Gamification: Sweetening the Work of

Foreign Language Learning

By Jonathon Reinhardt, Assistant Professor of English Language/Linguistics and Co-

Director, Games To Teach Project, Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language
and Literacy, University of Arizona.

You see, in every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. Find
the fun and snap! the jobs a game, and every task you undertake becomes a
piece of cake... Mary Poppins, 1964.

Screenshot of Julie Andrews from the trailer for the film Mary Poppins

In a fantasy London of a hundred years ago (depicted in 1964 by Julie Andrews), Mary
Poppins used the magical music of A Spoonful of Sugar to make the tedious task of cleaning a
bedroom seem easy and fun. Throughout history, adults have been encouraging children to
adjust their perspective on work that might usually be seen as drudgery by integrating playful
and game-like elements into them. But does turning non-games into games, or gamification
work? How can we transfer the features of games that please and motivate us into activities
that otherwise might not?

Gamification, the integration of game elements, mechanics, and frameworks into non-game
scenarios (NMC Horizon Report: 2013 Higher Education, p. 20), is a new term for an old
educational approach with which most experienced instructors are familiar, but that has been
given new life with the recent rise in popularity and ubiquity of digital video games. The
same designs in games that motivate players to what seems like addiction and teach them
scores of rules, stories, and pieces of information with seemingly little effort on their part can
supposedly enhance traditional learning activities to make them more fun and effective.
Gamification builds goal-orientation, collaboration, and competition into otherwise boring or
hard activities. For example, a rote activity can be turned from difficult into challenging
by attaching a reward for completion. Workers can build their skills repertoire more
efficiently if they are given badges to put on display, or if their names are put on leaderboards
for all to see. The corporate world has embraced gamification as a training tool for its
workers, as well as a marketing deviceconsumers are rewarded for visiting websites,
checking in, or evaluating their experiences online, often for merely the equivalent of a
virtual gold star. In other words, gamification takes advantage of the fact that some people
are highly motivated just by the opportunity to earn points and show them off, even if those
points are not really worth anything material.
Gamification brings to new light a few reified concepts in educationfor example, why we
call homework, coursework, and schoolwork work and not play, which we admit is
important to keep Jack from becoming too tired, but that we usually relegate to recess. There
are bells telling us when to start learning and when to stop, and tests that determine our path
in lifeafter all, when you get out of school, the real world is not all fun and games, and
work is putting in your time. In many ways, however, this frame of mind reflects an
Industrial Era origin, and may be producing students unprepared for a post-industrial digital
society that increasingly values creativity, adaptability, collaboration, and autonomy. If we
think its good that learning is hard and sometimes boring because that prepares us for real
life, then our mind concludes that ease and fun are antithetical to the purpose of schooling. A
better frame, however, is not based on difficulty but on engagement. Certainly learning
should be engaging to be effective, and engagement can involve challenge as much as it
involves enjoyment. To be creative, adaptable, collaborative, and autonomous, one must be
engaged in the task at hand. Gamification is not about making the hard easy but making
learning engaging and developing the literacies that students need in the future.

Still, gamification is not always appropriate. Some people dont necessarily like to play
games all the time, especially certain types of competitive games. There is developmental
value in open-ended, non-goal oriented play and activitysometimes you do something just
for the sake of doing it, and the reward lies in the doing, not in the winning. If we are forced
to play a game that we dont want to play, or a game that gives us no meaningful choices, we
lose the very quality that makes a game a gameplayer agency. Whether facilitated by
gamification or not, learner agency and engagement are both necessary for transformation,
which is essential to development and at the heart of learning.

So how can we gamify foreign language learning? We use game-informed pedagogy to

engage students and give them meaningful choices in directing their own learning. For
example, we might start with point systems associated with learning and classroom
behaviors. We might have reward systems to motivate those who need motivation, like
badges for accomplishmentsfor example error-free first draft or spoke only in the target
language for one week or perfect quiz. Students might be rewarded cards for their badges
that they can redeem in different wayslooking up a word they should know, or asking a
question in English, or gaining immunity from failing a future quiz of their choice. We might
give students second chances that lower the stakes for taking risks, like opportunities to re-
take quizzes for fewer points or to write something as extra credit that they learned but wasnt
on a quiz. We can have activities as competitions between student teams, as long as we mix
up the teams every time so that everyone wins and loses at least once. We can implement role
play activities that let students play with new sounds through new voices, and experience new
cultures through new eyes. We might design our syllabus as an adventure game, with
different levels of difficulty for the same content, activities designed as collaborative quests,
and multiple learning pathways to get to the same destination. Project and problem-based
activity design that incorporates problem solving, measured risk taking, and collaboration
reflects many tried and true game design principles. For fresh insight, instructors can play a
variety of games themselves, digital and analog, and watch others play games, with an open,
inquisitive, and critical mind. For more ideas, see The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing
Coursework as a Game by Lee Sheldon (2012), What Digital Video Games have to Teach us
about Learning and Literacy by James Gee (2007), and Language at Play: Digital Games in
Foreign Language Teaching and Learning by Julie Sykes and myself (2012, reviewed here in
fltmag.com by Adrienne Gonzales).
Since well before digital gaming became an object of interest in CALL, talented foreign
language instructors have sweetened their teaching with gamification they just know it as
engaging, empowering, and effective teaching. They have learned to recognize and exploit
the game-like, playful elements latent in familiar class activities, curricular structures, and
learner behaviors. While the term is in some ways a reconceptualization of an old idea, it
helps us understand that the metaphors we use to conceptualize learning may prevent us from
considering new, effective approaches. When we re-frame a difficult or boring activity as
challenging, it affords engagement and learning. As experienced teachers and nannies
throughout history have known, changing a learners or childs perception is sometimes just a
matter of finding the element of fun and exploiting it strategicallyin other words,
gamification.

4 Ways To Bring Gamification of Education

To Your Classroom
Increase student engagement by gamifying your classroom

The trend is sweeping the nation and companies are using games as a way to engage and
motivate its users. This post explores the role of gamification in education and provides four
examples of how you can bring the learning method into your classroom.

What is Gamification?

By definition, gamification is the use of game design and mechanics to enhance non-game
contexts.

Weve seen this approach in a variety of settings: completing our Subway punch card to win a
free sandwich, receiving a badge on Foursquare for being the first of friends to check in at a
particular restaurant, or expanding our profiles on LinkedIn to bring the completion bar up
to 100%. Gamification has even worked its way into the automotive industry with the
innovative dashboard of the Ford Fusion hybrid. A high-resolution display features a rendering
of vine-like leaves. Waste gas, and your vines wither. Conserve, and they blossom. The idea is
to encourage brand loyalty, so how will gamification impact the education sector?

Gamification of Education

Games, in any form, increase motivation through engagement. Nowhere else is this more
important than education. Nothing demonstrates a general lack of student motivation quite like
the striking high school dropout rates: approximately 1.2 million students fail to graduate each
year (All4Ed, 2010). At the college level, a Harvard Graduate School of Education study
Pathways to Prosperity reports that just 56% of students complete four-year degrees within
six years. Its argued that this is due to current systemic flaws in the way we teach; schools are
behind the times. Watch a single lecture on innovation trends in education, and the presenter
likely notes the striking similarities of a modern-day classroom and one of centuries past. Its
been proven that gamifying other services has resulted in retention and incentive. For example,
website builder DevHub saw the remarkable increase of users who finished their sites shoot
from 10% to 80%. So, in theory, it should work for schools as well.

How Can I Gamify Education in my Classroom?

Educators have tested this theory and seen positive results. There are a variety of ways to
introduce your classroom to the gamification of eduaction and were providing you with just a
few ideas! We hope to spark a discussion on gamifying education so that educators can discuss
the topic more thoroughly and provide examples in which they have used gamification to make
learning more engaging.

1. Gamify grading: One success story is Lee Sheldon, a professor at Indiana University, who
gamified his course by abandoning grades and implementing an experience points system.
Students letter grades are determined by the amount of points they have accumulated at the
end of the course, in other words, by how much they have accomplished. Because of the
extracurricular interests of the current college-age generation (games!), Professor Sheldon
attributes success to the fact that the elements of the class are couched in terms they
understand. Students are progressing towards levels of mastery, as one does in games. Each
assignment and each test feels rewarding, rather than disheartening. Using experience points
allows educators to align levels with skills and highlight the inherent value of education.

2. Award students with badges: For each assignment completed, award students with badges.
This may seem like a regression back to Kindergarten stickers of gold stars, but its working
for Khan Academy. As students watch instructional videos and complete problem sets, Khan
Academy awards them with points and badges to track progress and encourage perseverance.
Western Oklahoma State College is implementing this form of gamification into their
technology classes, with badges like Moodle Noob No More, or, a personal favorite Drop
It Like It Hot to indicate mastery of Dropbox. However, as previously noted, its important to
add value to the badges, like bonus points, skill levels, etc.

3. Integrate educational video games into your curriculum: The use of games allows
students to fail, overcome, and persevere. Students are given a sense of agencyin games,
they control the choices they make, and the more agency students have, the better students do.
Instantaneous feedback and small rewards (or big ones, like winning) are external motivators
that work. Case in point, Mr. Pai, a 3rd grade teacher on a mission to make learning fun. He
disrupted the traditional classroom setting by introducing the Nintendo DS, among other
technology, into his daily curriculum. Students practiced math and language through the use of
computer and video games. In just eighteen weeks, his class went from a below 3rd grade level
to a mid fourth-grade level.

4. Stir up a little competition: Top Hat is adopting game mechanics by including a

tournament module in our platform. Professors have found that the tournaments incentivize
students to learn the material and practice. After all, everyone wants to see his or her name on
the leaderboard, right? Celine Petsche, a teaching assistant in the School of Business and
Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University, uses Top Hats tournament module to engage her
students. Previously using iClicker to quiz her students on the assigned reading, Celine found
that the use of the tournament function egged on some competition, boosted morale and got
her students excited about demonstrating their understanding. Celine additionally noted that
the tool worked as a great equalizer among students. Introverts were able to demonstrate their
knowledge of the material and participate without having to raise their hands. Most of all,
gamifying the review of readings simply boosted the general energy of the class. Something
that can be particularly challenging during the early morning seminars!

Other ideas:

Implement a class-wide rewards system: Encourage camaraderie among students by setting

up a rewards system where students achieve something as a team. For example, set a goal of
80% of the class passing an exam. As a reward, give the entire class bonus points or even a
party. That way, students are working to master the material together instead of competing, and
the highest-achieving students will help those around them.

-Gamify homework to encourage informal learning: Ultimately, educators hope that games
translate learning into informal environments. There simply arent enough hours in the day for
an educator. Games allow the curiosityand the learningto continue after the bell rings.
How about a treasure hunt? Quests?

-Create a digital, customizable classroom management system built on role playing

themes: Okay, maybe this one is a little more challenging. But read this Wired article on how
six grade teacher Ben Bertoli is gamifying his class by doing exactly that.

Those who resist gamification in education often cite its improper use of rewards as a
motivator. Critics argue that relying on games can be detrimental to intrinsic motivation.
Receiving a badge for a job well done is meaningless without an understanding of what specific
skills this badge rewards. We agree; games cant be used to replace pedagogy, but can be used
to enhance the overall learning experience.

Four Tools to Help Gamify Your Classroom

by MiddleWeb 07/22/2015

By Curtis Chandler

My wife and I were at Walmart this month, trying to save a few bucks at the stores annual
Teacher Appreciation Sale. Like the other 10,000 or so teachers there that day, our cart was
loaded with craft foam, construction paper, colored pencils, spiral notebooks, and enough
bulletin board bordering to circumnavigate the globe.

As we were checking out, two of our sons came up and asked if we had any money. Now, for
the recordI have never given my boys a cent for stale gumballs, fake tattoos, cheap jewelry,
sticky-stretchy handsor anything else displayed in a coin-operated machine.

But at that very moment, the cashier handed me 19 cents in change. My sons looked at me,
looked at the change, and then looked at me again. I was busted.

