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Beyond the Screen: Translating Video Game Skills into Classroom Success

Tyler Breitbarth & Students

Master of Arts in Education Technology

Technology Specialist, Instructor

Eureka CUSD 140

Full Schedule: ltcillinois.org/ietc/schedule

and in the IETC 2024 app

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Must Know Info

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Edtech Share

Show-and-tell keynote highlighting perspectives on AI from current teachers, coaches, and tech leaders. Come discover cutting-edge resources and strategies for for bringing AI to life.

Main Stage (Keynote Area)

Friday, November 15

8:30 AM-9:40 AM

Platinum Sponsors

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Description

Step into the innovative classroom of a high school teacher who transformed traditional teaching into a dynamic video game-like experience. Discover how he implemented principles from gaming to foster student engagement and mastery. In this session, attendees will explore how assignments can be endlessly replayed until mastery is achieved, mirroring the resilience seen in gaming. Units are reimagined as stages, with lessons as levels, challenging students to conquer knowledge and skills. Unlike traditional grading, the only deadline is the course end date, with students aiming to "complete the game" by then. Grades reflect mastery levels akin to gaming achievements, where each star earned signifies proficiency. Learn how this gamified approach not only motivates students but also provides a clear record of progress, transforming education into an exciting journey of skill development and achievement.

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Objectives

Enhance student engagement: Gamify learning to increase participation and motivation, measured by higher levels of active involvement and interest in academic tasks.
Improve skill mastery: Implement replayable assignments to enable students to achieve mastery, quantified by measurable improvements in comprehension and application of subject matter.
Foster personalized learning: Utilize gaming principles to tailor education, resulting in individualized progress tracking and increased student agency in their academic journey.

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Who am I?

Tyler Breitbarth - “Tech Guy” for Eureka CUSD 140.

Work Background

Started in 2011 as a High School History Teacher
Moved in 2014 to Technology
Got Masters in Education Technology (2014-2015)
Online Social Studies instructor for Illinois Virtual School (2015-2022)
Went 1:1 with Chromebooks in 2017
Started Student Help Desk in 2017
Started Tech Class in 2020
Co-founded Eureka Esports in 2020
Lost my mind in 2024…No one noticed a difference

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About Ryan

Student worker, work half the day
Senior
I am in band, cross country, and scholastic bowl
In the computer hardware and software class this year

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About Izzy

I took Hardware and Software with Mr. B my Junior year
Senior
Student worker
Taking a python class with MR. B next semester

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About Gavin

Junior
Took the computer software and hardware class my Freshman/Sophomore years
I have TA for 2 years
I am in band and soccer

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Natalie Otto

Junior at EHS

Member of EHS Help Desk for 3 years

Cyber Security Intern | Washington, D.C. 一 Summer 2024

I enjoy reading, studying languages (Russian + Spanish), and anything related to cyber security!

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Question #1

What do you typically think of when you think of assignments in a classroom?

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Question #2

What is one particular experience you remember strongly in your K-12 education?

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Question #3

What is a video game you remember playing or remember liking very much?

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Review Results

What do the answers have in common?

Assignments, due dates, projects, deadlines, grades
What was most memorable? (Was it those things above?)
What do these games have in common? (They were fun, engaging, provided the user with an experience that they enjoyed, felt good about?)

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How I Started

High school U.S. History, Government and Law, and Global Cultures

Required class
Some engagement, but majority were indifferent, some outright defiant, some exceptional.

The Problem

How to teach a class where the majority do NOT want to be there, but are required to be there?

Required me to think creatively about how to engage the students

Make those with little interest engaged
Provide those engaged with a chance to shine in their element

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What did students remember (after the class)?

U.S. History

Occasionally visited by a character of my own creation who keeps trying to alter history
Personalize the experience, we created family histories

These are archived and kept in our library for preservation.

A Tour of our Town - "Ghost Tour" Style
Family Heirloom Project
Shadows of Lost Souls, how "photoshop" helped shape the Civil War

Global Cultures

Medieval Unit, Students team up to create their own family crest, accurate castle, and defended their honor for the king (teacher) in a medieval tournament, using Wii Sports Resort

Government and Law

Mock trial, The 3 little pigs take the Big Bad wolf to court. All in the class take a role.

When asked, this is what my former students remembered.

