There's an App for That

How I'm using Genially and Glide to create an app-smashed gamified experience that passcode-protects my entire course and allows students to work at their own pace

Posted: September 5, 2022

Raise your hands if every student in your class has a smartphone? I'd be willing to bet that the VAST majority of you just did so. And while it can certainly be labelled as a problem for students to have their phones in your classroom, I also think that if utilized correctly it could be an opportunity.

For some reason, the commercial to the left here, or at least it's message, has always stuck with me. Maybe it's because I've seen the memes for it over the years, but I've always been in awe of the sheer number of apps available to all users in the App Store. If only there was an app that could help motivate students, automate my grading and make the entire school experience more entertaining for both teacher and student...

But what if I told you that "there's an app for that"?

It's been a long and very strange few years for me and my teaching career since Covid hit, and it's a long story that might be for another day. But, if one good thing came out of all of this it is that I finally had the time needed to build the infrastructure to what I truly believe could be a game-changer for me and maybe other teachers as well. I'm not naive or boastful enough to suggest that it change the world of education, but I won't lie: there's a part of me that thinks that maybe... it could?

If you've checked out my blogs or my Twitter feed over the years, you know that I've been in the process of gamifying and applying themes to my business classes. I've gone through many iterations, a few failed attempts and a few decent ones as well, and the benefits have been enough to keep trying to improve. But as I mentioned in my previous post, it's the app-smash between Genially and Glide apps that continues to have me most excited.

It took watching hours of tutorials (via the brilliant Robert Petitto and his video(s) embedded to the side here) and plenty of trial and error to make it work, but the end result is the coolest thing I've ever seen - I've developed an app that tracks student progress, allows them to buy and stock their inventory with items, and the coup-de-grace: passcodes to unlock the next section of the map so that they can continue their journey into the course when they've earned them.

While my last blog post was focused on Zelda: Breath of the Wild, that theme has taken a back-seat, but what I have taken from that inspiration was the "Sheika Slate" style status screen. Right now I have it for my Grade 9 Business class based on a computer-game I enjoyed playing when I was younger called "Jones in the Fast Lane", and my Grade 10 Creative Promotions class based on the Hunger Games. Both of them feature an interactive map/game board where my entire course is pre-made and available, but I've password protected all of the later parts of the course - and these passcodes only arrive via the course app.

The above Genially maps are interactive and are available to you to click around on, but you'll quickly notice that other than area 1 in my Jones gameboard and District 12 in the Hunger Games map are all passcode protected. And the only way for the students to move on to the next section and earn enough XP to have their app display the code for the next section is after I award them enough points manually via the section project that I need them to do.

This allows for students to work ahead if they wish, and I can present the passcode to the entire class if I so wish. I also have a pile of side quest and optional assignments for them to work on if they so choose which will earn them in-game currency and powerups.

I won't lie - this has been years in the making. Multiple attempts, re-attempts, edits and re-dos from me. I've readjusted the order of the content. I've flipped assignments between units and even courses. I have dozens if not hundreds of IMPORTRANGE and VLOOKPU formulas working behind the scenes to bring it all together. But I'm ready to unveil two full courses starting this week, with a hope to have my Superstore-themed Grade 11 Retailing class ready to go for February. As for my Grade 12 Marketing class, I'm still looking for motivation there, but in the meantime I'm pvery excited to unveil these two courses.

I've also been trying to replace tests and quizzes with boss-battles, and to have some random elements via dice and a prize wheel that I bought from IKEA. Our school also has a big push towards project-based learning, so I am weighing unit projects the heaviest in my grading scheme and those will be the only things I grade manually - the rest will be done via my Google formulas and the app.

I know that my students in the past have been very intrigued by the app and the gamified system that I've been working on, but it never quite felt finished or completed. I think I'm finally there. I finally feel like I'm in a place to be game-maker, or to be the narrator to the class, and allow the students to put in the work they wish to do in order to help them along the way. Of course we'll still be "on the rails" in terms of what is needed to earn the credit and an idea in terms of time-frame as to where students should be and when (I'm thinking of bringing over the Modern Classroom time-frame to post on my site to give them some due-dates). But I have plenty of student-choice embedded in here, and my hope is that I can add something to their schooling that they haven't had before.

So maybe the next time a student has their phone out in class it'll be to check their course progress on my app instead of a TikTok video? Here's hoping...

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