Gamification 101: Designing Your Playbook Beyond Levels Part IV

It has been a busy couple of weeks!  I just returned from the ISTE conference, which was an exhilarating, exhausting experience, but I will save my reflections for another post.  

As you can see I presented at the conference.  For those of you who did not attend, which includes probably everyone who reads this blog, here is a link to the how-to-guide that I created to go along with the presentation and my blog posts.  This is a good place to start if you have no experience with games or gamification as I have included links to tons of helpful resources that have helped me along the way. 

In my last post I discussed selecting your content and choosing a level structure for your game.  This of course is something that we as teachers do everyday when planning our lessons and units.  This should be the easy part!  Having said that, here are a couple of things to keep in mind before committing to your game if you are planning on creating a long-term game (more than 2-3 lessons): 

Remember, do yourself a favor and start small.  If you are one of those people who adheres to the mantra "Go big or go home!" then I would advise you to lock all future levels beyond the one that your students are working on.  This inspires curiosity creating a sense of heightened anticipation, which is motivating to your students. It also gives you a chance to call audibles and change things up.  Get rid of things that don't work and add in things that do.  Your first game will be a lot of trial and error, so give yourself a break as you will be doing a lot of "building the plane while you are flying it" your first time through. 

Once you have selected your content, it starts to get a little messy.  There are three main parts that you have to deal with:  the content, the narrative, and the mechanics.  There is no right way to approach designing your game, so if the creativity hits you, go for it and focus on the narrative and the mechanics when you are in your flow.  For others it will be helpful especially your first time through to focus on the content structure first and then embellish it afterwards.  I used the latter approach for my first game, but for the two that I am working on now, I am all over the place!   Below is a snapshot of my process.

The Dilemma: 

At ASB we follow a trimester system, so students take a trimester of chemistry in 9th grade and then a second trimester in 10th grade.  Because I work at an international school with a transient population, every year in 10th grade, I get several new students who have never had chemistry before.  I also have a handful of students who could us a solid review of 9th grade chemistry if you know what I mean.  When there are only 50-60 students per grade level, this is a significant percentage of my students.  Having said that, it is not fair to hold the others back.  To address this issue, I designed a self-paced chemistry review using online resources via our LMS.  The problem is that students are not as motivated to truly learn (read practice and/or memorize problem solving strategies) especially those who are further behind than others as they tend to skip the necessary repetition to catch up with their peers.  So I have decided to gamify the review in hopes that the game itself will help to motivate the students to take the time required to build a solid foundation.  None of the tasks associated with the review will be graded.  They will all be formative assessments.

My game will have 4 levels.  I arrived at this number by analyzing the content and determining the natural breaks in terms of difficulty and complexity.  So my level structure for this one is easy to hard/more complex.  This is where it gets messy.  The narrative exploded on the scene before the rest of the structure fell into place for me.  So I went with the flow.  As a result, I can only share how I have designed the game thus far, but it will give you an idea as to how to get started. 

The example posted above shows the first task in the game.  Students will be assigned basic vocabulary that they will need to accomplish the first level of tasks (electron, proton, etc.) I have created a set of online flashcards on Quizlet that will be shared with the class.  Quizlet has both a built-in self-testing tool as well as two games that students can play for practice. I will play one of the games, and set the "score to beat".  Prior to the quiz, I will encourage grinding by holding a class game competition.  I will set a deadline (before they can sit for their first quiz) and the top three scorers who managed to beat my score on the word game will receive a code breaker card.  These tchotchkes are essentially a subeconomy in the game that will confer special privileges to the students in possession of the card.  Students will be allowed to barter and trade these cards on the black market as part of the game to purchase equipment for their laboratories if they choose not to use the privilege themselves. 

The card pictured above will essentially grant the student the right to retake a future quiz with no penalty (reduced amount of rubles earned, higher penalties for missed questions, eligibility for other tchotchkes). Note that by locking levels/ challenges beyond this one, I will be able to read when it is necessary to offer a privilege like this again and to whom to ensure that all students stay motivated and in their personal flow. All students will be awarded Rubles based on the number of questions that they get correct on their quiz.  They may retake the quiz as many times as necessary, but their earning potential is smaller for each subsequent attempt.  This encourages students to get it right on their first attempt, as you don't want students to waste too much time on retakes due to a lack of effort or preparation. 

