Gamified Learning Demo
Integrating gamification principles into a web development course.
CONTEXT
This assignment was part of the Interactive Media Industry course, where we explored the principles of gamification in interactive media.
Additionally, we were encouraged to incorporate the First Peoples' Principles of Learning—generosity, belonging, independence, and mastery—advocated by Dr. Martin Brokenleg.
We had the flexibility to select any module or assignment from any course within the program to apply gamified methods alongside the First Peoples' principles of learning. My group, consisting of four students, chose a module from the Web Development Tools course.
Role
Design Lead
Team
4 Classmates
Tools
Microsoft Copilot Designer, Photoshop, PowerPoint, Miro
Timeline
2 Weeks
PROBLEM
Learning to code is challenging
How might we create a more interactive and engaging environment, driven by fantasy storytelling, to help students successfully complete all the modules of a web development tools course?
Visual representation of current course structure
PROJECT GOALS
Immersive Gamified Learning
The goal was to redesign the course content to incorporate the following gamification tools, guiding students to success while fostering the First Peoples' Principles of belonging, mastery, and independence:
🏅 Badges
🎉 Rewards
⏳ Time-Limited Activities
🏅 Achievements
📖 Storytelling
🔥 Challenges
📋 Tasks
📈 Levels
🎒 In-Game Items
First Peoples Principles of Learning
SOLUTION
Welcome to Coderia!
We decided to lean heavily into storytelling to guide students through the course content, crafting a narrative around a hero journeying through a realm filled with challenges and adversaries. The hero's goal is to master the ancient, coded language of HTML. Each challenge or boss in the story represents a specific unit and topic in the web development course, making the learning process both engaging and immersive.
DESIGN PROCESS
Inspired by Dungeons and Dragons
We drew inspiration from the popular tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons, particularly its role-playing aspects and the opportunity for students to achieve learning outcomes through various branching scenarios.
🎯
Unified Mission
Progression
Ensure that completing various challenges contributes to the overarching mission.
🎲
Enhanced Engagement through Gamification
Incorporate gamified principles to motivate and encourage students to actively participate in the course material.
🌟
Principles of Learning Integration
Achieve three of the four First Peoples' Principles of Learning: Belonging, Mastery, and Independence.
Notes from brainstorming session
Using AI-Generated Images to Tell the Story
We utilized Microsoft's Copilot Designer, powered by DALL-E3, to generate AI images for characters, landscapes, in-game items, and various UI elements.
Prompt Framework
Create an image in Dungeons and Dragon style who <character role description> and has <physical description> and is set in a <landscape description>.
Images Generated by Microsoft Copilot powered by DALL-E3
GAMIFICATION ELEMENTS
In Game Items
Rewards
Story Telling
Challenges
Levels
PROTOTYPE
REFLECTION
Gamifying Education vs. Game-Based Learning (GBL):
Gamifying education adds game elements like points and badges to traditional learning to boost engagement, while Game-Based Learning (GBL) uses actual games to teach skills and concepts. Gamification enhances existing content with game-like features, whereas GBL uses gameplay as the core learning tool.
Embracing the principles of Mastery, Belonging and Independence
Mastery focuses on achieving deep understanding and proficiency. Belonging ensures students feel connected and accepted, enhancing motivation and engagement. Independence encourages self-directed learning and critical thinking. Together, these principles support comprehensive student growth.
The importance of prioritizing storytelling.
Storytelling captivates students and makes learning more memorable by embedding content in compelling narratives. It enhances understanding, retention, and personal connection to the material, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and emotional engagement.
That's all for now! But it doesn't have to end here.
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ⓒ 2024 Daniel Ford