Tools and Resources relating to: Gamification

  • Anki Flashcards - Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy. Because it's a lot more efficient than traditional study methods, you can either greatly decrease your time spent studying, or greatly increase the amount you learn. Anyone who needs to remember things in their daily life can benefit from Anki. Since it is content-agnostic and supports images, audio, videos, and scientific markup (via LaTeX), the possibilities are endless. For example: Learning a language Studying for medical and law exams Memorizing people's names and faces Brushing up on geography Mastering long poems Even practicing guitar chords! Embed audio clips, images, videos, and scientific markup on your cards, with precise control over how it's shown.   Anki Flashcards
  • Creator+ Add-on Package for Brightspace (D2L) - The Creator+ Addon Package for Brightspace (D2L) is an eLearning Authoring Tool for creating high-impact course activities. Creating interactive course content doesn’t have to be hard. This add-on to the Brightspace D2L Learning Management System (LMS) allows the creation of instructionally sound interactive content. Save Time With Ready-Made Templates Increase Engagement by Inserting Elements Add Multimedia Elements With the Capture App Maintain Design Consistency With the Content Styler Creator+ helps you deliver engaging and interactive course activities including ready-made content templates, practice exercises, interactive elements, and easy-to-capture video recordings. Build impactful courses with less time and friction. Ready-made templates are easy to implement with any D2L course content. Note: Free access to Creator+ is only available for 30 days. It is necessary to acquire the add-on as a part of a Brightspace D2L institutional package. Even though the Creator+ add-on is not available ...
  • Maya - Also known as Autodesk Maya, Maya this 3D modeling software allows people to create assets for interactive 3D applications, animated films, TV series, and visual effects. It is very similar to Blender. It is important to note that this software is only free for educational use, so you will need to confirm your status as an educator or student once a year. The software has a small learning curve, however, there are many tutorials available. Tutorials are not included with this listing because the software is frequently updated, making some tutorials inaccurate after a few months.   Autodesk for Educators Website
  • Pear Deck - Pear Deck is an interactive presentation and lesson delivery tool that can be used via the web or as an add-on or integration with a variety of other programs. Pear Deck is a Google Slides add-on designed to help teachers create engaging slide show-style content for the classroom and for remote learning. Since this is Google-integrated, it allows teachers to create or edit presentations right there from within their own Google account.   Pear Deck
  • Nearpod - Real-time insights into student understanding through interactive lessons, interactive videos, gamification, and activities — all in a single platform.   Nearpod
  • Wheel of Names - Wheel of Names is an easy-to-use online name picker that promotes engagement and interaction. How to use the wheel spinner: It's easy: type in your entries in the textbox to the right of the wheel, then click the wheel to spin it and get a random winner.   Wheel of Names  
  • 16 Business Simulation Games for Entrepreneurs - Looking for a game where you can build skills useful in real-world situations? Or perhaps you’re already an ace at resource management games and you want to showcase your aptitude in a fun and relaxing video game. Business simulators have been entertaining players for decades, and they serve as a great way to spend time while learning to succeed in real life.   16 Business Simulation Games for Entrepreneurs
  • Become a Business Tycoon - Build your own company from the ground up.  Find and exploit gaps in the market and compete against other players.   Become a Business Tycoon
  • Wall Street Survivor - Free stock market simulator and free stock courses to learn how to invest in the stock market. Learn about the Stock Market and trading with real-time stock simulations. Participate in competitions for prizes.   Wall Street Survivor
  • How the Market Works - Learn how the Stock Market works. Receive a virtual $100,000 to learn how the markets work and practice trading. Create your own custom stock market contest for your class. The site provides teacher resources and lesson plans.   How the Market Works
  • Harvard Business Catalog – Case Studies, Simulations, and More - Harvard Business Publishing Education partners with educators and students around the world to deliver best-in-class learning experiences that develop leaders who are ready for a changing world. A robust catalog of learning materials, including cases, simulations, articles, videos, and online courses. Pedagogical support, teaching advice, and curriculum guidance is also available to help educators create dynamic, inclusive, and powerful learning moments that students will remember long after they leave the classroom. Thousands of case studies in a wide variety of learning topics are also included in this robust catalog. Simulations place students right in the mix of realistic business scenarios where they must apply the concepts they’ve learned to make decisions under pressure.   Harvard Business Catalog - Case Studies, Simulations, and More