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What I Learned

Application tasks (experiences)

Students remembered what they personally worked on.

Personalized learning

When students can apply what is learned to something that relates to them, it's more meaningful

Projects
Making a connection with the student (outside of the subject at hand)
Are what sticks with students and provide meaningful enduring learning experiences
My goal is to create lifelong learners with the skills and passion to continue after our experience has ended.

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Note before I begin.

Each year I build and revise particular topics. Build over time, Rome wasn't built in a day.

The hardest part was getting started.

Collaborate with others as often as you can! (Shadow other teachers, seek to learn and understand) Sometimes inspiration comes from the least likely of places.

Communicate with stakeholders

You can't play the game for them…

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1) Leveling Up & Progress Tracking

Created a system where students can "level up" or earn badges as they master skills, similar to how players progress in a game.

You could even use visual progress bars or point systems to show how close students are to achieving the next level.�

Grading is changed, Students Start at 0% and work their way to 100%. Show progress.

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2) Quests and Missions

Quests and Missions: Break down assignments into “quests” or “missions.” Instead of a single, large assignment, students can complete smaller, manageable tasks that build on each other. This provides a sense of accomplishment and keeps students engaged as they work toward completing a bigger “storyline.”

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Rethinking Instruction: Designing A Stage (Unit)

Level 1 is Mobile Devices

Objectives are already written by CompTIA / TestOut

Objectives are covered in the levels and where mastery of each is determined.

Here is an objective: (Put Example)

Knowledge Delivery Method / Measure

Application Skill to Master

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Rethinking the gradebook (Objectives)

Does the deadline matter for this? If so, make it part of your objective.

OBJECTIVES should be specific, measurable, and attainable.

Differentiated instruction.

Some students may need more time to master a skill or objective than others
Why do we keep everyone on the same pace at the same time

Mostly this is for teacher convenience. Technology can help mitigate this.
#1 question I am asked by teachers, how do I keep it all organized if i'm constantly bouncing between units / levels?

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Rethinking the gradebook (Grades)

What should the grade reflect? (Student Knowledge or Skill)

Students earn a grade (I do not give grades… Assessor of Mastery)
Grade should reflect mastery of an objective.

List out objectives, put star rating next to each objective for the student's mastery level

Students cannot pass the class without getting a minimum of 1 star rating next to each objective.

Point of anxiety for students
However, this is mitigated with the retaking of any assessment

GRADES SHOULD NOT BE COMPARATIVE between students.

An A+ should not be hard to get if all objectives are mastered.
I have heard, how can I give this student an A+ when so and so… (put in more effort, achieved more success in…)
Revise your objectives if your standard of mastery needs to be improved.

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3) Immediate Feedback

Like in a video game, where players know immediately if they succeeded or need to try again, provide quick feedback. This could mean using digital tools or apps for instant quizzes, allowing students to see results right away and work on improvements.

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Providing Effective Feedback

Make it meaningful and specific
Focus on the positives
Limit the feedback you provide
Provide feedback throughout the process, not just at the end
Make feedback interactive

ENSURING THAT WRITING FEEDBACK IS EFFECTIVE

Make it meaningful and specific: Students don’t know what they don’t know. Writing, “Use more transitions,” doesn’t really help a student who may not know what a top-notch transition looks like or what type of transition to use. Instead, use the feedback process as a chance to model for students. You might show students good spots to use even very simple transitions, such as “For example,....”

Feedback can focus on one key topic—such as transitions—and it should model the technique for the student, who should be free to use the example provided in the feedback before trying to use the technique elsewhere in the writing.

Focus on the positives: Enter the feedback process with a mindset that has you looking for what students did well instead of what needs to be fixed. Students will often implement what you taught them during a lesson at least once in an assignment. Rather than point out where they didn’t do what you expect, focus on where they did. Use the feedback process to reinforce positive aspects of an assignment.

The above feedback focuses on topic sentences and points out where the writer crafted a clear lead sentence with a central idea and a transition. The rest of the essay or response may lack clear topic sentences. Instead of pointing those out or writing, “Make sure you have clear topic sentences,” the teacher focuses on the positives and encourages the writer to employ the same strategy throughout the response as they continue to draft, revise, and edit.