Game elements that can facilitate learning

Some elements of games that may be used to motivate learners and facilitate learning include:

Progress mechanics (points/badges/leaderboards, or PBL's)

Narrative
Player control
Immediate feedback
Opportunities for collaborative problem solving
Scaffolded learning with increasing challenges
Opportunities for mastery, and leveling up
Social connection
Fun
Challenges
Music

When a classroom incorporates the use of some of these elements, that environment can be
considered "gamified". There is no distinction as to how many elements need to be included
to officially constitute gamification, but a guiding principle is that gamification takes into
consideration the complex system of reasons a person chooses to act, and not just one single
factor.[7] Progress mechanics, which need not make use of advanced technology, are often
thought of as constituting a gamified system[1] However, used in isolation, these points and
opportunities to earn achievements are not necessarily effective motivators for learning.[1]
Engaging video games which can keep players playing for hours on end do not maintain
players' interest by simply offering the ability to earn points and beat levels. Rather, the story
that carries players along, the chances for players to connect and collaborate with others, the
immediate feedback, the increasing challenges, and the powerful choices given to players
about how to proceed throughout the game, are immensely significant factors in sustained
engagement. Business initiatives designed to use gamification to retain and recruit customers,
but do not incorporate a creative and balanced approach to combining game elements, may be
destined to fail.[9] Similarly, in learning contexts, the unique needs of each set of learners,
along with the specific learning objectives relevant to that context must inform the
combination of game elements to shape a compelling gamification system that has the
potential to motivate learners.[3]

A system of game elements which operates in the classroom is explicit, and consciously
experienced by the students in the classroom. There is no hidden agenda by which teachers
attempt to coerce or trick students into doing something. Students still make autonomous
choices to participate in learning activities. The progress mechanics used in the gamified
system can be thought of as lighting the way for learners as they progress,[10] and the other
game mechanics and elements of game design are set up as an immersive system to support
and maximize students' learning.[11]

Benefits

Gamification initiatives in learning contexts acknowledge that large numbers of school-aged

children play video games, which shapes their identity as people and as
learners.[5][12][13][page needed][14][page needed] While the world of gaming used to be skewed heavily
toward male players, recent statistics show that slightly more than half of videogame players
are male: in the United States, 59% male, 41% female, and 52% male, 48% female in
Canada.[15][16] Within games and other digital media, students experience opportunities for
autonomy, competence and relatedness,[17] and these affordances are what they have come to
expect from such environments. Providing these same opportunities in the classroom
environment is a way to acknowledge students' reality, and to acknowledge that this reality
affects who they are as learners.[18][page needed][19][20][21] Incorporating elements from games into
classroom scenarios is a way to provide students with opportunities to act autonomously, to
display competence, and to learn in relationship to others.[17] Game elements are a familiar
language that children speak, and an additional channel through which teachers can
communicate with their students.

Game designer Jane McGonigal characterizes video game players as urgent optimists who are
part of a social fabric, engaged in blissful productivity, and on the lookout for epic
meaning.[22] If teachers can successfully organize their classrooms and curriculum activities
to incorporate the elements of games which facilitate such confidence, purpose and integrated
sense of mission, students may become engrossed in learning and collaborating such that they
do not want to stop. The dynamic combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators is a
powerful force[17] which, if educational contexts can adapt from video games, may increase
student motivation, and student learning.

Some of the potential benefits of successful gamification initiatives in the classroom include:

giving students ownership of their learning[23]

opportunities for identity work through taking on alternate selves[5][24]
freedom to fail and try again without negative repercussions[23]
chances to increase fun and joy in the classroom[25]
opportunities for differentiated instruction[25]
making learning visible[25]
providing a manageable set of subtasks and tasks
inspiring students to discover intrinsic motivators for learning[26]
motivating students with dyslexia with low levels of motivation[27]

Referring to how video games provide increasingly difficult challenges to players, game
designer Amy Jo Kim has suggested that every educational scenario could be set up to
operate this way.[10][28] This game mechanic which involves tracking players' learning in the
game, and responding by raising the difficulty level of tasks at just the right moment, keeps
players from becoming unnecessarily frustrated with tasks that are too difficult, as well as
keeps players from becoming bored with tasks that are too easy. This pacing fosters
continued engagement and interest which can mean that learners are focused on educational
tasks, and may get into a state of flow, or deeply absorbed in learning.[29]
Application

