Gamifying Student Agency

In recent years, the concept of gamification, defined as “the use of game design elements in non-game contexts”, has received increased attention and interest in research and in K-12 schools as well as in universities. Its hypothesized motivational power has made gamification an especially promising method for instructional contexts. However, as the popularity of gamification has increased, so have critical voices describing gamification as the latest buzzword and the next fad. But how effective is gamification when it comes to learning, and what factors contribute to successful gamification? How can students feel empowered during learning?

In my class, I have used gamification in various degrees of success and in a variety of ways. My main goal from the beginning has been trying to immerse the excitement of learning that happens outside of school that includes high intrinsic motivation, resilience, and challenges in the school learning environment. The main focus has been to sustain the flow state of learning.

So what is gamification and what it is not in a PYP context?

How does gamification then connect with student agency?

Here are some elements of games that may be used to motivate learners and facilitate learning include:

• Progress mechanics
  • Points – students earn Experience Points (XP) to level up – this element makes the use of learning continuums concrete for the students (also matches with MYP criteria)
  • Badges – students gather micro-credentials to evidence their skills/knowledge and understandings
  • This is inbuilt in Project-Based Learning structures like Genius Hour and Exhibition
• Narrative and characters
  • Performance tasks – students are being immersed in the narrative of the learning engagement
  • Play – Gamification allows for students of all ages to continue using play as their main learning strategy
  • Creativity – students
• Player control
  • Voice & Choice – students can build their game characters;
• Immediate feedback
  • Monitoring and documenting learning
  • Integrating technology to personalize feedback
• Opportunities for collaborative problem solving
  • Dynamic groupings according to need
• Scaffolded learning with increasing challenges
• Opportunities for mastery, and leveling up
  • Student Iniated Action
  • Personal Inquiries
• Social connection

With these elements, in my view, gamification not only supports but enhances the underlying structures of student agency enabling learning enviroment.

To summarize the potential benefits of successful gamification initiatives in the classroom include.

• Gamification can give students ownership of their learning as it provides teachers a specific role in the learning environment;
• Authentic inclusion of ATL Social and Self-Management skills opportunities for identity work through social play: taking on alternate selves;
• Introduction of Growth Mindset and resilience as games naturally provide freedom to fail and try again without negative repercussions;
• Sustaining and incorporating play as a vehicle of inquiry and a chance to increase fun and joy in the classroom;
• Gamification naturally increases opportunities for differentiated instruction as students personalize their individual learning paths;
• incorporating game elements makes learning visible and encourages reflective dispositions
• inspires students to discover intrinsic motivators for learning

3 concrete examples

Integrating the gamification elements in the classroom can be a daunting task, here are three scenarios of how it can be done:

Level 1 Novice: Integrating Gamified apps in classroom

Here is a great place to start to begin to gamifying your class. Providing students with access to apps that already use the elements of gamification and observe their effect in your classroom.

My favorite apps are:

• Duolingo helps students learn new languages by using positive and negative feedback , incremental progressions, and rewards.
• Khan Academy helps students around the world learn mathematics from grade school all the way to a university level.
• Memrise is a free app that allows students with memorization of languages, science terms, coding languages, mathematics formulas, and more.
• Prodigy offers personalized teaching to help students learn mathematics
• Interland is an adventure-packed online game that makes learning about digital safety and citizenship interactive and fun—just like the Internet itself. .

Level 2 Apprentice: Using Gamified apps to deliver instruction

Next logical step id to integrate the gamified elements in your instructional pedagogy as well. This will introduce the social aspect and increase the collaborative aspect of gamification as well as enable you to make the learning visible.

My favorite tools to use are:

• Classcraft takes the teacher’s existing curriculum and adds gamification elements such as rewards, leveling up, collection points, teams, and more.
• Seesaw is a platform for student engagement that inspires students of all ages to do their best, and saves teachers time! Students use creative tools to take pictures, draw, record videos and more to capture learning in a portfolio.
• Kahoot is an application that allows teachers to build quizzes which can be played with the entire classroom.
• Pear Deck allows teachers to create interactive presentations with built in questions. The questions have a number of different interaction types, such as drawing, multiple choice, texting, or dragging your finger to the correct answer.

Level 3 Master: Full Gamification of the Classroom

Master level gamification is to provide a fully personalized learning environment like:

Genius Hour is inquiry-based, student-directed learning. It allows students to explore their own passions and encourages creativity in the classroom. It provides students a choice in what they learn during a set period of time during school.

In the PYP we can support this type of learning through personal inquiries

For more examples read the excellent Teachtought Article: https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/12-examples-of-gamification-in-the-classroom/