As the game progresses, students will be able to use their rubles and tchotchkes to buy lab equipment on the black market (such as a bunsen burner) to upgrade their lab from an underground bunker to the next level.  There will also be surprise challenges like a chemistry scavenger hunt through the school using their knowledge of chemical elements and compounds to decode their search which can earn them equipment, tchotchkes or rubles. 

Takeaways:  

• Small manageable chunk of content
• Assessments allow for quick grading (program does it for me) to provide students with immediate feedback
• mechanics selected (game competition, tchotchke award for top 3, ruble amounts) all motivate students to thoroughly learn the vocabulary required
• Tchotchkes are designed to help avoid flow anxiety later in the game.   
• Students that don't make the top three in the game will most likely have played it enough times to learn the vocabulary which will earn them a sufficient amount of rubles without having to retake the quiz.   

More to come as I flesh the rest of this out!  In the meantime, here is a link to a list of mechanics you might want to consider using in your game as you design your playbook.   

Gamification 101: Designing your Playbook Part III

Angry Birds screenshot

In my previous post, Training Camp I discussed ways to prepare yourself to gamify instruction in your classes particularly for those of you who are not gamers.  Continuing with my football metaphor,  I want to share with you how I designed my playbook for my Physics game.  Though it may seem daunting, you will find that designing your game is incredibly similar to how you would design a unit in one of your classes, as the mechanics that you might use in a game align well with the pedagogical practices that we use everyday in our classroom. Having said that, with gamification, I found that students experience heightened anticipation, emotional engagement, and ultimately greater success due to the interweaving of game mechanics and fictional elements coupled with a disconnect from the pressure associated with grades.  

The screenshot above from Angry Birds does a great job of illustrating this.  Angry Birds is divided into worlds.  The first world of Angry Birds is called "Poached Eggs" which establishes the fictional elements of the game.  Each world is divided into levels that increase in complexity and difficulty as you move through the world.  The levels remain locked until you pass the level below.  Locking levels is a game mechanic that creates anticipation.  What will I find in Level 2?!?  There are multiple ways to pass each level with varying degrees of success equated to points and stars.  You also have the opportunity to redo each level if you are not satisfied with your feedback.  For a more detailed description, check out the Angry Birds Wiki and explore one of the themes (levels).  See if you can identify the game mechanics used to create the emotional experience that you have when playing Angry Birds.  ​

Now compare the description above to a unit that you teach in your class.  ​What would you need to do to heighten a student's anticipation?  How could you reduce their anxiety and transfer their focus from grades to the learning?  Does your content become more complex and difficult as you progress through the unit?  How frequently do you provide feedback to your students?  What opportunities do they have to act on your feedback? 

Keeping these questions in mind, let's get started on designing the shell for your game.  ​

​Step 1: Select the Learning Objectives

As with any unit that you design, you must have your learning objectives in place before you create your assessments.  It is crucial that these are clearly articulated so that you can integrate them into the game play.  Students should not be able to be successful in your game without demonstrating mastery of these objectives.  When choosing your learning objectives, you should focus on content that can easily be divided into smaller chunks and levels of difficulty or complexity.

One of the most appealing aspects of games is player control.  This translates into empowering students to be in control of their learning.  Your game should give students voice and choice over their game play, and allow for self-pacing.  Select content and skills that will allow you to be as far away from the driver's seat as possible. 

My advice for those of you who are new to gamification is to start with something small and manageable until you get the hang of it.  Keep in mind that games are not perfect for every situation.  ​Gamification works really well with Math and Physics units.  For other disciplines, you need to think carefully and creatively about how you will go about structuring your game. ​

For my physics unit, I had the topics of work, power, energy, and momentum to cover.  When I decided to gamify this unit, I focused my first “world” on work alone.  This narrowed down the list of learning objectives considerably making it easier to differentiate and assign levels. 

