While the game is still ongoing and conclusions are tentative, it appears that gamification can positively affect school culture, though not as pervasively or quickly as we had hoped. Our biggest takeaways are these:
- Planning as much as possible can help maintain momentum and avoid burnout of the game designers. This specifically applies to the timeline for introducing new tasks and building out the pieces to successfully launch them.
- Gaining buy-in from all administrators, and especially the principal, is critical for success. It's possible that the principal's presence might motivate some additional staff members to join the game. Even more useful than that is the platform and access that the principal can provide. If s/he is onboarded, then s/he will be more likely to tie elements of the building initiatives to the game and provide additional opportunities to promote the game to faculty and staff.
- Ensuring that not all game elements are online provides avenues for participation from a wider pool of potential players. We hypothesize that making the onboarding activity a paper-based activity might be a key component in enrolling almost all potential players.