Uses of Gamification

This week I have been focusing on the Uses of Gamification module for our course. While I have spent most of the past week researching specifically on this topic, it is really one that I have been learning about ever since I began learning about gamification. The most interesting thing to me is to see how it is being used and learning what worked, and what didn't. Learning about other people's experiences helps me to get ideas about how I might be able to use gamification in my classroom. Because of this, I have had a struggle this week with what to include and how to approach the topic. I have been going back through all of my previous research and doing new research as well. My development process has been iterative. I started with an outline of what I would like to include, then I fleshed out that outline with a little bit of content, then I went back through my sources and got online to try to figure out the specific details that I wanted. Two or three hours later I went back to my outline, filled in some gaps and moved to the next topic. After going through this process a couple of times, I finally felt like I had enough content to start putting it into Canvas, but then I was struggling with organization. There is so much information and it is hard to know what someone might find useful. Even as I have been entering it into Canvas I have thought of additional information that I wanted to include, and I am sure that will continue. Also as I researched this topic, I found information that would be useful in other areas. I added a great video to the Game Elements module. I have also gotten some good ideas for my Gamification Design Framework and Tools Module.

I am following Molly's organization method of making each section of the module an assignment, with the student required to make a short text submission after each. There is an introduction section, then 3 additional sections: Gamification in Business, Gamification in Education, and Gamification for Behavior Change. In each section I will describe how it is used, then give the students plenty of examples with the hopes of giving them ideas of how they might be able to use gamification in their situation. Here is a sneak peek at one of the videos that I am using for the Gamification in Education section: Classroom Game Design TED talk by Paul Anderson

I have really just started entering the content into Canvas, and am actually going to keep this blog short so that I can get back to it. Now that I have started I don't want to lose momentum

What's Next

Once the first pass of the Uses module is complete, I plan to begin working on the Design module. I already have some good ideas for that, but plan to do a lot more research this weekend. My hope is that that module will be constructed by this time next week. It is fun to see this coming together. I am learning so much in the process of creating this course. Hopefully I will have a chance to use it in the future.

Progress

I was finally able to sit down this week and start compiling what I have learned into some course content. While doing my research I came across a great article that was helpful with terminology, so I created a "mini-module" containing information that will be useful for everything else in the course - a good foundational understanding of the language. Molly and I had agreed that we wouldn't do a specific module on terminology, but instead incorporate it into each module as needed, so she was a little confused when I did this, but I'm not tied to it being it's own unit. I felt like the content would be useful - I think that we can figure out where it best fits when more content has been added. In addition to the article, there is an infographic that I created, and an introductory video. I intend to create a crossword puzzle of terms to go along with the rest of the module, but I am holding out to see how it will all fit together and if the crossword is needed. The final element is a discussion forum where the student picks a game that they are going to revisit several times during the course as a way for them to apply what they learned (I call it a looping assignment since that is a game technique of going back and revisiting something with a different angle).

Game Elements

After creating the mini-module, I turned my focus to the game elements module. I had collected a lot of information, but I was struggling with how to set it up since my writing and teaching styles are so different than Molly's. I finally decided that I needed to just do what I do and we can figure out how to make everything fit/blend once the content is all created. This module starts with an explanation of what game elements are and then have them read an article and check out a web site. There is a video that explains how to use some of the game elements, and an image from Kevin Werbach's book "For the Win." I end the content section with some optional reading that the students can do for more information depending on their interest. I have also created several assignments for this module. One assignment is a scavenger hunt for game elements. I intend to create a master list of game elements that the students will use for the hunt. Their job will be to play games and look for the elements in use. For each element they will include a picture/screenshot and an explanation of how it was used. The person with the most elements will win (although at this point I  have no idea what they will win). There is also an iteration of the looping assignment introduced in the terminology section. This will let them look more closely at their chosen game and inspect what elements are used and how. The module ends with a reflection on how they might be able to use the elements that they have learned about in their work. The thought is that this will start them thinking about the kind of thing that they will do for their final project. I haven't yet put together the master list. I have found lists of game elements in several different books/articles/web sites. When I compiled them all and eliminated the exact matches, I had 131 elements in my list. I know that there were quite a few that were the same element with a different name. I double that I will include that many on my list, but I will put the ones that will be most common and/or most useful. For each element I hope to include the element and a description of what it is and how it is used.

Other Topics

While I was researching for game elements, I came across information that would be useful for the other topics that I am creating the content for. I had set up pages in canvas earlier with places to put research, so I was able to add links there. This will make it easier when I start to build these modules. I plan to spend time this week developing content for either Uses or Design. Molly and I figured out on Monday that we had different ideas of what Uses of Gamification  entails. She was thinking more general, while I was leaning more toward the specific. I found a great example of a teacher who gamified his history class and blogged about the process. The blog is called Flipped History. The best part was that he talked about what worked, and what didn't and what he would change.

There is still plenty to do, but I eel like I am making good progress, and should continue to do so over the next few weeks. I am very excited about the direction that things are going.

Spring Break Plans

I have to confess that not much progress has been made on the gamification course this week. The primary reason for that is because last week I had to do midterm/miniterm grades and prepare my Canvas sites for second mini-term. Both of my two older kids are home from college for Spring break, so I decided to let myself be on break as well. I am caught up on grading, so I have been able to enjoy spending time with my kids when I am not teaching.

Molly and I did meet on Monday and talk a little bit about where we were and what we were planning, but not a lot of progress was made. That being said, Since I am taking my "break" this week, I plan to be full speed ahead next week when I am actually on spring break with LR. With no classes to teach, and minimal grading, I should have several large blocks of time to working on the course and expect to make good progress on compiling content and getting it into Canvas. This time next week I should have a lot more progress to report, and something to show in the course site. I am excited to be able to really dig in to this with uninterrupted time.

Still Keeping On

This week I finished reading the Ninja Monkey book, and started adding some content into the course site. I got a top level outline into 2 1/2 of the modules that I am responsible for, and then had to quit to work on mid-term and mini-term grades.

I liked the Ninja Monkey book. I finished reading it and learned a lot. The book seemed to lean more toward the enterprise than education, so I may suggest it as recommended reading, but I don't think that it will work as a text for the book. Fortunately, the author has a website that is very useful, and contains information about gamification in education as well as in enterprise, I will be using that as a resource for the course.
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This week, I plan to add more content to the course site. I will coordinate with Molly on Monday to make sure that we are on the same page. I have done plenty of reading, now it is time to build, build, build.