Not talking Games. Not talking Game-Based Learning. Gamification. Success.
I am NOT a gamer, and I abhor fun in its various manifestations. And yet, I have added gamification principles to my pedagogy. I don’t do these things lightly. I’m not a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of person who is happy to try every new, fluffy, mamby-pamby pedagogy that shoots across our screens.
No. I am very serious about the business of education, squinting distrustingly at new and ickily game-like concepts and pedagogies. But, when something works, regardless of it’s making learning a joyful experience, I just have to sigh and bear the positivity to best of my ability. What can I do, when simple gamification principles increase student engagement and enjoyment of learning when students are finding that they like having control over their grades, when more agency and choice in how students handle their learning makes learning quintessentially personalized, and even when students become somewhat addicted to the learning process? There’s just nothing to be done but to grudgingly accept the student success, grimace in some semblance of a smile, and move forward.
Let me show you how you can integrate simple (or complex) gamification principles into your practice and still avoid having fun. And the best part: Come and argue with me as I present a simple assessment tactic that has transformed my practice. Argue? What do I mean argue? Well… you won’t like this simple assessment practice. You will WANT to argue. It’ll be fun. But not too fun.
Curated Notes
