How One Teacher Turned Sixth Grade into an MMO

[Irisel]

[SOURCE] Ben Bertoli is a long-time Kotaku reader and commenter, a lifetime, dedicated video gamer and a sixth-grade teacher in Indiana. He reached out to Kotaku this past week to share the story of how he turned his class into a role-playing game. The enthusiasm and motivation of the children in Bertoli’s class evoke the success stories seen in gamified experiences such as Fitocracy. Here, Bertoli explains his creation, ClassRealm, how it works and what motivated him to develop it.

1. ClassRealm is completely voluntary. If you don’t want to participate you don’t have to.
2. XP is the backbone of ClassRealm. Every 10 XP you earn pushes you to the next level. Every one starts at level 1.
3. XP can be obtained by doing simple things such as:
• Answering questions
• Joining in class discussion
• Working hard on an assignment
• Helping others
• Participation in general
• Random Encounter Friday (explained below)
• Gaining achievements (explained below)
4. Achievements are gained by completing specific tasks. For example: a student can obtain the “Bookworm” achievement by reading two unassigned chapter books and explaining the plot and characters to me.
5. Each achievement has four levels — bronze, silver, gold, and master. Each level is harder to reach than the one below it.
6. Boys are pitted against girls. The gender that can acquire the most achievements by the end of the year will win extra recess and an ice cream party during lunch.
7. Each Friday will be Random Encounter Friday. Every one who wants to battle will put their name in a hat. I will draw out two names and they will battle. Students will be asked a question. I will repeat the question twice and then start battle music. The first to write the correct answer on the board and put their hands up will win XP. You can only answer once. Question subjects are chosen at random.
8. Students may join in alliances of up to six ClassRealm citizens. The alliance with the highest combined level at the end of the year wins a pizza party.
9. All info, except for the current amount of XP each student has, will be listed online and in the classroom for students and parents to see.

This is amazing And in my opinion an ingenious idea to motivate children.

[inux94]

That's neat, I wish my class was like that back when I went to school.

[Tierbook]

im gonna be the best around no little kids gonna get me down... id play maybe could have a better name

[ishootblanks]

teachers like this deserve recognition and merit!!
this is an awesome idea
sadly.. the teacher will probably be forced to end the program and/or fired..

[hulkgor]

If true, this is awesome

[Mozu]

Things like this rely 100% on participation. It would be amazing if everyone got into it, and the opposite if not.

I wish I had teachers like this.

[artem123]

Things like this rely 100% on participation. It would be amazing if everyone got into it, and the opposite if not.

I wish I had teachers like this.

i agree, this seems like a good idea, and to the guy above, why would he be forced to end the program/be fired..? Hes teaching them the curriculum or w/e, If not then he would be. They dont care how you teach if you teach what they need to learn i believe

[Balo]

pvp combat? one kid cheap shots another with a pencil fallowed by a ambush

[Colosso]

That game sounds awesome, too bad the community is just a bunch of little kids

[Deleted]

It leaves a sour aftertaste to my mouth. I mean it's like boiled spinach and broccoli, covered in vanilla ice cream! Outside it definitely looks good but the inside even if it is nutritious, destroys all the tastiness. I wouldn't participate. I would rather play the roll of the villain or ultra-hard-bug, and troll the sh*t out of my friends & co-students!

[Cinnamohn]

Why couldn't i have had this in 6th grade?

[Powerogue]

that's not a bad idea. the reward system of giving kids candy for doing things right is outdated. This. Is. The. FUTURE!

[Reeve]

I like it. I would have loved something like this in 6th grade. The fact that it's not directly tied to grades is cool too, because it makes learning the objective instead of just trying to please the adults with an A+.

[cityguy193]

And that game's community will still be more mature than the cesspool found in WoW

[KickThatGuy]

Give it to him!

[Romire]

This is just pure win! The education system needs to adopt this!