First, what worked:
Students loved the freedom to set their own schedules. There was overwhelming agreement on this. The convenience of working at their own pace gave the majority of my students a feeling of agency and responsibility for their own learning. That didn't mean that everyone got their work done in a timely manner, but the majority of students did, much to the amazement of my colleagues.
They also really appreciated the opportunity to try again rather than fail an assignment. While there was some rueful comparisons between students about how many times a quest was returned, without exception my students preferred the "try and try again" model to the traditional pass/fail grading system. I did have one student who, due to absolutely nonexistent tech skills, became so discouraged that he dropped the class, but overall, it seems that my students were motivated to keep working when faced with a revision rather than put off by the need to redo their work.
Choice! Students appreciated being given multiple quests to choose from, so they could focus their effort on a topic or task that appealed to them. I think this also ties into the comment that the quests were applicable to real life. Students could select from aspects of popular culture that they were already interested in or at least familiar with (pop music, fashion, advertising, movies, Wikipedia, etc.) and then think critically about them. The students also had choices as to how they expressed themselves and presented their conclusions and I think that element of creativity also heightened the sense of ownership that students felt for their work.
Game elements make it fun. The XP bar was a big hit, as was the happy sound that celebrates another quest submitted. I also gave the students a treasure map/syllabus at the beginning of the year to heighten the "quest" theme, and while many students were thoroughly confused by it at the beginning of the semester, by the end it was just another crazy part of the game.
So, what needs improvement?
The suggestions have to be divided between improvements to the system itself and improvements to the way that I ran my classes.
More ways to keep "on track." Despite the appreciation of the flexible schedule, most students expressed a desire for a clearer view of what they needed to do and when. I've decided to try breaking the class into three phases next semester by using the ability in 3D GameLab to make quests available or unavailable on a certain date. I hope that this will keep the less organized and self-directed students on track by denying them the possibility of leaving all their work to the last weeks of the semester. In addition, it will further scaffold the appearance of quests for all students, so they aren't faced with too many choices at one time and becoming overwhelmed. In one class, students asked if there could be a way for them to set their own deadlines (with email reminders) to fight the tendency to put off work without deadlines in favor of other class work that DID have a due date. I can sympathize. Last fall I took a class with no due dates and realized at the end of October I hadn't logged in for a whole month!
This leads to another suggestion, of more opportunities for communication. I know there are plans to add something akin to the guild site to 3D GameLab itself and that's something that both my students and I are looking forward to. A place to post questions that everyone can see and respond to, an events calendar (perhaps with the capacity for deadline reminders?), a way to see who is working on what quest without having to survey every gamer card individually, anything that encourages and intensifies the class community will encourage engagement. I haven't used the guild site program for my own classes, just to avoid one more system students would have to log into, but clearly students are feeling the lack of social media, so maybe I'll give it a try and see how it goes.
The suggestions of automatic badge awarding comes from the way I run my class. Since I want students to earn six different badges that correspond to the six learning objectives of the course, AND I want them to have some choice in which quests they complete to earn each badge, I can't rely on the system to automatically recognize and award those badges. There is no "either/or" option in setting prerequisites for a reward. This causes delays in students being awarded badges and occasionally in their ability to access more advanced quests. But I'm not willing to abandon that element of choice in the path to each badge, so until there is an upgrade in the system to accommodate this structure, I'm going to have to keep doing this manually and doing the best I can to keep on top of it.
Including a fourth tab for quests that "need attention is a larger system modification that some students requested, a way to more clearly see when a quest has been returned for revision. I guess the problem is that unless you actually open up the "in progress" tab, you aren't made aware if there is work waiting for revision.
Finally, my favorite suggestion was to add a heroic soundtrack to the system, a la World of Warcraft! I like this because it reemphasizes the playful nature of 3D GameLab, a sense of fun that I try to emphasize in my classes as well. The suggestions and even complaints were offered in a spirit of inquiry, improvement and evaluation, not as criticism, and the elements of the system that students liked, they REALLY liked. The system doesn't change what my students do in my class, but it sure does change the way they approach what they do, for the better. There is more of a sense of independence, cooperation and communal exploration in the classes where I am implementing "quest-based learning," and 3D GameLab is by far the best tool I've found to foster that kind of learning environment.
But you don't have to take my word for it. One of my students was unable to come to class the last week, so I asked him to write up his own observations on his blog. He gave me permission to share that post with anyone interested in a "student's-eye view." http://chrissobel.blogspot.com/2012/05/3d-gamelab-review.html And I'll give him the last word!