  • Baamboozle - Baamboozle is a game-style learning platform that works online to offer accessible and fun interactivity for the class and beyond. Unlike some of the other quiz-based offerings out there, Baamboozle is all about super simplicity. The activities found on Baamboozle can be used to make learning fun in many situations including simple review sessions, escape rooms, simulations, and more.   Baamboozle   Keywords: gamification
  • Escape Rooms: How to create a digital escape game – Florida State College at Jacksonville - This LibGuide offers useful background and setup information on using digital escape room games in an educational setting. Where to begin creating your first escape game is a personal preference. Some people start with a template, while others like to start from scratch. Either way, you will need to decide on a few necessary components. This guide has a few tips to help you get started.  You can also work with FSCJ Librarians to create a game for your class.    Escape Rooms: How to create a digital escape room - Florida State College at Jacksonville
  • Digital Escape Rooms – Lafayette College - This resource describes digital escape rooms for collaborative learning and steps for implementation. Escape rooms can be a fun, exciting way to unlock a mystery in a collaborative manner. In physical escape rooms teams work together to solve various clues and unlock codes so that they can essentially escape the room. Escape rooms can be engaging active learning activities that allow students to review course concepts with their peers during class. Escape rooms can translate well into virtual, synchronous settings by building them in a tool such as Google Forms and assigning students to specific groups or breakout rooms to solve the clues.   Digital Escape Rooms - Lafayette College
  • Active Learning Immersive Scenario Games in Teaching & Learning: Escape Rooms – College of Charleston - Escape rooms represent the lion's share of these types of games that are currently being deployed in education, corporate training, and libraries.  An escape room is part theater, part team-building exercise, and all about solving puzzles and interpreting clues within the context of a theme or subject area. “The most literal definition of an escape room is a game which requires players to escape from imprisonment by exploiting their surroundings.”1 Educational escape rooms or games have applied this concept to engage students within a particular subject matter. The educational escape room concept is basically an organized form of problem-based learning that uses aspects of the curriculum within the context of an engaging scenario or theme. The format of most educational escape rooms takes the form of students trying to get into a series of locked boxes rather than necessarily trying ...
  • Escapp - Escapp is a web platform for managing educational escape rooms and provides many feature-rich options. Watch the presentation video. Here's an article from IEEE Access about Escapp: Escapp: A Web Platform for Conducting Educational Escape Rooms.   Escapp
  • Link Lock - Link Lock is a tool for adding a password to a link; in other words, for encrypting and decrypting URLs. When a user visits an encrypted URL, they will be prompted for a password. If the password is correct, Link Lock sends them to the hidden website. Otherwise, an error is displayed. Users can also add hints to remind them of the password.   Link Lock
  • Educational Game-based Learning – Zotero Resource Library - This collection of game and gamification resources is very extensive. It has been developed and shared by Josh Yavelberg - Chief Executive Officer / Chief Solutions Architect, Flying Cloud Solutions, LLC. Zotero is a free tool that helps to create and share scholarly resources.   Educational Game-based Learning - Zotero Resource Library    
  • Vevox Polling and Q&A platform - Engage with your online audience through Vevox's live polling and Q&A to make hybrid meetings and classes inclusive.   Vevox Polling and Q&A platform
  • Keep Badges Weird – intersecting badges and Communities of Practice (CoP) - Keep Badges Weird (KBW) is interested in the intersection of badges and Communities of Practice (CoP). This is a place in which contribution badges can recognise participation, creation, and reflection, as well as act as credentials. This experimental project includes a series of small courses for people who are curious about badges and CoP. KBW will help you engage with community as you use the platform to learn about badges and the theory behind CoP.   Keep Badges Weird - intersecting badges and Communities of Practice (CoP)
  • Planning a game jam - If you want to truly understand a topic, design a game for it. This chapter provides a framework for running your own ‘game jam’ — or, if you only have a small chunk of time — a game design challenge. A game jam is a game design tradition to gather a range of prospective game designers that work in groups to make a fully– functional game, from idea to iteration, within a set amount of time. The advantage of community– based design models like this one not only builds creative collaboration, but also allows for playtesting and natural enthusiasm around game design. It reminds all designers, no matter how accomplished, that an idea is only as good as its execution, and that productivity is measured in moments, not months.   Planning your game jam: game design as a gateway drug
