Games, Gamification in a Virtual Classroom Environment

Gamification in the virtual classroom is still in its infancy. Currently, virtual classroom instructors often use workarounds to apply gamification techniques since many virtual classroom software packages don’t have game or gamification elements.

One exception that I am aware of is EduGame Cloud which is for Adobe Connect and has a number of game features such as Crossword Puzzles and Trivia/Quizing. Check it out at EduGame Cloud.

Another way we have used technology for gamification within a virtual classroom or a webinar is to use PollEverywhere and have the learners open a web window and participate in that fashion.

Examples

Here are some examples of doing gamification within a virtual classroom. We run an exercise in the virtual classroom that allows students to write an answer in a grid on the whiteboard. When all the answers are posted, each student gets to rank the answers by writing numbers for responses that they consider to be the best. Students who have the highest number of #1 ranking responses win the game. The gamification elements in this type of exercise are points, ranking, social relatedness, immediate feedback and sense of community.

Another technique that virtual classroom instructional designers can apply is to let participants have some influence on the direction of the action in the classroom in real time, just like we do when we play a game. For example a designer creates a set of PowerPoint slides that tell a story, loaded with images and a character that appears throughout the slide deck. The slide deck contains content divided by sections based on what “path” the character takes. When the character has to make a choice, the facilitator posts a poll and based on the tallied poll results the facilitator jumps to the corresponding slide section. For example in a class on leadership, a character on the slide might be confronted with an ethical dilemma written on the slide with three accompanying options of how to handle the dilemma. The instructor asks the students to choose from among the options via a poll. The results of the poll dictate which slide the instructor goes to next based on the option chosen by the majority of the class

What ideas have you incorporated.