This week, teachers everywhere received the long-dreaded and devastating news that the original ClassCraft would be sunsetting at the close of the 2024 school year. So what does this mean for gamified classrooms? And how might EMC² Learning be able to step up as a ClassCraft alternative?
We’ll get there in just a sec. But first, a bit of backstory…
WHAT THE HECK IS (WAS?) CLASSCRAFT?
Founded in 2013 by brothers Shawn and Devin Young and their father Lauren Young, Classcraft is an award-winning ed-tech company that, at its peak usage, is reported to have served more than 8 million students and educators worldwide. Classcraft is used in more than 160 countries and is available in 11 languages.
SO WHAT, EXACTLY, DOES CLASSCRAFT DO?
ClassCraft is a classroom gamification platform designed to enhance student engagement and motivation in the learning process. Basically, the ClassCraft portal acts as a sort of “second skin” for any classroom, and to make things super simple…
1. A teacher creates an account. Once they input their course content (copy / paste your assignments, due dates, etc.), the site magically transforms everything related to boring academic language into an epic fantastic role-playing game (“quizzes” become “quests,” “tests” become “boss battles,” “extra credit / enrichment opportunities” become “side quests” and the like) — complete with a snazzy game-like interface that welcomes brave heroes to embark on an epic quest!
2. A teacher inputs their class roster into the platform, and students are divided into bands of heroes with the goal of making their way through a series of epic quests. In keeping with the fantasy role playing game theme, students are assigned roles within the game, such as warriors, mages, or healers, and they earn experience points and rewards through completing tasks, participating in class activities, and demonstrating positive behavior. Each time students complete an assignment (or accomplish other tasks of the teacher’s choosing), they earn in-game awards like XP, health, magic powers, unlockables, and character abilities.
3. As your school year progresses, so to does your students’ epic ClassCraft adventure. New assignments become “quests” that can be completed for all kinds of digital loot and unlockable in-game abilities (like the power to receive extended time on a quiz, or the power to eliminate one incorrect answer from the set of choices in a multiple choice exam, etc.), and students return back into the ClassCraft portal regularly to re-invest their winnings into tricking out their virtual avatars and leveling up their in-game abilities.
In short:
In its original incarnation, ClassCraft was clever. ClassCraft was super fun for teachers and students alike. And ClassCraft was way ahead of its time.
Here's Where EMC² Learning Steps In...
Millions of students and teachers around the world have fallen in love with the gamified approach to everyday teaching that ClassCraft provided. While shiny new edtech products will inevitably come and go, the ClassCraft experience really did put relationships at the center of so much of what they did — and to that end, its polished interface, customizable graphic elements, and game-like approach to everyday classroom tasks really did help to set ClassCraft apart from other LMS platforms.
But the world of gaming is ever changing.
And even now as the original ClassCraft platform sunsets, our quest continues.
So it’s time to level up.
EMC² Learning is home to an ever-growing collection of nearly 700 unique resources that are designed to help teachers drive engagement through the roof in their classrooms. There are no dinky worksheets, no crass simulations, and no low level guessing games — and every single resource that’s available inside of our platform is fully editable for any course or content area, which gives teachers the power to customize each activity until their hearts content and really tailor the learning experience to the unique needs of their students.
And with three best-selling books on classroom gamification between us, you can bet that we know a thing or two about the power of play! Check out just a small sample of the many activities that await you inside of the EMC² Learning platform when you become an Engagement Engineer…
LET YOUR GAMIFIED CLASSROOM TAKE FLIGHT
Bigger, stronger, and faster than ever before. If you’re looking to make the leap into a fully gamified classroom, the Gamification Control Tower is your all new one stop shop for keeping your year running smoothly with a single spreadsheet. Become the digital Dungeon Master as this powerful hub painlessly helps you keep track of all of your students’ points, badges, leaderboards, side quests, XP, treasure, health, loot, power-ups, and more. PLUS the power to fire off student-friendly feedback — all at your fingertips! Fire it up and start cruising to heights you’ve never imagined!
READY PLAYER ONE? YOUR GAMIFIED INSTRUCTION MANUAL AWAITS
Stop snoozing through the usual back-to-school routine and get in the game from day one! These fully editable Google Slides templates help teachers push play on a full year of fun with everything you need to transform a course syllabus into an illustrated user’s manual.
DOZENS OF SIDE QUESTS AWAIT BRAVE STUDENT HEROES
Drawing inspiration from the choose-your-own-adventure style gameplay of some of our favorite video games, the Side Quests collection reimagines traditional “extra credit” assignments to give teachers dozens of ideas for bite-sized tasks that can quickly be added to any course for optional student enrichment. Side Quests take self-paced learning to a whole new level of play, and can make for a powerful addition to any classroom whether you’re running a fully gamified yearlong course or not. This handy user dashboard will help you keep track of every submission in a single spot.
20+ DIFFERENT ITEM CARD THEMED LET YOU MAKE THE GAME YOUR OWN
Whether you’re a fan of Steampunk, Space Age, or old-school Sports memorabilia — we’ve got dozens of fully editable item card templates ready and waiting to inspire your imagination. From Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh — you name it! For decades, kids around the world have been collecting these colorful cards to build the perfect deck and harness the unique powers of the many items that they contain. And the EMC² Learning gamification portal helps teachers put the power of collectables cards in their classroom.
The activities featured in this blog post are just a handful of the 600+ resources available in the EMC² Learning library. This entire library is available to Engagement Engineers and members of the Creative Corps, and is included with your annual site membership. We hope you’ll consider joining us as an Engagement Engineer to unlock a full year of site access. For complete details including our exclusive limited time offer for annual site membership, click here.
