This presentation has been done at the eLearning Africa Conference 2015 (Ethiopia, May 2015) based on the following paper: “Technologies for informal learning: An awareness campaign about UNESCO World Heritage Sites in SADC” by Asta Adukaite, Izak van Zyl, Nadzeya Kalbaska and Lorenzo Cantoni Presented project: www.whacy.org

1. Technology enhanced and gamified learning.
World Heritage Awareness Campaign for Youth in
Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Nadzeya Kalbaska, PhD
- Post-doctoral researcher, Lecturer USI – Lugano, Switzerland
- General Secretary of International Federation for IT and Travel and Tourism

2. eLearning Africa Conference 2015 (Ethiopia,
May 2015) paper:
“Technologies for informal learning: An awareness campaign about
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in SADC” by Asta Adukaite, Izak van Zyl,
Nadzeya Kalbaska and Lorenzo Cantoni

3. Digital technologies and (in)formal learning
• The latest generation of digital technologies: social media (Bull et
al., 2008), mobile devices (Donner, 2008; Pucciarelli & Cantoni, 2012; Traxler, 2009),
and digital games (Gee, 2003; Prensky, 2006) accelerated research on
ICTs and (in)formal learning
• ICTs blur the distinction between formal and informal learning (Selwyn,
Gorard & Furlong, 2005)
• Actual learning has to be positioned on a multidimensional continuum
between the two polarities (Colley et al, 2006)

4. What is Gamification?
Motivate/engage users
Enhance user’s overall value creation
Raise awareness
Develop skills
Enhance knowledge
Solve problems
Change behavior
Why Gamification?
Use of game elements and game design techniques in non-game contexts (Deterding et al., 2011)
Selective integration of various game elements into a specific system without a fully-fledged game
as the end product
For profit business goals or social impact
Education, health, environment, marketing, tourism etc.

5. Gamification and learning
• Engagement is the main objective in applying gamification (Kapp, 2012; Huotari & Hamari, 2012; Dixon, 2011)
• Gamification isn’t about turning the classes into a game
• Although gamification technique is not truly an academic methodology, it may improve the performance of
students in the learning process (Pozo, 1993; Trilla, 2011; Xu, 2012; Carr, 1998):
• Increase motivation & raise interest in specific subjects (de Freitas &Oliver, 2006)
• Increase students’ engagement & drive desirable learning behaviours (Lee & Hammer, 2011; Kapp,
2012)
• Empower students with low levels of self-efficacy (Sitzmann, 2011)
• Improve critical thinking skills

6. The most common integrated game design
elements in learning (Nah et al., 2014)
1. Points
2. Levels/stages
3. Badges
4. Leaderboards
5. Prizes
6. Progress bars
7. Storyline
8. Feedback

7. Tourism & learning
• Tourism and heritage places offer vast opportunities for learning experiences, both
formally and informally (Van Winkle & Lagay, 2012; Falk et al., 2012)
• The UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 1007 places worldwide of significant cultural or
natural value
• attract increasing attention from tourism and education sectors
• the reconciliation of the protection of heritage and tourism
• communication of the heritage value
• fostering of responsible and respectful behaviour among visitors
• Potential of ICTs to facilitate sustainable tourism through awareness raising, valorisation,
sensitization, and guidance for locals and tourists (Touray & Jung, 2010; Scott & Frew, 2013; Ali & Frew,
2013; Schieder, Adukaite & Cantoni, 2014)

8. WHACY PROJECT
World Heritage Awareness Campaign for Youth in
Southern African Development Community (SADC)

9. 39 World Heritage Sites in SADC
19 natural, 17 Cultural, 3 mixed
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10. • Gamified ICT application, quiz-like tool
• Score, levels, reward, feedback,
aesthetics
• Raise awareness
• Foster informal learning
• about heritage and sustainable tourism
in Southern Africa
• Primary audience: students 16-19 years old
• Also wider public
Goals of the campaign

11. TOOLS
• Dedicated
• Website: www.whacy.org
• Wiki: wiki.africaheritagetourism.org
• Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/africaheritagetourism
• Quiz platform:
• www.whacygame.org/round1/welcome
• www.whacygame.org/round2/welcome
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12. Facebook Photo contest
•February – June, 2014
•27 contestants (27 eligible pictures)
•In total campaign attracted 1446 Facebook
users who engaged with it by voting, sharing
and commenting the pictures

13. SOME RESULTS (May-October 2014)
Online
• Round 1 was played 900 times (487 unique players)
• Round 2 was played 588 times (122 unique players)
Offline
• 2’482 schools have received the CD-ROM and the paper version
• Estimation: more than 104’244 students have been exposed to
WHACY
• Participants from 13 SADC countries were exposed to the game
(no Swaziland and Angola)
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15. Next step: Integration into Tourism
Curriculum in SADC
• Tourism is tought as a high school subject in 6 SADC countries (South
Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, Mauritius)
• Integrating WHACY into tourism teaching practices
• to increase students’ motivation and interest in tourism subject
• as an assessment tool
• Pilot project in South Africa
• Responsable, PhD Candidate Asta Adukaite (asta.adukaite@usi.ch)

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17. THANK YOU!
asta.adukaite@usi.ch
nadzeya.kalbaska@usi.ch
www.whacy.org
www.unescochair.usi.ch
www.elearning4tourism.org