Gamification

Oxford Analytica states that “games are a universal part of the human experience”(2016, p.4). On the other hand, Miller (2013, p.196) states that “humans of all ages and cultures like playing games. We have always played games and likely always will.”

What makes games so attractive to humans ? They are exciting, thrilling, competitive, engaging and much more, many attributes that are very attractive to humans. McGonigal, J. (2011) describes game players sentiments that they are “fully alive”,” engaged”, “have a sense of purpose”, “perform at maximum potential”, and “feel most creative” when playing – something that they are unable to experience in their jobs. With the use of this positive reaction, gamification can be used as a process to harness these feelings and channel them into making the learning process much more interesting.

It is important at this stage to distinguish between gamification, game based learning (“GBL”) and educational games. Gamification is based on the idea of adding game elements of a non-game situation and rewarding users for certain behaviours. GBL on the other hand is simply using games in order to enhance the learning experience for the user. Educational games are designed to help people learn about a particular subject. The experiences for the users are similar and the difference is that learning based games will make a particular learning objective into a games whereas gamification will take the entire learning process and make it into a game.

“Gamification is turning the learning process as a whole into a game, while GBL is using a game as part of the learning process. Gamification turns the entire learning process into a game. It takes game mechanics and gameplay elements and applies them to existing learning courses and content in order to better motivate and engage learners”(Azawi et. Al. 2013, p.134).

In an attempt to explain this human behavior Fogg, (2019), came up with a behavioural model which is based on a learner’s motivation to reach a desired behavioural change. The model has three factors – M x A x T

M – motivation – this requires the subject to be sufficiently motivated;

A – ability – this requires the learner to have the ability to perform the desired behaviour; and

T – trigger – this requires the leaner to be triggered to perform the desired behaviour.

Apart from the motivational benefits, gamification has been found to produce psychological benefits. Scientists have measured the increased release of the chemicals norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine in the brain that not only bring on “good feelings” make us more receptive to learning (Gutierrez, 2012).

With all these positive reactions to this concept, it is still the case and rather surprising that its use is not as widespread in education as would be expected. There has however been a significant take on in business world where simulations are used frequently as a learning tool. Many benefits are associated with business simulation games. “In keeping with current teaching trends, simulations are an intense active learning experience tapping into a basic human motivator – we like to win!” (Wilson, et.al, 2009). “Students are not describing knowledge but experiencing it. The goal orientation of business simulation games allow players to understand and set business goals” (Seijts, 2004). The simulator allows the use of specific and measurable goals such that students will be clear on what they need to do. Even if they do not know how to do it, the ability to make mistakes and learn from them in an experimental environment is extremely beneficial to their learning and development needs.

The concept of gamification was introduced in literature as recently as 2008, so perhaps in the context of educational development it is still a relatively new concept that needs to become more widely accepted before it becomes an integral part of the educational system. Educational learning on the other hand, has been around longer and has produced very good results, so we should expect that gamification will in time follow a similar path.

If I think of gamification in the context of your own life, I would find it difficult to remember how and if it has affected me in any way. I do however recall that when I was a child, from the age of 5, my parents used to buy me educational programs to use on a personal computer for learning the basics of mathematics and English. I remember that I really enjoyed those sessions with my parents much more than others both at home and at school, that were either oral or based on books. I was too young to be aware at the time but when I come to think of it now, it is a very clever way to make learning fun and this is extremely important at a young age which is so critical to the future of a child. Even though the need and attraction to this type of software diminishes with age as we become more responsible and require less motivation, there still remains a use for it. For children I would say that it is an essential tool because the motivational factor is not as developed at that age and the gaming element creates the necessary motivation for the child. I know that this refers more specifically to educational games, but I believe it applies in the much broader sense to gamification and will certainly be much more influential in the future as some writers already forsee. “Those of us that teach must provide goal oriented and engaging tools” (Rahn, 2009).

REFERENCES

Al-Azawi, R., Al-Faliti, F., & Al-Blushi, M. (2016). Educational gamification vs. game based learning: Comparative study. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, 7(4), 132-136.

Analytica, Oxford.(2016)"Gamification and the Future of Education”. World Government Summit (2016).

Fogg, B.J. (2009). A Behavior Model for Persuasive Design, Persuasive’09, California, USA http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1541948.1541999

Guiterrez, K. (2012). The 5 Decisive Components of Outstanding Learning Games. SHIFT eLearning Blog. Retrieved November 12, 2012, from http:// info.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/234495/The-5- Decisive-Components-of-Outstanding-LearningGames

McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken: why games make us better and how they can change the world. New York: Penguin Press.

Miller, C. (2013). The gamification of education. In Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning: Proceedings of the Annual ABSEL conference (Vol. 40).

Rahn, D. (2009). Enhancing Web-Based Simulations With Game Elements For Increased Engagement. Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, 36, 303-311.

Seijts, G., Latham, G., Tasa, K., & Latham, B. (2004). Goal Setting and Goal Orientation: An Integration of Two Different Yet Related Literatures. Academy of Management Journal, 47(2), 227-239.

Wilson, k., Bedwell, W., Lazzara, E., Salas, E., Burke, C., Estock, J., et al. (2009). Relationships between Game Attributes and Learning Outcomes. Simulation and Gaming, 40(2), 217-265.