I went into the content this week under the impression that I would be a bit behind the curve on serious games. While I’ve frequently used games for review, playing World History Jeopardy with students before an exam, and have helped many of the faculty I support employ Kahoot in their classes, I hesitated to think my experience went much beyond that. I’m not really interested in Pokemon Go. Minecraft, while cool, always seemed like waste of time in my content area (in the ways I’ve seen it used anyhow). So, it’s no wonder I thought I was behind the curve. Turns out, however, I was wrong.

As I dug into and began to assimilate more of the readings, I realized that I have more experience with (differentiation in and) gamification than I realized. As I mentioned in my blog, I’ve researched the benefits of virtual reality worlds in nursing education, assisted in the development of an extensive badging program, and taught educators how to use augmented reality in History Pin. I’ve also, as a side note, been trained in the use of Google Cardboard and love sharing it with others. What I find most interesting about this is the phenomenon to which it speaks. I think, when it comes to technological adoptions, we often feel like we are far less prepared than we are. Particularly if we aren’t adopting the best or most popular examples of the technology (my lack of interest in Pokemon Go and Minecraft, as an example).

Further, I think exposure to technology is a good thing, even if we choose to not adopt it for classroom use. Knowing and understanding the affordances of a technology allows us to innovate in ways that were not intended or imagined but work. As part of my Masters Capstone, a colleague and I repurposed Glifos, a technology used to enrich college lectures and make them accessible, as an environment to create interactive archival modules. When we presented our Capstone, the CEO of the company happened to be present and he was surprised, to say the least, at how his technology had been repurposed to create an environment he had not anticipated for a use he never considered.

Beyond my personal reflections, I discussed with Jule my hesitancy over using Minecraft given the state standards I was required to meet and the incredible amount of time development of projects can take. For me, the bottom line in games is that I need to see and demonstrate precisely how they align to my learning objectives; and if I am taking the time to do them, I want to see them align to several learning objectives without any of them feeling like a stretch. Mariah’s post encouraged me to think about my experiences in programming; I shared a story from when I was a kid about how my Dad tricked my sister and I into programming in Basic and compared that to her commentary on Swift Playgrounds. Although I’ve not been able to see Gerald’s comment on my blog (not sure why), I did reply to his reflection, encouraging him to consider creating the games he would so like to see in his classroom. I shared a similar personal experience and the way it changed my career trajectory to provide a concrete example of why I think he would be great at game development.

Finally, Kendra and I were able to have an in-depth conversation around her intended use of badging in the classroom. I asked her three questions relating to FERPA and student privacy, building buy-in for the project, and asking her to consider how the badges will stand as meaningful artifacts of learning. She engaged with all of my questions and provided both solid responses where she had them and asked clarifying questions where she was still developing her process. As an instructional designer, I was actually able to share a few strategies that we use to make badging more meaningful and I’m looking forward both to hearing her thoughts on the strategies and how her implementation of badging goes!

For the purposes of my differentiated unit, I am looking at revamping one of my two-week course modules, either “Module 5: Assessment” or “Module 6: Instructional Materials, Learning Activities, and Course Tools.”  At this point, I’m not entirely sure which one I prefer to use, although I’m leaning towards Module 5.  Regardless of the one I choose, I plan to differentiate by offering student selection in material and perhaps an exploratory activity where they can follow their own interests. Assessments will take the form of a pre-learning self-assessment activity, a discussion board post, and peer interaction around the content.