Last school year, Holly Swartz decided to turn her 1st grade classroom into a galaxy far, far away.
She created a giant, nine-weeks-long 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� game for her class, dividing her students into Ewoks and Wookies and having them earn badges and experience points, or XP, for different tasks mastered.
鈥淭he idea was to get the kids working together,鈥� Swartz said of her class at Hamilton Traditional School in South Bend, Ind. 鈥淚 wanted to put fun back into the classroom.鈥�
Making learning enjoyable and motivating students through play is the appeal of game-based learning and gamification. These concepts are not new, but they have become even more accessible to teachers over the past few years through technology.
Although not all teachers elect to digitize their classroom games鈥擲wartz, for instance, had a tangible leader board hanging up in her classroom鈥攖here are a growing number of software programs that gamify classrooms by adding game-like elements to instruction, as well as digital learning games that students can play independently. And a plethora of online resources are available for teachers interested in implementing games in their classrooms, ranging from to .
Hit pause. Before you continue, here are some terms you need to learn:
Game-based learning is the idea that elements of games鈥攍ike repetition, failure, and achieving goals鈥攃an facilitate real learning. For example, researchers at the Education Arcade at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed a digital game called in which middle school students try to find their lost pets and save the world from monsters through solving math puzzles.
Gamification is the concept of adding elements of a game鈥攍ike scoring points or earning rewards鈥攖o a regular situation to motivate participants. For example, a teacher might award points to students who complete assignments. Students can collect points to win a prize.
The use of digital and online games has increased in classrooms over the past five years, from the Irvine, Calif.-based nonprofit Project Tomorrow. In 2017, 62 percent of teachers reported using digital or online games in their classroom鈥攗p from 30 percent in 2012.
Want to gamify your classroom but don鈥檛 know where to start? Gaming experts Liz Kolb and Eric Klopfer give some advice.
Start small. 鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to think about changing your entire class or entire curriculum or behavior-management [approach] to a gameful system, but, of course, there鈥檚 going to be bugs,鈥� Kolb said.
Instead, start with gamifying one project and see how your students respond.
Be familiar with the game, but don鈥檛 stress about it. 鈥淵ou should always play the game first, but you don鈥檛 need to be an expert at it,鈥� Klopfer said.
He noted that a lot of teachers worry about what happens if their students are better at the game than they are. That鈥檚 OK, Klopfer said. Instead, teachers should focus on working through the content in the game to make sure it鈥檚 meaningful to the curriculum.
Make the game more than just a game. 鈥淩ecognize that not all kids love to game, and we need to make sure that the focus isn鈥檛 so much on the gameful elements as much as it鈥檚 on the content,鈥� Kolb said.
Teachers can鈥檛 rely on the gamification aspect to engage students, she said. Instead, the content in the game should build on students鈥� interests.
It鈥檚 less clear how many teachers are gamifying an entire lesson or unit versus assigning single games to reinforce a specific concept. Both types of games have academic benefits, said Eric Klopfer, the director of the Scheller Teacher Education Program at MIT and the Education Arcade.
With long-form games, 鈥測ou鈥檙e motivated not only by the content but also the context, where you want your character to progress and make it through the story,鈥� he said.
Klopfer has also studied how students play quick mobile games that last up to 10 minutes. For instance, in one such game called students use their knowledge of biology and genetics to mate beetles to produce certain traits. Completing a level only takes a few minutes.
Teachers can assign those games as homework, Klopfer said, and then use the data from those games to see students鈥� progress.
The games are also addictive for students used to playing on their phones: 鈥淭hey鈥檒l play on their own well beyond what we ask them to,鈥� Klopfer said, adding that he typically asks students to play the games for 15 minutes, and they鈥檒l end up playing for one or two hours across the week.
A found that digital games are tied to student-learning gains. Still, game design is critical, the researchers found鈥攆or example, those in which a single player is competing against a peer are less effective than other types, and games that featured abstract, graphic symbols are more effective than either realistic or cartoon-like games.
