Fun and Games: Strategies for Success with Gaming in Online Course Design Dr. Tamara Powell Kennesaw State University Kennesaw, Georgia, USA

Blast from the Past In 2005, Marc Prensky wrote, “’Engage Me or Enrage Me,’ What Today’s Learner’s Demand.” It was published in the Educause Review. It is available now online here:

What Students Want/Need A challenge Decisions to make Goals to achieve

What You Need* A lesson goal (you don’t necessarily have to share this with the students) Creativity (lots and lots of creativity) Clear rules to the game (you do have to share this with the students) A path to a game goal (that helps students to also achieve the lesson goal) A clear indication that some task or challenge has been successfully completed by the students *(note that fancy bells and whistles or computer game design skills are not on this list)

Simpler can be better.

Cool Tools Kahoot VoiceThread

Marczewski classifies gamers into “gamification user types”: player (motivated by extrinsic rewards) socialiser (motivated by relatedness) free spirit (motivated by autonomy) achiever (motivated by mastery) philanthropist (motivated by purpose)

Questions for Discussion What are the advantages and disadvantages of gamifying the classroom? What successes or failures have you encountered as you integrate gaming into the online classroom? What games do you integrate into your courses? What experiences have you had with the games during this session? Have you observed any impact of the games on participant behavior? What kind of gamification user type are you?

Works Cited Kim, Bohyun. “Designing Gamification in the Right Way.” Library Technology Reports. Feb/Mar2015, 51.2:, Prensky, Marc. ““’Engage Me or Enrage Me,’ What Today’s Learner’s Demand.” Educause Review. September/October