So there's a been a small hiatus on this blog - but we're back, and better than ever.
Last blog post, we talked about achievements, and how they can help in the classroom. I want to address an idea in the same vein as achievements - the notion of a reward system - and how tunneling on a reward system may be the wrong way to go.
Let's backtrack a bit. I mentioned earlier on that I am working on the concept of Gamification. This means, at its core, bringing games into other parts of our everyday life - in this case, integrating games with CS education.
To most people, gamification simply means implementing a reward system. Implementing a reward system is all well and good, and nobody is going to dispute that a great reward system is part of games; but there needs to be something more.
Preston Johnson at Sundog emphasizes that games are more than the sum of their elements. He asserts "Well-designed experiences - not elements - are what separate a good game from a great one."
Just standing at the top of a leaderboard doesn't necessarily make education amazingly game-like or fun. Both Preston Johnson and Jon Radoff (an influential individual in the game design sphere - you can read about him- if the website works - here, and watch an interview here) believe that it is the player's experience which is most important. "It's the journey, characters, and story that make games engaging. A holistic understanding of how players experience the game from start to end is crucial to effective game design."
So indeed, achievements and leveling rewards in the classroom setting are great. They provide motivation to get the student going. But there needs to be something more in order to make the gamified experience memorable, powerful, and awesome. Radoff insists that storytelling and player immersion is the way to go, and that may very well be the case; incorporating an interesting backstory in education could inspire the students, with Epic Meaning driving their actions. Or maybe the existing elements could build on top of one another, creating a seamless player experience that keeps each person anticipating what's to come.
Not sure yet. I'm still searching!
Thanks for reading. I'm trying to keep the blog posts shorter, but more frequent. Be on the lookout for more.
Peace,
KR
Last blog post, we talked about achievements, and how they can help in the classroom. I want to address an idea in the same vein as achievements - the notion of a reward system - and how tunneling on a reward system may be the wrong way to go.
Let's backtrack a bit. I mentioned earlier on that I am working on the concept of Gamification. This means, at its core, bringing games into other parts of our everyday life - in this case, integrating games with CS education.
To most people, gamification simply means implementing a reward system. Implementing a reward system is all well and good, and nobody is going to dispute that a great reward system is part of games; but there needs to be something more.
Preston Johnson at Sundog emphasizes that games are more than the sum of their elements. He asserts "Well-designed experiences - not elements - are what separate a good game from a great one."
Just standing at the top of a leaderboard doesn't necessarily make education amazingly game-like or fun. Both Preston Johnson and Jon Radoff (an influential individual in the game design sphere - you can read about him- if the website works - here, and watch an interview here) believe that it is the player's experience which is most important. "It's the journey, characters, and story that make games engaging. A holistic understanding of how players experience the game from start to end is crucial to effective game design."
So indeed, achievements and leveling rewards in the classroom setting are great. They provide motivation to get the student going. But there needs to be something more in order to make the gamified experience memorable, powerful, and awesome. Radoff insists that storytelling and player immersion is the way to go, and that may very well be the case; incorporating an interesting backstory in education could inspire the students, with Epic Meaning driving their actions. Or maybe the existing elements could build on top of one another, creating a seamless player experience that keeps each person anticipating what's to come.
Not sure yet. I'm still searching!
Thanks for reading. I'm trying to keep the blog posts shorter, but more frequent. Be on the lookout for more.
Peace,
KR
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