A Dissenting Voice

Here is a dissenting voice - Barbara Bray on the gamified classrooom...good to read from time to time, as sometimes the objections are valid - or arguments need to be made to counter the objections: This would be an interesting piece to go through and argue against.

http://barbarabray.net/2013/12/30/this-time-its-personal-and-dangerous/

Leaderboard Practicalities in the Classroom

I am experimenting with leaderboards at the moment - I started off with post-it notes on the wall, but they just kept falling off. I want leaderboards for a variety of tasks and games.

I have been thinking of possible economical solutions for this: small acrylic  index card displays are expensive - I've come up with a possible solution - alligator clips strung on strings, and hung from the wall...they are cheap, and cards can be attached to the clips.  Some of the clips have a hole so they can be strung together easily.

To start with, I  put up the percentage scores for times attack - this created an immediate frisson in the classroom. One student had scored 100% and other students from different classes were popping their heads around the corner to check out the scores.

A List of random resources related to gamification in the classroom.

Asmahan Al-Balushi - slideshow - Educational Video Games

Josh Eyers - blog post - Gamification in Education

Tam and Hui - slideshow - Playing Video Games to Learn English

Ananth Pai - slideshow - Gamifying the Classroom

Wes Walcot - blog post - Gamification in Education


Some Games:
English Language Learning Games (similar to Anker's Tests) Vocabulary.co.il

Classroom Aid list of 25 Digital Game sites for English Language Learning

Comenius - The Grandfather of (Gamified) Education

Comenius almost single handedly assembled the curriculum we still use in schools to this day - the topics he selected, and the mode of teaching them, the progressive structure of the curriculum, and the idea of teaching a broad curriculum, an incremental education from kindergarten through primary and secondary to tertiary level, has remained highly influenced by his pedagogical works, as generation after generation of textbooks and curriculum design branched off his original systematic outline.

Comenius knew the importance of play in education, and wrote a number of jokey textbooks full of puns and humour  - as well as his more serious works.

He also wrote the first-ever illustrated textbook for children, the Orbis Sensualium Pictus.

Here is an example of one of his more light-hearted textbooks: the one with the pithy short title "Hoc Est Vestibuli Latinae Linguae Auctarium", which teaches important grammatical material using terribly bad puns (the kind enjoyed by young boys) and slightly rude jokes.

Of great importance in the history of education - although it was a failure in terms of its implementation - was his SCHOLA LUDIS - or "Game School". - where the curriculum would be delivered through role play.

For Comenius, school was supposed to be a place where the mind was opened, where dullness was abolished  and where education was designed to be as effortless, enjoyable, and playful as possible. Writing in the 1650s, Comenius' plea for gamification of the classroom fell on deaf ears.

Interactive Literature

Interactive Literature isn't quite a game, but is game like.

A number of older games can be downloaded from adam cadre along with the gameplayer software needed to run them.

Then there is the People's Republic of Interactive Fiction

Kentucky Route Zero looks like a possible candidate for using in my classroom - as it is simply a story that you can control - a more modern version of the interactive stories from the 1970s. It is text based, and requires that the student understands what they are reading. For my students, this game would, I anticipate, rapidly become a collaborative game, as they students learn their way around it, they will help each other - spreading information about what words mean, and how to do things and find things in the game. Spellirium also brings out this collaboration, which I actively encourage, as many of the games and tests do not have a social element - and it is important to include this socialisation element in the classroom.

Spellirium

Spellirium is an 'unfinished' game that has been released, as it is playable, but still lacks certain features.

I purchased a copy for use in my classroom, and use it in English lessons - it involves reading and decision making, and also builds spelling skills.

Note to myself: check out the interactive fiction title Lost Pig , and the story-based game  Kentucky Route Zero.

The version I currently use still does not have the voice-over, but the game is nevertheless good, and can easily fit into a classroom programme of instruction.

Only my more able students enjoy this game, as it isn't 'easy'.

SPELLIRIUM

Marie J Snyder Broussard and Gamified Education

Marie Broussard started writing instructional video games some years ago, for example, her library based game "Goblin Threat', which teaches about plagiarism.

Here is a link to her CV, which includes urls for several talks she has given on this subject, one of which is displayed below:

Her award-winning 2013 article Digital games in academic libraries: a review of games and suggested best practices. Author(s): Mary J. Snyder Broussard, (Snowden Library, Lycoming) can be downloaded as a pdf or read online.