Attractive Quest Design

When designing a quest for students to complete (whether on 3D GameLab or the LMS of your choice) attractiveness is crucial for success. Will your students choose to complete the quest? How will they make that decision? What are the deciding factors? In my experience at the 3D GameLab Teacher Camp this month, I encountered many different quests. Some were excellent, others were ok. Some were well-written, others needed a spell checker. Some were engaging, others were a slog. But how specifically does the attractiveness of a quest contribute to learning and engagement?

First off, if a quest is not attractive visually, it won't attract the student. Second, a quest needs to have meaningful purpose to contribute to learning. Does the student understand the value of this quest? Is it mere busy work for XP? Or does the completion of the quest demonstrate authentic learning? Let's explore the visual attractiveness. If I have to scroll through paragraph after paragraph of text.... *yawn*... you've lost me, and I suspect you've lost your student. It's crucial to break those types of quests into shorter quests. Also, pictures, videos, even simple things like color & font size - all of these things need to be considered. What about including an embedded voice widget for students who prefer audio learning? Now, let's talk about meaningful purpose. What am I gaining from this quest? As the designer of a quest, this information can be gauged by student reviews. If reviews are low, it's time to look again at the quest. I don't like my time to be wasted, and the same goes for my students. We need to respect our students' time and cut to the chase with relevant, captivating, purposeful quests.

In conclusion, I offer the following graphic for consideration after designing a quest: