Ludic Pedagogy - Taking a Serious Look at Fun in the COVID-19 Classroom and Beyond

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca

The COVID-19 pandemic shaped deep reflection in higher education classrooms, raising practical questions about attracting and retaining students in increasingly online learning. The paper presents the Ludic Pedagogy framework and explains four interrelated elements—fun, positivity, play, and playfulness—alongside research showing how each element supports a constructive classroom climate. The authors provide usage examples and recommend adoption to improve engagement, learning outcomes, and student retention across university and college contexts.

LanguageEnglish

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Educational Considerations | Volume 48 Number 1 | Article 7 | | --- | --- | | March 2022
Ludic Pedagogy: Taking a serious look at fun in the COVID-19 classroom and beyond
Sharon Lauricella
Ontario Tech University, [sharon.lauricella@ontariotechu.ca](sharon.lauricella@ontariotechu.ca)
T. Keith Edmunds
Assiniboine Community College, [edmundst@assiniboine.net](edmundst@assiniboine.net)
Follow this and additional works at: [https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations](https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations)
Part of the Educational Methods Commons, and the Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. | | Recommended Citation Lauricella, Sharon and Edmunds, T. Keith (2022) "Ludic Pedagogy: Taking a serious look at fun in the COVID-19 classroom and beyond," Educational Considerations: Vol. 48: No. 1. [https://doi.org/10.4148/](https://doi.org/10.4148/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.4148/)0146-9282.2324 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Considerations by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please [contact](contact cads@k-state.edu)[ cads@k-state.edu](contact cads@k-state.edu). Ludic Pedagogy: Taking a Serious Look at Fun in the COVID-19 Classroom and Beyond Sharon Lauricella and T. Keith Edmunds Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has affected deep reflection in higher education classrooms: how do we attract and retain students to (temporary but nevertheless increasing) online learning experiences, how do we keep them at our universities and colleges, and how do we give students a learning experience from which they will remember meaningful information? In this paper, we introduce a new pedagogical framework that we call Ludic Pedagogy. We address the four elements of this model: fun, positivity, play, and playfulness. Each of the elements is described in turn, together with literature outlining how each contributes to a positive classroom environment that helps students engage with and learn course content. Examples of how the authors have used this pedagogical model are included and described. We suggest that instructors consider using the Ludic Pedagogy model so as to improve engagement, learning outcomes, and retention in their classes and broader university/college contexts. Keywords: pedagogy, student success, student engagement, student retention, fun, play, playfulness, positivity. Introduction When Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler was at a Texas drug rehab centre in 2008, he phoned his managers and asked them to “find me something fun to do when I get out of here.” For Tyler, what he did after rehab had to be fun, because he needed something to look forward to (Vedantam, 2020) . Shortly after Tyler got clean, he landed a role as a judge on American Idol, in which he was dubbed an “unalloyed genius”(Carramanica, 2011) . Tyler’s objective of having fun spoke not only to his rock star persona, but more so to his objective of giving his life meaning after drugs and enjoying new contributions to the entertainment industry. Tyler wanted to make sure that his “work” was fun. A similar sentiment was inherent in our struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although universities continued to operate, we were far from “business as usual.” The COVID-19 pandemic emptied classrooms in favour of hybrid or online courses, faculty delivered recorded lessons with web-based assessments, and Thirsty Thursdays turned up dry. Our pandemic induced isolation is now akin to Tyler’s rehab: as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, how can we give renewed energy to making the academic experience fun, and how can we find renewed joy in our work? And there is no time like the present – we don’t have to wait to be releas

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How does the paper argue Ludic Pedagogy can affect student learning?

It suggests the model can improve engagement, learning outcomes, and retention by creating a more positive classroom environment.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca