Gamification: Is it a W or an L?

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According to Merriam-Webster (n.d.), Gamification is "the process of adding games or game-like elements to something (such as a task) to encourage participation." Coined by Nick Pelling in 2002, Gamification has been making its way into the classroom setting at an increasing rate due to access to classroom technology. Chapman & Rich (2018) state, "Gamification does not mean turning assignments into games; rather, Gamification seeks to distill from games the principles of how and why they motivate, and then apply those principles as a layer of interaction to non-game environments. Its intent is to influence motivation, ability, attitudes, and performance."

So where is the line between classroom games and Gamification drawn?

Video games have influenced the learning generations before they even began going to school. Some parents have used their desire to game as a way to reward for tasks being completed. Gaming has become a foundation for many youths' motivation.

Gamification uses this understanding to motivate within the classroom setting. Completed tasks can have awarded badges, live educational games come with competition to do better than the rest of the class, and continuing these activities long term should show improvement (if they are done correctly).

So what is the perfect balance?

Classroom games that are not frequent and just used as a fun activity, even if related to the learning material, may have the motivation to win at the moment but are not considered Gamification. There is no reason why the motivation occurs or how to apply the material to environments beyond a gaming platform. This is not to say this type of activity should not be used. Learning games are a great activity to bring the students joy in their learning. It is just not the same as Gamification if there is no long-term motivation or goals to achieve.

But can there be too much Gamification?

In my opinion, there can absolutely be too much Gamification!

The idea of Gamification is to establish an environment to demonstrate growth and motivation. Gamification is meant to encourage learners to see the benefits of using the learning outside of the classroom or game itself. Too much Gamification begins to take the learning away from other types of learning within the classroom, almost taking away the role of the educator. Educators should not be a "Lord at the Board" (as a graduate professor once said), but they should also not be sitting at their desk, expecting students to learn solely from an online platform. Educators must build trust and respect in the classroom to establish a Gamification environment. Educators are responsible for showing learners that "taking the L" can sometimes lead to a "W".

Consistency is needed for both the learning environment and the Gamification environment to be truly successful.

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Resources

Chapman, J. R., & Rich, P. J. (2018, September 20). Does educational gamification improve

students’ motivation? If so, which game elements work best? Journal of Education for Business, 93(7), 315–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2018.1490687

Definition of GAMIFICATION. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gamification#:~:text=gam%C2%B7%E2%80%8Bi%C2%B7%E2%80%8Bfi