Badges, Do We Need Them? #3dgamelab Not sure, jury’s still out on that one for me. In my brief, 22 year career, I’ve tried incentives such as grades, stickers, beans in a jar, lotto tickets, class money, awards all the way to abolishing all of those, even the grades. The change to no rewards and punishments worked, but not as well as I imagined. I still wasn’t reaching all my students. Epic Fail or Win? Gamifying Learning in My Classroom Every week for 17 years, I've heard my students ask, "What do I need to do to get an A?" Historically, many have focused on their grade rather than on fundamental skills. My attempt to change this mindset started two years ago when I gamified learning in my classes. After researching gamification and its potential to help students master skills and processes, I used the 3DGameLab and then Gradecraft to develop and implement game-based learning. In each class, students could choose "quests" that, if completed successfully, earned them badges and experience points. Each open-source badge was developed using Badg.us so that students could take them into the digital universe (e.g. attach to resumes, ePortfolios, etc.) and -- unlike grades on a transcript -- document skills they've mastered.
Official Portal 2 Website - Blog Today we're opening up the beta of the Portal 2 Authoring Tools to everyone! It's available as a free download for all owners of the PC version of Portal 2 and can be found under the "Tools" tab in Steam. The Portal 2 Authoring Tools include versions of the same tools we used to make Portal 2. They'll allow you to create your own singleplayer and co-op maps, new character skins, 3D models, sound effects, and music. Here's what's included: - Updated version of Hammer, the Source level editor - Updated Faceposer - Example maps and instances to help build new maps - Updated suite of command-line compiling utilities
Getting Started With Gamification This is the first in a three-part series on Gamifiying Your Instruction. The series is written by Karl Kapp, professor of instructional technology and internationally known author of two books on gamification, both co-authored by ASTD. Imagine you have just been assigned the task of “gamifying” some of your training program. Where do you start? How do you begin to think about using game-elements and game-thinking to create instruction that is engaging? Rewards and Gaming #3dgamelab The idea of badges and achievements in gaming is a problem for teachers who have abolished extrinsic motivators in their classrooms. In 3DGL there is a Badges section, an Achievements section and an Awards section. I’m really conflicted by the awards section because it’s more like rewards than badges and achievements in my eyes. I wrote a blog post years ago that led me to raise the discussion of awards ceremonies at my school. We used to have monthly awards ceremonies where we’d give out awards to some kids and choose a few students of the month.
6 Factors Of Classroom Gamification 6 Factors Of Classroom Gamification by Nellie Mitchell I was 11 the year my summer camp director transformed the regular schedule, procedures, and lingo that we were used to—into the most memorable, enriching experience I had ever encountered at that point in my life.
4 ways games make it ‘OK to play’ Games are gradually losing their stigma as more learning benefits emerge While technology is a powerful learning tool, there are still concerns about how tech tools are used, as well as how much screen time young children should experience. But devices such as tablets, smartphones, and computers can be a powerful part of child development, especially through interactive experiences and games. “Everybody is starting to understand the power of games, and they’re remembering what is fun about them—what’s fantastic about games is that we can use them at any point in time,” said Barbara Chamberlin, project director at the New Mexico State University Learning Games Lab. “Games offer immediate feedback, you can see your progress, you can try something and be frustrated but later learn more…that’s why game play is so engaging to us,” she said.
Game based learning & Gamification Lots people want to get started with game based learning, gamification and serious games in their training. We’ve been curating game related content for over a year and a half while conducting our own research and case studies. Here are 100 articles related to games and learning. Some of them are research-based, while others just offer an interesting perspective to spark discussion. Take what you need and share this with a colleague. How Games Naturally Promote A Growth Mindset How Games Naturally Promote A Growth Mindset by Mary Wissinger Let’s face it: our students are playing games. Lots of them.