This link is for a gamification introduction video that we did not make:Introduction to Gamification
This is our presentation on what's cool and not so cool about gamification:
Gamification! Cool or Not So Cool?
Overall, there are positive aspects of gamification, but the negative side effects shouldn't be brought into education. If someone can figure out how to implement the positive aspect of gamification by making learning fun and engaging with actually learning and maintaining the information, then there will be room to bring more gamification concepts to the classroom.
Gameification is an interesting concept, but I wonder how easy it would be to implement in the classroom. Sure, there are a few activities and lessons where it makes sense, but I'm not sure every single subject translates well. English, for example, is a subject where you just have to read. I can't really think of a good way to make that competitive. Plus, because it's a competition, there will be losers. Despite what we learned in kindergarden, you are not a winner just for trying, and I think that if teachers are constantly incorporating gameification, it could end up causing even bigger self-esteem issues for those who struggle in school.
ReplyDeleteNot all competition results in "losers". Consider the racing game mode where one races a "Ghost" of yourself at your best performance level for a given track. Unless you call the "old, less skilled version of youself" a loser, there really is no Loser. Gamification can be constructed where competition is with your current status, where you are only competing with the best version of youself at the most intimate level.
DeleteA perfect example of failed gamification in reading is the "Accelerated Reader" program that you were mostly spared from, having moved to this state late in your academic career. Essentially, it meant that you were required to read one book per semester and take a quiz on it. Those who read more books and took more quizzes were rewarded with prizes. I personally never got around to taking the quizzes, so I was never rewarded for the extra reading that I did, but the whole point of reading for pleasure is that you DON'T get tested on it. The more they tried to shove reading down our throats, the more students grew to despise it. I still have a hard time admitting that I enjoyed any of my assigned readings out of pure bitterness. There was also the fiasco in which they decided that you should read only books in your "reading level" the result of which was myself as a fifth grader trying to read Journey to the Center of the Earth. Just because some students have a better vocabulary doesn't mean they can stomach Victorian literature any better than their peers.
ReplyDeleteBut I digress, gamification is useful when applied reasonably. It probably works best in things like math and typing. In my computer class, there were two ways to practice typing, by typing paragraphs, or by playing asteroids/ racing games/ feeding frogs with word bubbles. Needless to say, asteroids were much more motivational than typing some random, irrelevant paragraph over and over.
I think gamification is a great tool to “hack” our brain’s natural tendency to compete and achieve. I especially enjoyed the discussion, which brought up the point of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation. Dr. Buchanan stated that studies show that an increase in extrinsic motivation is correlated to a decrease in intrinsic motivation. For gamification to work, there must be a balance between the rewards granted by the system and the motivation the students must generate themselves. Hopefully, an experience with gamification will allow students to develop the study skills and processes to motivate themselves independently.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I was definitely here for AR. And yes, I absolutely hated it, just like everyone else. One of the worst parts about it was that it raised reading goals even for students that couldn't meet their goals the previous semester. And yes, I also made a brief stab at A Tale of Two Cities, which ended poorly, even as a eighth grader.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when it comes to typing, I personally didn't enjoy the games we had in high school, but it was certainly better than the teacher calling out random words for us to type over and over again. Making education as fun as video games won't be easy, and maybe not even possible, but it can certainly help.
I think that gamification is a great way to motivate students and to relate educational material to games that they already enjoy playing. I know it was said that gamification can cause students to become so focused on earning the achievements that they aren't really focused on learning, and that may be the case for some students. However, I believe that the benefits of gamification outweigh the negative aspects. If a student does not care about learning and puts forth no effort in school whatsoever, it won't matter all that much if he is only focused on the achievement aspect. His motives for learning become less important, and the fact that he is learning takes center stage. I think gamification is a great idea.
ReplyDelete“If you want people to perform better, you reward them, right? Bonuses, commissions, their own reality show. Incentivize them. … But that’s not happening here. You’ve got an incentive designed to sharpen thinking and accelerate creativity, and it does just the opposite. It dulls thinking and blocks creativity.”- Dan Pink from a Ted Talk
ReplyDeleteDan argues here that extrinsic motivation is either ineffective or, worse, detrimental to productivity. He tells us that rewards narrow our cognitive skills and streamline our thoughts in order for us to get to "the light at the end of the tunnel," or the reward. If we work for the gratification that comes from a reward, rather than for the gratification that comes from doing work that we enjoy and are interested in, we won't be as interested in problem solving for the task at hand, and we won't be as creative. We'll do the minimum work to receive the reward.
From past experience, I know that when my main motivation for a task is just pure interest and joy in what I'm doing, my "productivity," or whatever you want to call it (level of recall, breadth of knowledge in that topic, etc.) is vastly increased. And the best part is that I like every part of that learning experience. But I can't force myself to be interested in every class I take from now until I leave medical school. So my motivation for doing well in classes like Organic Chemistry and learning topics like plant reproduction is that of the reward I get for trying-making it to med school. And what are my study habits in Organic Chemistry? Cram, cram, cram. Grin and bear it, it's almost over, if you get an A then they have to let you in. And what are my grades like in that class? Borderline to the point that by the time finals come around, I know exactly what I have to make. It's misery. On the other hand, I enjoy learning about genetics, and I never stress before a test because I've been truly listening in class and reading whenever I have time to study.
The idea of gamification is great, but I don't think it should be used as anything other than a reward. I sort of forgot what the definition of a reward is, so I looked it up. Merriam-Webster defines it as "a stimulus administered to an organism following a correct or desired response that increases the probability of occurrence of the response." This says nothing about increasing cognitive thought or creativity, and sounds more like a robotic and static system. The Dictionary.com definition maintains that rewarding someone/something is "to recompense or requite (a person or animal) for service, merit, achievement, etc." It doesn't say that the person (or animal) should get attached to getting this gift, or that they should expect it again. But that's what gamification tries to exploit.
Gamification attempts to get people hooked on the dopamine rush of a reward, and often is successful. This is exactly why I'd hate to see it be incorporated into academics any more than it already is.
Here's the link to the TED talk with Dan Pink. If you have the time, I recommend watching it.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/dan_pink_on_motivation.html
Gamification seems harmless to me to a certain extent. Thinking about my own education, I always valued the times when teachers implemented the content we were learning into a game or game-like form. It was a great supplement to my learning. I do understand the negative implications of gamification, but the participant is really the one that has control over how much they take from it. If you're focused only on getting bonuses, then the quality of your work might be compromised. But it's your decision to choose to focus on the money and not the creative aspect, not the system's. Even if gamification has a large effect on your education, you're still your best teacher. It's up to you what you take from it.
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