As an avid learner, I am particularly interested in following presentations on TED.com. TED offers some of the most current and impressive information on any given subject and gives the life-long learner access to the most timely research and thinking on many subjects.
In 2010 TED offered video of a conference talk by Jesse Schell “When games invade real life.” After developing a seminar on Social Media for Job Search designed for community college students, I have continued to research trends in social media and was aware of the use of games on Facebook and was looking into the emerging use of geolocation. The talk on gamification seemed important to watch.
During the talk, I was excited to learn about the syllabus developed by Lee Sheldon, turning his college classroom into a multiplayer game experience. While I am not a gamer, my interest in psychology, learning and personal development led me to believe that the immediate feedback and sense of progress provided by a well-designed game are exactly the things I wanted to harness to improve my students’ experience in the classroom. Many instructors and others began contacting Lee Sheldon and by the time my email found him his new book was coming out, “The Multiplayer Classroom.” I purchased it and began thinking about how to apply the ideas.
Also in 2010, I was introduced to the concept of Whole Brain Teaching by my colleague Meg Kilmer. Whole Brain Teaching is cited as one of the “fastest growing education reform movements in the country.” Chris Biffle’s techniques instantly struck me as useful and also seemed like a perfect fit with the approaches of Lee Sheldon. The over view that inspired me is available here.
This fall, 2010, I am embarking on implementing the ideas from both of these resources to gamify my class, CG 105 Scholarship Dollars for College.
Here goes.
