5 Things You Should Know About:
What
is it?
3D
GameLab is an interactive web based quest system revolving around a specific
subject matter selected by a teacher, and completed by students in order to
finish a course. Dr. Chris Haskell, an associate professor at Boise State
University, created this new learning environment out of a desire to look at
grading in the classroom, and feedback (from both teacher and student) in a new
light. 3D GameLab takes the motivations of achievements, competition, and
singular student recognition through digital awards (resulting in the unlocking
of even more quests, more material, to study) found in video game environments,
and applies it to the standard classroom setting to create a remix of education
and technology.
Who
is doing it?
3D
Gamelab was designed by Chris Haskell, Ed.D. with Lisa Dawley, Ph.D. as part of
his study on gamification for his Boise State dissertation. In addition to
Boise State, Dawley’s company GoGoLabs.com, NOAA, and the MacArthur Foundation
are involved in the support or development of 3D Gamelab elements. Currently 3D
Gamelab is in closed beta, so only a controlled group is using the system, but
the participants have been reporting favorably. Teachers wishing to use the
program during the beta phase are receiving training at periodic online “camps”
(the next one will open this spring). During the training teachers are taken
through a series of Gamelab quests designed to teach the desired content (how
to use Gamelab). In the past, registration for the camps has been $295 and has
included the training, Continuing Education units and membership in site for
the teacher with 60 student licenses.
How
does it work?
Teachers
create quests based on course content for students to complete. You can design
quests yourself, or search the library of quests created by other using 3D
GameLab teachers. Just like an in class assignment, you will give your quest a
title, directions, and tell the students what to submit. Unlike the average
piece of homework, you will also give the assignment a value of experience
points (XP) that the students will be rewarded for completing the task, and, if
you wish, link a standard to the assignment. You can also include video,
pictures, or hyperlinks to use in your assignment. 3D GameLab takes the notion
of an average assignment in class and turns up the volume by allowing you to
use other tools of the web within your quest in order to enhance it beyond just
written text.
Completed
an assignments are sent to the teacher for approval and to receive XP. The
teacher view shows assignments that are completed and awaiting approval, and
when the quest was turned in, so the teacher knows who has been awaiting
approval the longest. The teacher can approve the quest or send it back to the
student asking them to improve something. 3D GameLab encourages teachers and
students to communicate on the completion of assignments, allowing students
always receive full XP if they put in the effort.
Badges, achievements, and awards can be earned and are shown inside the student’s “player card.” Badges are awarded for completing a collection of quests and showing competence in knowledge in a specific area. Achievements are motivators you may often associate with video games and are system related (ie: motivate to make progress by completing 5 quests in 5 days). Awards, on the other hand, are special icons you choose to give to a student for exemplary performance (the equivalent of a gold star). Students can share their player card with other students, or keep it to themselves, but teachers can always access information about each student via their username on the 3D GameLab system. Students can also see items they have not received, and see how they can earn them so they develop long-term goals.
In addition to completing quests and sharing player cards, students can see their XP in relation to other class members. The teacher decides how much XP is needed to finish the class, or “get the A” in standard schooling, but students can determine their ranking by completing more quests., Students can comment on and rate any quest other students can use this information to decide which quest to do when and teachers can use this information to alter the quests making them more accessible to future students. Everyone is a valuable contributor in the quest to better the 3D GameLab experience.
What
are the implications for teaching and learning?
One of
the most important ideas behind 3D Gamelab is that of feedback. The feedback an
educator would be accustomed to (giving advice to a student) is still
accessible, but received in a new way. Teachers can look at an assignment that
is pending approval, and send it back to a student if changes need to be made.
Submitting an assignment no longer has to be the end of the process; students
see a new norm, the chance to still gain full experience on an assignment.
That’s important, that this is the norm. Students come to expect that a teacher
will give them full experience points and it’s not a burden on the teacher’s
time to re-grade an assignment. This is how 3D Gamelab works, and this is how
teachers are expected to respond to student work.
