Power Up Your Classroom

Learn to design learning experiences that leverage gameplay to increase motivation and engagement, while building classroom community.

By the time Lindsey Blass and Cate Tolnai's paths crossed, both had taken a path from teacher to coach to central/county office roles focused on innovative learning design, all while noticing three trends that extended beyond their classrooms: students who weren't able to own and connect to their learning experience became disengaged; students and teachers alike had a general fear of failure; and teachers were perplexed at how to design learning experiences that fostered student choice and celebrated failure as an opportunity for iteration.

Together, they began to ask ... what if? What if we designed learning experiences that leveraged the power of gameplay to create more motivated learners? What if we modeled this type of learning with educators so they could experience the impact firsthand and spread the excitement and innovation in their classrooms? What if learning was fun for both students and teachers?

This book:

• Includes visual elements that model the theme of engaging in a game with tips, hints and suggestions sprinkled throughout the chapters.
• Features a downloadable full-color game board that can be used in tandem with the book.
• Provides access to an accompanying website that offers dynamic elements and book study questions.
• Features the voices of experts and innovators in the fields of gamification and game-based learning.

Audience: K-12 educators, tech coaches
About the Author: Lindsey Blass (@LindseyBlass1) is the personalized learning environments program manager for San Francisco Unified School District. As adjunct faculty for Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California, and a Google Certified Innovator, she's a leader in the edtech field. Blass is a sought-after speaker on gamification and game-based learning, and is the cofounder of #PlayPD, an unconference movement that leverages the power of gameplay to engage educators in designing innovative learning experiences. She believes learning should be fun for teachers and students, and strives to create dynamic and engaging learning experiences that inspire lifelong learners.

Cate Tolnai (@CateTolnai) is the director of member engagement for CUE, the ISTE affiliate in California. She has spent 10 years in K-12 classrooms and five years coaching teachers and administrators at the district and county levels. As a Google Certified Innovator and Trainer, and adjunct faculty for Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California, she supports the integration of technology and teaching across grade levels and content areas. Tolnai is the co-founder of #Sketch50, a movement to incorporate visual creativity into learning, and #ConnectedTL, a network for teacher-leaders.