Internet Learning Volume 4, Number 2, Fall 2015 | Page 93

Internet Learning
In past online and hybrid classes,
new students who were unfamiliar with
the team project format dreaded working
in online classes on the team projects. The
instructor noted that they were slow to get
oriented and begin the team activities, and
spent much of the first few weeks reflecting
on the requirements and their individual
needs. The learners provided excellent
posts during the first week’s introductions,
but for some students, the difficulty in
coordinating team activities reduced the
quantity of discussion posts and the energy
level seemed to plateau. Past class offerings
used different strategies, including assigning
students to teams and allowing students to
form their own teams. The problem with
either team formation strategy was that
the team progress was slow and project
delays had the risk of increasing stress
later in the term and turning the project’s
activities into a heroic effort on the part of
the project’s integrator. Using gamification
design in the online course rubrics offered
opportunities to reduce anxiety, encourage
early teamwork and remap the perceptions
and beliefs on the value of online teamwork.
It is these values and beliefs
combined with the focus on completing
the project tasks that illustrate the power of
Wilson’s models as noted in Figures 1 and
2. Without understanding the perception of
learners as players, and finding mechanisms
to support their fears and support skill
development through routine feedback;
the game might have been a light-hearted
activity rather than a new way to think
about the utility of teamwork in online
games.
Gamification Design: Metaphors and Game
Mechanics
The game design process featured
identifying game metaphors that fit the
values and needs of the students (what
students wanted) with the necessary tasks
(curriculum and course assignments). The
game mechanics offered rewards of value
to the students (in this case, gold coins)
that had a one-to-one relationship with the
rubrics and point values used to evaluate
progress and assign grades in the course.
For example, a 25-point assignment was
worth 25 gold coins. Partial completion
of the task could earn fewer coins, similar
to incomplete work on a class activity. In
addition to these direct measurements,
the game featured incentives that were
advertised and available to each player to
encourage the learners to extend themselves
as they tried different ways to communicate,
collaborate, complete the project tasks and
integrate their individual efforts into a
cohesive document.
gamification design in the
online course rubrics offered
opportunities to reduce anxiety,
encourage early teamwork and
remap the perceptions and
beliefs on the value of online
teamwork.
While games may encourage
awareness and energy through the
perception of competition, in online classes
that do not grade on a curve, striving for
excellence is not limited to the top percent
of the class. Yet seeing progress over time
and the relationship of user needs with
tasks as they were completed creates an
energy that adds to the level of excitement
in a game. Deci and Ryan (2000) noted that
reinforcing a pressure to win may reduce
the intrinsic motivation. To reinforce
the design to foster lifelong team skills,
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