DIGITAL INNOVATIONS IN GAMIFICATION, ADAPTIVITY, AND RICH LEARNING DESIGN TO VIRTUALLY EXPLORE THE PAST 350 MILLION YEARS

“Surviving Extinction” is an interactive 360° educational game that uses adaptive pathways to inspire students to visually explore the environmental and biological changes of our planet. The game rouses a curiosity where students gain a glimpse into how our world looked throughout time while providing insight into questions such as why the environments and animals evolved the way they did and what evidence for those changes is being studied today. Students make decisions to follow various evolutionary paths in groups of animals as traits change in relation to environmental pressures, ecological niche changes, new species interactions, and the key mass extinctions. Using 360° technology students are transported to scientifically significant modern-day localities, including reconstructed environments spanning millions of years in time. These interactive environments provide a window into significant events such as the origin of mammals, the age of dinosaurs, and the consequences of mass extinctions. The combination of mixed media elements, gamification, and adaptive learning strategy, is designed to trigger a user’s curiosity, thus enabling heightened motivation and a richer, more unique personalized experience. This talk will highlight some of the features of “Surviving Extinction” including aspects of game and learning design implemented during the development process of this experience.