Limit the feedback you provide: While providing meaningful and specific feedback sounds perfect, time limits our ability to address every aspect of a piece of writing. But students will not master every single skill right away anyway. Nor will they break bad habits developed over years the instant they enter your classroom. Instead of trying to fix everything, we just need to realize that education and student growth are processes. Focus on your teaching points that coincide with the assignment. This helps students concentrate on improving in a few areas, which helps keep them from being overwhelmed.

Suppose that during the course of a week you focused your mini-lessons on crafting topic sentences, using commas after introductory clauses, and using transitions to signal evidence. When providing feedback, focus on those areas. This will cut down the amount of feedback you feel compelled to provide.

Provide feedback throughout the writing process, not at the end: Writing, like most things in life, is a process. As such, feedback is a process, too. Until the summative assessment, when students may write a full essay on demand, writing should be taught in stages. What they produce during the process should be used for formative assessment. Checking an essay for topic sentences the day your teaching point is topic sentences allows you to focus on one area. You might only need to leave one piece of feedback that class. Again, this will save time as you give feedback throughout the process instead of waiting to address everything when the draft is complete.

Make feedback interactive: “I provide all this feedback and students just hit ‘resolve’ without looking at it.” Been there, done that myself. To avoid that situation, make students interact with the feedback. As the online guide “Give Your Students Better Writing Feedback” says, “Feedback isn’t helpful unless the student is forced to respond to it.” Have students choose one or two pieces of feedback and write a brief response explaining how it helped them or inspired them to make changes elsewhere in the assignment.

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4) Multiplayer Cooperation

Structure activities that require teamwork and collaboration, like cooperative game modes. Group projects, team-based challenges, or peer review sessions can build camaraderie and encourage learning from peers.

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5) Boss Battles and Challenges

Introduce “boss battles” as cumulative challenges or projects that students work up to by mastering smaller skills. These could be in the form of tests, projects, or even group competitions where students apply everything they’ve learned.

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6) Mini-Games and Lightning Rounds

Break up the main content with quick, game-like activities such as mini-quizzes, timed challenges, or lightning rounds. This adds excitement, keeps energy up, and gives students a quick way to apply what they've learned.

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This Slide Intentionally Blank

The next slide shows the list of prompts and the timer.

When you show the next slide, IMMEDIATELY start the timer

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List Tech 5

Computer Hardware Component
Operating System
Network Device
Security Threat
Troubleshooting Step
Software Tool
IT Job Role
Common Error Code
Input Device
Storage Device
Mobile Device
Output Device

The Key Letter is

S

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7) Reset and Restart Opportunities

Incorporate opportunities for “restarting” or re-attempting a challenge without penalty, similar to respawning in games. This helps build resilience and encourages a growth mindset, emphasizing learning over perfection.

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Rethinking the gradebook

Any Assessment can be resubmitted, their peak level of mastery overrides all other attempts.

Application skills are the easiest to let students try again
Foster that passion, if students are interested in it, they will want to do things again.

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Rethinking Tests and Quizzes

How do I let students retake quizzes?

Students can see what they mastered, got correct
Students can see what they missed or need further practice on (but correct answer is NOT given) They can ask me, why was this wrong? - Most of the time they are trying to catch a mistake from me.

Everything is Open note - is this a summative assessment or formative assessment?

Everything I do is formative, building on previous knowledge.
Will there ever be a point in their career where they are cut off from all of their resources?
Does googling the answer have value?

Researching and processing information is an essential skill in the tech world
This fits with course objectives, why would I take it away?

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8) Choice and Customization

Allow students some choices in how they complete tasks or demonstrate knowledge, similar to character customization in games. For example, they might choose between a presentation, video, or essay to showcase what they’ve learned.

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To Be Added

Leaderboards and scoreboards

Storytelling and Themes: Design your curriculum around an overarching theme or story, creating a world or scenario that students can immerse themselves in.

Easter Eggs and Surprises: Add fun surprises or “Easter eggs” into lessons, where students might uncover bonus points, hints, or special rewards for paying attention or going the extra mile.

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Real World Impact

Reconfiguring the Help Desk

Repairing Student and Staff Chromebooks

Installing New Classroom A/V Systems & Phones

Diagramming and Documenting Network Closets

Installing Classroom Audio Systems

Creating, Setting Up, and Maintaining eSports Lab

Imaging Computers for Programming (Current)

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Questions