Classcraft as a Resource to Implement Gamification in English-Medium Instruction hand, social elements serve to form communities among students which means that their progress and
achievements are made public through resources such as leaderboards, for example. It is important for
teachers to be especially careful when implementing these elements as they can have a negative impact
on students given that they could feel intimidated by certain tasks or discouraged if they are constantly
compared to other students.
CLASSCRAFT Classcraft is an online platform that allows teachers to design and implement gamification proposals.
Classcraft’s aim is to turn the classroom into a role-playing scenario: students are organized in teams
and each of them has a specific role and responsibilities. In this sense, collaboration and cooperation
are promoted. Teachers can foster desired behaviours related to the management of the classroom by
applying a reward/penalty system. Students gain points that enable them to acquire powers, to level up
and progress in the game. Game duration and features are set by the teacher and students have their own
account, which allows them to manage their character, powers, etc. (Sánchez, Young, & Jouneau-Sion,
2017). Classcraft is an emerging resource and, therefore, there is little research about it. However, some
studies have already pointed out some of its benefits. In this sense, da Cunha Freire and Amorim Car-
valho (2018) implemented Clasccraft in a Math course. They use an experimental group and a control
group. Their results show that implementing Classcraft was beneficial in terms student involvement in
learning and academic performance. On its part, Haris and Sugito (2015) studied the factors affecting
user acceptance of Classcraft and they concluded that these factors were e-learning motivation and
behavioral intention. Finally, Rivera-Trigueros, (2018) conducted a research focused on the impact
of Classcraft on English as a Foreign Language Secondary students’ motivation. Results showed that
Classcraft had a positive impact on students’ extrinsic motivation, especially in the factors concerning
students’ participation.
Classcraft is not designed for specific branches of knowledge or subjects and it is not limited to
any educational level. This online platform is available both in a web and App version, so teachers
and students can access it from any device with internet access. The students have their own account,
which allows them to manage their own performance. Classcraft offers a basic option−which is free of
charge−and a premium upgrade. In addition, it offers a wide range of options to adapt both the duration
of the gamification proposal and its objectives.
