Gamification is trending this decade... From Super Mario and Donkey Kong, gaming has evolved to a point where gameplay is so immersive that it can barely be told apart from reality. Video game designers simplify the real world: physics and psychology- into rules that create alternate realities for us to explore. As we spend more time in these worlds we learn to play by it's rules. It's led to an idea that we could use the theories of game design to complete our quests in the real world.
Gamification can be applied to almost any task: everyday chores [www.getyedone.com/], busting that beer belly [https://blog.fitbit.com/category/challenges/], planning your finances [www.mint.com] learning maths or science or arts [www.khanacademy.org/] or languages [www.duolingo.com/].
Or finding the cure to AIDS?!
In 2008, University of Washington scientists released the game Foldit, hoping a sort of critical mass of gamers would mess around with proteins and, in the process, uncover some of their intrigue.
Quest to Learn is a school that uses gamification to encourage children to learn what they want. We live in an information rich world, information that's easily accessible. Q2L aims to equip their students with the ability to access the information they want and do something productive with it.
Learning happens through games often created by the students themselves.
http://upperschool.q2l.org/
The biggest glitches appear when real life doesn't play by the rules. What happens when you don't get that gadget you worked for or the promotion you wanted? Real life doesn't have pre-programmed end sequences, unless you believe in Fate.
What do you do when the game of life doesn't reward you?
Uninstall the app?
If you spend your life chasing flyer miles for that exclusive platinum card, you end up like Ryan Bingham (played by George Clooney in Up in the Air), disillusioned by the goals you've been chasing and by the disregard that real life has for rules.
Interestingly enough, as important as the final product is;
Gamification can be applied to almost any task: everyday chores [www.getyedone.com/], busting that beer belly [https://blog.fitbit.com/category/challenges/], planning your finances [www.mint.com] learning maths or science or arts [www.khanacademy.org/] or languages [www.duolingo.com/].
Or finding the cure to AIDS?!
In 2008, University of Washington scientists released the game Foldit, hoping a sort of critical mass of gamers would mess around with proteins and, in the process, uncover some of their intrigue.
In a matter of 10 days from its launch, gamers were able to do what biochemists have been trying to do for a decade: decipher the structure of a protein called retroviral protease, an enzyme that is key to the way HIV multiplies.
This article really sums up the best gamification has to offer!
http://www.yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/top-10-gamification-examples-human-race/#.VZzo-Pmqqko
Our lives allow gamification, with goals that we must complete ,rewarding us along the way, so that we can start the next challenge, : this covers everything from frequent flyer miles to even school examinations!
School is a game where you keep completing the challenges set, which improves your skills in taking on the boss level, terminal exam. At the end of the game you could get rewarded for setting a highscore.
Parenting involves a level of gamification.
Your parents must have at some point played the game with you. So the rules are, you score a certain grade and you will get a new mobile phone, for instance. So you work hard and you do win the game. This leads on to another game and another. At what point does your game become about getting that final result rather than learning. Of course this doesn't matter as long as you're learning, right! However, we are becoming increasingly conditioned to expect rewards. We work with our eyes on the prize, which reflects the fact that our society is very materialistic.
How do we make ourselves productive if there isn't a reward? What keeps us motivated?
Motivation theories are split into two categories: Extrinsic motivation and Intrinsic motivation.
This article really sums up the best gamification has to offer!
http://www.yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/top-10-gamification-examples-human-race/#.VZzo-Pmqqko
Our lives allow gamification, with goals that we must complete ,rewarding us along the way, so that we can start the next challenge, : this covers everything from frequent flyer miles to even school examinations!
School is a game where you keep completing the challenges set, which improves your skills in taking on the boss level, terminal exam. At the end of the game you could get rewarded for setting a highscore.
Parenting involves a level of gamification.
Your parents must have at some point played the game with you. So the rules are, you score a certain grade and you will get a new mobile phone, for instance. So you work hard and you do win the game. This leads on to another game and another. At what point does your game become about getting that final result rather than learning. Of course this doesn't matter as long as you're learning, right! However, we are becoming increasingly conditioned to expect rewards. We work with our eyes on the prize, which reflects the fact that our society is very materialistic.
How do we make ourselves productive if there isn't a reward? What keeps us motivated?
Motivation theories are split into two categories: Extrinsic motivation and Intrinsic motivation.
Common extrinsic motivations are rewards (for example money or grades) for showing the desired behavior, and the threat of punishment following misbehavior. Competition is an extrinsic motivator because it encourages the performer to win and to beat others, not simply to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity. A cheering crowd and the desire to win a trophy are also extrinsic incentives.
Intrinsic motivation is the self-desire to seek out new things and new challenges, to analyze one's capacity, to observe and to gain knowledge.Neither are exclusive of the other. However the balance between them shifts towards extrinsic rewards when life is gamified.
Quest to Learn is a school that uses gamification to encourage children to learn what they want. We live in an information rich world, information that's easily accessible. Q2L aims to equip their students with the ability to access the information they want and do something productive with it.
Learning happens through games often created by the students themselves.
http://upperschool.q2l.org/
The biggest glitches appear when real life doesn't play by the rules. What happens when you don't get that gadget you worked for or the promotion you wanted? Real life doesn't have pre-programmed end sequences, unless you believe in Fate.
What do you do when the game of life doesn't reward you?
Uninstall the app?
If you spend your life chasing flyer miles for that exclusive platinum card, you end up like Ryan Bingham (played by George Clooney in Up in the Air), disillusioned by the goals you've been chasing and by the disregard that real life has for rules.
Interestingly enough, as important as the final product is;
Design is all about the process.
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