Opinion: We need D&D in our classrooms!

A Short Rant on why WotC needs to enter the Educational Gamification Space


I hate to beat a dead unicorn, but I just wanted to write a short (tumblr-sized, but who uses tumblr anymore?) post about the secondary education gamification space and why Wizards of the Coast should throw their hat in the ring.  

A void in the space

We all know that the elementary folks have Class Dojo, and until early 2019, the secondary folks had Classcraft. At what I would consider the height of that service's popularity, they made themselves more elementary-friendly and, as a result, way less relevant in the secondary space. I don't know how they're doing as a company, but no one I know even talks about Classcraft anymore. You can read more about the changes here and here.

A player that's already in the game...

Participation in tabletop cooperative role playing games like D&D has been shown to help us develop social skills, prime our brains for interdisciplinary stem learning, and improve our imaginative skills in writing, game design and more. Myself and many others across the country are creating D&D clubs at their schools. Local Libraries are starting D&D clubs for kids. D&D is already one of Hasbro's most successful properties. Wizards of the Coast, the division of Hasbro responsible for D&D and Magic The Gathering, having sent their leader up the chain to be the new Hasbro CEO, has hired Cynthia Williams to head up their band of adventurers. In the midst of a lot of talk about upcoming digital products, they hired a leader "straight outa Microsoft". They believe that digital products are definitely the way to get D&D and Magic in front of more kids, which is the key to long term growth. 

My pitch

Not that my opinion matters to anyone, but I would say that Wizards and by extension Hasbro has the opportunity to get their name into a lot more classrooms (in front of a lot more kids) by throwing some of that digital products manpower into developing a simple classroom gamification app like Classcraft. 
  • One that doesn't insult kids by nerfing Warriors into Guardians.  
  • One that uses WotC's vast library of art, proprietary monsters, and colorful characters to make rich stories and quests.
  • One that is built on a foundation of one of the most inclusive communities on the planet right now.
  • One that can be cute or serious, depending on the tone desired by the class / teacher.
So, there you have it. That's it. We need a D&D Gamification app. 

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