawford also spoke about Keele Basic Bites, a series of online educational videos developed at Keele and designed to support self-directed study. These videos average 20,000 views per year.

Dr Crawford commented:

“It was fantastic to share some of the learnings and insights on technology-enhanced teaching and gamification, from the Keele Institute for Innovation and Teaching Excellence. My talk was really well received, and we are now speaking to several other universities about collaborating on projects to generate learning games for paramedics, radiology and economics, to name a few.”