  • Good Calculators – Free Online Calculators - Good Calculators is a website that hosts an amalgamation of different calculators for all of your needs. This website provides a variety of online calculators, such as math and statistics, engineering, and conversion calculators.   Good Calculators - Free Online Calculators
  • Genial.ly - Genial.ly is an online tool that can be used to create still, animated, or interactive visuals, such as posters, infographics, quizzes, and presentations. This content can be used to enhance websites/blogs or as a communication tool (i.e. to make presentations, infographics, reports, posters, guides, and also interactive branching scenarios. You don’t need to be a programmer or designer to create stunning digital projects that are visual, interactive, and engaging.   Genial.ly
  • Blooket - Blooket is a web-based app that only requires the teacher to set up an account and is free for all students to play. The teacher will set up a few questions or transport his questions from Quizlet and select a game to host. The teacher will share the gameplay number with the students. Students reported that playing Blooket was very engaging as they got to be tested for their learning in a gamified manner. This is a great interactive tool to help teach information as it helps with the formative assessment aspect of learning. Many people probably haven't heard of Blooket yet, but it's growing fast. The website is similar to Kahoot and was designed to enhance students' learning experience with game-based trivia. In total, the site has six game modes and they're still looking to add more.   Blooket
  • Using Game-Based Learning Online – A Cookbook of Recipes Author: The EGG - Games are likely to reinforce students’ commitment to the learning process. In an educational context, these characteristics and qualities can greatly enhance student engagement, motivation, and learning. This collection of recipes has been created to present game-based strategies to make online learning more stimulating and engaging for students. In this cookbook, an interdisciplinary panel of experts offers recipes for integrating different types of game-based learning activities in the context of remote teaching. An overview of game-based learning strategies are provided, including trivia games, escape games, co-operative games, crossword puzzles, and more.   Using Game-Based Learning Online – A Cookbook of Recipes Author: The EGG
  • JeopardyLabs - JeopardyLabs allows you to create a customized jeopardy template without PowerPoint. The games you make can be played online from anywhere in the world. Building your own jeopardy template easy. Just use our simple editor to get your game up and running. You can also browse other jeopardy templates created by other people instead of building your own jeopardy templates.   JeopardyLabs  
  • eMathHelp – Online Math Resource for All - This site is created to help people learn math. Includes algebra, calculus, differential equation calculators, and notes with many examples. The site is designed for high school and college students, teachers, parents, and people who want to refresh their knowledge in math. Study notes, a variety of calculators, games, and unit converters are available to get help, do homework, prepare for a test, or just refresh your memory about math-related concepts.   eMathHelp - Online Math Resource for All
  • Icebreaker.Video - Icebreaker videos are a great tool to help promote collaboration for icebreakers, meet-and-greet, or meetups. You can plan your meeting by choosing a topic and conversation games through a template or yourself. Prompt cards make this a fun and fast-paced meeting space. Tiered pricing available and easy to use.   Icebreaker.video 
  • Badgr - Badgr is a digital badges tool that can be shared across various social media platforms including Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.   Badgr
  • Jeopardy! PowerPoint Template - Jeopardy! The popular game is loved by young and old and even after many years, it's still the number one quiz show for fun TV nights with family and friends. Don't we all love to guess answers and debate how we would handle being in this show? Wouldn't it be awesome to finally feel like a contestant ourselves and play our very own quiz show instead of just watching other people guessing on a flat-screen? Exactly for that reason, we built a new game template that recreates Jeopardy!'s show and includes realistic pictures, questions, and even sounds!   Jeopardy! PowerPoint Template Review Accessibility/Security Info
  • Energy 3D - Energy3D is a simulation-based engineering tool for designing green buildings and power stations that harness renewable energy to achieve sustainable development. Users can quickly sketch up a realistic-looking structure or import one from an existing CAD file, superimpose it on a map image (e.g., Google Maps or lot maps), and then evaluate its energy performance for any given day and location.   Energy3D  
