Gamify your teaching

The other day one of my colleagues came by and asked me how good I'm doing apps. She had such an awesome idea how an app could help her gamify her teaching. A simple basic idea: hide clues everywhere and anywhere in the school, when the students finds them, put them together and earn some electro coins to cash in with for a reward.

And her ideas got into my head and I couldn't stop thinking of it. Such a good idea ought to go to be solved!

Do we really need an app?

No, not really.

KISS

Keep It Simple Stupid

I came up with a solution and she thought it would be so fun (and interesting) so we have to test it. We use Google Drive, add-ons and QR-codes.

We create one (1) quiz about diagnoses with ten (10) check questions and six (6) different answers (one for ADD, one for ADHD, one for autism and so on). We copy that one Google form, use the add-on Flubaroo and create a correct answer for all separate quizzes. With the Flubaroo add-on we can email each participant directly with feedback. We use our schools testimonials N1, G2 and B3 and they earn the same amount of "electro coins".

• N1: 70% correct answers = 1 coin
• G2: 80% correct answers = 2 coins
• B3: 90% correct answers = 3 coins
• B3+: 100% correct answers = 4 coins

To each form we use a QR-code and that code can be hidden everywhere and anywhere, in a pdf-document or in a classroom. The QR code links to the quiz and some information who can take it.

Rewards

• First price: you can skip one examination or if you have done all examinations we don't count the one you screw up.
• Second price: normally they have three tries for an examination but now they will have one extra try.
• Third price: during examination, you will have one answer for free (from the teacher)

We still have to discuss the amount of coins for each price, but maybe it could be 3xG2+3xB3, 3x2+3x3=6+9=15 coins as the lowest level and 4xB3+2xB3+, 4x3+2x4=20 coins as the highest level. So you win the first price if you score between 15-20 coins.

Yeah, and with that thinking you'll have a bonus price as well, but we have to figure out something.

Our thought is to challenge our students to learn more with a minimal resources of us teachers, therefor check questions and auto correction add-on.

And finally, there's an actual working idea of gamification taking place and even though I've come up with the solution myself I doubt I'll be the first one to try it :D

Technical drawing

I'm on my second week of my "Technical drawing" course, 30 lessons in total. My colleague have had his group to make a lot of blueprints on paper. Unsurprisingly I have another approach: Minecraft and Lego, more particularly architect Lego from the early 1960's. I run the course on a vanilla creative server as mods, in my experience, mix up the students proportions. They are so busy cut a block into pieces that they forget what they suppose to build. 

So why Minecraft?

Well, even though I sometimes doubt I still believe students of today learn in another way than we're used to and my goals, with this course can be summarized in three points

• scale, 
• proportion and 
• 3D models

I also want to encourage creativity, problem solving and collaboration.

We have practiced to convert 2D projections to 3D models and now practice how to scale something, like (minecraft) Steves head in 1:1, 1:5 and 2:1 and just because you're allowed to use a game it won't necessary be the best way to solve the problem. But when doing it in the sandbox it becomes more apparent when you make a mistake in your thoughts.

I have not had to moderate the server ever even though it been up for 1,5 years and even if I have had 4-5 classes there and a permanent population of teachers and their kids (all under 7 years) but with this group of students and technical drawing there have been lots of problems within a week. Why do you have to kill something? Or blow away whatever you want with TNT?

We tackle problems in different ways and we solve problems in different ways, I don't want to change that but I'd like 16-18 year old students behave mature and adult and not as they are rascals :P

So I had to have a talk with them today. I did show them a picture of a classroom from the 1950's and another one from the 21st century. I asked which one they preferred, and all wanted the future classroom. Fact: teachers don't like to step out of their comfort zone, they don't like changes, they rather want the 1950's classroom so I told my students, when I try to bring the teaching into the 21st century, try to respect my attempts to change it.

I think they understood, they stopped complaining about the vanilla server and started doing tasks. 

So, is it really the facts that teachers do not like the changes?

If we generalize, most are reluctant to leave the comfort zone.

One colleague, almost 10 years younger than me, said: 
"Games in teaching and everything like that, it's certainly good but ... what do you do if two students (of 20) ain't interested in your way of teaching???"

And that piss me off!

