What’s fun got to do with it?

Joni Dunlap
CFD & SEHD at UCD
http://thoughtsonteaching-
jdunlap.blogspot.com/

Superhero powers: work

avoidance, mass email deleting,
stirring two bowls of hot soup at
the same time, knowledge of
every pop song from the 1970s,
squirrel-chatter translation, and
Grab the popcorn…
Why care about fun?
• How can I get students’ attention, and
get them excited about the content?
• How can I show students a lighter, more
playful side?
• How do I help students connect, and
keep coming back for more?
• How do I help students explore their
creative side?
Fun = pluff???

• First-day/week of class = FUN!

• Lecture = FUN!
• Class discussions = FUN!
• Representation of understanding = FUN!
• Assessment = FUN!
Fun strategies…

• …to spice up the first day/week of class

• …to get to know each other: past,
present, future
• …to get oriented to the course, delivery,
Truth-or-Lie bios
• I lived in Saudi Arabia as a youth
• My first car was a 1966 Barracuda with red
leather interior
• I have been a vegetarian for 25 years
• I was a member of the road crew for the
Grateful Dead from 1989-1991
• I used to produce and direct on-air pledge
drives for public television
• I was held up at gun point and had my car
stolen as the get-away vehicle
Scavenger hunt
• In your own words, state the learning objectives
for this course.
• What is the purpose of the Weekly Survey?
• What is the best way to reach Joni outside of
the course? How quickly will Joni respond to
email? And, when is it best to contact Joni with
questions, concerns, challenges, etc.?
• What learning objectives are addressed by the
individual project due on March 9th?
• What is meant by academic freedom?
Caption the photo!
Mr. Picassohead portraits

http://www.mrpicassohead.com
Fun strategies…

• …to get to know each other: past,

present, future
• …to get to know a topic
• …to represent conceptual understanding
Soundtrack of your life

http://finetune.com
http://songza.com
http://blip.fm
Cloudbusting

http://
www.wordle.net/
Virtual paper bag

http://flickr.com
Storytelling, soap operas, &
“Naked Came the Manatee”

http://voicethread.com
http://
www.jingproject.com/
Story galleries

http://flickr.com
Roleplaying

http://
www.xtranormal.com
Fun strategies…

• …for staying in touch with each other

• … for sharing resources, ideas, our lives
• …for quick-and-dirty assessments
Daily Mobile Photo Challenge
Tweeting the night away

http://
twitter.com/
Fun strategies…

• …for assessing new learning

Test…oops, I mean game
• Stump the professor
• Phone a friend
• Name that answer
• Voting a question off the island
• What’s my line?
• Truth or lie?
• Are you smarter than a 5th grader?
Creative representations
• Story, comic strip, song, movie poster,
sandwich board, music video
• Puppets, action figures, super heroes,
role-playing
• Virtual field trips
Final thoughts…
I ain’t making this stuff up…
I loved all of your “fun”
activities. At first I thought I
would hate them, that they’d
be a big waste of time. But I
get it now, and see how they
not only helped me get to
know you and the others in
the class, but actually helped
me learn too!!! Thanks for a