  • dotstorming - Dotstorming allows people to easily collaborate on a topic and come to decisions as a group. It uses dot voting which is a quick and simple method for prioritizing a list of options. It creates a sense of engagement and allows participants to see the decision process in action and understand how the final choice was made. dotstorming
  • Stanford d.school - Everyone has the capacity to be creative. The Stanford d.school is a place where people develop problem-solving skills using methods from across the field of design. Resources on this site include toolkits to guide learners through design challenges. Stanford d.school Stanford d.school - Resources How to Design an Education Escape Room    
  • F.A.I.L. University: Fearless Adventures In Learning - FUN FREE Online Learning Tools   TRY ONE BEFORE YOU MAKE ONE! Escape this Breakout Room as/after you watch this 6 min. Gamification Intro!  (Answer KEY) See the FREE learning game-making tools below.  (Students can play your games without creating an account.) Want help?  Get FREE online gamification lessons at F.A.I.L. University   Hyperlinked Site Examples Help Center Tips Google Forms (with EquatIO add-on for STEM subjects) Google Form Escape Room Escape Room Instructions Learning Center Create a Google account Create a Google Form quiz Wisc-Online Baseball, Spin to Win... Contact, FAQ Save questions in Google Doc ProProfs Brain Games Crossword, Brain Teaser... Help Desk Save questions in Google Doc Purpose Games Image Quiz, Slide Quiz... Help Center Free, with ads Super Teacher Tools Jeopardy, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?... Help Desk Google registration Class Tools Pac Man, Asteroids, Pong... Contact, FAQ Save Q’s in Google Doc, ads Quizlet Match, Gravity, Live... Help Center Google registration, with ads   FUN FREE online gamification lessons for teachers at F.A.I.L. University Questions?  Email Jeremy at info@FailU.org   F.A.I.L. University: Fearless Adventures ...
  • Virtual Worlds best Practices in Education - Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education is a global grass-roots community event focusing on education in immersive virtual environments. This open conference is organized by the Second Life community to provide an opportunity to showcase the learning that takes place using virtual worlds. Everyone is encouraged to present, attend, and take part in this discussion of collaborative deeper learning and co-presence in virtual worlds and games. The organization holds a virtual conference every year and the VWBPE site has recordings of many of the sessions and access to the prior conference proceedings.   Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education - About 2020 VWBPE Conference archive recordings    
  • LearningApps - LearningApps.org is a Web 2.0 application, to support learning and teaching processes with small interactive modules. Those modules can be used directly in learning materials, but also for self-studying. The aim is to collect reusable building blocks and make them available to everyone. Blocks (called Apps) include no specific framework or a specific learning scenario. The blocks are therefore not suitable as complete lessons or tasks. Instead, they must be embedded in an appropriate teaching scenario.   LearningApps
  • Testmoz - Testmoz is a tool for creating online tests. It is easy to use and has a free version. You can create a test without logging in. The paid version gives you the opportunity to create a bank of items from which to automatically generated individual tests for each student.   Testmoz Testmoz Introduction Video  
  • Wordwall - Wordwall is a tool that helps you to create better lessons quicker. Wordwall is an easy-to-use tool that lets you create a series of interactive games and activities for students. Find a series of templates that you can freely copy and adapt to your requirements. It has a nice interface and is easy to use. The free version offers a quite large number of games. The monthly price for the full version is not too high. In addition, the tool is available in several languages. Wordwall Wordwall - HOW TO CREATE AN INTERACTIVE QUIZ Create Gamified Interactive Reviews with Wordwall  - An article that shows all 18 interactive games offered in the free version.   Keywords: gamification, flipped learning, quiz, classroom response
  • Mentimeter - With Mentimeter, you can create fun and interactive presentations, polls, brainstorming sessions in meetings, classes, gatherings, conferences, and others with real-time feedback. It is an easy-to-use PowerPoint presentation alternative that lets you engage and interact with your audience in real-time. You set the questions and your audience can give their input via a mobile phone or any other Internet-connected device. You can also link the results to your video-conferencing platforms. This is a fascinating tool to build interactive presentations with an easy-to-use online editor. Add questions, polls, quizzes, slides, images, and more to your presentation to create fun and engaging presentations. You can engage with your audience during the session and they can use their smartphones to connect to the presentation to answer questions. Visualize their responses in real-time to create a fun and interactive experience. To participate in a Menti a poll ...