Just because they do not dare themselves, they do not have to shoot us down before we tried. There is only another question, which in turn are greeted by silence and teeth grinding...

"How do you resolve it yourself when you have two students who listens and 18 who play games, watch YouTube or just chill out?"

What is Minecraft?

In the ongoing MOOC, Minecraft for educators, we've been asked to identify the different platforms that you can play Minecraft on (Console, Tablet, PC etc) and produce a comparison describing the differences and limitations of each. This first task to show our understanding and knowledge of the different platforms that Minecraft comes on and clearly show what each version is capable of or its limitations. Therefor, here we go.

Minecraft PE

The first version of Minecraft I bought and played, where I saw the light and also understood this ain't enough! We need multiplayer, we need collaboration and we need an easier way to control our character.

But there's some cool features as when it comes to crafting, it's enough to have one piece of wood in your inventory to see what you can craft from that. There's also a separate workbench for stones.

Above: another workbench (sort of) for the stones (to the left). 

Below: Just a quick look to show how Minecraft look inside PE and where you find the controls.

Pos

• Built in craft recieps
• Cheap

Con

• Can't change character skin
• Can't connect to a server
• Difficult to move around
• No redstones
• Limited worlds

Minecraft PC / MAC

Even though I'm an old WASD-gamer I had some issues moving around and do/undo blocks the first sessions. Luckily I both had students and a 5 yo daughter who started to help and teach me. With the PC version my educator eyes opened and I saw the possibilities how to use Minecraft in education.

Comparing with the other plattforms PC has the easiest controls, the worlds are almost unlimited and it's easy to get an exactly position (XYZ). Redstones gives a new dimension what to use Minecraft to.

It's also a flexible plattform as you can mod it free of choice.

Above: how the PC version will look like with the amazing texturepack Dragondance. 

Pos

• Controls
• Redstone
• Unlimited worlds (almost)
• Mod-able
• Console commands
• Skins

Cons

• Controls

MinecraftEDU

MinecraftEDU brings features that really help you in the classroom, as you easily can manage your class, mute or freeze them, teleport, give items and more. These things has turned out to be much valuable when you use Minecraft with older kids as they seek up the mobs instead of avoid them. It's very hard to keep them on track and you have to put up lots of quests to have their focus.

Above: so the MinecraftEDU adds a teacher panel down to the left, otherwise it looks the same as ordinary Minecraft.

Pos

• ComputerCraftEDU, drag and drop code
• Teacher admin panel
• Cheaper than usual Minecraft

Cons

• Controls? ;)

Minecraft Xbox, PS and more

I have no experience of the xbox version (or the other ones). I find myself have some difficulties with the control pads when I play other games, there's too many bottoms and also very hard to focus where to aim.

What comes to pos / cons, this is what I figured out after reading this comparison made by Sgt Merrell.

Above: so here's the Minecraft Xbox view and down to the left there's some kind of "meny", buttons you need in game. The inventory bar is also a bit higher up than in the other versions.

Pos

• Redstones
• Mods
• Easy to host games online
• Easy to host games local

Cons

• Controls
• Limited worlds
• Limited chance to change skins

Minecraft Pi edition

Last one out is the Pi Edition which I heard about when I bought the book "Adventures in Minecraft" and what I understand Pi is based on the Alpha pocket edition but sort of designed to more easy add programming in Python to the game. Minecraft Pi feels like the nerd version of the game as it requires Rasberry pi :D

Above: how the game looks like in Rasperry Pi and if you want to compare ;)

However, don't forget

No matter what platform, be aware of your student will find other things to do no matter what you have planned. Allow some creativity, they will anyway learn the key competences of lifelong learning, a goal which is difficult to reach usually. MinecraftEDU is to prefer as you can freeze your students and also easily control the class and classroom, as shown in the picture below.

Graphics?

Look as that's the biggest issue many has of the game. Use a texturepack and you will get the look you want ;)

It's okay to fail!

It's a busy time right now as we have Open House, trying to recruit new students to next autumn. Today there will come like 600 students from high school to have a look at our school and our educations. Yesterday when we was promoting our Business Information Technican education (datanom/datanomi) one colleague surprised me talking very warm of Minecraft and ComputerCraft (I'm still not welcome at his lessons btw) as a good introduction to what this profession really is about as you have to be a troubleshooter, either you're IT support or a programmer.