​Step 2:  Choose your Level Structure

Once you have selected your content and skills, the next step is to choose your level structure.  I have provided a few examples below, but you can also just as easily come up with your own.   For educational games, the best approach to this is to do what Karl Kapp refers to as a mission-based structure.  I had not read Kapp’s book when I designed my game, but this is exactly how I did it because pedagogically it makes sense.  The two structures that he suggests are:

• easy, intermediate, hard (using the same content)

• demonstration, practice, and test mode (this is similar to the model that I used).

The three levels in the game that I developed were:

• Level 1:  The collaborative, self-directed learning level.  I used online resources (Physics Classroom, and G-docs) to guide their learning.  The learning was self-paced, and this blended learning approach allowed my stronger students to forge ahead to more challenging tasks, while freeing me up to help the weaker students one-on-one or in mini workshops.  

• Level 2: The challenge level (read test).  I made it a requirement that students had to get a minimum of an 85% to receive their badge.  However, they were allowed to retake it if they didn’t accomplish it the first time through.

• Level 3: The project level.  I designed this level to force them to use higher order thinking skills (problem solving, creativity, critical thinking etc.) to accomplish the task.  Within the level, I built in different levels of difficulty to keep the stronger students in their “flow”.  Flow is a very important concept in games.  
  

Image credit: http://www.flowskills.com/the-8-elements-of-flow.html

Keep in mind that you can lock levels and keep your students in the dark.  It increases their excitement and anticipation while at the same time allows you to call audibles and change it up in the middle of game play.  Win-win! ​

CAUTION:   Be cognizant of the amount of content you put in each level and the amount of time that you allow for it.  If students are stuck in a level for too long, they will move into the zone of boredom and lose interest.  Timing is key.  One solution to this is to add sublevels (see example).  Change things up after every sublevel, or have mini-activities in place for some hands-on experiences.  I would recommend adding these at the end when you go back to revise your game.  

Another game structure you should check out is Michael Matera's Realm of Nobles that he created for his 6th grade world History course.  ​He does an awesome job at illustrating how you can gamify content in language-based disciplines.

I could literally go on and on about this topic, but I think that is enough to get you started.  To summarize as you begin to create a structure for your game and divide up your content and skills, ​you should consider the following suggestions: 

• allow for self-paced learning
  

• ensure that each level is challenging enough to maintain their curve of interest (flow) for all students (differentiation).

• adhere to a short time limit per activity/level

• build in an increasing level of difficulty from level to level
  

• provide for a variety of learning approaches

​In my next post I will discuss assessment/reward/feedback strategies.  If you missed my previous posts on gamification, you can find them all at this link. 

Gamification 101: Training Camp Part II

Image credit:  http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/08/11/cowboy-camp-update-may-have-to-start-center-who-never-snapped/​

When I think back to my process for gamifying my Physics class last year, it felt a little like the journey a coach goes through while preparing for that first game of the season. The planning and execution phases can easily be divided into training camp, designing the playbook, pre-game pep-talk, the season opener, and finally reviewing tape.  In this post I will discuss my approach to training camp. 

I am a die hard Cowboys fan in case you couldn't tell from the picture at the beginning of this post.  While searching for an appropriate image for training camp, I happened upon this headline from CBSlocal.com.

Co​wboys May Use Center Who Never Snapped

This resonated with me as I was by no means a gamer when I decided to explore this option in my class.  I had played my share of Angry Birds, but that was about it unless you counted my brief pre-teen encounters with Space Invaders, Pac Man and the occasional game of Frogger.  Once I discovered boys, I tried to forget that Atari and parachute pants were ever part of my vernacular. 

I wouldn't even consider myself a casual gamer.  Last year, while the idea of gamification was percolating in my brain, I taught across the hall from a true gamer who was completely immersed in gamifying homework practices in his class. I called him Crazy Train as the ride he was on was borderline obsessive and insane (or so I thought at the time).  I frequently caught myself checking to make sure the coast was clear before leaving my room in an effort to avoid interactions with him because every conversation was ultimately dominated by his overwhelming excitement over things like avatars, subeconomies, level-ups, warp zones, and other gamer terms that sounded a lot like Chinese to me.

Fortunately, for me, I soon discovered that you do not need to be a gamer to gamify your content.  That is what training camp is all about.  For the non-gamers out there that are looking for a way to make your classes more engaging and fun, this is a good place to start.  As a bonus, gamification will also help the learning stick. 

