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No longer are games in the classroom simply a curiosity or a pacing fad. Game based learning has opened the door for exploration and offers numerous positives to students and teachers alike. Here are some examples of ways to incorporate gamification for older learners.
The goal is to enhance student motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes.
Leaderboards and Points Systems: Teachers can introduce leaderboards or points systems to encourage healthy competition among students. By awarding points for completing assignments, participating in discussions, or achieving academic milestones, students can track their progress and strive to earn the highest score.
Digital Badges and Achievements:
Similar to video games, teachers can implement a system of digital badges and achievements to recognize students' accomplishments. These badges can be awarded for reaching specific learning goals, demonstrating mastery in a subject, or exhibiting desired behaviors.
Leveling Up:
Teachers can create a leveling system where students progress through different levels or ranks based on their performance or completion of tasks. As students advance, they can unlock new challenges, rewards, or access to additional resources.
Quests and Missions:
Teachers can design learning experiences as quests or missions, where students embark on a journey to complete specific tasks or solve problems. These quests can be themed and interconnected, fostering a sense of adventure and engagement.
Educational Apps and Platforms:
Utilizing educational apps or platforms that incorporate gamified elements can enhance learning. These platforms may offer interactive quizzes, simulations, or adaptive learning pathways, providing students with immediate feedback and a sense of achievement.
Classroom Games:
Traditional classroom games can be adapted or created to align with the curriculum. Teachers can use educational board games, interactive quizzes, or trivia challenges to reinforce concepts and promote active participation.
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR):
Immersive technologies like VR and AR can be used to create engaging learning experiences. Students can explore virtual environments, interact with 3D objects, and solve problems in a more interactive and dynamic manner.
Role-Playing or Simulation Activities: Teachers can introduce role-playing or simulation activities where students take on specific roles or scenarios. This approach allows students to apply knowledge, make decisions, and experience real-world situations in a safe and engaging environment.
High School Gamification Examples
The UBER Game
The UBER Game
This is a Budgeting game where the students learn about the Gig Economy. Click on the image to play!
CORE COMPETENCIES: Critical Thinking and Personal Awareness
I use this game with my business and careers students when we discuss the new ways to work, including 'the gig economy' or being your own boss. The students are often surprised at how difficult it is to make a living wage while working the standard 40 hour work week.
Moral Machine
Moral Machine
This is a quick decision making game that will spark much debate and discussion in the classroom.
CORE COMPETENCIES: Communication, Critical Thinking, and Personal Awareness
I have used this game in the past with my philosophy and law students. This is a great entrance into the morality of self driving cars and who should be the ones making the decisions. It should come as no surprise that the engineers at Tesla work hand-in-hand with philosophers when designing the self driving system we currently see on the road. Be prepared for vigourous class-wide chats after playing this game. Upon the completion of the game, compare your choices to those of the general public!
Wall Street Survivor
Wall Street Survivor
This is a patient game that will take time and should be accompanied by stock trades lessons.
CORE COMPETENCIES: Communication, Critical Thinking, and Personal Awareness
This is a game designed to be played over the course of a few months, where students can actively trade on the stock market using a stock trading simulator. Leaderboards are made and students can compare themselves to the rest of the class. Prizes can be awarded to the highest achieving traders. When I use this simulator, I run it for the entire semester, ending in a large, culminating task.
Wikitrivia
Wikitrivia
This is a simple timeline game that takes little time, is repeatable, and highlights ideas in lessons.
CORE COMPETENCIES: Communication and Critical Thinking,
I use this game with my Modern European History and Classical Studies students. This is a quick and easy game designed to reinforce lessons and is a fun way to place major events and people in a timeline. It can be played in partners or small groups, which offers the opportunity to discuss and debate each tile. My students have had a lot of fun using this and have noted that it helped them retain important dates.
Balancing Chemical Elements
Balancing Chemical Elements
This is a simple science game that covers topics of Chemical Equations and Conservation of Mass.
CORE COMPETENCIES: Communication and Critical Thinking.
This game is used to balance a chemical equation. The goals are to learn how to recognize that the number of atoms of each element are conserved in a chemical and to describe the difference between coefficients and subscripts in a chemical reaction. While it sounds complicated, this is an easy-to-use and simple game design suited for grade 8-10 students.
While there are hundreds of examples to choose from, we selected these games as we've had personal experience with them and have seen them succeed in the classroom. When joining our Live Zoom Session on Thursday, June 15th at 6pm PST, think about any other games you've used in your classrooms!
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