Warriors, Healers, & Mages – What’s going on?

Eighth grade science teachers have turned their classrooms into a game using software called Classcraft. Students select an avatar, a character class and initial power. The teachers have set up their classes to encourage accountability and collaboration by giving XP (experience points), HP (health points) and GP(gold pieces) for certain behaviors. For example, helping another student with work could be work 50 XP. GP is given for students to be able to receive more masks, shields and character customization. The teachers report that so far, students are excited to be a part of this game. They are more participative and eager to get points. Teachers also have the option to give character privileges like teleportation where the mage can trade places with another classmate, a warrior can hand in an assignment one day later, or a healer can get access to their notes for a quiz. There are many customizable and even random events for a teacher to set. This keeps the class engaged as you never know what might happen in the game. Sometimes there is a boss battle where students must outwit a computer character in a game of knowledge or students may go on a quest (student self-paced, story-driven lesson).