Reflection 9: More Exploration and Progress

These past two weeks have seen a great deal of accomplishment - in my mind....

First, I finished the video game training in 3D GameLab, spending several days thoroughly delving into the world of Minecraft, a sandbox video game.

Minecraft can be used a variety of ways in a classroom setting - we just need to think outside of the proverbial box and create:

A few possibilities for use in higher education occurred to me as I watch video after video on Minecraft. I could create a community college or university and create quest plates. this ay students could move through the college and be faced with a variety of scenarios to solves, ranging from budget to resources to faculty squabbles. Ideally, though, students need to be in Minecraft synchronously, so I would need to assign them in teams to various times....difficult task in a fully asynchronoous online master's degree program. this did leave me thinking, however, so that is good....and Minecraft will certainly be included in the course.

I quickly reviewed a series of videos on Minecraft (101  Ideas for Minecraft Learners) and found one that will be VERY useful once we are ready to create our map of Gamitopia. We will be able to sketch out a map of our world, scan it in, then the video below shows how to actually create a topographical map using our sketch and a program called World Painter:

I was also introduced to Classcraft, a  free class management tool.A great example of gamification, Classcraft uses gaming elements such as XP, badges, and boss battles to incentivize students with real in-class risks and rewards and help them develop meaningful collaboration. Faculty can pull up the LMS on a projector for  the entire class, using the system based on student responses and behaviors:

A Typical Day in Classcraft from Classcraft on Vimeo.

So...I have learned quite a bit.

I also have finished the Towne of Histoire.....FINALLY!   All content is posted as is a Guildchat.  I am currently trying to choose between designing a checklist or a rubric...or both. I love grading with the speedgrader in Canvas, but the rubric creator itself does not do what I want.  I prefer to have a description of each level of each criterion.  I suppose I can create a rubric in Word and attach it to the assignment, THEN set up the Canvas rubric with the basic numbers, but that would mean students need to use the handout when they review the rubric, instead of just the rubric...Just seems time-consuming and not useful!

Next for me?

Gaming Towne! This modules explores the types of games, provides some vocabulary, defines gamification, and gives a history of gamification.  I am very excited to move on to this section!