#games4ed Archive
#games4ed discussions cover ways in which gaming can be used in education. Games mirror the way the human mind was designed to learn. They motivate players to take risks and actions, persevere through failures, set and achieve increasingly difficult goals, and devote attention, time, and effort to acquiring knowledge and skills. All this while the game is tracking the player’s actions and assessing the player’s achievements and skills. Isn’t this what we want from education?
Thursday August 4, 2016
Welcome to Gamifying the Elementary Classroom!We will use the Q1-A1 format and . See graphics for questions https://t.co/VBpRA6m6wo
We have a question on techniques Ts use to engage middle schoolers in gaming. Any insight from the crew? https://t.co/zFAsix06a5
Kevin, Socal, 7/8 history and AVID. Joining because I love games.
intro: Melissa from Nebraska, 11-12 ELA. I loved Brianna's GAFE-based gamification session at ISTE!!
Dianne 4/5 T from soCal. Trying gamification in class this year, just getting started
Thanks for joining us, Dianne! Welcome to your journey into gamification
Q1 coming up in one minute
Shannon from 7th ELA. had an amazing session at . Long-time lover of combining games and edu
Jared from NYC. Been awhile, but happy to be back!
Heya, Shannon! Welcome! I, too, loved her session!! So much I knew I wanted her to host a chat!!
Katherine Goyette, Edtech Integration Consultant, Central California
Hi Katherine! Great to have you!
Q1: Name your favorite game and one component that keeps you coming back for more!
A1: All time: Final Fantasy 2. Current: Smite. In both cases progression through effort is what keeps me going.
Word Scramble App! My new addition. I want to beat my high score! Caren, from NC joining late!
A1: Love ClashRoyale right now. The treasure chests always encourage me to come back. And games are quick 3-4 minutes each
A1: Currently? Pokemon Go. The desire to actually "catch 'em all". I hate leaving things unfinished. :)
A1: Monopoly, randomness, competition, social aspects
Hi! Sorry, jumping in late! Tisha culinary teacher from SO Oregon!
I haven't played that one yet! I need to get on it!! (And glad you're here!!
Monopoly was my favorite in middle school! I looked forward to the weekend so we could binge play!
A1: Catan. Love that it requires you to be involved during all players turns.
A1Bridge. Intellectually challenging + social
A1 sorry I am late playing
Oh, I love Catan too. Haven't played in awhile!
Will have to look this up! Not familiar!
sometimes "suspense" and the idea of "not knowing what happens next" is a great way to hold engagement
A1: Recently reminisced about SimCity2000, involving creation, challenges, strategy. Politics, engineering, math, science, & more.
A1: Also loved Tetris and Mario back in the day! (showing my age!)
World of Warcraft because of the cooperative NOT competitive team play. Player vs. Environment (PvE)
my son is currently obsessed with pokemon go (he's 5)... it engages so many levels of players
A1: I must admit AR tech of PokemonGo keeps me coming back...
Definitely worth checking out! Also, Ticket to Ride!
I'm scared to waste my data! We usually go over anyway with two teen girls!
Didn't know it then, but secretly loved the geometry aspect of Tetris
I'm sure he's on a higher level than I am!
Loved hearing about your favorite games... now let's connect them to education! Question Two is up https://t.co/qXfBNR0Too
Oooh! An old favorite! I was Tetris champion in 3rd grade. :)
I'm hoping to get into Catan one of these days. Tabletop strategy looks intriguing.
A2: Motivation!! We are going to try and gamify our entire school this year! Not sure how yet! Any tips???
this brings up so many interesting ideas within gamification. cooperation vs. competition is a huge balancing act
Great point! A few wks ago I saw stats that most players (and Ss) are socializers more than anything https://t.co/iwQFjhQjGz
World of Warcraft because of the cooperative NOT competitive team play. Player vs. Environment (PvE)
A2: The possibility of completing all aspects. Ss also love earning badges & climbing the leaderboard!
A2: Creative approaches to new challenges can keep students engaged in learning, as it keeps their interest in simulation games.
A2: The simple switch from building UP to something versus constantly struggling to stay there is huge.
If you do badges (digital or real) and where would Ss store them?
A2: Rewards, badges, some will want the challenge of new levels
start small, but think big and plan backwards. What is end goal and what are all the things that need to happen
I'm in favor of real ones. Put 'em on folders, binders. I've done strips of paper hanging in room.
I've done both electronic badges (via ) & homemade superhero cards. Ss taped these to their laptops.
kids love games as much as we do! They are fun and we love playing... we need to do this more in the classroom
Q2: Creates a storyline that keeps Ss excited & immersed and continually strategizing, collaborating, and problem solving.
and empowering students to do so... games are all about motivation. How can we empower our kids through gamificaiton?
