gamification: understanding its intrinsic challenges and how to face them in the classroom
TRANSCRIPT
Gamification: understanding itsintrinsic challenges and how toface them in the classroom
Dr. Roberto DillonAssociate ProfessorJames Cook University
[email protected]@[email protected]: @rdillon73Twitter: @rdillon73Twitter: @rdillon73
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Overview
• A quick introduction to Gamification andits intrinsic challenges.
• The Classroom
• Rethinking a gamified classroom formotivating students
Gamification
• 1912
Gamification
“The use of game elements andgame design techniques in non-game contexts”
Useful to motivate people subconsciously…
– Consumer Gamification• Shopping, self inprovement
– Enterprise Gamification• Business, productivity, work environment
Most common game elementsPBL triad
I’m skeptical...
I’m skeptical...
Gamification has some intrinsic problemsthat are too often ignored
Let’s go back to the definition:
“The use of game elements andgame design techniques in non-game contexts”
Ok... What characterizes a game and aplaying activity exactly?
Huizinga identifies 5 characteristics thatplay must have:
1. Play is free, is in fact freedom.2. Play is not "ordinary" or "real" life.3. Play is distinct from "ordinary" life both asto locality and duration.
4. Play creates order, is order. Play demandsorder absolute and supreme.
5. Play is connected with no material interest,and no profit can be gained from it
Huizinga identifies 5 characteristics thatplay must have:
1. Play is free, is in fact freedom.2.2.2. Play is not "ordinary" or "real" life.Play is not "ordinary" or "real" life.Play is not "ordinary" or "real" life.3.3.3. Play is distinct from "ordinary" life both asPlay is distinct from "ordinary" life both asPlay is distinct from "ordinary" life both asto locality and duration.to locality and duration.to locality and duration.
4. Play creates order, is order. Play demandsorder absolute and supreme.
5.5.5. Play is connected with no material interest,Play is connected with no material interest,Play is connected with no material interest,and no profit can be gained from itand no profit can be gained from itand no profit can be gained from it
It is very challenging to have a real playfulactivity if this becomes real life and involves work!
“Work” is not “Play”!• Require different moods and mindsets
Play has to be “fun”
• “Fun” is very subjective. No “game” will befun for everyone, ever.
The Challenges
• “real life” and “playing” are separate.
• Specific activities may be fun only for acertain group of people– Setting up and scaling up a gamified systemfor enterprises employing many differentpeople is extremely challenging!
The Classroom
• Unique environment:– Are students like customers?– Are students like employees?
The Classroom
• Already has PBL built in:– Study and get points accordingly!
The Classroom
• Already has PBL built in:– Badges!
The Classroom
• Already has PBL built in:– Public Leaderboards (in some countries only)
The Classroom
• For many people not so effective:– It’s still real life, no sense of “playing”!
• How can we improve it?
• We need to understand:– Difference between Extrinsic and IntrinsicMotivators.
Motivators• PBL are Extrinsic Motivators:– They encourage us explicitly to do something– Motivation comes from a reward
“I do this to achieve a goal/win a prize”
Motivators• Intrinsic Motivators:– Much more difficult to define– Need to engage people naturally and subconsciously
“I do this... because I like it/feel to!”
Motivators• Sense of Choice / Agency– Feeling in control of what we are doing
Motivators• Sense of Competence– Becoming a master at something
Motivators• Sense of Relatedness– Relate to others:• Involves a social setting, with friends with whomsharing experiences
– Relate to some important issue:• Doing something for a higher purpose, “making adifference”
How to implement this in aclassroom?
The Flipped Classroom
The Flipped Classroom
• Sense of Relatedness• Sense of Mastery
Practicing and improving together
The Flipped Classroom• Sense of Agency: need to provide choices...– Semi-linear level design approach
The Flipped Classroom• Sense of Agency: need to provide choices...– Semi-linear level design approach– Build subjects around fundamental/core andoptional topics
Conclusions• Key is to drive engagement viaKey is to drive engagement viaKey is to drive engagement viaintrinsic motivatorsintrinsic motivatorsintrinsic motivators• Flipped classroom
• Exercise in class, workshops andtutorials with lecturer (sense of(sense of(sense ofmastery)mastery)mastery)• In groups (relatedness)(relatedness)(relatedness)• Choice of topics : semi linear levelstructure (sense of agency)(sense of agency)(sense of agency)
ConclusionsAnyway...
•No system can accommodate all
– Ideally, both traditional and flippedversions of subjects should be offered.
– A good teacher is always the mostimportant component!
