Has anyone tried to use classcraft within universities?

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Hello, I’ve just started with classcraft. This semester, I’m already playing a RPG with my Bankruptcy class, and I’d like to see if anyone has already tried this platform to a similar task.

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Hey, Henrique!

Welcome to the Classcraft adventure! So glad to have you join us in bringing positive - constructive change to education worldwide.

Here is a link to a forum thread that shows just one of the very many cases where Classcraft is used at the University level: 

https://help.classcraft.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115002855754-Customizing-a-Simpler-Version-of-Classcraft-

 

Hope this helps!

I have used Classcraft (CC) in a university setting several times.  I teach Educational Technology Leadership courses and most of my students are teachers.  What better way for them to learn how to use a tool like Classcraft than by living it themselves?  It's a great tool that tied into gamification in education.  What I like is that CC has transformed over the years.  Initially, I felt it was heavier in extrinsic motivators, but now with quests and the expansion of their tools, I've been able to apply more social learning approaches as well.  It was such a hit, that one of my classes, requested that I continue to use it the following quarter of a completely different course.

If you haven't had the chance already, there's a great book called The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game written by Lee Sheldon.  There are great examples there and how he used XP as a gauge for grading and other gamification strategies that I think work really well with Classcraft.  His sample syllabus is even there.  I highly recommend it.

Would love to hear how it goes.  Good luck!

:-) Hey, Arrash!

 

Thanks for the kind words! It's nice to see people loving Classcraft and having a great time using it, especially in a higher learning setting! 

And I agree, The Multiplayer Classroom by Lee Sheldon is a sweet read. Definitely a great recommendation!

Wonderful, guys! I'm reading it right now!

Hi Henrique,

I've been using Classcraft in college since 2014 and I did a webinar on it last summer.   The Multiplayer Classroom is a great read!  It goes into deeper ways to gamify your classroom around a whole story line.   

Classcraft is a great way to start that, though, because it's so customizable.  Some things I've found that help with adult students:

  • They will want powers to have significant effects - things that really help them in the class, not just changing seats or having a snack (most of which we either allow at college or are out of our control - no food in labs, for example).   The first thing my players wanted was a change so that EVERY character could get notes on exams at the highest level.  
  • To keep things fair, with powers that help just the student, I make sure every character type has them.  Whether they are a mage, warrior, or healer they can get hints on exams of one sort or another, the ability to revise an assignment, a 48 hour extension on an assignment, and ultimately those notes.  
  • To get buy-in with sentences, I let the students themselves decide on a lot of them.  I always add coming to my office hours or chat as one of the possibilities.  But they will come up with very good suggestions if you guide them by pointing out that the sentences should help them get back on track after they've had problems!
  • I also let them get to know each other a bit before I set up teams, and ask them how they want to group themselves.  Most of my students don't know each other at the start of the term, so I don't have to worry much about cliques.  This is in FTF classes - in online, I ask students some self-assessment questions and group them so that no team has too many students who find they struggle with the subject matter, with technology, or with time management. 

I'm happy to chat more - please feel free to email me at ltrauth [at] ccbcmd [dot] edu

Laura

I am using CC for the first time this quarter. I teach a student led course on death in young adult literature and I am using this in an attempt to not have a final paper and I am using it as a method to help them prepare for the group discussions that we will be having every week. I appreciate the comments on reward ideas. 

Welcome to the community Kristen!  If you want to chat more about using CC with college students, please feel free to email me at ltrauth[at]ccbcmd[dot]edu.   I'm happy to share my experiences and customizations!   I've talked about some of them above of course.   I use CC in both face-to-face and online history classes.  

Since I started this thread, it's only fair to let you guys know how I'm doing. Unfortunately, since I'm also finishing my PhD, I didn't have much time to understand the platform yet, so I did the RPG, but assigning real life roles to the students (creditors, debtors, etc.).

I still want to try Classcraft, so I'll keep following your suggestions here and keep you posted!

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