Step 1:  ​Play Games...Actively

To get started you simply need to play some games.  Pick something easy and manageable at first, like Angry Birds.  ​Approach your game play with the same strategies that you advise your students to use when "actively" reading an article or chapter in a book.  Be an active, reflective participant in your game play. 

While playing, ask yourself the following questions and take note of your responses:

• What emotions did you feel throughout the game play and how did you respond? ​
• What made you want to continue playing?  
• ​Was there only one way move to the next level, or did you have choice in your journey?  
• ​What happened when you made mistakes and how did you feel?  
• ​Did you feel like you were in control?  
• ​What kind of feedback did you get, and how often?  
• ​How did the feedback affect your play?  
• What elements of the game helped you to maintain your focus? ​
• What was your reaction to failure?  How was this different to other experiences you have had with failure?  ​
• What role did game mechanics play in your experience?  ​What role did the fictional story line play in your experience?  ​(If you are not familiar with these terms, read through the references to these in my previous post.) 
• What learning was required of you to be successful in the game?  ​

Now compare your experience to the experience that your students have while participating in one of your lessons.  How are they similar?  How are they different?  ​

​Step 2: Do a Little Research

There are three books that I have found helpful in designing my game.  

1. The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and   Strategies for Training and Education
2. Designing Games:  A Guide to Engineering Experiences 
3. ​Gamification by Design: Implementing Game Mechanics in Web and Mobile Apps

​There is also great value in reading blogs about gamification.  Once you discover a blogger that has a passion for gamification, check out the bloggers that are linked to his/her blog.  This is a hot topic at the moment, so a simple search should send you in the right direction.  A few that I would highly recommend at the moment are: 

• Michael Matera's awesome series on gamification​
  
• ​Alice Keeler's blog called Gamericulum with tons of great practical tips on gamification
  
• Jason Roy's blog Crispy Math (He has a ton of easily adaptable single lesson games on his site) ​
• Karl Kapp's blog (author of one of the recommended books) ​
• ​Gabe Zichermann's blog (also an author of one of the recommended books)
  
• Gamification Paper.li Daily ​

You should also follow these people on Twitter if you are a Tweep:

@gzicherm  @roybot  @mrmatera  @DanBenoni  ​@alicekeeler

Finally, if you are really keen, Kevin Werbach from U. Penn offers a course on Coursera​ about Gamification.  He doesn't have one going at the moment, but you can add yourself to the watchlist and Coursera will inform about the next start date.  You can also contact him personally on Twitter @kwerb

​Step 3: Discuss Your Ideas with Colleagues

After doing a bit of research, I was ready to jump on the Crazy Train myself (metaphorically speaking).  It was truly great to have him as a resource throughout this process. If there are other teachers interested in gamification at your school or district, form a group to discuss strategies with each other. Two minds (or three or four) are always better than one.  If you are flying solo, revert back to my Twitter suggestion.  There are so many people out there who would love to discuss this topic with you.  Just search using the hashtags #gamification or #gamify, find someone who is tweeting about relevant experiences and then engage them in a dialogue, or reach out to one of the handles posted above.  You can also send questions to me at ‏@roryaileen.

​As we head into summer vacation, this is the perfect time to start exploring gamification while you are not immersed in the day to day grind of being a teacher. Gamifying your content takes time.  Start small and give it a go!  In my next post I will discuss designing your playbook.  Until then, happy training! 

Gamification 101: Why Gamify? Part I

Meet my niece and nephew, Brody and Riley.  They were three and two when these pictures were taken.  That is my iPad.  They are now five and four.  I live in India, so sadly, I only get to see them once or twice a year.  We usually meet up at my parents house while I am home for the summer.  ​I count the days and then hours until I hear the sound of the car in the driveway and catch a glimpse of the excitement on their faces when they first see me on the back patio.  My nephew can hardly contain himself as he desperately tries to break free of the seat belt, scrambling for the car door.  He runs towards my open arms, shouting, "Aunt Rory! Can I play with your iPad?!?!". 

Angry Birds 1:  Aunt Rory 0. 

I take what I can get.