  • Metaverse - Metaverse is an easy way to create Augmented Reality Experiences on your computer and watch them come to life in the Metaverse app. When using AR always be aware of your surroundings, watch out for people, moving objects, still objects, and more. Have fun and be safe.   Metaverse
  • Twine - Twine is an open-source tool for telling interactive, nonlinear stories. You don't need to write any code to create a simple story with Twine, but you can extend your stories with variables, conditional logic, images, CSS, and JavaScript when you're ready. Twine publishes directly to HTML, so you can post your work nearly anywhere. Anything you create with it is completely free to use any way you like, including for commercial purposes.   Twine What is Twine?  
  • Slido - Slido is a web-based Q&A and Polling platform to engage an audience with live questions and polls. Everybody can ask and vote for the best questions. Question and poll results are updated live on the interactive wall. Ask questions, vote in polls and be a part of the conversation at the event you’re attending. Visit the Slido website or download the Slido app and join an event by simply typing in the event code. No registration is required. Slido is an easy to use Q&A and polling platform.   Slido
  • Breakout EDU - This site is a "sandbox" of examples of digital breakout lessons Breakout EDU games consist of a combination of physical and digital puzzle elements that must be solved in a set amount of time to create escape room type of activities. Players of all ages are challenged to open the locked Breakout EDU box using critical thinking, collaboration and creativity. Breakout games are available in both physical and virtual formats. The site also features a variety of options to create puzzles and other interactive activities.   Breakout EDU
  • Directory of Learning & Performance Tools – Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies - This searchable Directory has been compiled by Jane Hart. The directory contains over 1,000 entries categorised into 35 headings. This directory compliments the website that shares the Top Tools for Learning compiled from an annual survey sent out through the Centre.   Directory of Learning & Performance Tools – Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies
  • MEMORANG - Memorang is an online tool and app that helps students and teachers alike. Create quizzes and flashcards that can be shared and gamified. Membership is free, additional add-ons at a cost.   Memorang
  • Flippity - Flippity is a series of web apps that can easily turn a Google Spreadsheet into a set of online Flashcards or Quiz Show. There are cards for helping a teacher create random groups, or mix and match activities. Students accomplishments can be tracked using the Badge Tracker and the Certificate Quiz. There is even a Spelling Words that can read the word to you. Other tools include a Timeline, Random Name Picker, Scavenger Hunt, Word Search, Crossword Puzzle, Mad Libs and more. An option is also available to use Flippity without connecting to a Google Sheet.   Flippity
  • Quizlet - Create your own study materials or choose from millions created by other Quizlet users. Quizlet has a number of powerful interactive learning tools, such as: - Creating flashcards - Memory games - Race against the clock Matching games - Listen to automatic pronunciations in 18 languages - Enhance studying with images and audio Quizlet Live is also available and is a collaborative learning game for the classroom to allow teams of students to work together, racing to learn the material in a Quizlet study set.   Quizlet   Keywords: games, gamification, quiz, language
