Session Description: In this interactive session, we’ll walk through the steps of designing captivating literary challenges that merge critical thinking with the thrill of gameplay. Learn how to utilize AI to create dynamic narratives and puzzles that align with your curriculum, fostering a classroom environment where motivation and learning go hand-in-hand. Experience firsthand how gamification can make literature studies a highly engaging adventure for your students.
I am super excited to be presenting again for BER. Welcome to your outsourced memory for today’s session. Not sure what outsourced memory is? No worries, you simply haven’t learned about outsourced memory and transactive thinking YET! But we will get to that shortly. Please feel free to follow along here as we go through this session. Please feel free to share this resource with others, and if you have questions, or would like to share something with me, feel free to email me.
Fun Theory & Gamification
Massive Multiplayer Thumb Wrestling & Stepping Up Your Gamification
The Power of Play: How Games Improve Educational Outcomes
- Increased Engagement: Fun and games capture students’ attention, making them more engaged and motivated to participate in the learning process.
- Enhanced Motivation: Games provide intrinsic rewards, such as points or achievements, which can motivate students to continue learning and achieve their goals.
- Active Learning: Interactive and game-based learning encourages active participation, which helps students better retain and understand the material.
- Improved Problem-Solving Skills: Games often require critical thinking and problem-solving, helping students develop these essential skills in a fun and engaging way.
- Immediate Feedback: Many educational games provide instant feedback, allowing students to quickly identify and correct mistakes.
- Collaboration and Teamwork: Multiplayer and cooperative games foster collaboration and teamwork, teaching students how to work together towards a common goal.
- Stress Reduction: Fun and engaging activities can reduce the stress and anxiety often associated with traditional learning, creating a more positive learning environment.
- Creativity and Imagination: Games often involve creative problem-solving and imaginative scenarios, encouraging students to think outside the box.
- Personalized Learning: Educational games can adapt to the individual learning pace and style of each student, providing a more personalized learning experience.
- Retention and Recall: Fun and engaging activities help improve memory retention and recall by making learning experiences more memorable.
Today’s Kids Are Different
Today’s teenagers, part of Generation Z (born between 2005 and 2013), spend a significant amount of time on their screens. According to Jean Twenge, a psychologist and researcher, teenagers spend about five to six hours a day texting, chatting, gaming, web surfing, streaming videos, and using social media. This is a considerable increase compared to previous generations who did not have as much access to mobile technology and the internet during their formative years (Greater Good).
Kahoot.it (Participant link) Kahoot (Presenter Link)
More Gamified Apps for Engaging Students in the Classroom
- Quizlet: Allows for the creation of games, quizzes, and flashcards for various subjects.
- Classcraft: Turns the classroom into a role-playing game with avatars and team objectives.
- Socrative: An online quiz platform that provides immediate feedback and helps assess student comprehension.
- Breakout EDU: Offers escape room-style games to enhance critical thinking and teamwork.
- Code.org: Provides coding games and lessons for learning computer science concepts.
- Scavify: An interactive scavenger hunt tool for creating educational scavenger hunts.
- Quizizz: A game-based learning platform for creating and sharing quizzes with performance tracking and immediate feedback.
Great Gatsby’s Escape
Riddle Me This and Escape the Library?
In a school of magic, old and grand,
A boy with a scar takes a stand.
He finds a stone with powers untold,
Guarded by creatures brave and bold.
With friends by his side and courage to fight,
He faces the dark in the dead of night.
What is this stone, sought by all,
That grants life eternal, if one should fall?
Name the Book and Author
In a town of shadows and a tree so grand,
A symbol of courage, you’ll understand.
A gift left behind, in a knothole found,
From a friend unseen, no longer around.
Protected by Finch, who stands for right,
A bird’s song echoes through the night.
This symbol of innocence, delicate and slight,
Injustice and prejudice it tries to fight.
What is this bird, pure and white,
That teaches us to see with sight beyond sight?
Name the Book and Bird
In a world so plain, devoid of hue,
A boy discovers what’s hidden from view.
With memories of pain, and joy so bright,
He learns the truth, in black and white.
A gift passed down from old to young,
In the mind where memories are sung.
What is the place, this role so rare,
That Jonas now has the strength to bear?
Name the Book and Role
Handouts