As I thought it's better to actually show what we're doing, or more precisely how I use MinecraftEDU during my courses, I made a videoclip. Of course that was something doomed to fail according to my dear colleagues. Really? A clip? No, you should use a PowerPoint...

Have in mind, this is my "PowerPoint", my words, thoughts and opinions about the education when I try to talk about it and promote it, not my school.

Yesterday there was some groups only with girls and they were a bit afraid of the computers so I told them a story, when I started with my course with ComputerCraftEDU, programming basics, and there was this guy telling me it was too hard. At that lesson also my daughter AquaVera 6 yo attended, and she showed the guys how to use MinecraftEDU and ComputerCraftEDU. And I saw the girls smiled as they understood, it's all about the mindset. She, my daughter, was working as a good example to get the high school girls interested in the education.

My daughter also happen to unfortunately be a perfectionist, failure is not an option! Therefor she surprised me this morning when I told her about this, using Minecraft to learn and she told me:

"Dad, it's okay to fail but you have to try!"

Strange don't you think? It's okay to fail when it comes to games... so why do we not use games in education more???

My on going ComputerCraftEDU course has been very funny. Half the group has been running home as fast as possible and the other half I have had to kick out... Even if the server have had lots of lag, they still sit there. The day before yesterday, Wednesday evening, we couldn't even move around on the server, did it mind this young men? Not at all. It was some delay on the code but he refused to give up.

"The course ends 19:00, it's now 18:49, I still have 11 minutes to go!" And 19:10 I have to drag him out...

LEGO Friends in Minecraft

As I started the other day what will happen if you start play computer games together with your children you could learn of each other I will continue on that track. For an example, last year my daughter AquaVera (by then 5 yo) participated in the first project I ran with Minecraft in School. As most of the building was in the evenings and from home she could, and later also demanded to, join.

As I thought Minecraft would be a hard game to play (I was so wrong!) I told my students they had to build their school and as a creative part, build an own house. It took less than 36 hours to build a minor city and I had to have a second thought about it. During those 36 hours Aquavera also entered the game with an own account and also start build on her own house.

But as it's very fun to build together I asked her what she would like to do and she picked Olivia's house (3315) from Lego Friends.

She had just gotten the Lego kit and we had just built it, therefor she also wanted to have it inside Minecraft. I told her I'm not going to build it alone, she has to help me. We sat together and had the instruction book between us and followed the steps together.

After the house, we also built the Heartlake City Pool (41008) with the water slide, complete with the heart in the bottom of the pool. We also had some discussions about the water and the flow, that you actually can create a slide and play with it inside game.

During these building projects we had done lots of learning, from math and physics (the water slide) to technical drawing (interpret a drawing in 2D to 3D). Both had been troubleshooting where many of the solutions came from her because she wanted to have it exact as in the real LEGO model.

Later she has also been improving the pool with lots of other activities and opportunities for playtimes, like secret underwater tunnels that connect different pools...

Reflection of gaming

I'm preparing my next MinecraftEDU ComputerCraft course and have some thinking going on that I need to get out, clear the system sort of :)

When I play Minecraft with my 6yo daughter (AquaVera), the first thing I can't help think about is all learning that is going on. But, with a second thought, all that enlighten learning wouldn't take place if she were playing alone. And this is not a boy girl issue, it's when you play over generations and learn from each other. 

How can I be so sure? 

Well, best example is "Everyday Minecraft" with Adam Clarke and his son Django. There's no epic mission to slay the dragon and conquer the world, instead there's small epic missions for the day: create a bed (you need to find sheep), start a farm (you need to eat), create better tools, create a proper nice base camp. 

"Everyday Minecraft" should been watching every once in a while of parents and kids as it's very inspiring what you really could achieve with a computer game if you are aware of it. 

We have the same epic goals; yesterday we went out to try find horses so we could start breed puppies and of course, create a stable to them. Now we happened to find sheep as well, so we "had" to take care of them...

In our acquaintance 

there's parents who don't know, understand or even care what their kids play. These kids have most often one primary goal, the epic mission: slay the dragon. This is pity as you could use a game to so much, for an example "The Minecraft Student - Minecraft Mod Review" a great way of learning math!

