Design Your Class Like A Video Game How Video Games Have Mastered Learning Engagement Terry Heick Agreeing on how to best establish what a learner understands isn’t simple — if for no other reason than understanding isn’t simple. Gamification and game-based learning (which are different, by the way: the former uses encouragement mechanics to promote engagement, while the latter uses video-games as core sources of learning material or cognitive action) is one response. By embedding diverse achievements into activities and assessments, learning progress can be refracted infinitely. But video games have even more to offer formal learning systems. To be able to do this before moving on to that. Stifling the Fun Hated tropes in video game mechanics include “training” sessions, where players must prove to the video game that they can perform a basic function before moving on. Not much different than school, then. Most game designers have learned, however. Climb a mountain or slay a robot enemy? Takeaways for Learning 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
8 Ways to Level Up Game Based Learning in the Classroom Game based learning in the classroom should not be worksheets with points. It should be engaging and exciting. Here are eight ways to level up game based learning. Because, face it, many educational “games” fall short. Some games are computerized worksheets. What works in game-based learning? Certainly, we can memorize using games, but we can do better. But for those who don’t trust stories from the classroom, a body of research is growing around what makes a good game for learning. When my students studied good games with University of Alaska Southeast Masters Students in the Gamifi-ed Project, we were astounded to find how few games were engaging and used good teaching. 8 Great Ways to Level Up Game Based Learning in the Classroom The most innovative education “app” on the planet is the innovative educator. 1. College Professor Lee Sheldon (and former Star-Trek script writer) shares his method of gaming his college classroom in The Multiplayer Classroom. 2. Dr. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
DISCOVERY: A Simulation of Early American Colonization - Interact Simulations Divided into separate "colonies," teams of students face problems typical of life in 17th-century America and try to ensure the success of their settlements. After deciding on cargo and using map skills to cross the sea and select their sites, students—playing such roles as colony leaders, bankers, mappers, traders, and recorders—are pressed to make decisions concerning the division of labor, the role of government, and defense against possible Indian attack. Interaction among the colonies results in trading, alliances, and sometimes conflict, while Fate Cards affect each colony's success or failure. The wealthiest colony after 15 rounds of play wins. View an excerpt from the Discovery student guide (pdf format; will open in a separate window)View an excerpt from the Discovery teacher's guide containing the table of contents and overview (pdf format; will open in a separate window) Common Core correlations
3 Edtech Tools You Can Use To Gamify Your Classroom Gamification is one of the buzzwords in education right now, and for a good reason: Gamification is empowering, exciting, and under the right circumstances can be the disruptive innovator many teachers desperately need in order to change the dynamics between knowledge and the learner. There is an explosion of EdTech tools destined to gamify the classroom, most of which are web-based, while others come in the form of an app. Understandably, a teacher might wonder what is the best way to navigate through this sea of new, and subsequently, not thoroughly tested activities and tools. Throughout the school year I tried several game-based platforms with my students. Socrative The first, and probably the most popular game-based classroom platform is Socrative. Socrative supports multiple choice, true/false, and open response items. Here is a short introductory tutorial on Socrative Kahoot Kahoot takes a somewhat different approach than Socrative. Here is a short introductory tutorial on Kahoot
A Beginner’s Guide to Bringing Coding Into the Classroom In case you haven’t been paying attention, computer science skills are vastly becoming some of the most in-demand skills of the twenty-first century. In fact, some call it a new "superpower." But there’s a problem. There are approximately 587,000 computing jobs nationwide, which is growing at 2x the national average, but only about 38,000 computer science students graduated into the workforce this year. Computer science is a primary driver of the U.S. economy, yet it does not (yet) play a significant role in K-12 education. CSEdWeek and Hour of Code arrive December 7-13th, and this annual event is bigger than ever. What are Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) and Hour of Code? Computer Science Education Week or CSEdWeek is an annual program designed to inspire K-12 students to take an interest in computer science. Hour of Code is a global movement in over 180 countries, and is a quick way to introduce coding to students or anyone. How to Run an Hour of Code Ready to get started?
30 Facts About Gamification in eLearning How Can Gamification Improve eLearning? What is the Future of Gamification in eLearning Industry? Judging by the following 30 Facts about Gamification in eLearning, the future of Gamification in eLearning is brighter than ever. eLearning Industry in numbersThe eLearning market is now more than 16 years old (the word “e-learning” was coined in 1998). At Fortune 500 firms, 73.6 percent of technology-delivered training comes through networked, online methods. (1)Corporations can save up to 70% by replacing traditional training with eLearning (IOMA 2002).Over 18,000,000 college students are taking at least one of their classes online. Over 75% people are gamers (50% casually and 27% moderately to fairly often). (4) Learners recall just 10% of what they read and 20% of what they hear. Favorite Gamification Techniques (4) Progressing to different levelsScoresAvatarsVirtual Currencies Less Favorite Gamification Techniques (4) The Most Effective Uses of Gamification in Learning (6) References:
10 Innovative Ways to Use ThingLink in the Classroom by Susan Oxnevad It starts with an image. Define the image through multimedia. Present ideas. Pack it full of content. Create links to amazing sites. Design Your Digital Self Create an avatar and connect with Your Digital Self through multimedia. Answer and Essential Question Embrace research, learn through multimedia, draw, create and design as you construct knowledge to answer an essential question. Connect to the Common Core – Dig Deeper The Gettysburg address has been wordled here to display the most frequently used words. Define Vocabulary Vocabulary development is an attainable goal that extends across all areas of the curriculum. Extend the Walls of Your Classroom Teachers and students can extend the learning by posting messages, holding online discussions, and working with ThingLink images through Edmodo. Design Awesome Homework Plan and Implement a Collaborative Project Provide Built-In Tech Support Share Books on a Pinterest Board Grab a book jacket and bring a treasured book to life.
Gamification in Education The breakthrough happened after the student took the Bartle's Gamer Profile Quiz and we found out that he was a "killer." Off-the-charts killer, but achievement meant nothing to this student. Just like grades. No, we haven't identified the next school shooter, and I sure wish that Bartle hadn't named one of the four gamer profiles "killer" -- but nonetheless, this student identified with this profile. Jane McGonigal mentioned it in her Gaming Can Make a Better World TED Talk when she discussed an epic meaning. My ninth grade students have partnered on an epic quest with grad students at the University of Alaska Southeast and members of the Gamifi-ED OOC to study serious games, create an encyclopedia of serious games, and ultimately to create their own serious game in Minecraft. 1. Game mechanics are part of game theory. 2. As we saw with my "killer" student, there are four game-player types using this psychological evaluation. 3. 4. 5. 6. Endgame: Finding a "Killer" Tool
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