Book Image

Gamification with Moodle

By : Natalie Denmeade
Book Image

Gamification with Moodle

By: Natalie Denmeade

Overview of this book

This book describes how teachers can use Gamification design within the Moodle Learning Management System. Game elements can be included in course design by using, badges, rubrics, custom grading scales, forums, and conditional activities. Moodle courses do not have to be solo-learning experiences that replicate Distance Education models. The Gamification design process starts by profiling players and creating levels of achievement towards meeting learning outcomes. Each task is defined, valued, and sequenced. Motivation loops are devised to keep the momentum going. In a gaming studio, this approach would require a team of specialists with a large budget and time frames. Preparing for a class rarely has these optimal conditions. The approach used in this book is to introduce game elements into the course design gradually. First, apply gamification to just one lesson and then build up to gamifying a series of lessons over a term. Each example will indicate the difficulty level and time investment. Try it out to see what is most effective with your learners and choose wisely in your use of technology. By the end of this book, you will be able to create Moodle courses that incorporate choice, communication, challenge, and creativity.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Gamification with Moodle
Credits
Foreword
About the Author
Acknowledgement
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
6
Mastery Achieved (Badges and Motivation)
8
Completing the Quest (Reporting Activities)
Index

Assessing progress


So far, the course design has not used any formal online assessment. We have encouraged peer interaction and peer-assessment of the avatar in a forum. We set up self-assessment through a choice activity. We set up a Moodle assignment with nothing to upload, which the teacher can use to enter scores for participation in offline activities.

The reasoning behind the design was to welcome people to this new course through an onboarding process. We have provided opportunities to build connections with other people in the course and build up their feeling of competence. They could use activities in a low-risk setting to build their confidence in using Moodle. In your course, you would do more of this, but this simplified demonstration shows that people are more likely to use Moodle activities if you set up a low-risk non-assessable mini version as a tutorial. If people can imagine an event, it reduces the anxiety and they are more likely to take a risk.

With this foundation in...