The End is in Sight

Ok, if I have to be honest, the end isn't actually in sight, but the end of the semester is, and my list of what I hope to get done for my share of the course development is a list that fits on one page. Last week was a productive week and I was able to finish most of the Gamification Design Framework section. Of course, my research on frameworks led me to new information that will need to be added to my elements and and uses section, but I always intended this to be an iterative process.

Meeting with Molly

Molly and I were finally able to meet on Monday and it was a great meeting. As with so many of our meetings, the course evolved yet again. Molly has found so much great information on simulations that the section has become quite large. I am sure that she will run into the same situation for the rest of her "Gaming Towne" module which includes frame games, serious games, class games and virtual worlds before she gets around to introducing gamification. Our original plan (or at least the most recent one) had use introducing content for the first half of the course, then having them do a gamification project for the second half. At the meeting we decided that that probably wasn't the best approach. There is so much great material that we decided that the course would be better if it looked at games and gamification and ended with a case study where the students get to apply what they have learned. By exposing them to so many different options, there is sure to be something that will appeal to everyone.

An Interesting Break

After the meeting I took a few days off to work on my portfolio for the OTID program. It was a lot of fun to go back and look at all of the assignments that I have completed for the degree. What was even more interesting was that I had forgotten how many times I explored games and gamification when I had a choice in the earlier courses. I actually found a lot of information that I can use in the course including the fun cartoons included here.

What's Left

As I mentioned earlier, I have compiled a list of what I have left to do to "finish" my practicum work. I plan to do my best to have everything on the list  complete by this time next week (although realistically it will probably be next weekend). Here is the list in no particular order:

• Create crossword puzzle for terms
• Build elements list - address extrinsic and intrinsic motivators
• Figure out how to add my experience using game elements in my class to the uses section
• Develop the User Types section
• Finish adding the "looping" assignment to the rest of the sections where it belongs
• Create the assignments for the frameworks/tools section
• Find more examples of uses in elementary school to the Uses section
• Address loyalty cards in the Uses section
• Create the Tools section of the Gamification Design Framework and Tools module

Ok, now that I have typed it up, it will most likely take me two weeks to get it all done. At that point I will have completed my first pass at the content that I was responsible for. Molly is still working on hers, so there won't be much left to do until all of the content is in there. One thing that I really want to do once I have  put everything in there is walk away from it for a while then come back and try to look at it from the perspective of a student. It is all too fresh right now, so that will be a summer project, as will figuring out how everything will come together. Something to look forward to.