Task Three...

3/29/2019

This post is also a self-guided quest on using game design lenses to make your current curriculum more contemporary. You ultimately get to decide your destination and the impact that this will have on curriculum design, instruction, and assessment. I am going to lay out some thinking points, and you will get to apply them to your current curriculum. I invite you to share any “AHA!” moments that you have in the comments section, so we can collaboratively grow from each other’s ideas and expertise.

Note: You can also lead students through this process to help them think of ways to make products and/or presentations more engaging.

Quest Action One: Introduction

Download Jesse Schell’s Art of Game Design app: A Deck of Lenses (iOS Link | Android Link). The app is free, and you can follow Jesse on Twitter if you are interested in more of his work: @jesseschell.
Scroll through the lenses to gain a sense of familiarity with them, noting ones in particular that grab your attention.
Think of a game you’ve played and lenses that might be involved. Have a discussion with someone else about how understanding design lenses impacts the player’s (your) experience and how the addition of other lenses might enhance the game.

Quest Action Two: Analysis

Let’s start with a popular game like Angry Birds. When you first open up the app to play the game, you are given a goal. There is also a visualization of what you must do to meet your goal.
You perform an action that either completes the goal or necessitates a do-over. The goal can be completed at a low level (one star) or a high level (three stars), with the higher level as an indication that you have an improved skill set.
Getting the stars and advancing (leveling up) to the next levels are affirmations of your skills. In the case of Angry Birds, there is actual cheering when you complete the level.
You continue to play so that you can reach your goals, which may include: leveling up, achievement of experience points, more stars, or actual rewards that may help you achieve subsequent levels.
The positive feeling reaching all these goals keeps you in a state of engaged play, a toward state that keeps you interested, motivated, and continuing to play.
In-game challenges give you opportunities to put your skill sets to the test in a uniquely challenging problem or scenario. These challenges often have additional rewards for completing them, maintaining that high level of intrinsic motivation.

Quest Action Three: Application
Note: Your response to these questions are just for you and you are not required to document your answers.

What lenses can you identify, using the Deck of Lenses App, when thinking about Angry Birds or any other game you play?
What lenses do you wish you saw?
How could you improve the games you play by using additional lenses?

Quest Action Four: Extension
Your responses to these questions will be documented in the Comments section. Directions for this are at the end of this blog post.

Thinking about the lenses you saw in the app, the lenses you aligned with a game you play, and your thoughts about improving the games you play with additional lenses, how could you improve your curriculum using these lenses?
In what ways could the lenses improve instructional actions?
In what ways could the lenses improve assessment?
What happens when you invite students into this conversation to co-create instructional actions and assessments?

The goal here is intentional thought about the impact that these game design lenses might have on your curriculum. This is not the same as Gamifying the curriculum, where science content is layered on top of Monopoly or Chutes and Ladders, or where video games might be used to improve content knowledge or motor skills. The is more along the lines of decisions we make about instruction and assessment, and in this case, those decisions include facets of what game designers consider to make their games more engaging, more addictive, and more exciting. We want those same things in curriculum design.

Please respond in the comments section to just the Questions in Quest Action Four. Be sure to comment on one or more of the other participants' responses.

13 Comments

Julie Webber

3/30/2019 05:06:19 pm

In answering these questions, I find it difficult to separate the answers. In looking at the app, my response is WOW! There are so many layers that I would have never that of. My family definately fits into the category of board game lovers. The game referenced in the book, Pandemic, is one that my 7th grade son and I like to play. I discussed with him several of the questions posed on the lense cards. It made me really see how a game can support and extend learning. My son even commented that it would be a lot more interesting to learn through the game than worksheets!
Implications for instruction and assessment - the questions posed on the cards can help a teacher be reflective on their lesson design and how they can assess students. I see the relationship between several of the lenses and an ELA lesson, for example, on character traits and transformation. The visible progress lense of game development can align with math standards within a game.
In summary, I found the app to foster great reflection questions that can be used in a variety of ways!

Sean McDonnell

4/1/2019 06:40:33 pm

I agree with you that there are many layers I never thought of. Students are so into video games now that we could use these layers to help get more engagement in the classroom. I personally have tried to learn about fortnite to motivate students.

Lori Hurtgam

4/2/2019 04:56:27 pm

I thought the questions on the card were great ways to get the conversation going about content and the curriculum. It was a way to have students understand what is happening in the classroom but in a fun, creative, and interesting manner.

Katie Toub

3/30/2019 06:26:49 pm

When I first opened this app I was very overwhelmed. Initially I only saw the first 16 items before realizing there was more to scroll down through. I confess, I did not read every single point and question on the cards. Personally I'm not a huge game person- I'd rather be making something, out doing something, or reading a book. However as I read through some of the points I saw how this could be a great reflective tool for just about anyone.

The first way that popped into my head was with a project my kids are working on right now. They've recently started using google slides to create their own presentations to teach one another about a severe weather topic they have chosen and are researching. I could see where these reflection questions could help the kids reflect on their presentations and determine if they really have done their best and accomplished what they hoped to with their presentations. I would like to pose some of these questions to my students on Monday who claim to be done with their presentations already and see if they don't change their mind and add more.

As for instruction, curriculum, and assessment, these are the kinds of questions I know I need to be asking all the time. Honestly, my reflection and thought typically comes at the end of a lesson, unless I know I'm being observed. I usually worry about the basics- did they get the material, do I need to reteach anything, should I pace it out differently the next time, that kind of thing. Since I signed up for this course specifically to find some new approaches for my inquiry time block, I will be using these kinds of questions to help me plan my inquiry projects. Looking forward to the upcoming changes with science and social studies I see where this kind of thought and questioning would be very helpful. I'm a little concerned it will be time consuming, be all know if you put the work in at the beginning the outcome will be amazing.

