Gamification with Moodle

Natalie Denmeade

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2015
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781782173076
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Software Development
• Index: Computer Science

Use game elements in Moodle courses to build learner resilience and motivation

About This Book

• Formulate a Moodle course that acts as a flexible framework ready for your own content
• Keep learners engrossed and create opportunities for motivation through the concepts of status, access, and power
• A resourceful guide to innovative learning using automatic reports, assessments, and conditional release of activities

Who This Book Is For

This book has been designed for teachers who to use technology to create more engaging learning experiences for both online learning and in face-to-face sessions. This book will especially appeal to people who are interested in the underlying mechanics of play and games and want to know more about applying these concepts in an educational context. It is assumed that you are a teacher and expert in your field, have basic computer skills, and have access to the Internet.

What You Will Learn

• Set up a scoring system using Moodle Gradebook
• Enable communication and collaboration in your class as a Learning Community using forums
• Assess your learners' abilities by setting up challenges and quests
• Configure gateways to check and ensure progress before new content or activities are released
• Create Moodle assignments to provide effective feedback through a comment bank and custom scale
• Issue Open Badges to recognize achievements and set up an online backpack to share digital badges
• Reduce anxiety for learners by using the game-like concept of "Levelling Up"

In Detail

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.

Style and approach

An easy-to-follow guide full of screenshots and step-by-step instructions with estimated time frames required to accomplish numerous tasks. Tips are offered for new Moodlers and plugin extensions are suggested for advanced Moodlers. The focus of the book is on why you would want to use each activity rather than detailed technical descriptions.

Gamification with Moodle

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Table of Contents

Gamification with Moodle

Credits

Foreword

About the Author

Acknowledgement

About the Reviewers

www.PacktPub.com

Support files, eBooks, discount offers, and more

Why subscribe?

Free access for Packt account holders

Preface

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Downloading the color images of this book

Errata

Piracy

eBooks, discount offers, and more

Questions

1. Setting Up Gamification in a Moodle Course

Moodle for motivation poster

Standardized outcomes yet personalized delivery

Objectives

Understanding the Gamification design process

Freeing up time to be creative

Identifying learner progress and providing personalized learning paths

Setting up a test environment

Setting up scoring in your test course

Adding gradebook categories

Summary

2. Communication and Collaboration (Labels and Forums)

Mount Orange demo Moodle site

Profiles and avatars

Messaging and forums

Activity loops

Forum moderation

Custom scales

Onboarding

Moodle labels as tutorials

Summary

3. Challenges for Learners (Self-Assessment and Choice)

Moodle assignments

The Cup of Fate Gamification activity

Growth mindsets and personalized learning

Creating teachable moments through suspense and hope

Summary

4. Passing the Gateway (Conditional Activities)

Minimalistic course layout design

Revealing content

Completion tracking

Completion requirements

Completion options

Labels with restrictions used as adaptive messaging

Moodle labels to create minimalistic design layouts

Summary

5. Feedback on Progress (Marking Guides and Scales)

Assessing progress

Marking guides

Delayed feedback feeds anxiety

Leveling up with scales or letters

Summary

6. Mastery Achieved (Badges and Motivation)

Creating badges

Badge criteria

Acceptance of digital badges

Peer-assessed badges

Will badges motivate everybody?

Summary

7. Leveling Up (Rubrics)

Getting started with rubrics

Adding a rubric to a Moodle assignment

Experienced Moodlers only

XP points and skills points

Exponential scoring

Drop the lowest x, minimum, or maximum

Summary

8. Completing the Quest (Reporting Activities)

Reporting on completion

Celebrating success

Identifying individual student progress

Surveys, interactivity, and learner engagement

Summary

9. Super-boost Gamification with Social Elements (Groups)

Onboarding – communication and collaboration with Moodle groups

Group scores

Challenges for learners – group submission

Groups that encourage participation

Individual formal assessment

Summary

Recommended reading

Books

Index

Gamification with Moodle

Copyright © 2015 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: October 2015

Production reference: 1131015

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place

35 Livery Street

Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78217-307-6

www.packtpub.com

Credits

Author

Natalie Denmeade

Reviewers

Shashikant

Donald Schwartz

Commissioning Editor

Neil Alexander

Acquisition Editor

Nikhil Karkal

Content Development Editor

Siddhesh Salvi

Technical Editor

Tanmayee Patil

Copy Editors

Kausambhi Majumdar

Vikrant Phadke

Project Coordinator

Nidhi Joshi

Proofreader

Safis Editing

Indexer

Tejal Soni

Graphics

Jason Monteiro

Production Coordinator

Melwyn D'sa

Cover Work

Melwyn D'sa

Foreword

When I was "down under" recently for the KM Australia 2015 Conference in Melbourne, Natalie Denmeade and I met for coffee to explore areas of collaboration in the future. I was struck by Natalie's incredible passion for eLearning, applications of instructional technology, and most importantly, Gamification in the education process. Natalie has developed and demonstrated keen analytical capabilities, relationship building capacities, and a thirst for new knowledge that really impressed me. I have come across very few individuals who have her intellectual skills, leadership and team building drive, as well as her sensitive emotional intelligence.

My biggest surprise, once we began to talk, was Natalie's kind invitation for me to write the preface for her new book, Gamification with Moodle. I was exceptionally humbled. First, regardless of my grey hair and beard, I consider myself a Gamification apprentice—well, maybe more like a Sorcerer's Apprentice; but I think you get the idea. Second, Natalie has developed an incredible reputation in the Gamification field and the educational applications of gaming. Finally, Natalie is much more of a technical aficionado than I could ever be, especially with Learning Management Systems, such as Moodle.

Natalie has been working as a freelance educational Gamification consultant and Moodle administrator for many years. She has developed significant visibility as an educational transformation thought leader—what I would refer to as a disruptive "edupreneur". One of her publications, the Moodle for Motivation Tool Guide, has been distributed globally and translated into four languages. Natalie participates and leads many global communities-of-practice. Recently, her work included a project with Dev4X.com that will have a significant impact on villages where limited IT and Internet access is available.

Natalie has framed an exceptionally useful DIY approach to Gamification within the Moodle LMS. Her templates, advice, lessons, and learning strategies permit an instructor to experiment with direct application of Gamification techniques in any Moodle course. Such a rich knowledge repository of learning will dramatically reduce the amount of time and efforts required by an instructional designer to create a ...

Table of contents

• Gamification with Moodle