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Shall We Play A Game? Exhibit Home Learn More Standards Inspiration About the Author |
Lessons
Gamification of your class doesn't require the endless work of creating new lessons, but rather the application of a new framework over existing lessons. For example, each year my students build a simple five slide presentation at the beginning of the school year. They introduce themselves, their friends, three things they enjoy doing, one thing they are afraid of and one goal for the future. They can use Google slides, Powtoons, or Buncee to accomplish this. Before I gamified my class, I would simply grade this assignment and give them a score of up to 100 points. Now that my class is gamified, I assign the exact same assignment, however, how it is scored has changed dramatically. This assignment is now worth XP (experience) points which can help a student level up in our class game. I can also embed secret challenges - for example students who include a brief voice over or video clip earn bonus XP when completing the same assignment.
Be sure to check out the How-To section to learn more about leveling up learning with gamification. |
HOW-TOs
REFERENCES
ASSESSMENT
Student Work
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This video was shown to my students the first day of school and introduced the idea of our game to them. The story of the game is that aliens have been observed in deep space, and we have yet to determine their intent. Therefore, NASA needs more astronauts to both try and make contact with those aliens, and also search for habitable planets for colonization. My students must, therefore, work to level up from Astronaut Candidate to Astronaut Commanders who are tasked with exploring deep space.
My students are able to access all missions from our class website techlab17. They can review ways that they can increase their own, and their entire class XP, and even find secret missions that are not mentioned in class.
My students are able to access all missions from our class website techlab17. They can review ways that they can increase their own, and their entire class XP, and even find secret missions that are not mentioned in class.
Throughout the year, students are offered opportunities to take on side-quests to increase their XP. Here our principal introduces an opportunity for students to earn XP while focusing on their collaborative behavior in the hallways and assemblies. It combines a school-wide practice (earning platinum eagles for great class behavior) with earning XP in our class game.
The purpose of this challenge was to increase inclusiveness and kindness. I tasked one of our kindest teachers to share this quest with students so that they could hear from an expert on the subject. I also requested several teachers and staff members to participate with this challenge. They are asked to recognize acts of kindness. Also of this has lead to an increased awareness of how students respond to one another both in the classroom and outside of the classroom.
Standards
All of the above assignments address the four C's of creativity, collaboration, digital citizenship and communication. The assignments address technology standards but also language arts and math standards as well.