Today I reviewed a Gamification website called Skoolbo. I have heard my children talk about this and watched them play a little. They seemed to really like it – but had forgotten their passwords. I decided to try to login and set up a ‘Mega Mind Challenge’ which challenged me with:
Can your class win the Mega Minds Challenge before the end of Term 3? 30 seconds to set up and a term worth of pride at stake!
Source: The Mega Minds Challenge is here! Can your class master the Mega?Skoolbo | Go Aussie Kids Go!
It took about 3 minutes (not 30 secs) for me to figure out how to set it up and use a test login as a student. I was promised that if my class answered the most questions we would get a virtual dance as the best class. Which I can imagine my kids getting excited about. (Peppa Pig won the No1 spot as a paint program through the use of these virtual showcases and imaginary ceremonies).
I was asked to choose an avatar and was, delightfully, surprised at the diversity available. Although these choices may seem insignificant, I now understand that offering customisations and choices raises the participant’s feeling of power and creates an identity. My kids spend a lot of time playing with their Avatars in xbox games. So I am really glad the developers invested so much time in this. I could even choose to put glasses on my avatar!
I was then matched against a random stranger from somewhere in the world to answer some literacy questions. they seemed too easy for the 8 year old I was pretending to be. Maybe the program increases difficulty based on performance as I proceed?
I will ask my daughter to tell me more about Skoolbo. As we have holidays coming up it is a good time to do some interviews with the experts in my house on how games and play can be woven into their learning. Stay tuned for some video interviews soon.
I am really impressed with what I have seen so far! Here is a video of some game play in Skoolbo, which is free for anyone to use.. wow!!:
Skoolbo Gameplay Demo from Skoolbo on Vimeo.