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Another
extremely important change that 3D Gamelab brings to the learning environment
is a replacement of the standard grading system. The student doesn’t see a “C”
on an assignment, something that might make them nervous or parents distraught.
To pass a class, students earn experience points for each assignment, and these
points go toward a total neede to pass the class (The summary of what a student
has accomplished toward that goal being found in their “Player Card”). At the
end of a 3D Gamelab experience a student will receive a letter grade for the
course, but that is the only grade they need to achieve. There is no longer the
agony of papers being passed back and students comparing grades. Each student
who does the assignment satisfactorily receives the same amount of experience.
The focus of this tool is to change the atmosphere of grading among teachers,
and to stress that as long as students are learning, that’s what is important.
Each quest can be given a tag that shows which standard it is following, so 3D
Gamelab does not dismiss the educational system that is in place. What it does
do is ask teachers to reevaluate the motivations behind learning in their
classrooms and see if there is a way to usher out an age of pure competition,
and let students decide if they would like to battle to the top of their
experience bar, or if they want to focus on learning in a less aggressive
manner.
Why
is it significant?
Quests
parallel units of study, but are more “user friendly” and familiar to students.
They can be used as a supplement to classroom instruction, as a self paced unit
that either supports classroom material or enhances/replaces material that
would otherwise not be covered due to time or budget restrictions. By
harnessing the power of play, using trial and error, and allowing repetition to
mastery and self-paced differentiation, quest based learning allow students to
interact with curriculum on their terms and their turf. It takes teacher content
and presents it in a game-like format. Small quests are assembled into the
desired course material and by building more than the required number of points
to “win” the class into the available quests, students have some autonomy in
determining how and, to a certain extent, what they learn. Furthermore, data
shows that students continue to quest even after they have “won” the class
(complete the required points for an A); in order to earn additional incentives
or stay on top of the leader board, students are voluntarily completing
additional coursework.
ISTE
standards?
One of
the progress bars visible in the teacher mode track the ISTE standards, so to a
certain extent this is built into the system for you (it will at least remind
you to think about it as you plan quests). but some specifics are shown below:
Factors
that Support ISTE Standards
·
Student directed
·
Variety
of digital products possible
·
Student
communicate via f2f and digital means
·
Group
quests and class wide goals can be built into quests
·
Students
use print and digital media to complete quests
·
Students
learn to operate in a digital environment and access global resources best
suited to desired learning objectives
·
Teachers
(even/especially if unfamiliar with virtual worlds) can model learning to
navigate a new learning environment or discuss attending online training for
program
·
Students
and teachers work collaboratively to improve quests
Reflections on Researching 3D GameLab
It was an adventure to research
3D GameLab with my partner Julie. Initially we wanted to explore gamification
(using gaming concepts in education), but since the idea is so huge, our professor
Jessica Parker told us to find someone who was using the concept with a
specific tool. Julie discovered 3D GameLab through browsing the internet, and
suddenly we found ourselves investigating the ins and outs of this new
curriculum creating tool. Since 3D GameLab is only usable by those who have
gone through the workshop we were unable to enter it ourselves (Even when Julie
had contacted one of the founders), but despite that we managed to find enough
information through videos, news articles, and guild sites that other teachers
had set up for their classrooms that were using 3D GameLab.
The discovery of this tool, that
will be on the market soon, is exciting to me as an educator, and as a person
who has grown up in the digital age. Being passionate about video games, I am
thrilled to see the incentives used in this medium transferred to education. I’ve
always wanted to find a new way to grade students, and 3D GameLab has
encouraged me to step outside of the standard grading system and consider the
process that students are going through, not just the product they create. Even
if I don’t use 3D GameLab in the future, I will take the valuable ideas that drive
this new teaching medium and applying them to my classroom. I am beyond happy
with this research project, and am glad I found a classmate who is as excited
about this new teaching style as I am.
Research by Liz Deichler and Julie Adams
Images used on this page were borrowed from the 3D GameLab websie
