I’ve not posted for a little while as I’ve been super busy. I decided to take a Course on Gamification. And while I thoroughly enjoyed the course it took up a bit more of my time than I thought it would. However the time spent on it was well worthwhile as I have come away with a number of takeaways…
- I have a better understanding of games and game design – not something I had previously connected with gamification (I know a little bit crazy not to make that connection)
- Understanding the history behind gamification and how it came about – did you know its been around for about 100 years and started as the toy surprises in a cereal box!
- Understanding the difference between games and play – freedom vs structure
- Goals of Gamification – Get into the game and keep them playing the game
- The element of fun is key – Many things contribute to fun – winning, problem solving, exploring, chilling out, teamwork, recognition, triumphing, collecting, surprise, imagination, sharing, role playing, customisation and goofing off
- Understanding the types of fun and finding it – easy, hard, people or serious fun
- Game Elements – constraints, emotions, narrative, progression, relationships
- Game Mechanics – challenges, chance, cooperation, competition, feedback, resource acquisition, rewards, transactions, turns, win states
- Game components – achievements, avatars, badges, boss fights, collections, combat, content unlocking, gifting, leader boards, points, levels, quests, social graphs, teams, virtual goods
- Motivation – intrinsic and extrinsic – the effect of reward structures
- Gamification Design Framework – Define objectives, Delineate target behaviours, describe players, devise activity loops, don’t forget the fun, deploy tools
While I am not sure where this will lead in my classroom right this minute I am still mulling it over in my head…
Will let you know where it leads…
Related articles
- Review of For the Win (inthenexus.net)
- Next level: How do you study gamification? (inthenexus.net)
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