TEDxSoMa - Nicole Lazzaro - The Future of Work is Play. Beyond Badges: Why Gamify? Mashable defines gamification as "applying game thinking or even game mechanics into a non-game context. " Game mechanics in the "real world" include earning badges, completing missions and leveling up. Non-game companies, like Amazon, Deloitte and Salesforce.com, gamify to increase customer engagement. Gamification puts the customer on a journey motivated by intrinsic, or personally meaningful, rewards. An example is earning a "mayorship" badge on the mobile application Foursquare by "checking in" regularly to the same location.
Gamification in the classroom has many benefits, too. As a teacher, I assumed that game design had more to do with coding than the study of human behavior. Bartle's Player Types Gamification dates back to the 1996 publication of Bartle's Player Types Model. Killers: those who act against other game players Achievers: those who build up their in-game status Explorers: those who gather artifacts and look around Socializers: those who build friendships Examples.
Soapbox: Learning to Play to Learn - Lessons in Educational Game Design. An Education in Educational Games Educational games are a hot topic these days. From game developers and learning theorists to classroom teachers and policy wonks, all manner of curious folk seem drawn to games that teach something, to someone, in some way or another. However, the only consensus in this whirlwind of activity seems to be that educational games are something of a failure. To quote industry veteran Brenda Laurel at a recent conference, "I can sum up educational games in one word - and that word is... Why would anyone want to take part in such a doomed enterprise? We (Nick & Eric) have designed games for both entertainment and education. Our position, in a nutshell, is that no one has all the answers. Game Design Fundamentals As game designers, we're loath to theorize on how and why people learn. It may sound trite, but for us educational games are first and foremost games.
Why emphasize what seems so obvious? Respect the Challenge Embrace the "Gameness" of Games. The Knowledge Guru: Game Based Learning Engine. Rieber - Seriously Considering Play. Games offer many advantages to microworld designers by having the potential to meet most, if not all, of the characteristics of intrinsic motivation. Games can be designed for both children and adults with clear and simple goals but with uncertain outcomes. Challenge can be increased or decreased by the learner to keep the challenge of the task optimal. Games can also be designed with layers of complexity, a common element to many commercial computer entertainment games. Feedback can also easily be provided in order for the learner to quickly evaluate their progress against the established game goal. This feedback can take many forms, such as textual, visual, and aural. Feedback is a very important component in giving the user information about whether or not their intended actions resulted in the expected outcomes (Norman, 1988, 1993; Rieber, in press).
Cognitive, Social, and Cultural Functions of Games. Play and imitation are natural learning strategies at which children are experts.