Do you have CLASS?

Game-based learning, gamification and badges are gathering steam across higher education as forms of student engagement and alternative credentialing.  As your cooperative, WCET designed our authentic experience of badges and game-based learning to give our members and friends a way to hands-on wtih these educational practices, not just read about them.

“Who’s Got Class?” launched in July and we’ll continue playing until we’re all together face-to-face in San Antonio for our WCET Annual Meeting.  We currently have 182 players from 87 institutions actively participating in “Who’s Got Class?”.  Those players have  created 28 discussion topics and contributed to the 4 our gamemaster launched  for a total of 256 posts.  There are 26 total missions which result in badges and 446 badges have been awarded.  To date we have no WCET Rockstars – the top badge you can earn – but our top five players (shout out to Marjorie DeWert, Edward Bowen, Ritchie Boyd, Sherri Sagers, and Sam McCool) are well on their way to gaining that distinction.

Within the forums, there are some in-depth conversations happening regarding issues related to game-based learning and badging systems.  One of the ‘hottest’ topics so far was posted by Terri Straut who raised the issue of “How does cheating impact the dynamics of the game, including the motivation of the players who are playing by the rules?”  In response to this, our gamemaster, Anne Derryberry explores the phenomenon of cheating in game-based social learning environments on her blog.  Of interest, the question was raised in response to a technical hiccup which awarded one team over 100,000 points accidently.

Speaking of our gamemaster, we owe huge gratitude to Anne Derryberry for designing the “Who’s Got Class?” experience for all of us.  She based the activities off the acronym – CLASS – which maps to our WCET tenets of Connect, Learn and Advance and adds what our cooperative does – Serve and Support which makes our members a CLASS Act.

To learn more about what’s been happening in “Who’s Got Class?” and the theory behind the game design, check out the archive of our September 7, 2012 webcast – A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Game+Badge Program, “Who’s Got Class?”.

As mentioned above, “Who’s Got Class?” will continue through October 31, 2012 when we hope to see you all in San Antonio for our Annual Meeting.  This means, there is still PLENTY of time for you to join us and try your hand at becoming a Class Act, WCET Rockstar!  Simply fill out this form and we’ll get you started toward earning badges and winning the game.

Don’t miss our session, Who’s Got Class? WCET and Their Badges Prove It! Friday, November 2 9:30am – 10:45am at the Annual Meeting where we’ll look through the lens of this experience into the future of badges and gaming for higher education.

If you haven’t registered for the Annual Meeting, there is still time to save $100 – the early bird rate is good through tomorrow, September 14, 2012 but you have to act fast and register now. {hint, registering can put you one step closer to being a Rockstar!}

Cali Morrison

Manager, Communications, WCET

cmorrison@wiche.edu