The Towne of Histoire is complete - with content, graphics, videos, and activities!
Now I am moving on to Gaming Towne where students will explore the various types of games (simulations, frame games, serious games, virtual worlds, interactive virtual environments). hey will learn the difference being gamification and turning a class into a game and delve into the history of gamification. They will see how business and education use these various activities and even experiment with these types of games. Student will begin to ponder how to apply games or gamification in their settings.
I have really been looking forward to this Towne, although it will be bigger and much more involved than Histoire. Finally, we can explore pedagogy and games and gamification.......really get into the meat of this course!
My plan for the upcoming week? Finish the section on Simulations, including the various associated quests and hopefully begin working on Frame Games.... I have these mapped out already - I just want to make sure offer lots of options allowing students to choose among options for testing and learning.
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:
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!
I suppose I am not really lost....just trying to learn more, to fill in the gaps of my knowledge.....
3D GameLab is holding a Teacher Camp - free training for me - and I have a difficult time during down free training.....particularly free training related to games.
Play This, Learn That is based on a free enhanced audio e-book that explores commercial videos and their use in the classroom.
While I am familiar with a few simulations for use in higher education , I am not as familiar with those for K-12, so this free training fills a gap in my knowledge base.
So far I have explored two video games.
Kerbal Space Programis a space flight simulator. Players control a fledgling space program at the dawn of the space age, similar to the US or USSR in the 60s or China and other countries in the 90s. Players are given a working spaceport with assembly buildings, research facilities, a training campus, and all of the trappings of mid-century NASA.
This simulation takes place on a planet called Kerbin, with a race of little green, minion-like, characters called Kerbals who all share the last name Kerman. As rockets are built, Kerbals are recruited to man the rocket, and missions are successful if the Kerbals fly the rocket, land, complete their assigned tasks, and return home.
This video provides a quick overview:
The primary mode of play is Science Mode where players begin with a limited set of technologies and resources. As they complete missions, players earn more spendable science credits or points that can be used to research and select new technologies for future missions. Early on, vehicles must be controlled manually. However, after multiple mission successes different guidance and stabilization systems can be unlocked and applied to future spacecraft. Each successive mission increases future science and technology. Players build on successes and develop a need and understanding of each subsequent technology.
Science mode is designed with the new player in mind, breeding many opportunities for simple successes and acquisition of new technologies in a graduated and personally selected way.
The game has different game modes as well. Career Mode lets players control more of the business of space flight. Players build, expand, and manage their own space center, taking on missions and researching new technologies.
Players can even build and play in Sandbox mode if they are interested in flying and discovering the Kerbal universe without restrictions. The Internet is filled with examples of incredible Kerbal creativity generated in this mode. With all of the tools and abilities at your disposal, this mode makes it possible.
KerbalEdu also includes a mission library, editor, and sharing capability. You can select missions (described as contracts or quests) that align directly with age level (5-18+), subject (math, physics, astronomy, engineering, technology, other science), and mission type. The mission library of pre-made lessons can even include lesson plans, if included by the teacher.
I have two or weeks of training to complete - and more simulations to explore - but these simulations have been fascinating, allowing me to see what is available in K-12...and beyond. Entire assignments could be built around these simulations, and assignments do not have to be limited to physics, math engineering, or history. Students could use these to explore leadership or craft narratives about their experiences, improving storytelling skills.
How will I use these in this course of gamification? These have a number of uses, ranging from examples of simulations to being pieces of pathways. As I a just getting started with reviewing video games, I am am sure more possibilities will open up as I complete these quests in 3D GameLab.
What's next? I plan to finish the remaining training in 3DGL then return to Histoire. I also want to make a note to look for the research on using such simulations....while looking for hose appropriate to the business and industry sector for other training.
My goal for this week is finish the Towne of Histoire...and I am almost there!
I am actually learning quite a bit about games by creating this content on the history of games, learning that many of the most popular games are not "new" but are based on older games. Many board games such as Monopoly are based on real life, serving as early simulations. Other games such as Clue served as a method of keeping people occupied while they sat in air-raid bunkers during World War II. Candy Land, in part, is believed to have grown out of a wish to keep
the smallest children indoors to offer them more
protection from the threat of polio. It remains one of a child’s first
games.
Why is this important information?
Games have been used for centuries to teach both children and adults, providing them with morals and even life strategies. Games have been used to teach history and battle strategy. Games teach eye-hand coordination.
Games do more than entertain - they teach. Using games to teach is nothing new. Games involve players in the learning, making the learning real for the player.
I am still toying with some ideas regarding the quest(s) for this town, perhaps having students "connect the dots" between older and newer games.....I will see what speaks to me once the content is finished.
What happens next? What is my plan?
I want to continue working on Histoire, adding to the content and crafting a quest or two, being sure the quest(s) involve students, fostering learning.
This week served as more of a pause, a time to reflect, make notes, and ponder.
Jenny is currently working her way through a possible textbook, and I have downloaded two chapters to review as well.
As for me, I am spending the week with in-laws who, while wonderfully supporting and compassionate and caring, exhibit no real interest in technology The older generation (mine) all have smart phones and review their email. Some use WAZE or Google Maps for directions, and others use i Pads. The younger generation (20s to 40) have phones but do not really handle email, and none play games. They do create videos for their band, so technology skills are present, but this group differs greatly from my own adult children and the students I teach.
So, I am pondering how to reach students who may not be as technology interested as others. Notice I am saying technology interested rather than technology savvy.
