You have probably heard about gamification as it is being used in sales, marketing, learning, training, and other fields besides entertainment. If you haven’t yet, you should probably read this article as we explain its meaning and importance trying to keep you updated about methods and techniques that are on the cutting edge of technology.
The turning point of gamification for educational purposes happened with the creation of Foldit, the famous online puzzle video game. This popular online game in science was created by Seth Cooper, one of the original creators of the game and currently the creative director for the Center for Game Science. Foldit rather than being a useful science tool, became the first successful case of the gamification concept.
Despite several economic recessions in the past, the game industry has been growing and evolving. Official statistics show that the 51% of U.S household owns a dedicated game console and those that do, own an average of two. Gamification in education aims to make learning more engaging and appealing to a public audience, and goes beyond traditional learning methods as traditional learning tends to be boring. Many organizations have borrowed the main tools and concepts from games to motivate people.
So what exactly means gamification in the education context? it is the use of game thinking, attributes and mechanics in non-game contexts to engage users in solving problems. This concept has been used in several domains, but gamification in education comes down to the use of points and badges to motivate and enhance the eLearning processes. Its importance and effectiveness comes down to the way people apply it to the learning practice and audience. Studies have shown that teachers and entrepreneurs are using this concept as an alternative teaching method to actually see positive results in virtual classrooms. Gamification in education has been seeing as a way to fight back the depressing dropout rates in high school and colleges, according to official reports “46% of those who enter a U.S. college fail to graduate within six years”.
