About to start - some thoughts about motivation

My Globaloria game design class begins this Friday, Jan 22nd. I must admit I am really looking forward to it, but am at the same time a bit apprehensive, maybe because of the volume of work or maybe the newness of it all. Don't get me wrong, I do feel that I have been well prepared by the Globaloria team through our orientation and training sessions. I really appreciate the help and guidance than my mentor, Patrick provided at this past weekend's academy.

So, why my concern? I think it has to do with motivation of the students and what I can do to ensure that they start, and continue to be, motivated. As a college class the students choose to take this class and are paying for it. Good news is that they must be motivated to have done that. I believe that will arrive interested and excited. The class, at this point, is not required in any program, rather it is an elective they can use in a variety of programs. They will come to the class with little to no experience with a wiki and blogging. My challenge will be to motivate them to look beyond just the basics of game design and to see the use and importance of the social media tools. They will arrive intrinsically motivated. I plan to help them keep that motivation by:

• Involving them in the learning process by stressing the importance of collaboration and teamwork. Letting them know that their input is important to everyone's success.
• Relating the work they will be doing, and how they do it, to the real-world of work they will face after they graduate.
• Stressing that their success, or failure, is in their hands. I am there to help and guide, but they will have to work to succeed.

As time goes on I will update this blog with news of our progress, highlighting success as well as setbacks. Stay tuned. It's going to be a great adventure!