The Trouble with Gamification In a May 29, 2012 post on her blog, game designer Elizabeth Sampat outlined some of the problems with the gamification movement as seen from the perspective of a seasoned game designer. Here is a look at what Sampat believes is wrong with the gamification of education as well as a few other issues with the concept, and some suggestions for what we might do to move the concept beyond the canned solution it is becoming. The Game Designer’s PerspectiveQuoting herself on Twitter, Sampat stated her main issue with the movement is that: "Gamification assumes all games share the same mechanics, which means everything that’s gamified is basically the same shitty game. Using badges and leaderboards and offering toothless points for clearly-commercial activities isn’t a magic formula that will engage anyone at any time. Demographics are different, behavior is different— things that will work to motivate users of product X will not work to motivate users of product Y. Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Video Games, Addiction, and the Potential for Addictive Education | Learning Through Play & Technology by Hap Aziz Dr. Paul Howard-Jones has been creating somewhat of a stir for the better part of the past year in a series of interviews and conference presentations regarding the addictive nature of video games, and the possibility for leveraging that addiction in the process of education. “It certainly didn’t arise from trying to find an application for interactive whiteboards. To understand where Dr. “Neuroscience research provides some insight into why games are so engaging and why this can become a problem. Dr. “You can see what’s happening with the help of our new neuro-imaging tech, and it’s very clear that the reward is being very, very stimulated by video games. While he sees the potential in the application of video games in the teaching and learning environment, Dr. Whether or not educators (and gamers) accept his research on video games and addiction remains to be seen. (1) Koepp, M. Like this: Like Loading...
[MONITORING] 10 millions de dollars pour gamifier l’éducation de la jeunesse | Gamorlive, The Blog Aux Etats-Unis, l’industrie et les associations du jeu vidéo se sont récemment associées afin de créer un laboratoire du « game design » dont le champ de recherche va être fondé sur l’engagement et l’apprentissage des étudiants. Cette initiative tombe dans un contexte de société où la grande tendance actuelle de »gamification » se mélange au domaine de l’éducation dans le but de rendre tout enseignement ou apprentissage, aussi amusant et engagent que le plus commun des jeux. Ce nouveau labo aka le « Games, Learning and Assessment (GLASS) Lab » sera géré par « The Institute of Play », une association à but non lucratif qui sera soutenu à hauteur de 10.3 millions de dollars par la fondation John D. et Catherine T. MacArthur, la fondation Bill et Melinda Gates, l’éditeur de jeux Electronic Arts ainsi que de l’ « Entertainment Software Association (ESA) ». Le laboratoire a été présenté le 28 Juin dernier à l’ » Aspen Ideas Festival » au Colorado. Plus d’infos ici
The Future Of Education: An Online University That Charges $199 Per Month For Unlimited Classes The higher education system in the U.S. is in trouble. Jobs for college graduates are in short supply, and student debt is becoming an ever-larger burden. There is at least one school that’s getting it right, though--it’s profitable, growing 30% to 40% each year, charging students less than $500 per month, and operating on a competency-based model that allows students to complete courses at their own pace. That’s what’s happening at Western Governor’s University, a little-known online school. In almost any other industry, there would be 10 copycats right behind such a successful model, but there isn’t one here. Nonetheless, UniversityNow, a startup founded by education entrepreneur Gene Wade, is building on the Western Governor’s model with a competency-based higher education platform created from the ground up. The school’s "freemium" model allows anyone to access its curriculum without paying.
How to Motivate Physical Activity: Are rewards the key? | the Zamzee Blog It can be hard for kids – and families – to make physical activity a regular part of daily life.. But the right amount of incentives can help make physical activity both rewarding and fun. The truth is, kids do all sorts of fantastic things spontaneously, without being rewarded for it. One morning, for example, they might declare they want to be the next JK Rowling – and then spend hours writing stories. For parents, it can be particularly encouraging to see kids remain dedicated to a worthwhile task, an important life skill for any of us. The question is: How can we foster this type of intrinsic motivation, the impulse and determination to continue just because something feels right, to help establish patterns of healthy behavior, like regular physical activity? These days, kids are less likely to be physically active than kids in previous generations. That’s not because kids aren’t intrinsically motivated to be active. We highly recommend reading Martin S. Like this: Like Loading...
Latinity Points (XP) as a Replacement for Grades, Part 4 In the previous three parts of this exercise, I laid out the criteria required in order to evaluate without grading, explained how Latinity Points are utilized as a part of Operation LAPIS, and then provided a full discussion and response from a group of three students. In this final part my aim is to elaborate on what the end of that process looks like, specifically when it comes time to assign a traditional grade in a very non-traditional classroom. As a reminder from the first post, the following were the four criteria that I argued had to be a part of this system.Continuous embedded formative assessment of progressA record system with meaningful feedback towards meeting learning objectivesA record of all student workStudent agency in the evaluation process 1) Continuous embedded formative assessment: Every component of Operation LAPIS is designed with this at the core. All team discussion happens in secure sub-groups on the Edmodo platform. Now for the fun part.
Oxford Learning Lab Brings Gamification to Education | NEWS OXFORD, England, August 2, 2012 /NEWS.GNOM.ES/ – Boom, Crash, Bang! These are the normal noises of a good online game. But must it always be like that? What if the same techniques of making progress, gaining points and earning badges of honour are applied to an educational environment? That’s one of the challenges set by Oxford Learning Lab ( , the leading site for marketing training and education. The badges of honour have names that can be easily recognized as Marketing career steps, such as Marketing Executive, Marketing Manager, or Chief Marketing Officer. As Rosie Phipps ( Principal of Oxford College of Marketing ) says ,” We use the videos from Oxford Learning Lab for all our Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) courses, and as much as CIM is able to show what you have achieved in the way of taking an exam, here is another way for marketers to display their expertise”. About Gamification
How To Use Game Dynamics In The Classroom Edudemic is all about finding innovative ways to get through to students. That’s why we’ve talked about game dynamics more than a few times. Inspiring students to learn through the gamification of a large lecture hall has not yet been broached by us Edudemic-ers. Lucky for us, Liz Gross has an incredible look at the gamification in her newest post “ Can Game Dynamics Improve Attendance, Grades, and Engagement In A Large Lecture Course? How It Works The Set-Up Before the semester begins, university students registered for a large-lecture introductory course will be randomly assigned to either a control section or an experimental section. How Smartphones Are Used Students in the experimental section will use their Android or iOS devices to engage in academic challenges in order to earn badges. The Technology Used Drawing Conclusions We will evaluate differences in student engagement, attendance, and academic performance between the experimental group and the control group. Learn More