A2: Always change it up. Don't let game stagnate. And keep competition fairly even--otherwise a team that gets too behind quits
Amen! I'm using in my PD this year. Creating a full narrative game for my staff. :) https://t.co/m6JIhAeT7P
kids love games as much as we do! They are fun and we love playing... we need to do this more in the classroom
love google sheets as a tech option for storing badges! Or stickers to a wall chart or binder :)
A2 Provide clear, complex, obtainable goals that require a vast variety of skills, thereby demanding that Ss work together to win
I'm working on stronger storylines this year! Ironic that it's my weaker part of game as an ELA teacher!!
I always think about self-pacing. What would this look like for students to "level-up" on their own time frame?
I'd love to know your method for using Google sheets. :) I use sheets for my leaderboard.
I want to be on staff at Jared's school!! https://t.co/LHienKkT2J
Amen! I'm using in my PD this year. Creating a full narrative game for my staff. :) https://t.co/m6JIhAeT7P
kids love games as much as we do! They are fun and we love playing... we need to do this more in the classroom
I did it a little for my staff last year! But really want to get it started for my Ss!
Was thinking of using for several parts, allows Ss to level up as complete missions
the idea of full immersion in an elementary classroom fascinates me. We even did role playing without our theme
We don't have Google for our kids...we use Office 365.
Any and all suggestions are more than welcome. I'm still devising the narrative, but there are four teams. :)
The trick is finding automation. Google Sites is free, but manually updating each S is hours
What kind of games did you do with staff? Any recommendations?
This is what we were talking about today!! Just got home and found this chat!
story is very hard to do in games. Even professional ones do a very poor job.
It's difficult to tie in so much when we as teachers are already under so much pressure. Good luck!
Amen! Games can be harder b/c of multiple outcomes where traditional stories have one outcome.
Love Dianne's idea! https://t.co/T10uuzgX8G
Was thinking of using for several parts, allows Ss to level up as complete missions
A3: Establishing shared norms fosters a spirit of collaboration & can provide a framework for communication.
A3: Collab is where I struggle with how I am structuring w/, aspects with doc though
Someone suggested using ClassDojo today! Going to research and see if it works for our purposes.
A3: Players can use their individual XP to influence the class score and bonus game. Gets them cheering for each other.
A3: Centralize all information in an easy to get to place. Use teams in games to build rapport.
A3: We are going to break our entire school into 4 houses (like Ron Clark) and have teams compete against each other!
I love using for my hs students, but DoJo is great for lower to mid elementary!
A3: Collab & comm. are foundational in culinary. Ss on teams & have opp to earn XP indiv & as a team. Goal to become Masterchef
Like this. Class points give moe rewards
Also, is great for collaboration!
That's what I'm doing with my staff! :)
A3: I was typing as you posted!
Wow! What an idea! Please keep me posted on how this goes... LOVE THIS
Gives me Harry Potter goosebumps!!! Was going to break classes into teams, but maybe houses as well... https://t.co/hCEdqeLQ95
A3: We are going to break our entire school into 4 houses (like Ron Clark) and have teams compete against each other!
A3 I'm judge game proposal. This is often a huge issue.
A3 Reward students for collab as much as possible. Penalize teams for a failure that teamwork could have prevented. Positive panda
kids can also utilize team successes and failures to learn from one another
Check out she is amazing. Interactive document allows Ss to work @ own pace & extend
We are going to in September! Five of us won a grant to pay for our trip!!! SO FREAKING EXCITED!
If in elementary, great! If older Ss, check out
Hi Mitch!! Happy you made it :) Always such a privilege to have you here!!!
and that connects to real life as well!
Looked at this but looked a little adult for our 4/5 Ss.
Most important: failures. Learning to fail in a safe way is vital.
That sounds amazing. I have to check her/hyperdocs out! Thanks!
is perfect, then! They've added so much to help keep parents involved, too.
I asked my 5th graders what made gaming different than school, as far as failures were concerned.
Failure is one of the key components in my classroom. Even our youngest babies need to know how to fail and iterate
One of my favs! Want to include some if it as well in my game
A4 feedback not failure. There is no failure, just redirection.
providing a safe place for kids to fail, get feedback and iterate is so important
A4: We need to find the reason they keep trying after failing at video games, but won't after failing in the classroom.
A4: For me, no score is ever final. Ss can always go back and rework/revise and improve.
agreed! It starts with culture and relationships. I think gamification leads itself to this progression naturally
Failure doesn't seem to so permanent in games. I keep reminding Ss failure just means try again.
Felt same way. Wished there was something for younger
we can instill this in even our youngest classrooms with high quality feedback and the chance to try again!
Low stakes. The cost of mistakes is so much lower
any task worth doing is worth redoing
A4: With games, especially content-based games, Ss constantly get feedback from the game & players. Quickest way to learn!
A4: I stopped grading most things. Doesn't make sense to grade the first 3rd of a level.
A4 Increasing focus on reflection combined with redos. ELA class has drafting, let's use that to our advantage!
