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Gamification
So, what is Gamification? The first thing people tend to think of when they hear about this is that people play video games instead of being directly taught. Please let me ensure you that it is far deeper than that. Gamification, in its simplest form, is the application of game principles to your classroom ... but why? The video game industry is worth billions of dollars annually. Players will spend a few hours a day to over 25+ hours per week playing games. What draws the player in and, more importantly, what keeps them coming back for more? This ladies and gentlemen is why Gamification is such an exciting movement in the field of education! |
So what are the key concepts of Gamification that are brought into the classroom? Well, the big one is known as Progress Mechanics and these are what we most commonly associate with video games. Things such as leaderboards, XP (or other types of point systems), achievements, badges, levelling-up, and so on. This, from a students perspective, is the major draw of gamification because it rewards students frequently, at various points and pushes students of all different mindsets - the competitive, the game lovers, the team players, the high achievers, the collectors, etcetera.
The second major component, this being the most controversial to many, is the narrative, or in other words, the story. Most people who argue against gamification have their arguments rooted in the belief that if you do not have a story to play as part of the game you are missing the major component to games; the world the player becomes consumed in. This personally was my favourite portion of gamification as I was able to come up with a fictious world, characters and quests which totally flipped my classroom.
Next, coupled within progress mechanics are rewards and immediate feedback. Teaching for 6 years now, I've quickly come to notice that students are often excited to hand in a major project or get a test out of the way however their level of care quickly drops when the mark takes time to get back to them. Gamification provides the user with a more immediate feedback system. As they complete shorter and quicker missions, quests and challenges they are provided with immediate feedback and quite often a reward. When this happens students tend to feel more accomplished and motivated. While the feedback is not instantaneous, when even the most difficult to motivate students complete a short quest, receive quick feedback and maybe even earn a reward they are much more motivated to begin an increasingly more difficult task.
Finally, there are other categories such as scaffolding to increasing challenges (which I touched upon above), opportunities for mastery, creation of avatars, a flipped classroom, social connection, group and team building skills and the list goes on. Below, please feel free to check out some ways I applied these principles to my own classroom. Please feel free to check out my growing Blog where I will explain how I created some of the materials required to make them succeed. I hope you find them useful and would welcome any tips and/or tricks you've used in your gamification experiences!
The second major component, this being the most controversial to many, is the narrative, or in other words, the story. Most people who argue against gamification have their arguments rooted in the belief that if you do not have a story to play as part of the game you are missing the major component to games; the world the player becomes consumed in. This personally was my favourite portion of gamification as I was able to come up with a fictious world, characters and quests which totally flipped my classroom.
Next, coupled within progress mechanics are rewards and immediate feedback. Teaching for 6 years now, I've quickly come to notice that students are often excited to hand in a major project or get a test out of the way however their level of care quickly drops when the mark takes time to get back to them. Gamification provides the user with a more immediate feedback system. As they complete shorter and quicker missions, quests and challenges they are provided with immediate feedback and quite often a reward. When this happens students tend to feel more accomplished and motivated. While the feedback is not instantaneous, when even the most difficult to motivate students complete a short quest, receive quick feedback and maybe even earn a reward they are much more motivated to begin an increasingly more difficult task.
Finally, there are other categories such as scaffolding to increasing challenges (which I touched upon above), opportunities for mastery, creation of avatars, a flipped classroom, social connection, group and team building skills and the list goes on. Below, please feel free to check out some ways I applied these principles to my own classroom. Please feel free to check out my growing Blog where I will explain how I created some of the materials required to make them succeed. I hope you find them useful and would welcome any tips and/or tricks you've used in your gamification experiences!
ItemsItems are a crucial part of gamification. When students succeed you want to reward them and with a little creativity, properly designed items can do just that!
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BadgesSometimes your students go above and beyond and sometimes they totally blow you away. Badges acknowledge effort and keep students wanting more as they try to discover them all.
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NarrativeA good narrative can really captivate your students and can transform a dry curriculum into a more exciting and fun filled environment. It can also help a teacher get wind back into their sails.
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Want to learn about gamification? Check out my YouTube channel for lots of, tips, tricks and different ideas! Slowly but surely this will grow!
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Want to gamify your own classroom? You can, at any age, grade and subject! Check out my easy to read Teacher's Guide, which is even written in a gamified format and a choose your own adventure style, to both inspire and guide you through the process!
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