Landon Phillips presentation at the SUNY Cote Summit included an interesting idea about gamification that I hadn’t really thought of before. Games are not just motivational, they also provide the opportunity to learn from your mistakes. When you “die” in a video game, so what? You just start over. Maybe back at the beginning of the game but the player still retains all the information and the lessons learned from playing the game.
Michelle Miller also presented at the SUNY Cote Summit in Syracuse held February 25th through the 27th. In her book Minds Online (2014), Michelle suggests instructors borrow from gaming techniques in order to create activities that engage students in the learning materials and motivate them to improve.
Although not as glamorous as badging or video games, allowing for multiple attempts in Blackboard for assignments or quizzes does borrow from gaming techniques. Students don’t just die or perhaps more extreme..fail. They get the opportunity to restart with no penalty while retaining the information they learned from their first attempt, or the second or tenth. Continuous improvement is the goal of learning.
At JCC, we have quite a few faculty who have adopted the multiple attempts policy as a means to promote student learning. Blackboard’s grade book flags these attempts and overrides the grade from the original attempt. Instructors can view the attempts history in order to view the improved learning process. However, there comes a point where you have completed grading and no longer wish to see these flags in either the Needs Graded section or under the Full Grade Center. In that case, you will want to revert an override grade.
SUNY Cote has provided links to the keynotes and materials offered at this years summit. I highly recommend taking the time to view their presentations. The speakers were just world-class.
Miller, M. (2014). Minds online. Harvard University Press. Boston.
Phillips, L. (2015) . The game is afoot: How game based learning can transform a class both on and offline. SUNY COTE Summit. Lecture conducted from SUNY COTE, Syracuse. February 25-February 27. Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/LandonPhillips/the-game-is-afoot-suny-conference-2015
Additional Reading
- #SUNYCIT: Developing Game Based Learning for Student Engagement: MCC’s Journey from Process to Product
- Game-based Learning
- #SUNYCIT Session: Gamified Digital Forensics Course Modules for Entry-level Students
- A Blackboard Leaderboard Lets Students Know Where They Stand
Dr. Cori Dunagan
Cori is the Coordinator for Academic Computing at Jamestown Community College. Cori came to JCC in 2009 with over 15 years of experience in distance education at State University Systems in New York and Pennsylvania. Her responsibilities include faculty training and coordination of both synchronous distance learning technology using video conferencing through both ITV and webinar technology as well as online learning and co-administering the Blackboard Learning Management System. She has B. S. and M.S. degrees in communication, both from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and PhD. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Communications Media and Instructional Technology program where her areas of research include quality online instruction, online student persistence and emerging technologies impact on higher education.
