BY JUSTIN MARSTELLER
Staff Writer

When most teenagers think of writing an essay for English class, the last thing that comes to mind is the amount of experience points they will achieve by turning it in.However, this is exactly what happens in the new educational theory called “gamification,” which English teacher Dan Harrold has brought to Baldwin this year. A video-game structure provides experience points that track students’ progress as they proceed through a unit. As more points are earned curriculum-based ranks are achieved, such as the progression from “Geat” to “Epic Hero” in the Beowulf unit.

“When you see your progress, you have a higher incentive to do the work,” senior Josh Regel said.

Contrary to most classroom routines, students each day have access to school-owned laptops, to log in to their “3D GameLab” accounts and check their upcoming assignments. A homepage provides necessary links for these assignments, which range from full-length essays to responses to a video.

Students then turn these various assignments in electronically or physically, determined by student preference, and gain experience points. A 2000-experience-point objective, an equivalent of an A, exists for each nine week period.

“It’s an incredible, fun spin on English,” senior Tony Thornton said.

The course that mainly utilizes this relatively new theory is Harrold’s college preparation senior English. The previous years’ curriculum that heavily utilized group projects made “gamificaiton” an easy expansion for original, collaborative ideas, according to Harrold.

“We are excited to see the incorporation of a relatively new and innovative practice in the field of education in place in our school. We are noticing that students are motivated more than ever before,” Vice Principal Janeen Peretin said.

Contrary to traditional assignments, though, when students using “gamification” make mistakes, they have the opportunity to attempt to fix them until they are entirely correct.

“It’s better to grade based on what students are learning and achieving rather than their mistakes,” Harrold said.

This puts a twist on traditional learning, as Harrold’s students are no longer exposed to the previously unavoidable anxiety that accompanies a grade-defining test or paper.

Some students, though, felt the downsides of this entirely electronic curriculum right at the start. Utilities such as Google Drive are vital to success in Harrold’s classroom, in order to access and submit various assignments, and a few students needed an introduction to the world of cloud technology.

Even though a significant learning curve exists for students who are newly exposed to this video game-education hybrid, the students take a much more significant amount of ownership over their work than previously, according to Harrold.

This idea also gives students a significant amount of liberty in their classwork schedule, as they are able to work at nearly any pace that suits them.

“It gives flexibility for both students and teachers, and is the best use of class time,” Harrold said.

“Gamification” is not only applicable to English curriculums, according to Harrold, who discovered this new course style at a technology and education conference in Hershey, Pa. Students have learned mathematics, social sciences, and literature across the country with this relatively new idea.