Game On! Designing a Gamified Unit
It's finally summer! The perfect time for barbecues, the beach, and... building a gamified unit?
As much as I love being in the classroom, one of my favorite things about summer is having loads of time to plan engaging learning experiences. This is my fourth year of teaching the same subject and grade level, and yet I still find myself re-designing the year from scratch.
I've been reading almost everything I can find about gamification. Some resources that have been particularly helpful have been the book Explore Like a Pirate, the #xplap twitter chat, the WellPlayedU podcast, and the blogs Teaching Above the Test, Ludic Learning, and Dream Rush.
Thus far I've spent over 35 hours designing my first gamified unit, which I'm hosting on its own Wix site. Let's take a quick tour:
The Homepage
When you first open the site, you see a list of the available quests gradually appear across the screen. Wix allows you to add animations, and delay them by gradually increasing amounts.
The green one, titled "The Journey Begins," is the only one that opens automatically. The others are password protected. Students must complete the previous quest in order to obtain the password for the next one.
Introducing a Quest
Assigning the Tasks
The final project for this unit is a travel blog, written in character as students travel the Silk Road. The instructions for creating their blog are Google Slides (with the dimensions modified) that have been embedded into the site. This allows me to easily adjust the instructions without going through the more complex site-editing process.
Completing the Quest
When students finish a quest, they are directed to a Google Form. The form acts as a checklist of sorts, allowing them to mark whether they have completed each step. If they haven't, they are directed back with a link to the assignment.
After students press the submit button, they will see the password for the next quest. To prevent students from skipping ahead, I warn them that dishonesty will cost them XP! Which brings me to...
In-Game Currency
Inspired by games like Age of Empires and Civilization V, I wanted to have multiple types of in-game currency for students to use in purchasing items (see the next section for more). With some inspiration from similar spreadsheets, I was able to create a Google Form that allows students to submit screenshots of completed mini-quests. As soon as a quest is submitted, +10 of that resource will be added to the student's total.
Students can earn resources by completing 4 different tasks - the basic routines of the classroom. I wanted this to be similar to "grinding" or "farming" in video games, where you complete a repetitive activity in order to increase your resources. Students can earn:
- GOLD by completing AR quizzes with 80% or higher
- WOOD by completing homework
- STONE by mastering a topic on NoRedInk (grammar review)
- GRAIN by completing a Quizlet review (vocabulary flashcards
Item Store
So why do students want to complete these mini-quests? In order to purchase items! Items are cards with "special powers" that allow students to gain certain privileges in my class. I created my item cards using MTG Cardmaker, which came recommended by Adam Powley's awesome Classroom Powerups blog.
The items, or artifacts, are all based on different ancient inventions that would have existed during the time period. Students will be able to use each item once, at a time of their choosing - essentially rewarding kids who perform the basics of "doing school" with additional privileges in the classroom.
Upcoming Features
Of course, this game is a work in progress. A couple of things I would like to add as I continue to design:
- An embedded leaderboard for XP, which students will receive for completion of classwork.
- Mastery badges for students who master certain academic skills. We grade all skills on a 1-4 scale, so this would help make it more tangible for students.
- Side quests for students to complete on their own time for additional XP. These would be fun activities that allow students to more deeply explore areas that they are interested in.
Countdown to Game Time
Right now, this unit is designed to be the final 9-week unit of the year. As I get deeper into the design, however, I am beginning to wonder if I might create additional gamified units to introduce the game concepts earlier in the year. I'm considering a Geography unit, where students must choose which civilization to settle in based on the environment, a Civilization Quest where students compete to create the strongest civilization, and a Perspectives game where students learn the historical thinking skills of contextualizing, synthesizing, making claims, and explaining their evidence.
The link to my Silk Road game site is here. Please feel free to explore and reach out if you're interested in any of the available resources! I'm always happy to share and explain with fellow educators.