Three key ways in which a classroom, course, or unit can be gamified are through changing
the language, adapting the grading process, and modifying the structure of the learning
environment. With regard to language, instead of referring to academic requirements with the
typical associated terms, game-like names may be used instead. For example, making a
course presentation might be referred to as "embarking on a quest", writing an exam might be
"defeating monsters", and creating a prototype might be classed as "completing a mission". In
terms of grading, the grading scheme for a course might be adapted to make use of
experience points (XP) as opposed to letter grades. Each student can begin at level one with
zero points; as they progress through the course, completing missions and demonstrating
learning, they earn XP. A chart can be developed to illustrate how many XP is required to
earn a letter grade. For example, earning 1500 XP might translate to a C, while 2000 would
earn a B, and 2500, an A. Some teachers use XP, as well as health points (HP) and
knowledge points (KP) to motivate students in the classroom, but do not connect these points
with the letter grades students get on a report card. Instead these points are connected with
earning virtual rewards such as badges or trophies.[citation needed]

The structure of a course or unit may be adapted in various ways to incorporate elements of
gamification; these adaptations can affect the role of the student, the role of the teacher, and
role of the learning environment. The role of a student in a gamified environment might be to
adopt an avatar and a game name with which they navigate through their learning tasks.
Students may be organized into teams or guilds, and be invited to embark on learning quests
with their fellow guild members. They may be encouraged to help other guild members, as
well as those in other guilds, if they have mastered a learning task ahead of others. Students
tend to express themselves as one of the following game-player types; player (motivated by
extrinsic rewards), socialiser (motivated by relatedness), free spirt (motivated by autonomy),
achiever (motivated by mastery) and philanthropist (motivated by purpose).[30] The role of the
teacher is to design a gamified application, embedding game dynamics and mechanics that
appeal to the target group (i.e. students) and provide the type of rewards that are attractive to
the motivation of the majority.[31] Therefore, it is important teachers know their students so
they are able to best design a gamififed program that not only interests the students but also
one in which matches the specific learning goals that hit on elements of knowledge from the
curriculum.[1] The teacher also needs to responsibily track student achievements with a web-
based platform, such as Open Badges, the WordPress plug-in GameOn or an online
spreadsheet. The teacher may also publish a leaderboard online which illustrates the students
who have earned the most XP, or reached the highest level of play. The teacher may define
the parameters of the classroom "game", giving the ultimate learning goal a name, defining
the learning tasks which make up the unit or the course, and specifying the rewards for
completing those tasks. The other important role of the teacher is to provide encouragement
and guidance for students as they navigate the gamified environment.

The role of a gamified learning environment may be structured to provide an overarching

narrative which functions as a context for all the learning activities. For example, a narrative
might involve an impending zombie attack which can be fended off or a murder mystery
which can be solved, ultimately, through the process of learning. Learning is the focus of
each gamified system. Sometimes the narrative is related to the content being learned, for
example, in the case of a disease outbreak which can be stopped through learning biology. In
some cases the narrative is unrelated, as in a case of music students who learn to play pieces
as the means to collectively climb up to the top of a mountain, experiencing various
challenges and setbacks along the way. Other ways in which gaming elements are part of the
role of the learning environment include theme music played at opportune times, a
continuous feedback loop which, if not instantaneous, is as quick as possible, a variety of
individual and collaborative challenges, and the provision of choice as to which learning
activities are undertaken, how they will be undertaken, or in which order they will be
undertaken.[original research?]

For examples of teachers and schools who have implemented these gamification strategies in
various ways, see the following websites:[original research?]

Lee Sheldon, associate professor and co-director of the Games and Simulation Arts program
at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shares an example of a course he taught as a game.[32]
Quest to Learn is a public school in New York City for students in grades 6 through 12,
designed by Katie Salen, which uses narrative, problem-solving, and the structure of game
design systems to inform its pedagogy, school culture, and curriculum.[33]
Lloyd Sommerer, middle/high school teacher, gamifies his programming class.[34]
Paul Darvasi created "The Ward Game" for his high school English class for studying the
novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.[35]
Khan Academy, which began as an informal system featuring instructional videos which has
grown into a gamified learning platform and been adapted in some formal learning
contexts.[citation needed]
Bob De Schutter, game designer and professor at Miami University designed several game-
based courses and published multiple design research papers on them.[36][37]

History

Without adding extra gaming elements to the classroom, schooling already contains some
elements which are analogous to games.[25] Since the 1700s, school has presented
opportunities for students to earn marks for handing in assignments and completing
exams,[38][page needed][39][40] which are a form of reward points. Since the early 1900s, with the
advent of psychoanalytic theory, reward management programs were developed and can still
be seen in schools. For example, many teachers set up reward programs in their classrooms
which allow students to earn free time, school supplies or treats for finishing homework or
following classroom rules.[4]