A gamified course or training needs to interest the participants along with being "do-able." Making a course/training interesting involves making the content useful to participants, helping them explore the usefulness of the course content to their work, helping participants apply their learning to their work. Quests must engage and explain their usefulness from the beginning - otherwise participants will lose interest and drop out.... XP are not enough.
My task, then, is to make the narrative and aesthetics engaging enough to "hook" participants at the beginning, while focusing on the player journey, using onboarding, scaffolding, and mastery.
Onboarding is the initial experience that teaches the participants the "ropes" and sets expectations for what is coming. I think of this as the Welcome Wagon, the Visitors Center, important training that allows participants to be successful. This will resurface as needed throughout the course, keeping in mind the need to reiterate the application of knowledge to their work.
Scaffolding will help the "play" become habit-forming by sing triggers, activity loops, and feedback systems to turn participants into regular players.
Finally, mastery opens the course up to the enthusiasts who master the content and the lay and decide to go deeper. While we hope this will include all learners, we realize that might not be so.
My plan is to find ways to engage those not technology-interested to help them become interested....this should prove interesting.....
YES! I finally feel as though I am making progress.
I am starting to flesh out some of the modules and making notes within to help guide the content development.
If we can just get the content in, then we can create activities...and at the end I can weave in the narrative...
We have a lot of information through which to sift, and, while I have been reading for a year, Jenny has not, so she is catching up. We have still not decided how exactly to integrate readings and have discussed several options.
For the moment, organization is key.
We have now set up a Gamitopia Library to house all documents and a Gamitopia theater to house all videos. We are in the process of dividing the Library into topical sections and will eventually do the same with the Theater.
My technique has been to upload files directly into the library as I find them, organizing as I go along, but I still have almost two dozen files that are not yet organized. Our thought is that some files (peer-reviewed articles actually) will likely appear in several topical sections..so we will both set up topical sections according to our outline assignments.
We have created - as a draft - some looped quests, i.e., assignments that build upon each other, linking several topics together. Now we just need to copy those quests as a draft into the proper towns as part of the organization.
Terms that were originally going to comprise their own town (Verbiage) are now going to be integrated throughout the towns.
Individualization is also an issue we are keeping at the forefront, being sure to provide examples, readings, and quests for K-12 HIED, and business. Trying to make sure everyone produces a quality assignment at the end - whether they plan to merely integrate a few game elements into a class, gamify a unit in a course, gamify an entire course, gamify professional development training, or gamify a business website.....Trying to develop an equal assignment is difficult...
I am very pleased with the progress I have made in the Towne of Histoire. I have learning objectives and have created content on a variety of topics and am now ready to enter 20th and 21st century game history.... I am considering having only a Guildchat...or maybe a Padlet....for players to complete before leaving Histoire as I want them to reflect upon games - how they have changed, how they haven't changed, and how they have been used in the past....paving the way for future towns and for their own use of gamification. I want them to see that games have been used to educate and train for centuries......
...so there really is very little new......
My action plan?
Finish Histoire ..... then move on to Gaming Towne (types of games) while continuing to organize the Library...and continue to make notes in other towns...
Once again, the week has focused on reflection, planning, and assessing...and starting over...somewhat....
Designing a course is time-consuming and requires a great deal of thought and planning to design a good course.
Add the need to find appropriate readings and develop one's own content.......
Then top this off with gamifying the same course, and the need for organization and planning more than triples......
... Along with the need to frequently stop and regroup.....
During this week we decided to abandon the idea of finding a textbook that met our needs and offered the content we want to use.
We started "playing" (i.e., reading and reviewing) the narrative for flow and "fit."
We decided to create our own content, integrated peer-reviewed research.
We decided to identify several learning objectives for each "town."
We decided to try to create a frame game of some type within each town.
Each of these decisions, however, requires further consideration.
While finding a text that fits our needs would be ideal, doing so does not seem possible. One possibility looks only at gamification from the business perspective, alluding very briefly to gamification in education. Another promising text provides some of the content we need but then disintegrates into a series of interviews and examples all of which were K-12. A third text we considered addressed gamification in higher education but not in an online setting. Perhaps we should simply write our own text...
Playing/Reading/Reviewing our own course is important, so we will be adding ourselves to the course as students as a way to test our our work. The narrative will continue to need refinement, but that is to be expected.
As this is a graduate level course, rigor and scholarship are important. While we could prepare all of our own content ourselves, we want to integrate peer-reviewed research supporting our work. Unfortunately, peer-reviewed research does not exist for some of the course content, and we also want to include application research. Integrating these three concepts - without overwhelming the students - will prove an interesting quest for us.
Learning objectives are important guides for a course but deciding where and how to weave them into the various "towns" has resulted in some unusual ideas. I have toyed with crafting a Mayor for each township to introduce the objectives, but that has not felt "right." At this point I have added the into the introductory narrative for each town, but that may well change. Repetition increases comfort so I feel I should introduce the objectives the same way in each town...but the approach may well change.
Assessing learning is important, and one of our goals with this course is to model gamification in all areas...so....we are now considering ways to have students interact with content other than through reading and participating in forums. We want easy to understand activities that students could adapt to their own needs later. One concern is that Java does not function well within Canvas, so we will either need to create java-free activities..or...java-rich activities that can be housed outside of Canvas. We could use a variety of free websites to house our activities so choosing the best format is necessary.
What's next?
More of the same....
My goal is to finish Histoire: I have a few items to scan, content to create, several readings to incorporate, and activities to plan and create.
I am finally making progress!
