Grades are not motivating

Your Name and Title: Alice Keeler - Technology Integration Specialist

School, Library, or Organization Name: Central Valley Computer Using Educators

Co-Presenter Name(s):

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: California

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): Classroom Teachers

Short Session Description (one line): Grades can be demotivating for some students, look to video game strategies to motivate students.

Full Session Description (as long as you would like): Traditional A, B, C, D and F grades can be demotivating for some students. To jump from an F to a D can be as much as 60% which can be discouraging. Almost no game gives a player a score of "C." Looking at games such as Angry Birds, Farmville, World of Warcraft and other popular games what strategies do they employ to motivate players and how can these same strategies be utilized in the classroom?

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: www.gamerriculum.com

Tags: games, gamification, motivation, student

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Permalink Reply by Brittany Tracy on September 12, 2012 at 3:42pm

Alice, I would first like to say, once I started reading your blogs and your website I could not stop. Thank you for opening my eyes to the wonderful examples of how to integrate technology into my 6th grade Language Arts classroom. I love the idea of QR codes as a means of creating a fun learning environment. I think it would be great to use QR codes in a treasure hunt fashion within the classroom. Students would go around the classroom looking for clues (QR codes) which would lead them to websites,blogs, discussions, etc. to guide their learning and allow them to discover their own learning instead of handing students worksheets. This would be a highly motivational activity, game-like, to engage the most reluctant student. Also, students would feel a sense of independence and accomplishment when they discover or complete the end project. This is a more interactive version of a webquest. Just a rough idea. Any ideas or suggestions on how to make this a reality in the classroom?

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Permalink Reply by margaret ms kirby on September 12, 2012 at 10:24pm

Hi Alice,

Thank you so much for posting this! I teach on a university level.

I teach courses for the Game Development Program. I am a light gamer; however, I struggle with applying gaming principles to classwork. I unequivocally believe in teaching for Mastery and am relieved to have found that other teachers, outside of corporate training, do to!

Normally, with quizzes, after they are submitted, I allow students to go back and see what the correct answers are. I think this for this next semester I will have quizzes where as, if they do not get 100%, they can go back and take the entire quiz again until they achieve the % they desire.

Because I love Pokemon, I created badges for my students. If they display certain traits, such as insight, I post the badge to their Facbook page.