The gamification of open data to empowering school learners

Posted on March 18, 2017

The Centre for Geoinformation Science (CGIS), University of Pretoria in South Africa, hosted an event on 4 March 2017 for school learners to celebrate International Open Data Day. The aim was to introduce school learners to South African open data on public spending though gamification. This provided the learners with an interactive way of engaging with the data and exploring national budgets and spending.

The day began with a brief introduction of open data and the benefits of open data to our local community and South Africa. Gamification was used to encourage active participation during the event, by providing the learners with questions relating to public funds and spending. Additionally, points could be exchanged for hints to assist in answering the questions. For the quiz, 15 questions based on various provided datasets were developed. Datasets were acquired from the South African National Treasury (http://www.treasury.gov.za) and the Code4SA open data portal (https://data.code4sa.org).  Below are some examples of questions asked:

  1. Which University had the highest income in 2014?
  2. How much was the Chief Justice paid in 2014 per year?
  3. What was the average salary per month before tax of a member of Parliament in 2014?

The open source TCexam computer based assessment system (https://tcexam.org/) was used for the quiz, allowing a user-friendly system. The learners noted that working with computers where a highlight for them, as they did not only learn about open data but also had the opportunity to flex their computer literacy skill. CGIS students assisted learners during the day with any software issues and provided additional tips.

The day ended with a prize giving for the top 5 groups and these learners received prizes, such as scientific calculators, notebooks and other stationary. The general feedback from the learners was very positive and they were generally excited about open data and all the various possibilities.

We would like to thank the sponsors of this event, Open Knowledge International, Hivos and Article 19. Without their support this event would not have been possible.

A short video on the day is available here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM4HBliBq4o&t=216s

 

 

The post was originally published on https://blog.okfn.org/2017/03/30/gamification-of-open-data-to-empower-school-learners-in-pretoria

- Author Centre for Geoinformation Sceince

Copyright © University of Pretoria 2024. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 Corona Virus South African Resource Portal

To contact the University during the COVID-19 lockdown, please send an email to [email protected]

FAQ's Email Us Virtual Campus Share Cookie Preferences