Work in progress - game mechanics and social networking for co-production of course materials

Peer review has long been used in classroom settings, especially for teaching writing skills. In the last fifteen years, peer review has increasingly migrated online. Our Expertiza system has used online peer review of team projects to get students involved in the creation of reusable learning objects, such as homework problems, exam questions, and active- learning exercises. These activities support higher-order thinking skills and mimic workplace tasks. This paper reports on our efforts to integrate game mechanics into Expertiza. We hypothesize that by being able to share their achievements with the class, as well as attempting useful ¿microtasks¿ for extra credit, students will become more engaged with the class material and their fellow students. In addition, the course will be improved by the contributions that students will be motivated to create.