For years, gamification has been a frequently used term in education and also outside of it. In gamification, you use game elements in a non-game context, such as the classroom. In this article we show three game elements that we have linked to Google Forms.
Competition
“Competition gives people a chance to prove themselves to others. It can be a way to win rewards, but it can also be a place where new friendships and relationships are formed.”
With Google Forms, you can easily create a diagnostic test where, after completing it, students immediately receive their score plus the right and wrong answer in their mailbox. Of course you want students to learn from their wrong answers, but in practice students quickly scroll through these.
It can also be done differently. Suppose you have a test with 15 questions. After filling in the form, you set it up so that it is not sent to the student. Instead, only you as a teacher see the score and the answers (e.g. 10 out of 15 correct). Only the score is given to the student who did the test, not what he/she got right or wrong. Call the student to your desk for this, it prevents naming and shaming. This prevents naming and shaming. It could create an unsafe atmosphere if you shout scores through the class. Then the pupil works out for himself which question he thinks he got right or wrong and what the correct answers should be.
Pupils will be frustrated at first. They want to know what they got wrong. But this is where the learning starts. You can challenge them to think of strategies to get the maximum score. For example, by looking again in the textbook or by comparing the answers with classmates. Powerfully, they have to convince others with good arguments when they think an answer is correct.
Then let the pupils make another attempt(s). Which pupil (or group) is first to get all answers right and needs the fewest attempts? While the students are in the middle of the competition, you as a teacher can get an idea of what material needs to be discussed or repeated in class.
Of course you can use this competition with any other quiz tool.
Quests
“Quests give users a fixed goal to achieve. Often composed of a series of interlinked challenges, they multiply the sense of achievement.”
A Google Form can be divided into different sections. For example, you can be redirected to a particular section based on the answer. You can also set the form so that you can only proceed to the next section if you type the correct (wait) word. And therein lies the game element. Which student or group will be first to reach the end of the quiz by sending in the correct answer? By wrapping the assignments in an (exciting) story, you can easily create a digital escaperoom.
Do you want to set a password? Create a new section after the question, tick ‘description’ and ‘reaction equation’, set the password and the answer, and fill in ‘custom error text’ (in this case ‘Sorry, have to try again’). Another great form of Gamifcation!
Certificates
“Unlike general rewards and trophies, certificates are a unique symbol of mastery, achievement and status.”
Nothing better than when you have answered all the questions correctly, you get an official certificate! With the Google Forms add-on ‘Certify’em’ you can set this up. Download the add-on here and see how it works in this video.
The programme automatically sends a certificate when you set a minimum score (in this example 100%). The certificate states the name of the student and what he or she has achieved.
Perhaps you can print the certificate and sign it to make it even more official.