While some have criticized the term "gamification" then, as simply a new name for a practice
that has been used in education for many years,[41] gamification does not refer to a one-
dimensional system where a reward is offered for performing a certain behaviour. The
gamification of learning is an approach which recently has evolved, in coordination with
technological developments, to include much larger scales for gameplay, new tools, and new
ways to connect people.[42] The term gamification, coined in 2002, is not a one-dimensional
reward system. Rather, it takes into consideration the variety of complex factors which make
a person decide to do something; it is a multifaceted approach which takes into consideration
psychology, design, strategy, and technology.[7] One reason for the popularization of the term
"gamification" is that current advancements in technology and, in particular, mobile
technology have allowed for the explosion of a variety of gamification initiatives in many
contexts. Some of these contexts include the Starbucks and Shoppers Drug Mart loyalty
programs, location-based check-in applications such as Foursquare, and mobile and web
applications and tools that reward and broadcast healthy eating, drinking, and exercise habits,
such as Fitocracy, BACtrack and Fitbit. These examples involve the use of game elements
such as points, badges and leaderboards to motivate behavioural changes and track those
changes in online platforms. The gamification of learning is related to these popular
initiatives, but specifically focuses on the use of game elements to facilitate student
engagement and motivation to learn. It is difficult to pinpoint when gamification, in the strict
sense of the term, came to be used in educational contexts, although examples shared online
by classroom teachers begin appearing in 2010.[citation needed]

Effectiveness

The research of Domnguez and colleagues about gamifying learning experiences suggests
that common beliefs about the benefits obtained when using games in education can be
challenged. Students who completed the gamified experience got better scores in practical
assignments and in overall score, but their findings also suggest that these students performed
poorly on written assignments and participated less on class activities, although their initial
motivation was higher. The researchers concluded that gamification in e-learning platforms
seems to have the potential to increase student motivation, but that it is not trivial to achieve
that effect, as a big effort is required in the design and implementation of the experience for it
to be fully motivating for participants. On the one hand, qualitative analysis of the study
suggests that gamification can have a great emotional and social impact on students, as
reward systems and competitive social mechanisms seem to be motivating for them. But
quantitative analysis suggests that the cognitive impact of gamification on students is not
very significant. Students who followed traditional exercises performed similarly in overall
score than those who followed gamified exercises. Disadvantages of gamified learning were
reported by 57 students who did not want to participate in the gamified experience. The most
frequent reason argued by students was 'time availability'. The second most important reason
were technical problems. Other reasons were that there were too many students and that they
had to visit so many web pages and applications at the university that they did not want to use
a new one.[43]

Another field where serious games are used to improve learning is health care. Petit dit
Dariel, Raby, Ravaut and Rothan-Tondeur investigated the developing of serious games
potential in nursing education. They suggest that few nursing students have long-term
exposure to home-care and community situations. New pedagogical tools are needed to
adequately and consistently prepare nurses for the skills they will need to care for patients
outside acute care settings. Advances in information and communications technologies offer
an opportunity to explore innovative pedagogical solutions that could help students develop
these skills in a safe environment. Laboratory simulations with high fidelity mannequins, for
example, have become an integral element in many health care curricula.[44] A recent
systematic review found evidence suggesting that the use of simulation mannequins
significantly improved three outcomes integral to clinical reasoning: knowledge acquisition,
critical thinking and the ability to identify deteriorating patients.[45]

In the study of Mouaheb, Fahli, Moussetad and Eljamali an American version of a serious
game was investigated: Virtual University. Results showed that learning using this serious
game has educational values that are based on learning concepts advocated by constructivist
psycho-cognitive theories. It guarantees intrinsic motivation, generates cognitive conflicts
and provides situated learning. The use of Virtual University allowed the researchers to
identify the following key points: from its playfulness combined with video game
technologies, the tool was able to motivate learners intrinsically; the simulation game also
recreates learning situations extremely close to that of reality, especially considering the
complexity, dynamism and all of the interrelations and interactions that exist within the
university system. This is a major educational advantage by encouraging 1) an intense
interaction that generates real cognitive or socio-cognitive conflicts, providing a solid
construction of knowledge; 2) an autonomy in the learning process following a strong
metacognitive activity; 3) an eventual transfer of acquired skills.[46]

Criticism

Gamification of learning has been criticized for its use of extrinsic motivators, which some
teachers believe must be avoided since they have the potential to decrease intrinsic
motivation for learning (see overjustification). This idea is based on research which emerged
first in the early 1970s[47][48] and has been recently made popular by Daniel Pink.[49] Teachers
may not acknowledge that extrinsic motivators are already at work in a typical classroom, or
they may wish to minimize extrinsic motivation.

