Planning your content¶
The Great Reading Adventure software provides for a rich reading program experience. However, the reading program experience will only be as good as the content that is configured in the GRA! Here are some thoughts as you prepare for your reading program.
Adventures¶
Adventures were formerly called "mini-games" and represent activities that patrons can participate in online by using the Great Reading Adventure software.
- "Choose Your Adventure" shows the patron a text story and allows them to decide how the story progresses by selecting one of two images.
- "Code Breaker" provides a code key mapping letters to images and then asks the patron to decode a sequence of images into a word.
- "Mix-And-Match" allows the patron to select one of three images which best matches the provided word or phrase.
- "Online Book" shows the patron a story constructed of text and images.
Avatars¶
Each patron selects an Avatar as their digital representation in the program. The Great Reading Adventure comes with default Avatar options but you may customize them to fit the theme of your program.
Badges¶
Digital badges represent achievements in The Great Reading Adventure. They are awarded for completing Adventures, Challenges, attending Events, reaching defined reading levels, or as a sort of meta-badge for being awarded other badges.
Board Games¶
Challenges¶
Challenges were formerly called "book lists" and represent activities that patrons can participate in away from The Great Reading Adventure software and then come back to report status and progress. Challenges are configured as a number of tasks which are either things for the patron to do (e.g. "Take a wellness walk") or titles for the patron to read. The challenge is awarded when a number of steps are marked as achieved (the number of required steps to achieve the goal can be less than the total number of steps available in the goal). Challenges can result in awards of points, a badge, or both.
Events¶
While Events obviously represent scheduled library programs and events which patrons can attend, the Events system is also where all secret code entry is handled. A secret code associated with an event will allow a user to be awarded points, a badge, or both.
Mail¶
The GRA has a built-in mail system which allows patrons to submit questions for administrators to respond to entirely within the GRA system. This provides the capability for a pool of administrators to respond to user issues and ensures that they don't end up in a single email inbox. The mail interface will need to be checked and responded to regularly.
Offers¶
Offers provide a simple method of showing users offer images such as coupons. The number of times an offer has been shown to a patron can be tracked and limited.