Describe gamification and the two distinct
ways it has been used in the classroom.
Gamification is a way to turn work into an
enjoyable, memorable, and rewarding experience.
Whatever the work is, gamification should make it feel less like work. “The idea is to integrate game-like elements
and mechanics, including quests, experience points, leader boards, milestones,
and badging, among others, into non-game environments” (Johnson,
Adams Becker, Estrada, & Freeman, 2014).
My days are spent with teens in the math classroom. Anytime I can make the work feel less like
work, I do it. I spend a lot of time
researching gamification and implementing it with a colleague, who I will refer
to as Mr. Gates. Mr. Gates doesn’t just
dabble in gamifying his class—it IS a game.
There is a huge guild board with each guild’s shield, along with the
student-designed avatars and handles that belong to each guild. A big part of gamification is letting
students create an alter ego. The
students work on this task during the first few weeks of school, maintaining
these identities throughout the school year.
The students are addressed by their handles, as well. Students in Mr. Gates’ classes don’t have
quizzes and tests—they have ‘boss mobs’ along with adventures and tasks to gain
XP (experience points) and ‘level up’.
There are leaderboards that are used for students to track
their own progress in ‘the game’, not as a means of student-to-student
competition.
Explain at least two advantages and two drawbacks of gamification in
education settings.
The biggest advantage is the freedom to
fail. Failure creates a culture of
math-phobic people who turn into math-phobic parents who don’t know how to help
their kids. These are the parents who
tell their kids they were bad in math so no biggie if problems exist. Ugh!
Freedom to fail allows students to try without judgment on their
results. Another advantage, which I
spoke about previously, is the freedom to assume different identities. Middle school kids often don’t like who they
are and they feel awkward. A new
identity is a great escape for them. It
also fosters creativity and provides another means for the teacher (and peers)
to get to know who they are.
As you can tell, I am a fan of
gamification. There are a few drawbacks
to a gamified classroom. Not all
students ‘get it’. I love the idea of
earning XP and leveling up, collecting more badges and tackling boss mobs. There are some kids who just aren’t into all
of that. Sure, they will adapt and play
by the rules, but it won’t have the same effect as it does on the other kids
and everything will still feel like work.
They will do what they need to do to pass the class without a build-up
of intrinsic motivation. Another
drawback is guild work, also known as group work. Cooperative learning is a necessary
experience that teachers must facilitate.
Even in the best situations, tension can build within a group and negate
the purpose of the task. I wouldn’t label
this as solely a gamification drawback, but I will say that gamification doesn’t
solve this common classroom problem.
Describe two best practices of gamification.
One important best practice is to have
mixed skill-level groups. I already
mentioned that Mr. Gates has his classes form guilds. Depending on the size of the class, a guild
will consist of three to four students.
Students get to choose who is in their guild, and this will be the guild
for the year. Recognizing when it is
appropriate to let students choose groups is just as important as knowing when
to create them. Mr. Gates solves this
problem by creating groups that change, depending on the task. He will assign these groups as new tasks
become available. When students come in
the room, all he has to say is ‘go to groups’ or ‘go to guilds’ and students
know what to do.
Another best practice is establishing
flow. Flow is “a state of total focus on
the task at hand” (Oxford Analytica, 2016).
To facilitate flow, there must be a clear goal, clear and immediate
feedback, and a perfect balance between challenge and skill. In Mr. Gates class, all of the conditions are
continually met. Students meet the tasks
with focus and persevere until it is completed.
This is one of the reasons I believe in the power of gamifying a
classroom. I see it.
Describe the three elements of gamification and
give an example of each.
The three elements of gamification with relevance to
education are Mechanical Elements, Personal Elements, and Emotional Elements. Mechanical
Elements are a means to address incremental progression and provide instant
feedback. A great example of this is
badging. Badges are a way to acknowledge
student accomplishments while providing a tangible reward that highlights an
achieved skill or completed task. Badges
also allow teachers to quickly identify students’ strengths, weaknesses, and
gaps in content. Many students are motivated
by the ability to attain badges.
Personal
Elements deal with student status and visibility, including leaderboards
and rankings. An example of this is the
creation of guilds, avatars, and personal handles in Mr. Gates’ classes. All of these provide the opportunity for
students to create new identities, making the game personal to each
student. Guilds provide a sense of
collective responsibility within the class while allowing students to
collaborate with each other.
