Gamify Literacy: Boost Comprehension, Collaboration and Learning - Softcover

Haiken, Michele

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1564843866 ISBN 13: 9781564843869

Publisher: ISTE, 2017

Synopsis

This friendly, accessible guide offers tips and inspiration on how to apply gamification techniques to improve literacy and deepen student collaboration and critical thinking.

Literacy is at the heart of education — and what better way to teach this important subject than through the motivational techniques built into gamification?

With Gamify Literacy, teacher Michele Haiken brings together top educators and gaming professionals to share gamification strategies, demonstrating how teachers can use game-based tools and activities to improve literacy and content learning.

This book includes:

• Tips for implementing gamification techniques to engage and motivate students.
• Fun and engaging design to complement a game-based approach to learning.
• Examples that can easily be modified for different grade levels.

By exploring the techniques discussed in these pages, you will see the power of building a fully immersive learning environment for your students and can begin infusing these inspirational approaches into your classroom design.

Audience: K-12 language arts teachers, tech coaches

About this title

About the Author

Michele Haiken is a literacy teacher at Rye Middle School and an adjunct professor at Manhattanville College. She is also a frequent speaker and a contributor to the ISTE book Teaching Literacy in the Digital Age. For Gamify Literacy, Haiken collaborated with a range of game and literacy experts, including top game developers, teachers, librarians and technology coordinators.

Reviews

In 17 brief chapters, each authored by an educator or teacher librarian, this volume presents ways to increase student participation and engagement through games and play. Each chapter first states to which of the seven International Society for Technology in Education standards the content maps, and contributors introduce their personal gaming history and describe how they decided to bring gaming concepts into their classrooms. The text is divided into three sections: "Sandbox," which tackles flexible open-ended play; "Homebrews & Game Sharks," which examines strategies and tools that can be applied to different subjects; and "Cheats," which offers ways to motivate students. The book covers online digital gamification techniques, such as using Minecraft to simulate the trenches of World War I, and live-action role-playing games, board games, trivia, and class challenges. There are tips for implementing leaderboards and badges, and chapter appendixes and figures are included to showcase screenshots of the gaming world or the education portal discussed and highlight class worksheets or contracts. Although some chapters are much more detailed than others, this text will inform and spark ideas. VERDICT Purchase where educators and teacher librarians are interested in gamifying classrooms and curricula.—Meaghan Darling, Long Hill Township Public Library, Gillette, NJ

Edition details

• Publisher: ISTE
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1564843866
• ISBN 13: 9781564843869
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176