Game On! The Gamification of Adult Learning

Click to watch how Paul Anderson used game elements to improve learningin his AP Biology course: Classroom Game Design: TEDxBozeman

What is Gamification?

Gamification is the application of game mechanics and psychology to drive desired behaviors in non-game settings.

Source: (Trees, 2013).

What are common game elements?

Rewards•Badges•Privileges

Status•Titles

Achievement•Levels•Points/grades

Self-expression•Avatars•Choice

Competition•Leaderboard

Emotion

What is a badge?

A badge is a visual validation of achievement that indicates a person’s knowledge, skill, or accomplishment. Think of badges as a way to recognize a person’s multifaceted abilities. Badges allow students to provide a more comprehensive developmental narrative to share with peers, parents, teachers, and potential schools or employers. Source: (,)

What are some achievements that can be rewarded with badges?

•Performance

•Product

•Behavior

• Attendance

• Punctuality

•Respect

• participation

Why use badges?

• To signify successes, establish goals, and foster positive learning and working habits

• Completing projects and performances

• Mastering concepts

• Rewarding behavior

• Attendance

• Punctuality

• Leadership

• Respect

• Participation

How do I deliver badges?

• Identify learning goals and reward progress and completion.

• Identify behaviors and reward demonstration (e.g. artifact creation, skill development, participation, goal achievement, reflection) and how you can recognize multiple aspects of learning.

• Identify competencies.

Points

• Rewards

• Status (leaderboard)

• Achievement

• Competition

• digital games (1) are built on sound learning

• principles, (2) provide more engagement for the learner, (3) provide personalized learning

• opportunities, (4) teach 21st

• century skills, and (5) provide an environment for authentic and

• relevant assessment.best

Leaderboards

• COmpetitit

What behaviors do gamers exhibit?

•Risk taking (freedom to fail)

•Persistance

•Attention to detail

•Problem-solving skills

What characteristics of gaming benefit learning?

•Enables individual pacing (personalized learning)

•Fosters collaboration

•Fosters “just in time learning” earning

•Fosters active construction of learning

What learning tools are embedded in games?

•Structure

•Goals

•Feedback

•Path to progress

(Trees. 2009, p. 16)

What does the research say?

• Navigation, military training and health care games and simulations have been widely used with a certain degree of success

• Gameplay constitutes a particularly effective way of organizing learning activities

• Gameplay is regarded as an important arena for the development and formation of thinking, identities, values and norms

Sources: (Gee, 2003); (Rystedt, 2002); (Cole, 1996; Piaget, 1951; Rogoff, 1990)

What are the barriers to adoption?

• Schools slow to adopt new innovations

• Research around play patterns and learning was limited

• Designing good games was difficult

• Parent and educator attitudes toward games

• Lack of PD for teachers to integrate gaming

• Skills that games develop are not assessed in standardized tests

• Lack of evidence to support use(MLGF p20)

Resources

GamificationCorp.

Jane McGonigal, TedTalk: Gaming can make a better world

Seth Priesbatch, TedTalk: The game layer on top of the world

Mozilla Open Source Badges

ReferencesDeterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., Nacke, L. (2011). From game design elements to gamefulness: Defining

“gamifcation.” Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning

Future Media Environments (MindTrek ’11). New York, NY.

Klopfer, E., Osterweil, S., & Salen, K. (2009). Moving learning games forward: Obstacles, opportunities, and

openness. The Education Arcade: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved from http

://www.educationarcade.org/

Trees, L. (2013). Gamification in knowledge management: How it works and

what your organization should know. Houston, TX: APQC white paper.