Emotional
Elements of gamification deal with the psychological state of flow, which I
briefly addressed as a best practice. When the challenge-level is high and the
skill-level is low, flow will be hindered by feelings of anxiety and worry. When the skill-level is higher and the
challenge-level is appropriate to the student, the task-at-hand can be approached
with relaxation and control. When the
perfect balance of challenge-level and skill-level are achieved, students will
enter the state of flow.
Describe two factors that hinder gamification.
To appropriately gamify a classroom, an
understanding of what gamification is must exist. Teachers need the proper knowledge and
willingness to invest the time and work necessary to implement gamification. It’s not a quick fix to make content fun, nor
is it simply turning content into games.
Somewhere, I read that chocolate
covered broccoli is still broccoli and students will sniff it out!
Another factor that hinders gamification is
the lack of technology. In Mr. Gates’
classroom, most of the gamification that happens is not on a computer—it is in
the environment of his classroom. However,
technology has been a major support in the facilitation of all of the elements
of gamification. With technology,
students design their guild shields and avatars. With technology, students keep track of XP
and leaderboards. With technology, Mr.
Gates provides more immersive, relevant tasks for students to tackle. Could Mr. Gates do all of this without
technology? Of course, but technology
makes all of the work more manageable and helps Mr. Gates to be efficient. Gamifying a classroom is a huge commitment and
requires much work, something that could be easily pushed and replaced with a
focus on the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) and Ohio State Test (OST)
preparation.
Describe one gamification platform and its
different features used to gamify a classroom.
I know I’ve spent a lot of time talking
about Mr. Gates and his classroom, but now I’m going to talk about Ms. Campbell. She has been using ClassDojo for three years and I have been
privileged to witness the before-and-after in her classroom. ClassDojo is a classroom management app that
encourages students to work to potential, participate, be respectful, and
whatever else a teacher wants to give points for. Teachers can also take points away without
saying a word. In Ms. Campbell’s classes,
students will hear a different tone when points are being subtracted versus when
they are being added. She doesn’t need
to say who is gaining or losing points.
Students hear either tone and get on track.
Why? Because parents have access
to their child’s ClassDojo account. They
can see what points are earned or deducted for and the time of each occurrence. Additionally, parents and teachers can
communicate with each other through ClassDojo.
Students create their own avatars in ClassDojo, where all of their
accomplishments (or problems) are highlighted.
Students can customize their portfolios by highlighting learning
accomplishments with photos and videos.
Better yet? Parents can access ClassDojo through the app on their
smartphones. It’s an easy way to get
parents involved in their child's behavior at school.
Describe the relationship between motivation,
engagement and gamification.
Middle school students aren’t the most motivated
individuals. In fact, Ms. Campbell and I
have been struggling with her eighth graders all year. She is doing everything recommended in the
research on motivation, but nothing seems to spark this group of kids. Even the principal has told her that this
cohort of students is a tough group and that she shouldn’t waste any more time
trying to figure out how to motivate them.
Recently, I had the opportunity to provide time for Ms. Campbell to
visit Mr. Gates’ classroom. His eighth
graders are the only students I work with who are truly motivated and
engaged. It is no coincidence that his
classroom is completely gamified. Why
does it work? “Gamification is the
introduction of an extrinsic reward system (based on game mechanics) to
non-game content (such as learning content) in order to engage and motivate
learners to participate and complete the activity. Its use is intended to compensate the lack of
intrinsic motivation towards a learning activity” (Boulet, 2016). Ms. Campbell was inspired by what she saw in
Mr. Gates’ classroom, and I am supporting her in implementing gamification in
the fall.
Resources
Boulet,
G. (2016, July 19). Gamification and motivation: it's the content that matters,
not the container. Retrieved March 22, 2017, from
https://elearningindustry.com/gamification-and-motivation-content-matters
Johnson,
L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2014). NMC Horizon Report:
2014 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
Johnson,
L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2015). NMC Horizon Report:
2015 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
L.
(2016, April 26). Gamification when it comes to education. Retrieved March 22,
2017, from https://www.joytunes.com/blog/music-fun/playing-learn-gamification-comes-education-infographic/
Lee,
J. J., & Hammer, J. (2011). Gamification in education: what, how, why bother? Academic
Exchange Quarterly, 15(2), 1-5. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
Oxford
Analytica. (2016). Gamification and the future of education. Retrieved March
22, 2017, from https://worldgovernmentsummit.org/annual-gathering/reports
