#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?
Welcome to #games4ed! It's gonna be a great night chatting about treasure and scavenger hunts!
Introduce yourself and share your favorite fall sport or activity
Here's a preview of tonight's questions, all about treasure and scavenger hunts!
We'll follow the Q1/A1 format. Don't forget to tag your tweets with #games4ed
Q1 comes out in a couple minutes!
Hi all, just popping in for a bit. Kara from IN and it’s not an activity really but I love getting my pumpkin spice lattes on crisp fall mornings ❤️☕️ #games4ed
3rd Period engagement today was infectious. Students were feverishly trying to complete their first quest. Loved hearing students carry their conversations into the hallway after class.
#gkcogs#xplap#PlayLap#games4ed
I'm not sure I can officially drink any pumpkin spice until September...even though school has started, I'm still hanging on a bit until summer! #games4ed
In reply to
@MusingsOnEdTech, @KaraDoenges, @StarbucksCanada
What do you like putting into your treasures? I thought about making that a question but it didn't make the cut...I'm always trying to think of non-edible stuff to use... #games4ed
Hi all! Mike Neumire, instructional technology specialist in Rochester NY. I am late thanks to a fantasy football draft which also happens to be my favorite fall activity. #games4ed
For me most of my Treasure hunts are for Side Quests...so the treasure is usually a power, Hero, or Item to use with the game. Last year a group of Ss went on a hunt and discovered the Holy Grail...3D printed :) #games4ed
I'm not actually a pumpkin spice fan. But the starbucks app has kept sending me notifications of the countdown to it's arrival for the last week. #games4ed
In reply to
@KaraDoenges, @mpilakow, @StarbucksCanada
A1- I’ve really only used scavengerhunts but open to both. I do like how searching focusing on making observations which is what science is about and that’s what I teach. #games4ed
I prefer scavenger hunts because they’re more open to student creation activities. I like using things like hidden badges to provide challenges. #games4ed
#games4ed - Why do you have to have a preference. I say change things up and do both: treasure hunts and scavenger hunts depending on the inquiry unit. I love doing both
That's a really cool idea--both the sidequest thing and 3D Holy Grail ;) Some Ss have been looking for some more sidequests and I've been trying to think of what to do that isn't a lot of end work for me... #games4ed
Great point--scavenger hunts really do lend themselves well to teaching observations. This makes me wonder about how I can integrate this idea more into my college composition class to get them observing more... #games4ed
Last year I created a @GooseChase - scavenger hunt - to introduce the idea of education and equity for a social justice unit. Gr8 way to ignite conversation do some preliminary assessment of our thinking about these ideas #games4ed
A2 -
Art - scavenge supplies than have to make something
Social/History - Follow the path of someone (explorer), think campaign trail for president, prize is becoming president
Science - collect bits of knowledge that together allow you to do some experiment
#games4ed
A2 cont -
Math - treasure hunt of solving math problems... prize is not having to do a final test?
English - find all the important objects in a book
Gym - scavenger hunt that requires searching all over the entire school
#games4ed
Nathan, I really love this idea. That's what I liked about older digital Breakouts--creating websites with some red herrings. As an ELA teacher, I could see some connections with argumentation here, too #games4ed
Q3: We've come a long way since the first web quests 15 years ago.
What are some of your favorite tools to add digital (or completely) online elements to hunts?
#games4ed
A2: to get to the next clue, Ss have to interact with material and answer question or complete a task dealing with that new material. Finishing that correctly unlocks the way to the next piece of treasure on the hunt. #games4ed
Ss had to find a picture of some one who stood up for civil rights, define equal education vs. equity in education, Ss video being up standers, and list a dozen change makers in history #games4ed
I like this! It could be fun to group kids together who have read the same book (or same topic) and have them work together!! I'm keeping this idea! #games4ed
Ooh, could be fun to take this a step forward - you have a backpack that can only hold so much weight/volume. So during the hunt, each thing you find you have to decide does it a) fit, and b) should you keep it and possibly get rid of something else. #games4ed
A3 - can’t wait to hear what others do. I love the basic camera app, I did a Matter Scavenger hunt in place of a test before and they had to find examples of phase changes, mixture types, etc. #games4ed
So many good ideas here! And I love that art one---I've been playing with the idea of creating something out of the "findings" of students...or maybe the clues of a treasure hunt fit together to create something unexpected #games4ed
A3: my favorite tools for scavenger hunts are @MetaverseApp (add treasure items, link experiences), QR codes connected to things like google forms, @BloxelsBuilder (build whole side scroll worlds with hidden clues), and @BadgeList for Easter eggs #games4ed
I am working on this now for my escape room. I also use @GooseChase and play around with different cypher decoders online like the pigpen cypher and others #games4ed
So many people thing that everything needs to part of a path. The world is full of misdirected or fake this or fake that. Need to get students to think #games4ed
If you made the scavenger hunt clues vague ("find something red"), could be interesting once they come back to say okay "your red object is your protagonist, your blue object is your setting... now write a story. #games4ed
Q4: Often, the "winners" are the ones who accumulate the most points or get to the end first.