  • Articulate 360 - Articulate 360 includes both Storyline and Rise plus other authoring apps. With Storyline 360 you can develop custom, interactive courses that work on every device. It's powerful enough for experts, but easy for beginners to create almost any interaction imaginable. Choose Rise when you want to build fully responsive courses in minutes. All you need is a web browser to quickly create beautiful courses optimized for every screen size. Get the course assets you need to get going quickly. Articulate 360 includes a library of 3+ million photos, templates, characters, videos, icons, and more. (NOTE: Articulate is NOT a free resource.)   Articulate 360  
  • Studymate.com - Studymate.com helps to easily create interactive games and self-assessments. Enter terms, facts or multiple choice questions and then transform these items into Flash Cards, Pick A Letter, Fill in the Blank, Crosswords, and more. There are 11 self-assessments and games in all, supporting a range of learning styles and objectives. Note: The link below takes you to the free version of Studymate.com and not the campus-wide implementation. The enterprise-wide version of Studymate is purchased at a campus level. A benefit of a campus hosted version is that the assessment results can integrate with the campus LMS and the LMS grade book.   Studymate.com   Keywords: games, assessment, quizzes    
  • Top Hat - Top Hat makes it easy for professors to enhance student comprehension and engagement with this polling-clicker application, secure testing, and next-generation OER. Top Hat does not require the use of a physical clicker, but it instead works from a wide variety of devices including phones, mobile devices, and computers through which educators can utilize to assign textbooks, test, conduct interactive classroom activities, take attendance, administer polls, games and quizzes, and share notes. It also allows faculty to adopt and author interactive textbooks. Note: Students need to purchase a license to participate in Top Hat polls and activities, however, there are no charges for instructors to adopt the service for their classroom.   Top Hat   4 Ways to Bring Gamification to Your Classroom - A quick discussion that introduce the bringing in of games to the classroom alongside utilizing "badges" to indicate success.         Keywords: Gamification, Productivity Tools, audience ...
  • Explorable Explanations – Learning through play - Explorable Explanation is a hub for learning through play that has been created by artists, coders & educators to reunite play and learning. It is a great tool to teach something interactively rather than the usual read-watch-listen-question-and-answer format.   Explorable Explanations   Keywords: Gamification, Simulations  
  • PhET Interactive Simulations for Active Learning in STEM -   PHET Interactive Simulations can be used to supplement Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, and Mathematics courses. The site is created by the University of Colorado with the aim of enhancing learning and motivating students through playful discovery activities that support many optional languages package. Founded in 2002 by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman, the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder creates free interactive math and science simulations. PhET sims are based on extensive education research and engage students in an intuitive, game-like environment where students learn through exploration and discovery.   PhET Interactive Simulations for Active Learning in STEM   Here is a complete catalog of PHET Interactive Presentations.   " Science means constantly walking a tightrope between blind faith and curiosity; between expertise and creativity; between bias and openness; between experience and epiphany; between ambition and passion; and between arrogance and conviction - ...