Typically, I don't see my iPad for the duration of their visit.  The lengths that my nephew,  will go to to play games are astounding.  Who knew such small people were capable of such sinister manipulation and deception.  ​One afternoon, we spent about half an hour looking for Brody, only to find him hiding behind the couch in an Angry Birds trance with the sound turned off to avoid detection.  We have all been there, or know someone who has lost all will power and surrendered to the call of the game Sirens.  Just ask my students.  The other day this post from one student to another showed up on my feed.

You know it is bad when they don't respond to Facebook messages!  My response?  STOP PLAYING CRIMINAL CASE AND STUDY FOR YOUR IB EXAMS!  Hmmmm... Maybe if IB exams were more like a game.  Now there is a thought. 

​I decided to give it a try.  About an hour before my seniors went in to take their IB exam for Biology last week, several of them showed up in my classroom in a state of sheer panic.  It was time for the pep talk.  "It's just a game.  Go in there and grab as many points as you can while trying to beat your own high score or better yet, beat Mr. Roy. Exact your revenge for all of those times that he took advantage of your age and inexperience just to add another mark to his win column. Just think of it as a game."  I immediately saw the tension drain from their faces, and a couple of them had gone to their happy place replacing the panic with a confident smirk.  It was obvious that they were about to engage in an epic battle against Mr. Roy for the next three and a half hours and the odds were in their favor. 

24 hours after exams, the teachers are given the exam materials, including the multiple choice booklets that the students mark up before putting the answers on their answer sheet.  While searching for a clean copy to add to my files, I discovered this on the cover of one of the exams.

​Anonymous Student 1: Mr. Roy 0

So what makes games so appealing?  I have been reading a book called Designing Games by Tynan Sylvester.  Tynan does a great job at defining the emotional journey of a game by breaking it down into the elements that make us so vulnerable to those game Sirens.  The first piece of the puzzle is the mechanics of the game.  Mechanics are the elements of games that define how a game works and determine the complexity and level of player interaction.  Things such as risk and rewards, movement, resource management, victory conditions, timing, loss avoidance etc. are all examples of game mechanics.  Mechanics create an arousal state using threats and challenges.

Mechanics are then layered with fictional elements or the story of the game.  This gives the game emotional meaning, which as we know is important for learning (see below). 

When you combine the mechanics and the fictional layer, you create events that provoke emotions and ultimately lead to ​an integrated experience. 

So what does this have to do with education?  Rule #4 from the book Brain Rules by John Medina, is "We don't pay attention to boring things".  Medina goes on to explain, "We pay attention to things like emotions, threats and sex. Regardless of who you are, the brain pays a great deal of attention to these questions: Can I eat it? Will it eat me? Can I mate with it? Will it mate with me? Have I seen it before?"  A perfect example of this is Apple"s 1984 commercial introducing the Macintosh computer.  ​He also talks about the positive effects of stress and emotional memory (check out slide #2).  Games are great at creating emotional experiences with the right combination of mechanics and story elements.

Games also have an element of repetition or grinding built in that enhances the brains ability to retain learning for a longer period of time.    ​

When you compare the elements of games with current brain research on learning enhancement, gamifying learning is theoretically a win-win, a "no brainer" if you will.  The trick is to find a way to make the learning objectives an integral part of the game play so that the only way that a winning condition can be achieved is through the mastery of these objectives. 

Examples of Gamification

The first example is an activity from my 10th grade Physics class called "Save Earth".  See if you can identify the game mechanics in this activity.  Here is a video clip of the students working on saving the world from destruction.  By combining the game mechanics with the fictional elements I was able to successfully design an emotional experience for the students to enhance their learning of Newton's Laws. 

Jason Roy is the review game master.  You can find many examples of gamification on his blog, crispymath.com​.  Two great games of his that are easy to adapt to different disciplines, are Crocodile Dentist and Danger Cards.  They definitely do the job of creating fun, emotionally charged experiences while accomplishing the learning objectives.

If you are just getting started and want to start with something less complicated, check out jeopardylabs.com for a ready-made online jeopardy template, or give technology taboo a try.  ​

If you have gamified content in your class, please share your experiences and suggestions.  I would love to hear about them! 

In my next post, I will discuss a strategy for getting started on designing longer-term classroom games.