I have a few ideas, and I may post them all, but I’ll start with this.
I am currently reading Jane McGonigal’s Reality is Broken, which has got me thinking about making the classroom more game-like. I would like to use this Prof Hacker post as a springboard for a discussion about gamification (a word I really don’t like, but it’s all I have right now).
As always, as I design my classes for the summer and next fall, I find myself struggling to figure out how to get students interested and engaged in a more intrinsic way. McGonigal argues that games give us intrinsic rewards rather than extrinsic, and that we should refashion reality to resemble games. I want to put this to the test in the classroom.
Oh, nice, just purchased that book. Really excited about all of the game-related topics being brought up.
Great topic! I think this would also have some interesting implications for teaching courses that students typically dread or are anxious about.
I like the topic too. One theme I’m curious about is low tech approaches to games in the classroom (online or face to face) that use simple tools like SMS, discussion forums, etc. to facilitate a game approach to learning.
i was just reading an article about this, and immediately started thinking about the types of projects I have my students do, and how they do or don’t compare to this. I am interested in this topic.