What to Expect

2.1 What to Expect as an Educator

• Gamification WILL increase engagement for many, many students but not all.

Although studies show that today in society, gaming is the most commonly consumed form of entertainment, the fact remains that not everyone is a gamer. Not everyone gets the same thrill of dopamine hits from the process of leveling up in a game, unlocking rewards, etc. And that’s ok. The massive success of the original Classcraft, as well as the continued interest in the gamification of the high school classroom, is a testament to the massive interest out there.

Also, as educators, if we’ve been in the business of education very long, we know that there are students who will simply refuse to engage with the educational process, no matter what strategy is used. I (Jon Klement) once taught at a school in which I was really starting to motivate a large percentage of the class to engage. I was, gradually, day by day, winning over a very difficult student population. One student, sensing the change, finding that his peers with whom he liked to screw around were becoming more interested in actually participating in class than in continuing to screw around with him, vented his frustration at this development by throwing his pencil at my eye. He was good with that thing, but I still have my eye. He screamed, as he launched his weapon, “You can’t make me learn!” And, of course, he was right. We, as teachers, can’t actually make anyone learn, no matter what strategies we use, no matter how compassionate we are, no matter how invested we are in our students’ success.

At the end of the day, we can only be the best teachers that we can be. At Labyrinths & Learning, one of our aims is to provide you with tools to make that happen.

This brings me to the next bullet point on this list;

• Gaming is not for everyone. As an education company, we hope that you find the solutions that work for YOUR classroom, whether that’s our products or not. At the end of the day, it’s about the students' success in being prepared for adult life.

• The Labyrinths & Learning system won’t necessarily lighten your lesson planning load or be less work for you as a teacher, but it could.

The Labyrinths & Learning system is designed, and continues to be developed, with you, the teacher, and your students in mind. Ultimately, YOU are the teacher in your classroom. How much or how little, and which parts of, the Labyrinths & Learning system that you want to use are completely up to you.

For example, you could:

a.) use the rule structure presented here as the basic framework for what goes on in your classroom, but write your own adventures and stories that better fit the curriculum and style of your school. We’ll show you how to write your own adventures in a later section of this book.

b.) use both the rule structure presented here as well as the adventure story quest lines along with worksheets, labs, and tests that we’ve written for The Science Knights Campaign.

c.) use Labyrinths & Laboratories sometimes and your regular classroom structure sometimes

d.) or, whatever you find that works best for you and your students.

Gary Gygax, one of the originators of the “Dungeons & Dragons” game, used to say “There’s no right or wrong way to play this game.”

Gameplay demonstrations of Labyrinths & Laboratories can be viewed on our YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@JonKlement 

2.2 What to Expect as a Student

• Prepare for your classroom experience to become a lot more like games such as World of Warcraft or Dungeons & Dragons. 

If that already appeals to you, great! You’re in for a fun ride. I have also seen, over the years, classroom gamification help young people discover an enjoyment of gaming, strategic thinking, the challenge of problem solving with a team of friends, and using their minds in fun, creative ways. 

• Don’t think that the Labyrinths & Learning system suddenly means you won’t be learning anything in the class that uses it, or that there will never be hard things in it, or that you won’t be doing things that feel like work.

That wouldn’t be realistic now, would it? The idea behind Labyrinths & Learning is to make these things more fun, though.