To be able to "slay the dragon" you sometimes (in games like World of Warcraft) have to collaborate with others, who you trust can do their part as professionals. You have to communicate to be successful. But in the very end, you do it for yourself, to get better gear or whatever. In games as World of Tanks you are a part of a team, where the group is more important but here we talk match and series, as ice hockey or soccer. 

But as long as no one enlighten you, there's no consciously learning going on because you also feel bad when you play more than your parents want. It doesn't matter if it's about kids in my daughters age or my students (+10 years), they still need someone to enlighten the learning to be able to achieve it.

This is kind of my problem at the moment.

There's another side as well (of course): how our students work and behave. I'm sorry, but they really suck at information retrieval. When they hit the very first wall of adversity they give up. If it's not a game... 

I have for a couple of weeks having this course using both MinecraftEDU and ComputerCraftEDU, with a goal to reach out to the first years students (16-18yo) and get them more interested in code by gaming. As I know they're brilliant what comes to problem solve when gaming, I hope they also understand that's an important part during class when you're doing code (or school tasks). Don't give up if it's not working on the first attempt! Besides get them interested into coding I also want them to understand you can (and must do) information retrieval when you code!

This course when using ComputerCraftEDU in classroom has been a truly success! Many students refuse to leave until the lessons end, no matter if the Internet are not working (happened!), when the server is too laggy (happened!) or even if we have problems with the tech (happened!). When I'm ready to give up and tell them it's okay to go, half the class stays with the argument "the course ends at 19:10, we have another 45 min to hope for a miracle!" 

When has that ever happened before?

We have all started the day between 8:00 and 08:30, 10 hours later they still have energy to require we end as scheduled 19:10 (and then I have to literally kick them out!)

They buy the explanation to use a game to learn something, and I can see that information gives them the aha-feeling: I am really learning something useful when I play and when I have played (Confirmation. Enlighten.)

The problem I usually have is when some students who runs own servers comes and want admin, operator access and want to install their own favorite bukkit mods. They have very hard to understand (and accept) there's actually a learning environment, an EDU-version, to their favorite game.

This time I have given them the tools to make code but nothing else as I assume they're lazy enough to want have turtles doing the boring work for them. In the following courses I will have some more specific quests for them like math, thanks to Shane Asselstine (Hawaii) who opened my eyes with thoughts like these ones:

Have them calculate how much wheat they would need to grow to survive for a day. It is harder than it seems. Then how much for a week? How much for a month?

Are there better sources of food that would be more effective? How do you measure the effectiveness? Can you give it data and compare the numbers?

Evaluation of first weeks with Didactor

We have now been using the platform Didactor for some weeks and suddenly we needed some results to publish in a report. Of course we were about to ask for feedback but not so soon. Anyways, the feedback are now in and as students rarely understands completeness and only looking for what's best for themselves the feedback has been a bit negative. 

Thoughts of the students

The negative voices mostly because you can't be lazy anymore. You can't sleep during classes and doing else stuff and you must attend the classes. In the long run, when you look back at your education it's not a bad thing even though, at this moment, it of course can be very negative.

Also, everyone does not learn in the same universal way, but that's not something new, that problem we (teachers) always have had. Most funny, even though they tell us they hate the tool (Didactor) they learn and learn more and they are more active. Last but not least, they have a much better awareness of their knowledge, their self-evaluation and if they have passed the course or not.

In the evaluation we've been asking lots of questions, these maybe are the most interesting:

Prior knowledge

Self-assessment before

Self-assessment afterwards

Enjoy (using a new tool)

Motivation

 Activity

Proficiency after the course

What unintentional learning occurred?

• Information retrieval
• Languages (Finnish, English, Swedish)
• Use your computer (1:1 program)
• Be able to plan and be proactive
• Collaborate
• Problem solution
• Social media (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram)

I feel that my knowledge after the course is

Thoughts of the teachers

We the teachers has listen and are changing our ways (more variety) but will keep use didactor. Previously, students just been happy to pass the course, now they want to have more knowledge and higher ratings.

• We have never been so present in our courses
• It was a long time ago it was so fun to teach
• Entire groups come through the courses (higher throughput)
• Higher skill levels generally in the groups
• Less stress on the students (will I pass the course?)
• Less negative stress on teachers (has been replaced by positive stress)