Maybe you saw Jane McGonigal's inspiring Keynote at ISTE? I think the potential for games in education is limitless!
Today I watched Alice Keeler's fantastic video on Gamification (see below). She explains the difference between games and gamification. I love that there were immediate takeaways: in my math lesson on estimating differences today, I created many more interesting "epic" story problems to correlate with the math. My students loved it- we had a great lesson today in part due to this video!
Sidenote: I came across this video through the Innovative Learning Technologies Special Interest Group (SIG) from ISTE. Check out a list of all the SIGs here. Excellent resource!
I also came across the website Educade, which is devoted to gamification in the classroom. I love that it includes lesson plans with gaming ideas! This would be a great resource to gather your lesson "hooks". I also would like to incorporate Minecraft and MakeyMakey into the curriculum this year, so this site offers guidance from educators who have completed projects.
Class Dojo
In the past, I have used Edmodo. My students gave it the moniker "Kid Facebook", and they seemed to enjoy it. I liked the badges.This year I think I will rely more heavily on Class Dojo. I like the avatars, and I plan to use this abundantly for positive behavior rewards. I also like that you can automatically email parent reports! I would also like to utilize this resource to track skills- not just behavior. I like the idea of leveling up and competing against themselves.
How are you using gamification in the classroom?
