Gamification is a fancy word for applying game theories and mechanics to topics not typically associated with games. Socializing, learning, mastery, competition, achievement, status, self-expression, altruism and closure are the humanity aspects used to leverage for desired outcomes. With learning being of exigency in today’s information driven economy, gamification will hold court as a growing field of research, expertise and even emerging career field. First, a brief history and background of gamification.
First used in 2002 by Nick Pelling, a British programmer and inventor, the word “gamification” (which Pelling calls “deliberately ugly”) didn’t become popularized until 2010. Prior to the term, elements of gamification were used in many fields such as business. In fact, some have labelled author and business consultant Charles Coonradt the “Father/ Grand Father” of Gamification for his 1970’s/80’s consultancy and book, “The Game of Work.” The more specific aspect, currently in use after 2010 refers to “gamification” catching the eye of venture capitalists. This, larger funding presence, coupled with the growing use of software to use the game aspect of social and reward base applications across many platforms (Social Media, E-Commerce and Education).
One of the best descriptions come from bunchball.com:
“Gamification is the process of taking something that already exists – a website, an enterprise application, an online community – and integrating game mechanics into it to motivate participation (and) engagement.” This means that truly anything can benefit from gamifying elements. Here are the core principles of gamification:
Feedback (Fast)
Transparency
Goals (Short and Long)
Badges/ Evidence
Leveling
Onboarding
Competition
Community
Points: Tangible measures.
It is clear that gamification has depth in its purpose and multi-dimensional paths of entry. It will continue to grow as a path for all types of learning and learners. Stay tuned for continued investigation into this exciting topic.
The title of your post intrigued me right away, as I often wonder the same thing. There are a couple of big trends in learning right now - one is 'mobile learning' and the other is 'gamification'. While it seems self-evident that mobile learning is NOT a fad (mobile technology is everywhere and is driving the change - not the trend of mobile learning itself) it's less clear to me whether gamification has the same staying power. Time will tell, I guess. In my organization, we have yet to even consider gamification, while our efforts toward mobile learning are well underway.
ReplyDeleteThe corporation I work for has been using mobile learning for quite some time now to train new and existing employees with some level of success. I think what most employees would argue is missing from our training modules can be pulled directly from your list of core principles: Badges/Evidence - Leveling - Competition - Tangible Measures.
ReplyDeleteI think what all of the principles I listed about come down to is motivation -- Motivation beyond "this will help me do my job better". My personal/professional reasons for starting the Instructional Design program at UC Denver were to help make our corporate training modules more effective. I want to help add a level of "gamification" to our learning modules to increase employee motivation.
Thanks for you post. I look forward to reading more on this topic!
Nathan - It's no surprise that my skepticism has been somewhat turned around on the idea of gamification. I see it as an opportunity to really engage learners and provide, as you said, feedback fast. This is something that I struggle with as an English teacher, and if I can build in some ways for feedback to happen in ways that students will learn from, I can't see a negative. Now as I have mentioned before, I don't want learning to have to be a game because I want students to learn for the love of learning, but if this can be a "trick" of sorts to trigger that learning, than I am not so skeptical anymore. Thanks for posting your ideas about gamification and how it fits into Education.
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