Some teachers may criticize gamification for taking a less than serious approach to education.
This may be a result of the historical distinction between work and play which perpetuates
the notion that the classroom cannot be a place for games, or a place for fun.[50][51] Game play
has also suffered under misconceptions of being easy, irrelevant to learning, and applicable
only to very young children.[52] These negative impressions of play may translate into
suspicions regarding the value of game elements which promote fun and a sense of
playfulness within a learning context.[original research?]

Teachers who criticize the gamification of learning might feel that it is not worth their time to
implement gaming initiatives, either because they themselves are stretched thin with the
number of responsibilities that they already have,[25] or because they fear that the curriculum
might not be covered if any time is spent dedicated to anything other than engagement with
that curriculum. Gamification of learning has been also criticized as ineffective for certain
learners and for certain situations. It should be noted that proponents of gamification have
never claimed that gamification is such a panacea, recognizing that it is not an appropriate
strategy to motivate every learner in every circumstance.[1] Videogame theorist Ian Bogost
has criticized gamification for its tendency to take a simplistic, manipulative approach which
does not reflect the real quality of complex, motivational games.[53] Educational scenarios
which purport to be gamification, but only make use of progress mechanics such as points,
badges and leaderboards are particularly susceptible to such criticism.

See also

Duolingo
Educational game
Game studies
Incentive-centered design
Institute of Play
Gamification

References

1.
 Kapp, Karl (2012). The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and
Strategies for Training and Education. Pfeiffer. ISBN 978-1118096345.
Shatz, Itamar (2015). Using Gamification and Gaming in Order to Promote Risk Taking in the
Language Learning Process (PDF). MEITAL National Conference. Haifa, Israel: Technion. pp. 227232.
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I admitted that I did have a few coins, but insisted that it wouldnt be enough for candy or
anything. The older of the two boys shook his head and then said, Nah, Dadwe dont want
candy. Were gonna save a kids life.

Confused, but intrigued, I handed them the coins and then observed from a distance. I
watched them walk up to an upside-down umbrella that was suspended from one of the
stores ceiling tiles. It seemed to float about three feet over their heads. Taped to the umbrella
was a sign that read, Toss in a coinand help save a childs life!

They divided up the pennies and nickels and began tossing them free-throw style into the
umbrella. They missed on the first couple of tries, but soon got the hang of it. When the
novelty started to wane, they tried to see just how far they could get from the umbrella and
still make it in. I turned to my wife, and sheepishly asked if she had had any change so that I
might give it a try.

Gamification Defined (by me)

Walmarts Teacher Appreciation Day Sale and the umbrella incident are both examples of
gamification, or the use of game elements in everyday activities (Deterding et al., 2011).

Walmart, for example, encourages teachers to shop by promising them added savings if they
show up on a certain date and time. In the world of game design, this is referred to as an
appointment dynamic. Similarly, while some individuals willingly donate spare change,
otherssuch as myselfwill only do it if there is some sort of challenge, such as tossing
coins into an upside-down umbrella.

There are as many definitions of gamification as there are books and Ted Talks about it. My
working definition (as applied to education) is pretty simplegamification is the process of
taking something students have to do and turning it into something that they get to do.

We arent talking about higher level learning here, but rather a way to take the ew out of
review. With this goal in mind, below are four tried-and-true tools to help teachers funify
their classroom activities.
Quizizz

Quizizz is free tool that allows teachers to quickly turn introductory and review activities into
fun, multiplayer activities for students. It works on any device with a browser, and allows you
to create your own activities or to use those already made by other educators. No usernames
or passwords are required.

To play, students simply go to the Quizizz site and enter the game code provided by their
teacher. Once the quiz ends, teachers are provided a detailed report of student responses that
can be downloaded and saved.

