“Higher Learning” is a quest in World of Warcraft that requires you to hunt down and read eight rare books, the reward for this task being a special title, and a summon pet, the Voidwalker. The books spawn on library shelves and tables, however they are on a timer, and after someone accesses them, fake books appear until the next real book spawn cycle.
Who wouldn’t be driven to run around a city for 3 weeks to get this pet?? 🙂
After immersing myself in Second Life, I thought how much better if I had a goal in browsing some of these libraries, and realised that I was basing my Second Life experience on the fun experience I had in World of Warcraft. With this in mind, I have put together some points that I think would do well in an online community like Second Life, primarily aimed for a Children’s/YA Librarian, tutor, or teacher.
Stef’s Game Ingredients that brew a successful SM info-enviro-concoction:
Gamification –In both the real and virtual world, we have come to the expectation of some reward, whether it be a Voidwalker in Warcraft, or a “Gold Star” in class, upon goal achievement. This is a time-proven strategy that should be employed to inspire engagement, competition and self-expression.
Cover Multiple Intelligences – these being cognitive, emotional, social, and embodied. Virtual Worlds should not be just another avenue of representing “what will be on the next test” in the same format. Take advantage of (1) environment (2) visual clues (3) audio clues (4) multiple media formats and of course, (5) gamification. Build problem solvers, users who not only can repeat knowledge, but also apply it.
Assessment – determine multiple pathways to mastery of a topic, and show the user how they can move along/amongst these paths. Alert users as to how they are doing compared to other users. This helps the user reflect and grow.
Virtual Worlds have many affordances and uses cases, this short post highlights one: use to impart knowledge and understanding that helps your users view the real world in new ways.
Games for Change has a great video on this topic:
For more on World of Warcraft as a teaching tool and information space, check out the WoWinSchool project, http://wowinschool.pbworks.com 🙂