Week 11- Gamification!

This class was really cool to learn about. Although I grew up during the technology boom of this generation, I was never exposed to gamification in the classroom. Because of this I was very intrigued as to how I can incorporate this into my future classroom. I liked the discussion our class was having about if too much gamification is a bad thing. On one hand it can be super engaging for students, but on the other hand if there is too much gamification, it can make the times when there are no games in the classroom super boring.  

This conversation really made me think deeper about the pros and cons of gamification. I agree that we shouldn’t gamify everything, and I don’t think that is the intention of gamification, but one pro that I see that can be so beneficial is that it can get even the most disengaged students engaged in learning. Joanna made a good point by saying  “this is the reality we gave them” (as in being surrounded by technology) so why not play to that advantage and give the students a tool that they really enjoy and engage in. I decided to check out one of the educational tools we discussed in our class to see what it was all about, here are my thoughts: 

I hopped over to the website Interland to see what it was all about. This game was created so that students can be prepared to make smart decisions and to safely explore and play online. The first thing I noticed about this platform was how awesome the wording was for kids. It used sentences such as “be a confident explorer of the online world” and “spread good vibes” when entering the kind kingdom. I think this language is super accessible and fun for kids which adds just that much more to the game. Next, I checked out the topics Interland teaches kids. There was kind kingdom, teaching kids that  it’s cool to be kind. There was reality river, teaching kids to not fall for fake information. There was mindful mountain, teaching kids to share with care. And finally there was tower of treasure, teaching kids to secure your secrets and internet safe. I decided to explore tower of treasure. I liked how interactive it was and it had just the right amount of information for kids to grasp the concepts. As an adult, I even learned a little something about keeping your passwords safe, so all in all it was a very helpful game to explore. I will definitely be using this especially with younger students who are just learning how to use the internet, and it is also a good refresher for older students as well! 

Here I am playing the tower of treasure world, learning about safe passwords.

Photo by Ashley Hall is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Here I am finishing the tower of treasure world, an “epic win” as they say

Photo by Ashley Hall is licensed under CC BY 4.0

One thing I really liked about what our guest speaker Laura had to say was on the topic of relationships and gamification/ coding. Laura brought up the idea that we often make students do awkward icebreaker games that can make students nervous at times. Instead why don’t we put them in the experience of figuring out coding and put their focus on something shared so that it takes away that awkward feeling while still building a relationship. I liked this idea because  it gives students a common purpose and makes the environment more comfortable for all, while also being able to immerse themselves in learning. 

This class was super cool to engage in and I would like to end this blog post with a question to my fellow readers. If gamification was incorporated into your learning as a young student, would you have been more engaged in the learning? Let me know in the comments below!