This post is part of my training in the Rezzly platform and mindset to be used a gamified class.
After going through many of the quests (26 to be exact) and getting a better understanding of gamification and how to use it with Rezzly I have a few thoughts on how I should structure my quests in order to be attractive to students. Below is a list of things that I want to make sure I do when design quests starting with the most important and working my way down to the least important.
1. Narrative
I think the most important part of quest design is to have it be part of a narrative that continues through the class. A strong narrative provides a reference point for students as well as gives them some intrinsic motivation to see the story out. A good story can also help bind students together and also give them a shared experience unlike the traditional classroom setting.
2. Varied Quest
As a former online teacher (4 years of experience) I have some thoughts on how to design an online lesson to help students the most. I also have a bit of data to support what I have found. I think that consistency is super important when it comes to lesson design. Students need to know where things are at and they should be able to find the same things in each quest no matter which quest they are in. Things like lesson objectives, content, content design (headers, colors, etc), videos, picture, and anything else should be familiar and generally found in the same spots.
But wasn’t the heading of this section “varied quests.” Yes, yes it was. When I say varied quest I mean that I want there to be a mix of submission types, tasks, quest lengths, and difficulties. I want to make sure that there a some easier level quests but just accomplishing the simple quest does not earn enough XP to be successful. I really want to ensure that my quests are designed so that the styles of tasks and submissions are greatly varied and keep students engaged.
3. Leveling Up
Games are fun because you have something to work for and earn. I want to mix in achievable goals with random rewards. The rewards should come often at the beginning and get harder to achieve as the class goes on.
Some of the awards I want to give will be based on behavior, completing a set number of quest, etc. I want to try and hit as many different areas as possible to encourage students to be better all around.
4. Goal Setting
As part of the narrative I would like to set the overall goal of the class at the beginning and then introduce smaller goals along the way. A digital portfolio may be one way to have students collect data and set their goal. I really have to think about how I want students to show everything that they have learned. I really like the idea of the students create something that grows with them as they change grade levels and such.
5. Media
Video, images, audio all need to be part of the quest. In addition to those items, I would like to introduce some additional Web 2.0 tools into my classroom so that students have a bit more creative freedom. I currently use Google Classroom for pretty much everything, but it is also limiting. I want to encourage students to be creative and to do things on their own. There are tons of free tools that move way past what traditional Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides can do, and I want my students to explore them and decide what they like.
Other Thoughts
I’m still processing most of the ideas and concepts that I have learned about over the past few weeks. I feel like there is a whole lot that I want to say but I’m not totally sure how to express it properly. I guess that I need to get in there and start creating, testing, and exploring. As the second marking period comes to a close in a few weeks, I hope that I will be able to use Rezzly with my incoming second semester classes.
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