Keynote given by Rebecca Ferguson on 21 June 2023 at 'Blurring boundaries and making connections: learning with and from one another', an Associate Lecturer Professional Development Online Event organised by The Open University and held online.

1. Learning
fun-damentals
Rebecca Ferguson
Blurring Boundaries, The Open University
Wednesday 21 June 2023
Photo by Colin Brooks, Playful Learning

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https://wels.open.ac.uk/rum
pus

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Since the 1960s the teaching of very young
children has been underpinned by fun and
discovery as core pedagogic principles. When
the brain is at its most gymnastic and able —
in early childhood — we acknowledge that fun
is an extremely effective way of fixing
learning and encouraging ‘learning by doing’.
[…] However, as we progress through school the
fun becomes marginalised and
compartmentalised, as does the play. The fun
has to make way for the serious stuff — but
the serious stuff is actually not the content
of learning but the style of learning.
”
“
Fincham, Ben. The Sociology of Fun (pp. 47-48). Palgrave Macmillan

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Fun is good for learning
• Prompts engagement
• Promotes the desire to
continue
• Opens learners to new
experiences
• Removes fears that can block
progress
• Learners feel safe to take
risks
• Increases resilience
• Enhances problem-solving
abilities
• Increases optimistic thinking
• Creates a bonding experience.

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Fun is bad for learning
• Distracts students
• Increases cognitive load
• Perceived as inappropriate
• Regarded as juvenile,
artificial, or contrived
• Replaces learning
opportunities
• No clear link between fun
and learning gains
• Misleads students into
expecting an easy ride
• Fun is the opposite of
elarning!

6. What do we mean by fun?

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8. Reflection moment
Name one thing that
is definitely fun.
Share it in the
Teams chat.

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Fun is…
Poris:
• Competitive
• Creative
• Empowering
• Family-orientated
• Friend-orientated
• Rebellious
• Relaxing
• Silly
• Sports-orientated
• Surprising/adventur
ous
McManus and Furnham:
• Achievement
• Contentment
• Ecstatic
• Sensual
• Sociability
McManus & Furnham (2010) Psychology 1(03): 159.
Poris (2006) Young Consumers 7(1): 14-22.

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Fun is contextual
Poris:
Kids scoring highest on relaxing fun
were quite ethnically diverse, with a
strong over-representation among
African-Americans and Hispanics.
Relaxing fun also skewed higher for
only children, kids in single-parent
households, and kids in lower-
income households
McManus and Furnham:
Younger, agreeable,
extraverted females associated
fun most with merry-making
sociability, while older, open
males more with flow-type
achievement activities.
McManus & Furnham (2010) Psychology 1(03): 159.
Poris (2006) Young Consumers 7(1): 14-22.
“
“
” ”

12. Consensus workshop
1. Focus Question
2. Rational Aim (what the group
needs to produce by the end
of the workshop)
3. Experiential Aim (how the
group needs to be by the end
of the workshop)
4. Context/Set the stage
5. Brainstorm/Generate new
ideas
6. Cluster/Form new
relationships
7. Name/Discern the consensus
8. Resolve/Confirm the resolve
Photo by Colin Brooks, Playful Learning

13. Resolve /
confirm
resolve
Discuss
concepts
associated
with fun
and their
relationship
to learning
Photo by Colin Brooks, Playful Learning

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Two taxonomies
Ferguson, R.; Childs, M.; Okada, A.; Sheehy, K.; Tatlow-Golden, M.
and Childs, A. (2020). Creating a Framework of fun and Learning:
Using Balloons to Build Consensus. 14th European Conference on
Games Based Learning

15. Discerning the consensus
Elements on the
learning tree
were linked by
feelings of
safety and
security.
Fun makes
learning
intentionally
precarious,
risky and at
times
uncomfortable.
(Huxley, 2022)
“
” Photo by Colin Brooks, Playful Learning

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Safe spaces and brave spaces
Boostrom:
Bravery is needed because
‘learning necessarily involves
not merely risk, but the pain
of giving up a former condition
in favour of a new way of
seeing things.
Brave spaces emphasise the need
for courage rather than the
illusion of safety. They seek
to avert the conflation of
safety with comfort.
Whitton and Langan:
For students, an acceptance
of risk and failure is
understood as part of a
‘safe learning space’.
Safe spaces encompass three
things in particular:
feeling comfortable with
others; an acceptance of
risk and failure; and a
sense of playfulness and
humour with both peers and
academics.
Boostrom, R., 1998. The student as moral agent. Journal of Moral
Education, 27(2).
Whitton, N. and Langan, M. (2019) ‘Fun and games in higher
education: an analysis of UK student perspectives’, Teaching in

