This blog entry addresses challenges I faced in my latest creative offering, namely the creation of a podcast (provided above) discussing impact of gamification upon digital media in regards to user motivation. I decided in this podcast to focus upon a particular digital media app I am pretty well versed in, namely Duolingo, and attempt to provide a differing angle from that provided by Adam Brown’s own blog entry which also focussed upon Duolingo’s usage of gamification elements.
A significant challenge I faced whilst making this podcast, was well, namely the making of a podcast as it was something I had never attempted before. I found that ‘learning by doing,’ or as I label it, ‘playing around and experimenting,’ worked particularly well as it granted myself better understanding of how to use the digital tools at my disposal. By preparing my intended script early, looking for an appropriate soundtrack well-beforehand (I’m a fan of Blues and Hip-hop music so adding the intro and outro soundtrack gives the podcast a somewhat personal touch), I found that any challenges which did appear were quickly surmounted. I utilised my learning from the first assignment regarding the crediting of creative commons material, which in this instance is that of free to use commercial soundtracks from Soundcloud.
The primary goal of the research I utilised whilst creating my podcast was advocating for gamification as being a positive factor in creating motivation. My usage of various academic sources, which can be found listed within the podcast above, highlights the benefits users have mentioned relating to maintaining long-term motivation along with greater language ability and confidence. The ability of these benefits to even extend across cultural boundaries is one particular benefit that I believe is particularly important given the increasingly multi-cultural world we live in.
"Hello (2021)" by Blain Canning on Canva
As somewhat of a linguaphile myself, with a passion for philology and how languages have historically interacted with and influenced one another, I believe that maintaining linguistic diversity within the modern age is crucial if we are to maintain unique cultural and language-based perspectives. And although digital media due to its globalist reach has often been labelled as the primary cause for the planet’s rapidly declining linguistic diversity ( I would instead argue that language standardisation as being the primary factor, but that is another topic for another podcast), the possibility of digital media in the form of various digital media language apps acting as a method in which to ensure the survival of various languages is one which I find to be somewhat oddly fitting and ironic.
Indeed, if we take this manner of thinking further and consider that the usage of digital media is undoubtedly a portent of our own impending technological future, the usage of gamification within digital media apps may perhaps prove to be crucial in establishing a very real link with our own cultural and linguistic origins.
References utilised
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