Course Creators Weekly #59
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August 9th, 2021
- Gamified Learning w/ Ana Lorena Fabrega
Ana Lorena Fabrega talks with Ish Baid about gamified learning, Nicolas Cole encourages you to give generously, and Julia Saxena writes about recap emails.
Gamified Learning w/ Ana Lorena Fabrega
Ana Lorena Fabrega talks with Ish Baid about gamified learning and how to implement gamification as an educator. Here are a few actionable takeaways for you if you're thinking about implementing gamification in your own courses:
Forget leaderboards and badges—gamers love the challenge, not the rewards
Let people choose their challenge (idea from me: offer an 'easy' and a 'brutal' path)
Encourage experimentation and learning through trial and error—normalise failure
Apply the Socratic method—design prompts to help people find answers on their own
Introduce concepts just in time—let students explore and struggle with a problem first
Speaking of gamified learning…
I've recently become super interested in the potential parallels between games and online learning, especially after sharing my idea of Open World Courses (OWCs), so I plan to spend more time immersing myself in the subject of gamification! 
But, this time, unlike what I've been doing with CCW, I plan to apply what I learn by building my own course. Here's my 5-step "Master Plan"… 
Learn to build products with Bubble, by actually building stuff
Create a course about building products with Bubble, on Bubble
Learn about and implement gamification in my own course, using Bubble
Offer consulting to course creators, helping you create your own gamified courses
Build a course on designing gamified courses, drawing from my earlier experience
By sharing that with you—and the 565 people on my email list at the time of this writing—I'm hoping to keep myself accountable! 
Give Away 99% For Free. Monetize The Last 1%
Nicolas Cole makes a case for giving away 99% of what you know for free!
Give, give, and give without expectations—the more you give, the more trust you build
Don't withhold information—if people love your stuff, they'll want more, with structure
Sell the last 1%—not information, but organisation, implementation, and community
Get people to pay attention to your free work first (not easy), then your paid work
The recap email: keeping students on track in your CBC
Julia Saxena writes about recap emails after live sessions, and what to include:
Give a brief summary of the main points covered in the live sessions—make them stick
Share links to the recording and other material from the session
Give shoutouts to students + highlight the best contributions in the chat
Remind students about assignments, any due dates and how to get feedback
Share what's next on the agenda—sell them on attending it
Remind students where they can find help if they need it
Try to send the recap email within 24 hours
