Ohio Valley College of Technology: Introduction to Keyboarding & Business Writing, Introduction to Computers - The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game - page 237

Mini Games
Competition and cooperation fit nicely into the gaming concept. Guilds can
work together on group projects and other times, they can battle each other in
the classroom. In my courses, I use student response systems, or to

test the understanding of certain topics. During these sessions, I will display a
top point total leaderboard, only showing the top five or ten to avoid displaying
low-scoring students.

“ clickers, �

After the individual leaderboard, I show the group leaderboard. From imple-
menting this group leaderboard, I have seen students automatically help a
puzzled group member and discuss the answers between themselves before
submitting a response. In his book, Vockell discusses that learners like to
compare themselves, but they also feel good when helping others. Implementing
these mini games helped stress the competition and cooperation portion of the
intrinsic factors.

Students have really enjoyed the student response systems. It s interactive, and

they can work with others. Many students have expressed enjoyment in the
clickers. The leaderboards brought the competition out in some students who
were otherwise quiet. Students were also teaching others or explaining the
answers to fellow students, which not only helped the perplexed student, but
also aided in the reinforcement of knowledge in the student offering the
assistance.

'

Personally, another mini game I like is Ribbon Hero by Microsoft. Instead of
learning different commands in the Microsoft Office Suite, students have to
complete challenges. For each challenge, say, by making a bulleted list, they earn
achievement points. Even from working in the program on general assignments,
they receive achievement points. These points can be posted to Facebook as well,
if a student chooses to enable that option. It ' s a great way to diverge from

the traditional lecture and practice routine when working with computer

applications.

Lastly, by having experience points and levels, students can receive some sort of
recognition, which is the final factor of building intrinsic motivation. Keeping an
experience bar meter, congratulating on a character leveling up, or just having
the students personally track their progress, offers all kinds of opportunities for
recognition.