鈥淕ames just sort of model how good learning happens鈥攖hey keep people on the edge of their expertise,鈥� Klopfer said. 鈥淭hey provide context for problem-solving.鈥�
Still, digital educational games have received pushback from some parents and others who are concerned about children鈥檚 screen time, data privacy, and the quality of the games. Many critics, Klopfer said, 鈥渢hink of games as something that鈥檚 frivolous and mindless, and they think of educational games as chocolate-covered broccoli.鈥�
That鈥檚 the nickname for situations in which the game is disconnected from the learning. Often, the games are essentially worksheets without the paper and with some game elements thrown in.
But true game-based learning is not having kids 鈥渟hoot things while solving math problems,鈥� Klopfer said. Instead, it should be a deep connection between the content and the game.
Reality in the Classroom
Gamification is one of those education trends that 鈥渆bbs and flows,鈥� said Liz Kolb, a clinical associate professor of education technologies at the University of Michigan. She gamified her college classroom and described the experience as a 鈥渕ixed bag.鈥�
鈥淩ight now, [game-based learning] is fairly popular, but I have also talked to many teachers who have had similar experiences as me, [in which] they tried it and scaled it back,鈥� she said.
Kolb, who previously taught middle and high school and says the lessons she learned through gamifying college courses are applicable to K-12, used gamification software to turn assignments into quests. Students could choose which quests to complete, and they could team up with other students to complete certain quests. When they completed their quests, they earned digital badges and experience points.
She was excited about the possibility of her students focusing less on grades and more on the mastery of skills by advancing through the game. Kolb also thought game-based learning would help her students develop a growth mindset, or belief that their intelligence can be developed, since students could repeat quests without penalty until they mastered the skill.
鈥淭he truth is, it wasn鈥檛 a whole lot different from my regular classroom experience with a more traditional learning system,鈥� Kolb said. 鈥淢y students who were self-motivated really liked it. ... I also had students who found it very frustrating, who told me straight out that they didn鈥檛 like gaming.鈥�
Kolb quickly encountered some additional challenges: Some of her undergraduate students didn鈥檛 want to reach the top of the academic leader board because they thought it would be uncool. Some students procrastinated on completing their quests鈥攖urning them all in at the deadline rather than incrementally鈥攚hich frustrated Kolb鈥檚 plan to give ongoing feedback.
And gamifying the classroom adds a lot to a teacher鈥檚 workload, she said.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e constantly giving feedback. Every single day, you鈥檙e assessing [a quest]鈥攜ou can鈥檛 wait a week before you give feedback,鈥� Kolb said. 鈥淵ou really have to, as an instructor, look at everything carefully, which is a good thing, but it鈥檚 a lot of work.鈥�
Still, Kolb said, she teaches gamification as a pedagogical tool to her preservice teachers, because gamifying her classroom had its benefits: She ended up with lots of data on her students鈥� progress. And several of her students enjoyed being able to work at their own pace and to choose which quests to complete.
After all, student choice is at the heart of game-based learning, said Steve Isaacs, a game-design and -development teacher at William Annin Middle School, in Basking Ridge, N.J.
鈥淲hen it comes to gamification, a lot of people use it for more like a behavior-management system,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o me, the most compelling part is when kids have choice and autonomy around learning, and we can help them find their passion in learning through these choices.鈥�
Making School 鈥楩un鈥�
For Swartz, who is now a digital-integration specialist at Hamilton, her 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� game last school year made her 1st graders excited about learning.
Before the game, teachers were having trouble getting students to complete their reading minutes. But when Swartz tied the reading program to game points, the students began trying to outdo each other鈥攁nd class reading scores began to rise. They were also eager to complete a voluntary science project鈥攁 鈥渟ide journey鈥� in the game, she said.
The game encouraged collaboration, requiring students to work together on tasks. And while Swartz called herself the game master, her students were involved in making the rules, giving them a sense of ownership over the game.
Now, Swartz is working with another 1st grade teacher to gamify her classroom鈥攐nly this time, the game will be Disney-themed. While Swartz鈥檚 game last year wasn鈥檛 digital, she said she hopes to help her colleague digitize certain elements this year.
Above all, Swartz said, she succeeded in making her classroom joyful again. Students called each other Padawans, which means a Jedi-in-training in the 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� universe. Swartz dressed up in four different 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� costumes on May 4鈥攁lso known as May the Fourth Be With You, or 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� day.
鈥淚 was having fun, and they were having fun,鈥� she said.
