Master’s Degree
in Educational Gamification
Introduction
The Master’s Degree in Games, Gamification and Technology in Education (Educational Gamification) is a qualification which offers all the tools needed to design educational transformation experiences through games.
This master’s degree will enable students to:
- Create or adapt analogue or digital games which respond to their educational needs.
- Create learning experiences from already well-known games or those designed for a certain occasion.
- Design educational gamifications with a narrative and some conceived and developed game elements.
- Have a criterion to analyse and evaluate what the proposals created by other people’s contributions provide and evaluate their educational suitability.
- Have the tools for the co-design of each of these proposals, working based on design thinking.
- Open perspectives of the use of educational technologies applied to learning.
Abilities acquired
The qualified student will acquire a series of skills that they will be able to use in different fields (formal, non-formal education, human resources and culture):
- Knowledge about educational transformation, games, gamification and technology in education and how to adapt them to their professional field.
- Integration of educational technologies as part of the creation and process and which provide an answer to the raised needs.
- Use of narratives in order to be able to apply them to their educational projects.
- Critical analysis of experiences in which games are used, gamification or technology in a learning environment and adaptation to its professional reality.
- Design thinking and know how to apply it to creative processes.
- Collaborative work in order to complement or gain further knowledge.
Type of Master’s Degree
Master’s Degree from the UB
Duration
1 year
ECTS
60
Course type and timetable
Semi-distance learning (1 October 2023 to 30 June 2024) with 10 in-person classes at weekends.
Virtual Classes (1 October 2023 to 30 June 2024) with 18 weekends with synchronous virtual classes (timetable Saturday and Sunday afternoons, Central European Time).
Language of the classes
Spanish
Places
30
Why study this Master’s Degree?
Because it trains any educational or training professional (in formal, non-formal education, human resources or culture) who wants to use games gamification or technologies as a working tool.
Students with the master’s degree will be able to design their learning experiences giving them a fun look, they will have a criterion to analyse proposals put forth by other people and will be able to train the members of their team in their use.
Why do it at ENTI-UB?
The College of New Technologies, a centre attached to the University of Barcelona, is a benchmark centre which offers a broad educational proposal on the subject of Video Games and Serious Games.
The teaching staff for the master’s degree have been selected for their broad experience in the use of games, gamification, and technologies in educational contexts and for their ability to turn any activity into a memorable experience for its participants.
Career opportunities
The master’s degree trains students in the design, implementation, or analysis of learning proposals using games, gamification and technologies. It is a complement to:
- Classes in formal education (infant, primary, secondary or post-compulsory education).
- Adult training.
- Training plans for human resource teams.
- Creation of learning proposals in non-formal fields such as activities for museums or other socio-cultural education centres.
How to access the course
There are no specific requirements to be able to study the master’s degree. The possibility of admitting students who do not have a university degree is provided for. In this case, students will obtain a university extension certificate.
The access process is as follows:
- Request more information
This can be done by completing this form. - Pre-enrolment
The pre-enrolment process is open. To complete the pre-enrolment, the following items are necessary:- Curriculum showing the prospective student’s professional career
- A letter of motivation
- Personal academic certification of the degree or university degree that provides access to the master’s degree
- Enrolment
Enrolment will begin in mid-July. Candidates will be informed if they have been accepted onto the studies.
Course curriculum
How do we learn?
The teaching staff of this master’s degree provide the course exclusively in Spanish.
In order for the student’s experience to be optimal, the training has been structured into three types of sessions as follows: virtual sessions, in-person classes and experiences at weekends.
1
Distance-learning sessions
The course is structured into 10 content blocks lasting three to four weeks. Each block contains between two and four virtual sessions where the theoretical contents are presented which enable the students to reflect on how games can be used in learning environments, game design rules, the player’s narrative and psychology which are useful for creating serious games and gamified experiences.
These contents are complemented by sessions on the history of games and video games that will increase the student’s entertainment knowledge. In addition, digital tools, video games, role-playing and board games are also presented which enable students to discover specific resources.
The materials used are written documents, videos, audios and practising with games, programs or guides to be able to prepare proposals. All the proposals are asynchronous and, in some cases, voluntary synchronous actions are carried out (which are recorded so that the students can access them whenever they need to).
