GeoQuest: Taking Steps Toward Gamification

I did a lot of prep work this summer around making my curriculum more gamified by looking at the work of John Meehan (@meehanedu) and Michael Matera (@mrmatera).  I was reluctant, however, to jump right in. (see Gamification in the Classroom: Big "G" or little "g"?)

Perhaps I wanted to get a sense of my students to see how they might roll with it.  Maybe I needed to gauge whether or not I could handle it.

Yesterday, I took the plunge.

After we tied up a few loose ends from last week, I turned the students’ attention to the screen at one end of the room.  I played this trailer to introduce the class game we would be participating in for the rest of the year:

After viewing, an unexpected thing happened: applause. To my astonishment, in each class, students spontaneously gave positive feedback. Comments I heard:

“That was awesome.”
“That got me pumped up.”
“I’d love to see that movie.”

And I hadn’t even explained the game yet.

I then shared that it was the game that they would play for the rest of the year. “In fact,” I said. “You’ve already been playing it.”  There were a few knowing looks amongst the faces as I could tell they were picking up on some of the things I had said which subtly referenced the game.

The students read a brief game guide document I put together. And they asked questions.  We talked about XP, competing as individuals, competing as a class against the others, competing as a variety of teams, earning advantages, and sidequests.

When some students asked very specific questions about levels and advantages and I responded that the game was a work in progress and would evolve throughout the year, one student piped up, “Cool! We’re beta testers!”

Clearly, the students bought in.  They were excited, intrigued, and eager.  They proceeded into the next activity which they knew was related to the game with great exuberance.

And I am excited, too, as I think this can help enhance their engagement, provide opportunities for collaboration, and increase their learning.

My first big step into gamification was a success.  Now, I just need to maintain the momentum and craft learning challenges that will keep that tenor of enthusiasm lingering in the air.


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If you gamify your classroom or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.