17. Fun and learning

18. Fun and embodied learning
Fun can be used to
build connections and
move to inclusivity
through a sharing of
experience. Being in
a state of fun
provides an
invitation to
contribute and engage
amongst a wider
group.
Huxley, S. (2022) The relationship
between fun and learning: an online
embodied ethnography of Coaches Across
Photo by Colin Brooks, Playful Learning

19. Fun and embodied learning
It is the combination
of BOTH individuals
having fun, and the
perception of the
wider group having
fun that is
especially important
.
An air of fun alters
the mood of a
learning context and
disrupts social
norms, creating a
social space of
possibility
Photo by Colin Brooks, Playful Learning
Huxley, S. (2022) The relationship
between fun and learning: an online
embodied ethnography of Coaches Across

20. Fun and embodied learning
Fun can help heal and
create feelings of
lightness and
liberation. Fun
instigates the
release and
unburdening of heavy
/ traumatic learning
experiences.
Photo by Colin Brooks, Playful Learning
Huxley, S. (2022) The relationship
between fun and learning: an online
embodied ethnography of Coaches Across

21. Fun and embodied learning
Fun enables a learner to
reposition and reimagine
whatever they are
learning. There is always
more to know, and what you
may already think you
know, is actually more
precarious and fragile
than you first believed.
Fun uses the imaginary to
re-story, reframe and
disrupt, shifting a
learning experience. Photo by Colin Brooks, Playful Learning
Huxley, S. (2022) The relationship
between fun and learning: an online
embodied ethnography of Coaches Across

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Four types of fun in online learning
Optimal fun – the joy of being
fully involved in learning,
moving toward full capability
and creativity.
Individual fun – the happiness
of fulfilling accomplishments,
supported by clear goals and
strategies.
Collaborative fun – the
happiness of making connections
with others, creating social
bonding and
developing group identity.
Emancipatory fun – the joy of
being curious, able to search
and discover whilst being
critically aware.
Okada, Alexandra and Sheehy, Kieron (2020). Factors and
Recommendations to Support Students’ Enjoyment of Online Learning
With Fun: A Mixed Method Study During COVID-19. Frontiers in
Education, 5(1)

23. Making space for fun

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Taking student beliefs into account
• E102: Introduction to Childhood Studies
and Psychology
• Includes high levels of interactive
teaching materials and activities
• Students with stronger social
constructivist beliefs (learning is a
social process) are more likely to enjoy
the module
• Those who believe learning ability is
fixed are less likely to enjoy the module
• Students’ epistemological beliefs
influence their engagement with learning
and academic success – we need to take
this into account when building fun into
modules Sheehy, K.; Mclanachan, A.; Okada, A.; Tatlow-Golden, M. and
Harrison, S. (2023). Is Distance Education Fun? The Implications of
Undergraduates’ Epistemological Beliefs for Improving Their
Engagement and Satisfaction with Online Learning. Athens Journal of

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Recommendations for online learners
• Enjoy fun learning activities, feel
motivated, focused and engaged in
studies aiming at positive results
in your learning.
• Make your online learning fun and
pleasant by identifying the factors
that affect your involvement and
interest in your studies.
• Study with autonomy, flexibility
and good time management to enjoy
your learning with fun and work-
life balance.
• Apply your learning to your real
world by selecting activities that
are enjoyable and useful in your
life.
Okada, Alexandra and Sheehy, Kieron (2020). Factors and
Recommendations to Support Students’ Enjoyment of Online Learning
With Fun: A Mixed Method Study During COVID-19. Frontiers in
Education, 5(1)

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Recommendations for online educators
• Plan icebreaking activities
carefully with clear and
transparent purposes as part of
learning.
• Investigate students’ preferences
and ways of learning to promote
more personalised and fun online
education.
• Enhance students’ engagement with
a variety of fun learning
activities that are meaningful in
their lives.
• Teach with a sense of humour
(joy) in forums or tutorials,
with fun activities to enthuse
students with the learning topic.
Okada, Alexandra and Sheehy, Kieron (2020). Factors and
Recommendations to Support Students’ Enjoyment of Online Learning
With Fun: A Mixed Method Study During COVID-19. Frontiers in
Education, 5(1)

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@R3beccaf
Rebecca.ferguson@open.ac.uk
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