Games Based Learning MOOC

So for the first discussion question and to close the loop on ARGs, we are going to ask you to describe or develop a clue using that either an app or AR.

This would be a simple one, that I could use with the urban anthropology at the public auction. I could preview the auction, photo an item, and create a QR and then load that QR code to the class online shell (accessible from any smart device) this would lead to a web-page .jpg that showed (1) the item and (2) and a number. It would be the seller's NUMBER which is on a small piece of paper stuck to the item or on the box it is in.

They wouldn't know what that number meant until they got to the auction and figured out how this sub-culture of an auction works, how you bring things to sell and are issued a number.

Then they would have to locate the item and bring it to me to get credit. First one to do that gets a gold coin to put in the class "treasure box" to win a price for the class. [example of the photo: a souvenir from Australia and the number "564" ) One of the categories of the scavenger hunt format is a souvenir from the furthest location from our location in Longmont, Colorado.

NOTE: I know not all of you have experiences at a live auction, but there is quite the sub-culture and winning a bid isn't as easy as you may think. I have a review (top 10,000) on eBay that might interest you as to what will be part of my cultural anthropology classes' experience. Since I have nothing for sale right now, I am not seeking buyers, just sharing information. Buying at Live Auctions for eBay

Do you all think this fits the parameters of a clue that uses an APP or AR?

I love some of the classic AR clues I've seen, including the QR codes that Grasshopper mentioned.

My favorite type of clue is a double layered kind, where you have to peel apart a puzzle or riddle to get the clue. A word puzzle that becomes a bit.ly address that leads to a video on YouTube with 50 cryptic comments below that turn into a clue in the video that you need to look up in a book in the library that.....

You get the idea! I love mixing modalities.

Ok my classes went to the auction last night, some found 30 of 34 items. Competition between the classes got bigger than I thought, and the sharing of culture and items and time and place of them was GREAT. They learned a lot in a fun experience, they even were texting each other to come and earn "coins" and also taking pictures to send to friends or post on their social media sites. I had said I could have done a clue with a QR.

Ok this QR should take you to the picture below it. You would have to go to the auction to figure out what that number meant, it is the seller's number on all their items. Yes, they tried to win that "stump the professor," no stumping on a distributor cap for a V-8 engine, but got me on a replacement gas mask filter for WWII." Some actually bid and one student got a $200 retail purse with tag still on it for $7.00. Now I need to go to college today and give out the prizes!

I am always complaining about how I would need so much money to really do a full-blown event/lesson. However, in this case the actual cost including prizes (carefully selected for relevance from local thrift stores, and the small candies for the first to find each item (had some left) over and other incidentals came to $29. Since this wasn't department funded that was as Martha Stewart said, "A Good Thing." Student Life provided the class prize of cupcakes and the class will get a break as a whole class on their last test or some time off. Their choice. We also are looking at all the photos in class for a nice discussion and show and tell. PS I also bought a nice briefcase (older one) for $10 and inside were three VALID Credit Cards (through 2014) and other personal information of the person [deceased], turned in the Credit Cards to the Auction. Amazing what you find.

I encourage you to think about this kind of low-tech, hands on, cheap but effective gamification of your class.

Also there ended up being community involvement, as other potential buyers found out what we were doing and it was a hard to find item, they were looking too, and the auctioneer mentioned one item he was selling was on the list. Couldn't find a "Broncos" item (Denver Broncos Football) and finally someone came in wearing a hat, they convinced the guy to take it off so they could get a picture. Additionally, I expect there will be a college news item (hopefully) and also perhaps a story in the local paper (Longmont Times-Call) . .

The auction owner also allowed my students to take an item out of a box or off a table and bring it to me, generally a "no-no," so I could verify it and photo it. They knew they had to put it right back.


QR CLUE by grasshopper98, on Flickr


DSCN2199 by grasshopper98, on Flickr

Some students enjoyed the experience so much they are coming to the auction in the future. Many brought their families. It was learning and fun. Now I need to load all the photos to the public album.

As you all know, I'm a huge hidden objects game fanatic. I would really love to be able to create a hidden object puzzle for my upcoming IF-focused class. So, I've been thinking about methods for how I could create one. I've not had time to actually try this yet, but here's what I'm thinking might work:

1) Create the image. I'd have to use a photo editing tool like PhotoShop (which I can't afford) to create the image. I found a free, open-source one called Gimp that might work. Our freshman read is Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried; the eponymous short story focuses on describing all of the things that the soldiers carried during Vietnam, so I'm thinking I could create a collage of all of those things.

2) Upload the image to Thinglink and add hidden tags to specific objects in the image. I'll provide students with a list of the objects they need to locate and click on. Since many of the objects will be unfamiliar to the students, this will not necessarily be an easy task and they may have to put their research skills to the test to find out what some of the items look like.

3) I'll tag the selected items with some type of clue (another image, a video, or a letter). Students will have to put the clues together to figure out the answer, so they'll have to locate all of the items on the list and I may make it an even bigger challenge by requiring them to locate the items in the order they're listed (this would prevent the students from just randomly clicking on items).

4) Select a reward. I'm not sure what the clues will lead them to, but it will be either bonus XP or a resource that will help them in the next level of the game.

If anyone else has thought of a way to create a hidden object-style puzzle, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could share.

So do you think this would work using Socrative? See it here Socrative . You could have students log in to your room and run a scavenger hunt type thing from it. It also has a way to make an actual game of questions/ quizzes called space race.

I happened to have found the Bungie clue infuriating.

It reminds me of some Website Design blog (buried in internet purgatory of years past) referring to the "visitor from Mars" principle. If the "visitor from Mars" (who/which knows NOTHING about your site) cannot determine what the site is used for and/or cannot navigate through content within 5sec, you have a poorly designed website.

For Bungie, I began clicking through every permeation of diamonds I could think of before shortly realizing I was not using any sort of higher level thinking at all. The process quickly became disengaging. What was the point of that clue? Was it necessary for gameplay? If so, I do not want to play a game like that.

I am someone who needs more contextual or situated puzzles/clues than what Bungie was up to. A hook? Sure, but it didn't work for me, and I am sure there are students out there with similar sentiments with even less attention span (it's science).

This brief experience has shown me that I want clues that require higher levels of thinking related to my content area, and not just something that may occupy a student for a bit of time and/or serve as a hook/motivator (unless you are someone who simply enjoys these sorts of things).

Here's an interesting blog post from a few years ago that mentions what I mean about a more contextualized clue system (within the educational content already)

Actually, MagisterP, that web design blog is still running strong. it's http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/, one of my favorite blogs to share with students. :-)

I agree. Clues for the sake of clues annoy me, especially if they take more than about a minute to figure out. I guess I'm just a very goal-oriented person. I would much prefer face-palming after figuring out a content-related clue that finally hitting on the correct semi-random answer.

I do like Mina's suggestion of having students find objects in an image in a certain order. I think it would be awesome if the order was chronological or in order of most important to least or something.

Sounds like grasshopper's students had a great time! I have not had the opportunity to weave location in as a clue (or the location of a clue) for an AR, yet. I think that would make for an interesting game, as long as the location made sense.

So, what is the most evocative or unusual clue you have ever seen?

What other clues have you thought of your considered using with your students?

Is there any way you would consider a clue "off limits"?