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?

A2) I think it's more designing game elements in your instruction/environment. I do love games though to teach content! #leveluped
— Craig Yen (@craigyen) September 27, 2013

A2: for me it's adding the elements to my instruction. We play class with leaderboards, badges, XP, skill points. #levelupED
— Jessica Anderson (@TriSciCurious) September 27, 2013

3. What benefits have you seen/ do you think you would see from gamifying your class?

I had Ss tell me that calling the test "the boss level" alleviated the pressure and anxiety that come with taking the test #levelupED
— Jessica Anderson (@TriSciCurious) September 27, 2013

@howellywood @Glenn_Booker I think the process of leveling up gives better feedback than traditional grades. #levelupED
— Dayson Pasion (@MrDpasion) September 27, 2013

4. What do you think is the first and most important step towards starting a gamified class?

@TriSciCurious Making sure you walk in baby steps. Don't do everything at once and keep evaluating as you begin #levelupED
— Faith Howell, M.Ed (@howellywood) February 14, 2014

A2. Take a leap of faith, play games, and make sure you have a plan #levelupED
— Timothy Scholze (@scholzet) February 14, 2014

5. You’ve come up w/ learning objectives. Now what themes/ideas/challenges can you use to build the game portion of your class?

A3: Once you know why and what you'll teach, frame it into a story. Story can be for the lesson/unit/year #levelupED
— Dayson Pasion (@MrDpasion) February 14, 2014

6. Now that you have a theme, what gaming elements do you think are important to include in your classroom?

@Partain_Science i think structure should be same. Levels/XP/leaderboards/quests, but content and story can change #levelupED
— Dayson Pasion (@MrDpasion) February 14, 2014

A4: epic meaning (storyline), quests and levels (content delivery), XP and achievements (feed back), guilds (grouping) #levelupED
— Dayson Pasion (@MrDpasion) February 14, 2014

A4. XP,Badges, levels, quests, aligned activities, hidden challenges, leaderboards, selfpaced #levelupED
— Nick Davis (@Slapshot99) February 14, 2014

7. Will your game be individual or team based?  If you group, how do you plan on forming them?

Ditto, with some guild only quests RT @TriSciCurious: A5: Mine is individual, but they work in collaborative groups. #levelupED
— Dayson Pasion (@MrDpasion) February 14, 2014

A5: Mine is a mix. All XP earned goes toward the ind., the faction, and the guild #levelupED
— Faith Howell, M.Ed (@howellywood) February 14, 2014

8. Is there any good tech out there you are using to help gamify your class? Where are you going to build your game? (LMS, on paper, visual in classroom, etc.)

A7: Everywhere! I have pieces online, we have paper IDs for badges, we have things posted on the wall physically...#levelupED
— Faith Howell, M.Ed (@howellywood) February 14, 2014

I use @edmodo and now using @3dgamelab also, #levelupED
— Bobby Lewis (Brian) (@usabbs) February 14, 2014

A4: @haikulearning, @camtasiamac, @classbadges #leveluped
— Jessica Anderson (@TriSciCurious) September 27, 2013

9. How will the grading work within the game structure?

@Partain_Science W/ my class XP converts to grade. XP isn't earned for a quest until student shows mastery. #levelupED
— Dayson Pasion (@MrDpasion) February 14, 2014

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Once I get this started in my classroom, I'm sure these additional questions will come in handy:

• How will you incorporate the addictive quality of games (easy/challenges/achievements) into your game to motivate students?
• What challenges have you faced when trying to introduce game play in your class? How did you over come them?

If anyone has a gamified classroom and has some insight into these questions, please let me know. I'm hoping that I can use this to get my game structure built and usuable in the next month.