What other ways can students win or be recognized for their "hunting"?
#games4ed
I LOVE using digital breakouts using Google Sites and Forms. It’s fun to combine them with a scavenger hunt t where unlocking the form generates an answer that sends them somewhere else in the school. That clue then takes them back into a new Form. #games4ed
A4 - I like that treasure hunts can essentially force mastery (don't solve a clue, don't proceed to next level). In which case, the goal is for everyone to finish, not about finishing first.
#games4ed
Q4: Often, the "winners" are the ones who accumulate the most points or get to the end first.
What other ways can students win or be recognized for their "hunting"?
#games4ed
A4: I happened across Xnote app a few weeks ago. Allows you to hide secret visual messages at sites via GPS--then sends an email to the recipient sending them to find the site. Pretty fun to play with! #games4ed
I never ever considered using @BloxelsBuilder for clues! What a great idea! I'd thought about Minecraft or Google VR Tour Builder, but this blew my mind just a bit!
#games4ed
In reply to
@MNeumire, @MetaverseApp, @BloxelsBuilder, @BadgeList, @BloxelsBuilder
A4: I’m a big proponent of micro credentialing through badges. Why let only one student win when everyone can earn unique badges by strength. I’m doubling down with hidden @BadgeList as Easter eggs. #games4ed
A4: Easter eggs! Physical or digital items that can be found and collected during the hunt. These might give the procurer a special advantage or item. #games4ed
A5: physical pieces could be a puzzle that forms a greater whole and final message. Physically and digitally there could be letters taken from each completed step that would be a final code to solve. #games4ed
I've thought about this, but never tried it. I think it would be a cool idea. I think if the clues physically fit together to make something, it would really make the kids think outside of the box #games4ed
A5: great question. What if the info found is then used in the constraints / guidelines for something students create (a game, story, video, etc.) #games4ed
A6 - can you hide clues outside, so people need to visit them? Or even make it a bit more virtual - require them to reach out to certain people via twitter/email/something and they reply with a code... #games4ed
A6 have students drop images into a google folder or record videos at certain locations for additional points. You an adjust to where students live or get access to #games4ed
(2) their words. I had copies of the boards out for them to pick out the clues they would use. Then they had to tell me why they chose the clues to go with the words. If they couldn’t adequately link the two things, they didn’t escape and had to keep going. #games4ed
I never thought about communicating electronically! Cool idea! Or having to ask their parents for clues (if you plant clues with them...) I've planted clues with teachers before, but I love the idea of getting more distant #games4ed
A6: create a sample location based experience in the school community and have students create their own. @MetaverseApp or #aris could be used as well as other apps probably like @GooseChase#games4ed
A6 - can you hide clues outside, so people need to visit them? Or even make it a bit more virtual - require them to reach out to certain people via twitter/email/something and they reply with a code... #games4ed
Q7: My next-door neighbors are avid "geocachers"--they love finding and hiding caches.
How might geocaching work with your students sometime this school year? #games4ed
On twitter, you could come up with some obscure hashtag(s) and have other people tweet codes to those hashtags. So they don't even necessarily have to interact with the people, just be able to find the tweets. #games4ed
On twitter, you could come up with some obscure hashtag(s) and have other people tweet codes to those hashtags. So they don't even necessarily have to interact with the people, just be able to find the tweets. #games4ed
A6: if you’re able to leave your classroom, cross curricular projects could involve clues that lead to other teachers as experts. QR codes, @MetaverseApp experiences and google forms would be perfect ways to reveal this information! #games4ed
A7: I'd love to remember this spring to have my seniors set up a geocache--include things they've written. Maybe advice for senior year. THen have new seniors find it in the fall... #games4ed
A8: We had a small group tonight, but I walked away with quite a few great ideas! Scavenger hunts to find words, making a geocache...I know there were others that I need to go check back on! #games4ed
A8 - Have to create that giant Merge Cube and bring it into my classroom and lessons, I am also going to add a fake text message to my Escape the Classroom #games4ed
I don’t have laptops. This throws a wrench in my plans for the year. What can students do with cell phones? @GetKahoot@quizlet@quizizz@gimkit, viewing google sheets, doing google forms, viewing google sites. Is all my work useable? #xplap#games4ed
A8 - That there are an infinite number of ways to create a scavenger hunt/treasure hunt. And so if you're feeling stuck, ask on twitter or recheck tonight's tweets. #games4ed