  • H5P Interactive Content Creator - Hello HTML5! Goodbye flash! You can create, share and re-use interactive content in your browser or integrated right into your LMS! Create Richer HTML5 Content in Existing Publishing Platforms. Share Content Seamlessly Across Any H5P Capable Site. Reuse and modify Content in Your Browser at Any Time. Explore over 40 different types of interactive content including presentations, timelines,  games & quizzes. See a few examples of H5P or visit their website for complete and detailed information.   h5p.org   Keywords: Flipped Learning, Gamification, Media, Photos & Images, Presentations, Productivity Tools, Publishing, Quiz, Recording, Screencast, Simulations, Video
  • Duolingo - A top-rated language learning app that is both addictive and fun. Duolingo uses game-like activities allowing learners to earn points, race against the clock, and level up while participating in bite-sized lessons. This application is available in the form of a website as well as an app. It has a huge database for many languages and provides practice activities within each module. The difficulty level increases as you progress. The application is one of the best online language tutors. Audio is available for each word in a variety of languages. Extra points can be earned through fun tasks such as describe the photo, chatting with the chatbot, etc., and everything has to be completed in the learning language.   Duolingo   Keywords: Audio, Gamification
  • Geocaching – The Largest Treasure Hunt Game - Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and sometimes a pen or pencil. The geocacher signs the log with their established code name and dates it, in order to prove that they found the cache. After signing the log, the cache must be placed back exactly where the person found it. Larger containers such as plastic storage containers (Tupperware or similar) or ammunition boxes can also contain items for trading, such as toys or trinkets, usually of more sentimental worth than financial. Geocaching shares many aspects with benchmarking, trigpointing, orienteering, treasure-hunting, letterboxing, waymarking, and Munzee. Geocaches For the traditional geocache, a geocacher will place a waterproof container containing a log book ...
  • Accredible Badge Builder - Design digital badge images in just a few clicks. Use a badge template, upload logos and images, including customizing the text & colors of your badge design. Then, download your image to use as a digital badge design in any badge issuing platform.   Accredible Badge Builder   Keywords: Gamification
  • OpenSimulator – Design your own Virtual Reality space for education, meetings, or games - The open source movement allowed complex avatar-based, game-engine software to become available free of charge using OpenSimulator.  Contributions from artists and designers now makes pre-developed virtual artifacts and design spaces available to educators, meeting planners, and game designers; easy modifications and adjustments allow for custom virtual environments for an infinity of purposes. Server rental companies, such as Kitely, are now making it possible to have up to 40 avatars at any time on up to 4 virtual islands for $20 per month; and, you can put a virtual island on your own institutional server (for free, sort-of).  This link brings you to a theory-and-practice based resource on outlines education uses and possibilities with these environments that have been used by its author for over 10 years in her own teaching. Here's a student during the creative learning/practice stage in a course where she ...
  • Introduction to Gamification video by Scott Nicholson - This video, presented by Scott Nicholson from the University of Syracuse, provides an Introduction to Meaningful Gamification and discusses in greater detail about what it means to develop gamified activities.   Introduction to Gamification video by Scott Nicholson   Keywords: Gamification, Lifelong Learning, Video
  • Credly - Credly is one of many digital badge platforms that can be used to design and award custom badges. Credly badges can be displayed on personal ePortfolios, social media sites (such as Facebook and LinkedIn), on websites, and in your Credly profile. Credly's platform is the badging system that SUNY and #EmTech use to issue our badges. Learn more about badges and how they are used within #EmTech. After earning #EmTech digital badges, you can access additional instructions, including the video tutorial below, about how to claim your issued badges and how to share them in your ePortfolio and on your social media networks. * Note - After June 30, 2020, the free version of Credly was discontinued. Anyone wishing to issue Credly badges needs a paid account. There are no costs to badge earners for accepting badges issued through their platform.   Credly Keywords: Digital ...
