Power Up Your Classroom: Reimagine Learning Through Gameplay

By Lindsey Blass and Cate Tolnai

Learn to design learning experiences that leverage gameplay to increase motivation and engagement, while building classroom community.

By the time Lindsey Blass and Cate Tolnai’s paths crossed, both had taken a path from teacher to coach to central/county office roles focused on innovative learning design, all while noticing three trends that extended beyond their classrooms: students who weren’t able to own and connect to their learning experience became disengaged; students and teachers alike had a general fear of failure; and teachers were perplexed at how to design learning experiences that fostered student choice and celebrated failure as an opportunity for iteration.

Together, they began to ask … what if? What if we designed learning experiences that leveraged the power of gameplay to create more motivated learners? What if we modeled this type of learning with educators so they could experience the impact firsthand and spread the excitement and innovation in their classrooms? What if learning was fun for both students and teachers?

This book:

• Includes visual elements that model the theme of engaging in a game with tips, hints and suggestions sprinkled throughout the chapters.
• Features a downloadable full-color game board that can be used in tandem with the book.
• Provides access to an accompanying website that offers dynamic elements and book study questions.
• Features the voices of experts and innovators in the fields of gamification and game-based learning.

With a uniquely fun and inviting format, Power Up Your Classroom helps educators implement gamification and game-based learning in their classes to drive student engagement and learning.

Audience: K-12 educators, tech coaches

• Language: English
• Publisher: International Society for Technology in Education
• Release date: Jun 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781564847966

Book preview

Power Up Your Classroom

Reimagine Learning through Gameplay

Lindsey Blass and Cate Tolnai

© 2019 International Society for Technology in Education

World rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system—without prior written permission from the publisher. Contact Permissions Editor: [e-mail]; fax: [phone]

Editor: Emily Reed

Copy Editor: Jennifer Weaver-Neist

Proofreader: Corinne Gould

Indexer: Wendy Allex

Book Design and Production: Mayfly Design

Cover Design: Edwin Ouellette

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

First Edition

ISBN: 978-1-56484-798-0

Ebook version available.

Printed in the United States of America

ISTE® is a registered trademark of the International Society for Technology in Education.

ABOUT ISTE

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is the premier nonprofit organization serving educators and education leaders committed to empowering connected learners in a connected world. ISTE serves more than 100,000 education stakeholders throughout the world.

ISTE’s innovative offerings include the ISTE Conference & Expo, one of the biggest, most comprehensive edtech events in the world—as well as the widely adopted ISTE Standards for learning, teaching, and leading in the digital age and a robust suite of professional learning resources, including webinars, online courses, consulting services for schools and districts, books, and peer-reviewed journals and publications. Visit ISTE.org to learn more.

Related ISTE Titles

Gamify Literacy: Boost Comprehension, Collaboration and Learning, edited by Michele Haiken (2017)

To see all books available from ISTE, please visit iste.org/resources.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Lindsey Blass is the personalized learning environments program manager for San Francisco Unified School District. Serving the largest, public, urban school district in the Bay Area, Lindsey develops systems and processes to leverage technology and learning-environment design to promote academic and socio-emotional growth for all students, with an emphasis in reaching historically underserved student populations. As adjunct faculty for Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College (in Los Altos Hills, California) and a Google Certified Innovator, she is a leader in the field of educational technology. Lindsey is a sought-after speaker on the topics of gamification and game-based learning (GBL), and is the cofounder of #PlayPD, an unconference movement designed to leverage the power of gameplay to engage educators in designing innovative learning experiences. She believes that learning should be fun for both teachers and students, and strives to create dynamic and engaging learning experiences that inspire lifelong learners.

You can connect with Lindsey on her website, LindseyBlass.com, and through Twitter @LindseyBlass1.

Cate Tolnai is the director of member engagement for California’s ISTE affiliate CUE (Computer-Using Educators), an education nonprofit for innovation in learning and leading throughout California and Nevada. She is a passionate fan of learning, coaching, and connecting. In her fifteenth year in K–12 education, Cate serves educators as they integrate technology-rich, future-ready learning. She has spent ten years in K–12 classrooms and five years coaching teachers and administrators at both the district and county levels. As a Google Certified Innovator and Google for Education Certified Trainer and adjunct faculty for Krause Center for Innovation (at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California), she commits to supporting the integration of technology and teaching across grade levels and content areas. Cate is the cofounder of #Sketch50, a movement to incorporate visual creativity into learning; #TeachersNeedIt, a social movement prioritizing the basic and extended needs of all educators in bringing excellent instruction into the classroom; and #ConnectedTL, a network for teacher leaders. She loves to talk gamification, microcertifications, blended and online learning, personalized professional development (PD), learning through play, and finding reasons to celebrate every victory step.

You can connect with Cate on her website, Teachers Need It (TeachersNeedIt.com), and through Twitter @CateTolnai.

Acknowledgments

There are so many people who helped us make this book a reality:

To our PLN, who proves again and again that we are #bettertogether and inspires us to reimagine learning. You walk the walk and talk the talk each day, and we witness the dynamic and engaging learning environments you build. You constantly push us to become better educators.

To our amazing families, who put up with insanely long workdays and support us through our passion projects, so we can play a role in making education better.

To all our students who love games and remind us that classroom learning is best when we remember to keep you at the center.

To all blossoming educators who continue to ask What if… ? in their quest to design instruction with students at the core.

You all are our inspiration.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

Lindsey’s Story

Cate’s Story

Our Why

Our How

Framing the Game: The Rules

Framing the Game: The Journey

LEVEL 1: BEYOND THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL: GOALS OF THE GAME

Meet the Game Master: Cate Tolnai

#PowerUpClassroom 4 C’s of GBL

Gamification versus Game-Based Learning

Gamification versus GBL in Action

Meet the Game Master: Jacob Aringo

LEVEL 2: CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE: OPTIONS, CHOICE, AND OWNERSHIP

Meet the Game Master: Ann Brucker

LEVEL 3: ON YOUR MARK: STRUCTURE, DESIGN, AND PURPOSE

#PowerUpClassroom GBL Design Framework

Meet the Game Master: James Sanders

No Tech, Low Tech, High Tech

LEVEL 4: THEIR TURN: STUDENTS AS GAME MASTERS

Game Design for Students

Meet the Game Master: Cristina Bustamante

Meet the Game Masters: Bill Marsland and Andrew Rothman

LEVEL 5: WHO’S WINNING? POWER UP YOUR ASSESSMENT AND FEEDBACK

Meet the Game Master: Lindsey Blass

Meet the Game Master: Gregg Eilers

LEVEL 6: BUILD YOUR SQUAD: COMMUNITY AND CULTURE THROUGH GAMEPLAY

Meet the Game Master: Ryan O’Donnell

Is Your