Gamification
To Play or Not to Play
What is Gamification
Examples:
- An online game called Fold.it allows people untrained in biochemistry to decode the protein structure of an AIDS-related enzyme.
- Foursquare is a game of everyday life by awarding points, badges, and virtual mayoralties to users as they visited physical locations.
And so while they can be educational games, they do not necessarily have to be as long as they create some type of extrinsic motivation to learn.
Why Gamification?
Summary:
- Creates extrinsic motivation to learn
- Perfect for the digital era and "digital natives"
- Though not empirically, gamification is promising and been shown to work and be effective in a multitude of fields including education
Examples: Turkish Learning Games
Use Wisely
Summary:
- Does not create intrinsic learning (self-motivation)
- Does not create a well rounded learner
- Difficult to create a good game in the first place