  • Plickers - Lets you poll your class for free, without the need for student devices. Just give each student a card (a "paper clicker"), and use your iPhone/iPad to scan them to do instant checks-for-understanding, exit tickets, and impromptu polls. Best of all, your data is automatically saved, student-by-student, at plickers.com.   Plickers   Plickers Help - Help page that includes a quick start guide, tips & tricks, and technical support. Plickers Presentation Kit - A kit put together by the Plickers team that includes presentation templates, our getting started guide, Plickers logos, and printable Plickers Cards.   Keywords: Mobile Apps, audience response, classroom response Review Accessibility/Security Info
  • Socrative - An instant response tool designed to initiate formative assessments through quizzes, quick question polls, exit tickets and space races all with their Socrative Teacher app. Students receive immediate feedback to enhance student engagement. Quickly assess students with either prepared quizzes or on the fly questions to get immediate insight into student understanding. Student answers to open-ended questions can lead to great classroom discussions. Socrative will instantly grade, aggregate and provide visuals of results to help identify opportunities for further instruction.   Socrative   Socrative Resources - Help page that includes a quick start guide, tips & tricks, and technical support. The Socrative Review: 9 Ways the Formative Assessment App Can Benefit Your Classroom - An article that explains how to get started with using Socrative in the classroom and the usefulness of the app's functions.   Keywords: Gamification, Mobile Apps, audience response, classroom response
  • Practical Guide to Meaningful Gamification - This guide is an Open Educational Resource (OER) offered by a research group at the University at Buffalo. The guide provides educators with the tools necessary to develop their own meaningful, gamified learning activities.   Practical Guide to Meaningful Gamification   Keywords: Gamification
  • 7 Things You should Know about Gamification – EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) - An article that describes the ins and outs of Gamification: the application of game elements in non-gaming situations, often to motivate or influence behavior, published by the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) as part of the 7 Things You Should Know Collection. The 7 Things You Should Know About... series from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) provides concise information on emerging learning technologies. Each brief focuses on a single technology and describes what it is, where it is going, and why it matters to teaching and learning. Use these briefs for a no-jargon, quick overview of a topic and share them with time-pressed colleagues.   Educause ELI: 7 Things You Should Know about Gamification   Keywords: Gamification
  • Kahoot - Kahoot! is a free online game-based learning resource where you can create quizzes that brings engagement and entertainment to players. It may be used at school, at work, and at home. You can add videos, images, and diagrams to your questions to amplify engagement. Kahoot allows you to create group based multiple choice questions with diverse formats flexibility. Players answer the questions on their own devices, while games are displayed on a shared screen to unite the lesson. Besides creating your own Kahoots, you can search among millions of existing games.   Kahoot   8 Ways to Use Kahoot! Beyond the Basics - This article speaks to the multiple uses of Kahoot and serves as a quick training session. Using Kahoot in the Classroom to Create Engagement and Active Learning: A Game-Based Technology Solution for eLearning Novices - A research article that deals with instructional games ...
  • ProProfs - ProProfs' delightfully smart tools are used by millions of users each month. The site hosts more than 1,000,000 pages of content in 70+ languages and is a leading platform for online training and assessment with the world's largest library of professional tests & quizzes. ProProfs products, including Quiz, Survey, Learning Management System, Knowledge Base, Chat, Project and Training tools.   ProProfs   Keywords: Flipped Learning, Gamification
  • Wheel Decide - Wheel Decide provides a free spinner tool intended for decision-making, games, raffles, prize giveaways, and other miscellaneous uses. Enter your values and the Wheel Decide will randomly select from the options provided.   Wheel Decide   5 Ways to Use "Wheel Decide" - This is an article that demonstrated several ways to utilize Wheel Decide, especially in the classroom.   Keywords: Flipped Learning, Gamification
  • Quizizz - Quizizz is a game-based classroom response system you can play on any device with a web browser! Quiz creation is simple, enabling you to use your own images and text, or even reuse public quizzes. Students can answer at their own pace and watch their data appear on the main screen from where the quiz is being run. Quizizz also lets you download a spreadsheet to get detailed data to monitor student answers. The tool runs equally well across platforms and devices. And you should think of it not just as a "response system." It can be used for quizzing of all types. You can even choose the type of "consequence" users get, by choosing different sets of memes.   Quizizz   Kahoot! vs. Quizizz: What's the Best Formative Assessment Tool for Your Classroom? - A blog post that compares and contrasts the most popular ...
  • FlipQuiz - FlipQuiz provides educators with a quick way to create your own gameshow-style boards for test reviews in the classroom. With FlipQuiz, questions are displayed on-screen and boards are saved for later use. Combined with a beautiful board, students are more likely to be interested and stay engaged with the test review process.   FlipQuiz   Using FlipQuiz in the Classroom - A blog post that describes the ease of use of FlipQuiz and how to set one up.   Keywords: Flipped Learning, Gamification, Quiz