Gamification: How to Start

This week I spent some time going through the first archived and the most recent chats for #levelupED. I went in to this with a list of questions in my head and came out with some answers and the basis for a plan to get my classes gamified. Both chats that I reviewed were about getting started with Gamification. What was interesting was how some of the comments made by the participants changed since September. It was refreshing to see people using this in their classes and still having the system evolve over the course of a school year.

There were very good questions asked in both chats I reviewed and I think the best way for me to get the ball rolling is to use those questions to develop my plan for the rest of the year.

Here is my version of a "How to Start a Gamified Classroom Questionnaire." (These questions are taken directly from the chats. I thought they were all great starting points so I combined them into one list.) I need to spend time thinking about my answers to all of these questions, but the tweets I've attached are helpful hints that I feel will guide me in the right direction.

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How to Start a Gamified Classroom Questionnaire

1. How do you define gamification in your classroom? What classifies a class as being gamified?

A1: Using gaming elements within instruction to enhance student motivation/involvement in their learning. #levelupED
— Jessica Anderson (@TriSciCurious) February 14, 2014

2. Do you think gamification is more using games to teach content or designing game elements in your instruction?

Gamification: A Preview

Although I have only been able to attend one explanation of Gamification and it's use in a classroom, I'm convinced it is something that would help my classroom. The first reason for that is because it looks like it would be fun - for the students and for me. The second reason is that I like to think my students will take to it with excitement and a desire to achieve something. I know that there is no way for me to know if the second reason is a definite until I try it but there have been moments this year that led me to my conclusion.

In order for me to start gamifying my classes I know that there is a bunch of prep work involved but I'm just not sure where to start. There are elements of the gaming structure that I want to have and I'm planning on joining the #leveluped chat tonight (it's on Thursdays at 10pm ET) to get some ideas and guidance.

One aspect of Philip Vinogradov's (@pvinogradov) presentation at EduCon that has been difficult for me to implement is the Flipped Classroom. I've tried to use a few online resources as homework in the past and the percentage of students completing it was very low. I also have a handful of students with little or no Internet connectivity.

My attempts at Gamification are not going to be perfect the first time. The plan is to use this blog and Twitter-found resources to make it work. In order to keep track of what I'm doing and share it with the world, there is a new page on this blog. The Journey to Gamification will be my continuing journal of what is going on in my world of game-based learning. Stay tuned for the fun!

It's Never Too Late to Make Changes

I started posting on this blog again around the time of EduCon 2.6 this year. I was able to meet some great people over that weekend and had my first opportunity to talk with someone in person about one of my posts. The information I took out of the conversation sessions is priceless and I still have a list of people I want to follow on Twitter and communicate with about ideas that were shared.

The biggest takeaway I had from EduCon and the weeks that have followed is that it is never too late to make changes. I've been very set in the ways of what I do, even though it never has the results I'm looking for. Making changes has either been "too much work" or "too much of a risk" for me. Once I started really thinking about what I needed to do, I started to realize that "too much work" is a sorry excuse for just saying "I don't feel like it right now." As for "too much of a risk," since I haven't been getting the results I was hoping to get, I figured what do I have to lose.

For your enjoyment (mostly mine, but you are welcome to enjoy them too) here are four major changes that are taking place with me right now.

• Change 1: Classwork System
• Change 2: Gamification
• Change 3: CrossFit/Whole30/Paleo
• Change 4: Making and Tracking Goals