A4: spending lots of time at beg yr showing how failure leads to success, game part of that instruction
Agreed! I often give credit, but early on, no evaluative grades. Just feedback.
But how can we change their mindset to this in the classroom?
draft and then try, try, try again! Learn from others and get feedback along the way
A4: Focus on feedback for learning, not evaluation for assessment. Flip the focus.
Game mistakes are also black and white. Edu mistakes aren't always so clear.
A4: Listened to BB coach speak yesterday. He FORCES players to mess up & make mistakes so they can get that growth mindset.
modeling how to successfully fail and iterate is so important. We can build that beautifully in our classrooms
And reinforces that idea so well! Especially if Ts are playing along in the digital version
I love the end there: Flip the focus!!
Do a Digital game. Afterwards talk about reiteration's impact.
I spent 4 hours doing a last week! Alone!
A5: The ultimate gamification in classrooms - students create their own games to demonstrate learning.
Finally after getting a hint from someone on FB! LOL!
Yes to the power of infinity! My Ss loved game jams last yr. This yr: they're gonna create breakout games! https://t.co/MIWDSG1wMs
A5: The ultimate gamification in classrooms - students create their own games to demonstrate learning.
A5: Real World Problems for them to find solutions for. Authentic audience. Gaming, coding, tech is our future!
A5 when games provides the same cognitive activities as the real-life situation, the skills are transferable
A5 Ss have an authentic audience for their product. ALL people work harder when they present to a panel of expects, not just the T
A5: Gamification often leads to choice, choice leads to more real learning. Doing what they want about what they want.
A5: So many 21st century skills are gained, esp when gamification is combined with ! Crit thnkg, teamwk, creativity...
My favorite word (or one of them) in education: Choice. For both Ss and in PD. https://t.co/4iXjGO3Hfn
A5: Gamification often leads to choice, choice leads to more real learning. Doing what they want about what they want.
A5: Ss in culinary are given lots of opp for choice and creativity. Learning life skills that they will use forever.
Choice leads to agency, agency to success now and later in life. https://t.co/wXjaEayX15
My favorite word (or one of them) in education: Choice. For both Ss and in PD. https://t.co/4iXjGO3Hfn
A5: Gamification often leads to choice, choice leads to more real learning. Doing what they want about what they want.
Anyone use Minecraftedu? How, when, etc?
what is the support we can get to help with teacher learning curves?
I have that same question! Would love to use it in the classroom, but haven't yet!
Audience is TBD at this point. Depends on unit. Hoping to use and with
Two great Ts for Minecraft are & ! If you're interested, they're great to follow!
Tried to download the free version, but it wasn't compatible with my Windows Version
I haven't...not sure how it would integrate in ELA class. Tons of other subjects, though!
Plan my Ss blogging w/Blogger this year. Excited to share w/world
This past semester, we had badges, XP, powers, and leaderboards. It was a lot of fun!
I'm in the same boat. Love watching my own kids do it, but limited for upper high school ELA, I feel
how did you create these platforms for students? Tech? No tech?
A6: Still working on this! Thinking Classdojo, Classcraft, etc. Display leaderboard on TV during lunch
A6: game around Zootopia so final badges will be police shields, using stickers and other rewards (animal based) for missions
Q6: Ss can earn badges with varying XP. Level up at 4000 & become Masterchef. Earn special advantages in game. Can earn items too
Mixture of tech and no tech. Most records were tech; games were half and half.
love the theme connection! Are their badges printed or tech based?
A6: Looking at https://t.co/U9nBUrZz9H for badges, but not sure it will work for us. Send an email but no reply yet.
A6: As says, the answer is always a spreadsheet!
Use XP points with leaderboard or , display badges but not sure how yet https://t.co/kcxdXzfKXK
A6: game around Zootopia so final badges will be police shields, using stickers and other rewards (animal based) for missions
A6: Pulling away from individual leaderboards, posting guild and house leaderboards using 's amazing spreadsheet
But who keeps all the records? I have 300 kids!
Am thinking both, final will be physical for sure with maybe digital along the way
ELA can use for setting, changes, character dream house that reps them...
A6 is great for keeping track or CBL
Will do. Connecting w/out of state school as well to get more global
that is why I am on this chat. Kind of. Just reading stuff thinking.
I've heard of some Ts who use a student as King's Hand during class to enter points. The position changes daily
A6 In the past I've used spreadsheets with a graph displayed on a site or Hope to switch
Is still Tuesday? Missed this week
blogging with my Ss as well! We collect postcards from around the world so wanting them responding via that!
I really like . Easy to use. And 18-yr-old boys still like to collect digital pets.
What do you think of 4/5 graders using it?
Cool! Might have to do the postcards as well. How did you connect?
Do you think your service would work with our 4/5 graders?
She is a twitter master!!! LOL!
I was playing original at that age. Depends on the kids.
Thanks for sharing everyone!
started by emailing travel bloggers but now use mainly social media! About 300 so far! Great way to make connections
