Gamification and games for trainingIn this first post, Professor Paloma Recuero of the Official University Master's Degree in eLearning and Educational Technology at Bureau Veritas University Center , talks to us about gamification.
The 2014 draft Horizon Report for Higher Education continues to maintain gamification and serious games as one of the technologies to consider , with a short adoption horizon of 2 to 3 years.
The gaming culture is expanding relentlessly, with the number of players increasing every day, the age range of the game being expanded and the use of all kinds of mobile devices that allow people to play bank data from almost anywhere. Games, for their part, have gone from being recreational and entertaining to being considered important tools in the field of training and education, thanks to their enormous motivational potential.
Therefore, not only educational institutions, but also the corporate world, are showing great interest in games for training and in integrating game mechanics into corporate environments and scenarios in order to improve employee motivation and engagement.
Sometimes, when talking about gamification and games for training, we tend to confuse both terms , since these are two concepts that have many similarities. They look a lot alike, but they are not the same.
What is gamification?
Gamification consists of the use of game mechanics and dynamics in a non-recreational environment, with the aim of involving, engaging and hooking the participant in a training activity , in the same way as they would do in a leisure activity that they find entertaining and therefore motivating.
This way of thinking in game mode involves challenge, telling a story ( storytelling ), learning from what we do or don't do ( instructive feedback ), overcoming game levels, assuming the role of different characters, having the freedom to make mistakes without running real risks. These are elements that we can find in well-known games such as Angry Birds , Monopoly , etc.
Authors such as Sebastian Deterding approach gamification from the perspective of mastery and autonomy , concepts related to self-determination theory. Other authors, such as Amy Jo Kim , analyze it as the design of an itinerary or journey , where the player progresses over time, thus facilitating the opportunity to master a subject and build an emotional connection, a commitment, an engagement .
We introduce these game dynamics to ensure that the user learns by playing , and that while participating in a training activity they enjoy themselves as if they were playing , thus achieving much more effective and meaningful learning.
Therefore, the essence of gamification is that it awakens in the user a feeling of competence , of having control over what they do, and that the final result is important.
To achieve this, these three aspects are essential:
Using game attributes: game design principles, game psychology, scripting , storytelling , etc.
Getting the user to feel like they are playing: getting them interested, hooking them, getting them to interact, collaborate, compete, learn from the game and from the other participants.
The environment is not a leisure environment: It can be an educational institution, a company, a public administration, etc.
One of the most common examples of gamification is customer loyalty programs . These programs use incentives or rewards (game elements) to capture the interest of users and influence their behavior, in order to encourage the purchase of a product or service (a non-recreational environment).
Other examples appeal to the competitive nature of people , to gamify everyday tasks and experiences , such as the Nike+ application , which encourages users to exercise with prizes, recognition, progress recording, competition on social media, etc.
Gamification is also used in educational/training environments by awarding credits, or merit points , sometimes displayed in the form of high score boards to encourage competitiveness, or badges for passing certain milestones. An excellent example of this use is the Khan Academy.