Quizziz has some unique features that most free gamification tools dont. For example,
Quizizz is designed to be student-paced, rather than teacher-driven. The teacher dashboard
provides excellent real-time updates of student progress, but also allows teachers to
customize each learning activity.

There are options that allow you to jumble the question order, decide if you want to use
timers and leaderboards, and even provide a list of correct questions and answers at the end
of the quiz. Quizizz injects quiz-taking with a bit of badly needed fun. Equally importantit
provides teachers with excellent feedback on how their students are doing.

Kahoot

I have written about Kahoot before in a previous post, but will mention it again due to its
continuing popularity among teachers and students. Like Quizizz, it works from any device
with an internet browser and makes it easy for teachers to turn objective-based learning tasks
into games that students can play.

Almost no set up time is required, and students are able to play without passwords or log-ins.
The dashboard is easy enough to use and provides teachers with excellent feedback during
and after the quiz. One feature that distinguishes Kahoot from Quizizz is its ability to allow
teachers to control the pace of the quiz. In addition, Kahoot recently added features that allow
students to complete activities for homework and to play in ghost mode where they work to
improve and to beat their previous scores.

When it comes to checking student understanding, Kahoot is by far still one of the slickest
gamification tools for teachers.

Classcraft

Classcraft prides itself in being a tool designed to change how you teach rather than what
you teach. It does this by adding a game layer on top of your classroom. The teachers role
is to run the game and to award points based on student participation and/or successful
completion of assigned challenges and learning activities. Each student gets his or her own
character, or avatar, which levels up as students accumulate more and more points. As
students move through the activities, teachers get real time updates on their students
progress.

While Classcraft is free, it will cost you a bit of time especially if you have limited
experience with Role Playing Games. The dashboard allows you to set up each class with its
own customized set of rules, and comes equipped with tutorials and an online-community to
help teachers get started.

One of the best features in Classcraft is its focus on collective accountability. Just like in
other Role Playing Games, students are encouraged to work together in teams and are
accountable to their teammates. As a result, its more difficult for students who might try to
slack off or fly under the radar. Classcraft is a potentially powerful tool for changing the way
that students interact with the content and with each other.

Class Dojo

Teachers who are interested in Classcraft but who are on the hunt for something simpler
might explore Class Dojo. Class Dojo is a tool that is often overlooked by middle school
teachers, largely due to its use of cartoon-like characters that seem geared towards younger
students.

Aside from its somewhat babyish appearance, it can be used to recognize, reward, and track
just about any type of observable behavior. In my own classrooms, I have used it to
encourage active listening and to track participation in classroom discussion and Socratic
seminars.

Teachers simply set up a class and assign each student an avatar. They then designate any
number of positive or negative behaviors that are tracked using the teachers computer, iPad
or smart phone. Points can be awarded or subtracted at any time and are updated on a master
chart that can be projected for the class to see or kept private to be shared with them later on.

Class Dojo also provides a number ways to keep teachers, students, and parents up-to-date.
There are reports that help track student progress and a variety of communication tools
including an instant-broadcast feature and a two-way message system to share updates and
photos with parents. Teachers can even choose to get alerts when their messages are read by
students parents at home.

From Mundane to Fun-dane

While not everything can be fun and games, more of what we do in schools should be. Part of
getting more out of our students is finding ways to connect with their interests. Students may
not always like school, but nearly all of them play some type of game (Lenhart, 2008). With
the right tool we might be able to do what games doto get students to participate in
challenging tasksand to have fun doing it.

References

Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., & Nacke, L. (2011, September). From game design
elements to gamefulness: defining gamification. In Proceedings of the 15th International
Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments (pp. 9-15). ACM.

Lenhart, A., Kahne, J., Middaugh, E., Macgill, A., Evans, C., & Vitak, J. (2014). Teens,
video games, and civics. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project; 2008.
Dr. Curtis Chandler (@CurtisChandler6) is an education professor at Brigham Young
University-Idaho in Rexburg ID and was the 2011 Kansas Teacher of the Year. I am a
middle school teacher through and through, he says. My teaching has been 90% grade 6-
8. At his personal blog, Prescriptions for Education, Chandler often writes about capacity
building tools for educators and administrators. He is a regular MiddleWeb contributor.