2
Experiences
A successful experience is presented each week which shows an application of a game-based learning design or a gamification explained by the teacher who has carried it out. Five times a year there is a synchronous encounter between students and teachers so they have the opportunity to ask any questions and learn how to replicate or adapt existing designs.
3
In-person sessions
These are fully practical sessions. The theory required to follow the classes will be carried out during the virtual sessions. These sessions can be attended in two different ways:
- For students who can travel to Barcelona, these sessions are held during the weekends (Saturday all day and Sunday until lunch time). There will be one session a month.
- For students who cannot travel to Barcelona, these sessions are carried out virtually and synchronously for two weekends a month. In this case, the timetable will be Saturday and Sunday afternoons (so that students from Latin America are able to participate)
There are creative challenges that will be resolved as a group or specific games or tools will be discovered. During the course there is a creation jam, where tools are generated that provide answers to specific needs and which are accompanied and supported by the Teachers of the master’s degree.
It is possible to follow these in-person sessions virtually.
The Evaluation
There is a great deal of importance given to the reflection on the educational application of what has been learned in the theoretical sessions. With the intention of creating a community among the teachers and the students encouraging debate, they will see how the knowledge can be applied to the classroom, generating a learning portfolio for each of the students.
Throughout the master’s degree there are five evaluation activities. The student chooses the subject of all these activities so that they obtain a product that they can apply directly to their professional life:
- Two challenges that can be carried out individually or in a group. Students will need to create a GBL (game-based learning) experience and a gamification experience.
- A group creation jam with a free theme. This is held over a weekend and involves mentoring from the teachers of the master’s degree.
- An individual logbook where the student collects the evidence of learning during the training.
- A Master’s Degree Final Project (FP) in which an experience will need to be designed, implemented, and evaluated. This FP is done following the guidelines and recommendations for the UB’s Master’s Degree Project. Master’s Degree Final Project Rules
All of the tasks are supported by the tutoring and monitoring from the master’s degree teaching staff. The evaluation system provides training and is based on continued dialogue in order to improve the proposal and has a rubric showing the evidence of what has been learnt.
Subjects
All of these are articulated in seven modules.
- Learning through games: Students as players and as creators
- Analysis of the potential of game experiences and gamification
- Game evaluation and gamification in educational environments
- Game and player psychology
- Principles of game design
- Serious Games in education
- History of games and video games
- History of serious games applied to learning processes
- Types of games
Concept of gamification.
- Game design applied to the creation of gamified proposals
- Application of gamification in educational contexts. Examples and models
- Basic concepts of design thinking
- Game creation laboratories and gamified processes
- Techniques and resources to encourage creative processes
- Digital tools applied to game-based learning and gamification
- Development of critical thinking with regards to their use
- Knowledge of the main tools used in narrative language
- Application of these tools in different educational environments
Calendar
Holidays
- Christmas Holidays (from 22 December to 8 January)
- Easter Holidays (from 2 to 9 April)
Delivery of completed work
- Creation of the GBL experience: 23 January
- Creation of a gamification experience: 27 April
- FP: 20 June
- Logbook: 20 June
In-person sessions
- 10 in-person classes are held on weekends:
- 22 and 23 October
- 19 and 20 November
- 17 and 18 December
- 14 and 15 January
- 4 and 5 February
- , 25 and 26 February
- , 25 and 26 March
- , 29 and 30 April
- , 13 and 14 May
- 10 and 11 June
- Timetable: Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Timetable: Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Collaborating companies
All ENTI-UB students carry out work placements in some of the important companies in the sector.
Holidays
- Christmas Holidays (from 22 December to 8 January)
- Easter Holidays (from 2 to 9 April)
Delivery of completed work
- Creation of the GBL experience: 23 January
- Creation of a gamification experience: 27 April
- FP: 20 June
- Logbook: 20 June
Teaching staff
Teaching staff
The teaching staff is composed of more than 40 people. You can check their names in the corresponding section of our website app
Price
To view the price of the Master’s Degree in Game, Gamification and Technology in Education at ENTI-UB, please complete this form and you will receive all the information on prices, rates and payment methods.
If you come from a semi-privately funded school you can opt for a subsidy of the course through FUNDAE.Further details can be found here
