Gamifying Student Engagement

In her TED talk, "Gaming Can Make a Better World," author and researcher Jane McGonigal posits that in game worlds people are "motivated to do something that matters, inspired to collaborate, to cooperate." Video games are interactive and engaging. It's no wonder they are so pervasive with both children and adults! A recent trend in the business world has been to bring game world elements into the real world. This methodology is referred to as "gamification." According to a Pew Research Center report, gamification is "interactive online design that plays on people's competitive instincts and often incorporates the use of rewards to drive action -- these include virtual rewards such as points, payments, badges, discounts and free gifts; and status indicators such as friend counts, re-tweets, leaderboards, achievement data, progress bars and the ability to level up." Corporations, such as Samsung, award badges internally to motivate their employees. Badges Leveling Up Modding Easter Eggs

'World of Warcraft' releases 10-year tower of stats Already leading up to a 10-year anniversary in November, the company behind "World of Warcraft" has issued a deluge of stats relating to the behemoth MMO. 100 million accounts have been created since launch in November 2004, spawning a total 500 million in-game characters in that time, reads the infographic on Blizzard's blog. Each day, players team up or go solo to take part in 900,000 events provided by the game's narrative, while another 670,000 PvP (player vs. player) instances provide a chance for the faithful to test their mettle against one another. Blizzard helps keep players motivated by dishing out 11 million achievements every 24 hours, while a virtual Auction House lets players trade or sell their characters' wares, allowing players to fund their own progress and Blizzard to keep a cut of all proceeds; that's on top of the $15 per month base subscription rate. "Look at all these people who are into our game," the PR message goes, "maybe you should be too."

A Brief History Of Video Games In Education While there has been a surge in the acceptance and prevalence of game-based learning in schools over the past decade, especially in light of the success of programs like Khan Academy, playing games in the classroom is nothing new. Educational games have been a commonplace part of the K-12 experience since the beginning of the 1980s (and in some places well before that), with early titles introducing students to fundamental math, history, and problem solving concepts just as games do today. While the graphics may not have been great, the games helped to engage a generation of kids with technology and laid a solid foundation for the educational games that were to come. Things have changed a lot since then, but one thing has remained the same: the best educational games aren’t just tools for teaching. They show kids that education can be fun and instill a love of learning that will carry on throughout their lives. Here we highlight a few of those amazing early educational games.

Crash Course on Gaming! | HP Catalyst Academy What Makes a Good Learning Game? After developing more than 30 learning games I can safely say that it is definitely not an easy task. Developing good learning games requires constant attention to opposing factors, which only through creativity can truly be made to smoothly work together. Since the inception of computer games, there has been learning games. In the early years, games were used to demonstrate the potential benefits of computers. Although learning games date back to at least the 1960s, it is still a discipline fraught with challenges [1]. One of the fundamental questions that remain unanswered is: What really makes a good learning game? This article is not be a quick-guide for "how to design" learning games with ideas like points, leveling, power-ups and clear goals. The Critique of Edutainment We need to extend the scope of learning games beyond edutainment. The path to answering the question "What is a good learning games?" Defining Games and Learning So why are verbs important? Conclusion Acknowledgments

edurealms.com Middle School Minecraft | Imagine the possibilities… 2014 Virtual Unconference Speakers Chris is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Technology at Boise State University. Chris is actively piloting and developing groundbreaking alternative approaches to delivering and tracking learning. With co-inventor Dr. Lisa Dawley, Chris created 3D GameLab, a game-based/quest-based learning management system. His classroom serves as a unique game-based technology and pedagogy lab where this new and innovative practice is producing exciting results. At the university, Chris specializes in preparing pre-service teachers in methods and applications of technology integration in the classroom. Class as a Fully Realized Online RPG Faculty of Boise State University have converted a class to a fully game-based approach that leverages role-play characteristics, MMORPG leveling and skill building, and an immersive game-based design.

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If I selected this article for no other reason than that it had Jane McGonigal in it I'd be doing fine. This article gives an overview of gamification for increased student engagement, including badges. by nfuerst2 Sep 23