Gamification Update

Halfway through the school year and it is time to reflect on how my gamification experiment is proceeding. I am not entirely happy with my progress so far, but realize that this is a process. I have had some success with Quests within Classcraft and in a few other places.

Successes

• AP - Students regularly spend AP (ability points) to heal each other and use the Sainthood power (they get a Starburst candy).
• Random Events - By far the most popular aspect of Classcraft and gamification so far. If I get going and forget to do it students remind me. I have yet to have a student that is not excited when they are awarded random XP or get to roll a dice.
• HP - Students lose HP for doing things we want to discourage in class. Far fewer students ask to leave class since they lose HP if they do (unless required to leave by the front office or something of that sort).
• XP - Students like to see that they are rewarded for doing well. Giving students XP somehow works to show a recognition by the teacher that they are doing well.
• Quests - A limited success yet something worth mentioning in this space. I don't generally have quests integrated with grades. They are separate though there is some overlap (extra credit for some quests).

In Progress

• Leaderboards - Yes, one of the most integral parts of a gamified class is not really there. I have no trophy or endgoal in place. Students see XP on Classcraft and that is all. Group/team XP and competition is non-existent. I thought I would have more ability to manipulate individual and team XP data within Classcraft for some reason. Would it be that hard to have team rankings within the game?
• Badges - I have the labels that I want to print them onto. I have plenty of ideas for badges. I just haven't had the time to think it through and I don't want to introduce an aspect of the game before it is ready for roll-out.
• Easter Eggs - I have started to consider this more deeply. I am thinking of starting really simple like including a hidden link in a document to a simple side quest.

Final Thoughts

I feel it is really quite impossible to have your entire game laid out before the school year begins. Like most teachers, I don't get curriculum time over the summer to plan out a regular curriculum let alone a gamified experience for learners. I've been slowly incorporating additional features as the school year moves on. I feel this makes sense in many ways. First, you don't want to overwhelm students at the beginning of the year, and you also don't want weeks of onboarding. Releasing or "unlocking" new features throughout the year can bring new life into a game that may need a bit of invigoration.

There are a few features that you can easily integrate into Classcraft or any gamified space: dice and cards. I've started to use both since the time after the holiday break.

The past few months I've started to release cards to students as a part of our game. I make cards using a MTG online card maker, print them, and laminate them. (Adam Powley @MrPowley has a great blog post on making cards.) I plan on this feature of the game growing as students find using them useful and fun. I have cards that let you hold our class bearded dragon and cards to change your assigned seat. Other features I hope to introduce in the next few months are posted leaderboards based on Classcraft XP, quests that take students around the school, and more inter-team competition.

The change in dynamics of gamifying my class have been amazing. The element of fun and engagement it provides is undeniably positive. We need these positive vibes in a year that has been a struggle as every day brings new challenges. Sometimes learning and games seem trite relative to the overwhelming social-emotional issues facing children. However, I suppose, that may be even more reason to gamify and introduce engaging methodologies into instruction.