Google Slides was really a game changer in regards to simplifying what had been overcomplicated way of incorporating Gamification into my lessons. I still love the idea of using a website like wix.com for creating a Flipped Learning Environment. However, Google Slides provided an opportunity I hadn’t initially foreseen. Particularly, with all my students enrolled into the Department of Education's Cloud Based Google service. Problem number one I couldn't figure out how to fix was keeping track of students XP points. There was nothing stopping them from saying "Yeah Mr.Crowe, I'm on Level X or Z". Keeping track of points was difficult, particularly when in theory it shouldn't be. Probably trying to do it with 150 students was part of the problem. Nevertheless, even with the advantages that Slides presented, removing the oppurtunity to cheat still lingered. But it wasn't until I discovered AutoCrat did I feel like I had found the answer. Hopefully this post can explain how to set up your own Gamified Digital Passport using Slides & Autocrat! ThemeLike any Gamification Universe, you need to start with a theme. For this example, I’ll use the example of the Avengers which we are trialing with our Grade 5's at the moment. (I've got to thank my colleague Mr.Morrison for "up-levelling" the theme. His ideas have helped supercharge it! If you want to find out further information, make sure you pick up a copy of Michael Matera’s Gamification bible, Explore Like a Pirate. In this theme, our students are becoming members of the Avengers Initiative, where they can earn Avenger (AVR) Points. 100 AVR points uncovers a secret pass code that convinces SuperHeroes to join their team. We've sent them a copy of a Digital Passport through Google Classroom. Students can then collect SuperHero's by clicking on the name of the Character they want. The link takes them to a Google Form. They must enter their email and a secret passcode. Then, they will be emailed a Badge with the character on it. Only then can they copy and paste the character into their Passport. It sounds a bit complicated, but trust me it is AWESOME! Google Slides - Edit Master
Badges - Google FormsBadges - Google Docs/Slides
Badges - AutocratWhere the magic begins! On every Form made for a character, you'll need to activate a linked Google Sheet that has the Autocrat Add-On enabled. I’ve got Andy Hair to thank for this one! It’s seriously amazing. But I'll be honest, it initially can take some time to get going. Like I already said above, using AutoCrat has "kind of" solved a problem I've found whereby keeping check of students points became a huge challenge. Using Autocrat's features means that students can't collect an Avenger into their team unless they have a secret passcode. This passcode can only be handed out when students have earned enough points. For example, for completing a task designated by the teacher. I say "kind of" because there's nothing stopping students sharing a code with their friend. On the 2nd step you'll be asked to choose a template. This is the Slide or Doc you've made (Like the example of the Black Panther) above. In this section, this is where you map the data to the template. <<NAME>> maps to the data on the form that asks the student to put in their name. Change the document type to a PDF that will be sent to students. This is probably the most important part. It means the Mail Merge where the students are automatically sent an email won't work unless they have the correct text in the box next to the "equals". In this case, students trying to recruit the Black Widow with their 100 AVR points must input Natasha into the passcode section of the Form. Ideally you want to share it from a non-generic email address. It kind of defeats the myth that we are really Avengers if the email from Director Fury is sent from my own email address. Make sure you use the tag <<email>> or whatever you've called the section that collects students email. You can even add a generic response underneath. The trigger runs whenever a new submission has been made. This is a cool feature as it almost responds instantly with an email back to the student. Give it a goI'll admit, I have invested significant time into trying this out. But I think it's working pretty well now with our Grade 5s.
And if it sounds too hard but you want to play our Theme you can make a copy of the link in the post! Good luck Gamifying your classroom!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AboutThis blog has been created to share my thoughts on Teaching. It uses my experiences, thoughts and ideas about a whole range of things related to education. Archives
August 2017
Categories
All
|