Kim Mitchell

4/1/2019 04:59:54 am

Using the lenses at the end of a lesson or activity I agree is a great way to check for understanding and involve higher level thinking skills. It would be very time consuming, but the outcome would be worth it.

4/1/2019 04:57:37 am

1.When first browsing through the app I was a little overwhelmed. After digging through the lenses given, there were many that I would not of thought of. Curriculum can be approached using these lenses in a variety of ways. When planning or organizing lessons I could incorporate the approach of a game and set the precedence to include the lenses and questions into activities. With this approach I think my students would enjoy the material more. I currently incorporate games into my center activities, but with these lenses to consider now I could change some of the materials I currently use.
2. These lenses could be used in both whole and small group lessons. I think incorporating more than one lens per activity would be too much. I could have a student pick a lens and then set that as a additional activity for students to complete. Students could answer the given question and follow that instruction for the entire activity. When asking questions throughout the lesson, my students are more engaged and involved. To add the high level thinking questions the app offers would be a great addition.
3. The lenses given could be added to any lesson. I think I would have to filter out certain lenses to fit each subject. Some questions are too high for my current students, but could be modified. It would be very easy to put these lenses in a ELA or science lesson. To assess students questions would have to be worded so students could understand what was being asked, but would be a great way to wrap up a lesson or check for understanding in the middle of a activity.
4. When involving students in the creation of materials and assessments, with specific directions given they would love to be included. When students are able to create their learning and be actively involved they love participating that much more.

4/1/2019 08:27:59 am

I agree with what you said about how it was overwhelming. However I also agree that there were some interesting questions and thinking points on there that I would completely overlook when planning out lessons and units. This gave me some idea of other things to think about in the future.

4/1/2019 06:35:53 pm

1) When I first opened this app, the first thing I noticed was the challenge lens. I immediately went to my history with video games. I’ve always found the best games to challenge and make me work hard, but not get to a level of frustration. Then I thought about how to use challenge in the class. I want my students to get challenged but not to a point of frustration.

2) I never really think about my classroom in terms of a game. This app opened my eyes into how to make the classroom more like a video game. Students are always playing video games. If I can make my history lessons a “quest” or challenge, I think I could get more engagement.

3) I’m a strict believer that more engagement means higher assessment scores. If students are intetersted in what they are learning, they will be more successful. My students always love the world wars and the test scores show that. If I could use lenses for units like nationalism and decolonization, I think it could help scores.

4) I’ve listened to students before on some ideas in class but not assessment. To be honest, it’s always something I’ve wanted to do but I’m not sure how to make it work. If I used the video game ideas, maybe I could work with my students to create an assessment.

4/2/2019 10:04:57 am

One thing you might try for giving the students a voice in assessments is letting them choose what kind of assessment they take. I have a professor in a SPED class in college who used to let us choose from multiple choice, short answer, or oral tests for every assessment she gave. She had the different formats prepared ahead of time, they all assessed the same concepts, and we chose the day of the test. It took me a few tests to realize that I always did my best on the oral assessments. I noticed a significant difference in my test scores and felt no anxiety go into the tests. This might be something you consider trying.

Kyle Hurtgam

4/2/2019 07:19:24 pm

Your comment about challenging but not to the frustration level is important to consider. When things are too easy or too hard....we see little value in doing it. When things are challenging, that is when we find enjoyment in the activity.

Lori Ohanessian Hurtgam

4/2/2019 04:55:08 pm

Wow- at first I was a bit overwhelmed with all of the questions, but then once I downloaded the app and checked out the lenses, things started making more sense to me. I definitely see how we can incorporate the idea of lenses in the classroom. The best way that I can think of to improve my curriculum with some of these lenses is by designing lessons that use the lenses as a way to students to view what they are learning. For example "secrets" can be used to rope students into the lesson and engage them in the learning process. They will see the lesson as something that is secretive, when in reality you are just guiding them to see it that way.

Lenses can improve instructional actions by being able to design lessons that use the lessons to help structure the way students are visualizing the content. It can improve assessments by allowing students to show their content knowledge in different manners and through different actions. Lenses can be designed by both the students and teachers together, giving them ownership over the lesson and allowing them to feel that they are a part of their own educational experiences.

4/2/2019 07:16:46 pm

Some things that come to mind for curriculum were essential experience, fun, curiosity, problem solving, the problem statement, motivation, goals, challenge, reward, feedback, help, and technology. Games are motivating for many students. If I could incorporate as many of these into curriculum design, I think this would be a winning recipe for learning. The lenses could improve instructional practices because teachers would be cognizant of the ingredients necessary to create an engaging experience for our students. The lenses can be used to help assess students learning by creating unique experiences where students enjoy learning and challenge themselves to continuously learn to achieve the next level. The students would be completing self-assessments continuously. By inviting students into this process, they are able to gain buy-in and think of many things that we as adults are not aware of in game creation. I have not played a game in many years. My time is focused on kids and house projects. My students would offer valuable feedback that would be essential in game design to keep the game stimulating.

4/5/2019 05:57:54 pm

Kyle,
I like the terms you used 'winning recipe for learning'. The game environment can create that buy in for students. It is interesting that you commented you are caught up in kids and house projects. I agree! It makes me wonder if the definition of gaming would change from teacher to student. I think reflecting on the tenets of engagement can be of assistance.

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