Contributed by Amanda Dudley and Kaylea Algire
After reviewing the materials for Unit One, gamification represents the emergence of highly complex, intelligent behavior. Instructional design gets at the heart of reaching learners where they are instead of following a prescribed list of steps. This is where gamification comes in—the topic of gamification came up several times in this week’s reading about instructional design. According to Sims and Koszalka (2008) instructional design “means appreciating that interactions between elements in the system can lead to the emergence of highly complex, intelligent behavior” (570). According to this TedTalk, gamification is the “process of using game thinking and game mechanics to engage audiences and solve problems.”
The video is seventeen minutes long, but it’s worth it. The video focuses primarily on K-12 education, but this is the environment that new Instructional Designers should be aware of in the marketplace. What do you think this looks like in adult education? Will the transition be towards simulations and games that incentivize learning, fun?
This TedTalk also poses the idea that because our generation’s main form of entertainment is video games, that is makes the real world seem slow and uninteresting to today’s children. Do you agree or disagree with this idea, why or why not?
Have you had any experiences, positive or negative, with gamification of traditional learning environments?
In the video posted, Gabe mentions that our world is too slow for our kids today; I consider this to be true. When working with kindergarteners, they get antsy when they have to sit and work on an assignment for too long. However, when they play educational games they never want to stop playing (because they’re having too much fun). I also think that’s something to be considered when thinking about adults in the workplace too. Is the work or training to slow (and boring) to hold attention? If learning was designed to be fun, I imagine that both adults and children would benefit greatly.
ReplyDeleteGabe also gives the example of the lottery traffic camera, and following the example he discusses how essential rewards are today. Rewards don’t have to be physical; they can be things such as praise. I don’t think it matters how old someone is, being recognized for accomplishments can be a powerful motivator.
So far my experiences with gamification of traditional learning environments have been positive. Games are typically fun, and they usually result in some form of intrinsic or extrinsic reward. When learning becomes a game, I feel it creates that extra motivation that people need to learn.
The idea of gamification presented in the video and that kids lose the ability to stay engaged, has a high validation to me. From personal experience, I feel that both k-12 as well as adults have short attention spans. I am not 100% convinced that it is from video games or media, but the way people live their lives today, at such a fast pace. How many times have you been waiting in a line, and decided to walk away or find an alternative, shorter line because of being impatient? I feel this applies to how we perceive training.
ReplyDeleteI feel with education, the idea of flipping the classroom can relate to gamification. If a teacher flips the classroom and assigns what students need to learn at home, and they can come in and play games and interactive activities that promote fun while learning, than retention will increase.
To this point in my education and career, gamification has had a positive reaction. In my current job at Advance, we have been working on a New General Manager onboarding program. In order to understand the core values of advance and how a store works, we created a decoding game and building block game, where GM’s have to answer clues about core values, which unlock boxes with pieces in the store that coincide. Then they have to put the store together how it should be properly set up with all of the pieces. Everyone seems to really enjoy it and it’s a way to be able to take dry material and make it more engaging and interesting to learn.
I completely agree with the video when it says that children today are underwhelmed and understimulated with the "real world." Why wouldn't they be? In middle school I can remember trying to play basketball during Christmas break, but not being able to because it was too cold for the ball to even dribble. I would have loved to be inside where it was nice and warm playing games that kids today enjoy. The ideal game would have taken place inside on the Wii, playing a game of one on one with a kid in New Zealand. 20 years ago that seemed to be nothing more than a fairy tale. Today that is an amazing reality.
ReplyDeleteIn my situation, I've been so far removed and out of touch with technology over the past five years, I haven't had a chance to experience any sort of gamification (hilarious, I know). Although, I would imagine learning that involves some sort of gaming interaction and competition would be more than enough to keep anyone engaged.
I felt a lot of strong responses while watching this Ted Talk. This forum is very relevant to our generation and the following generations especially in the field of adult education and human resource development.
ReplyDeleteHearing the idea that reading a book with a cup of tea is no longer possible is a depressing thought. I do believe that our society is moving towards gaming at a very rapid pace. Slowly but surely, we are turning into a paperless, online and virtually connected country. Gamification is creating a virtual world that makes everyday life seem unsatisfactory and boring. Gamification is molding and adjusting learning and the classroom environment.
I agree with the prediction that games will be used more and more in training and learning in the near future. I do not personally have an immense amount of gaming experience. I played games as a kid but was encouraged to be outside and active as much as possible.
I definitely concur with idea presented by the speaker in regards to children interpreting the real world as slow and uninteresting. In short, they're bored! Technology is advancing at a rapid rate, and video games are included in this. However, the way children are being taught/intellectually stimulated in classroom isn't advancing as rapidly. They already stated in the video how each generation is getting exponentially smarter, therefore, what may have been a challenge to a 5th grader ten years ago, more than likely is not now. Same with lesson plans, teaching methodology. Just like the population continues to evolve with technology, instructors and teachers need to evolve as well.
ReplyDeleteGamification in relation to adult learners I feel is well worth looking into. I know of 60 year olds who own and play an xbox, if the motivation & desire is there to learn, no technology is ageist. Gaming makes being challenged fun and entertaining, if there was a way to incorporate this into adult education it is absolutely worth looking into.
Change is scary but can be a positive thing! The traditional learning atmosphere is forever evolving and bettering itself, just take a look at the flipping the classroom concept. I know if they had used that approach when I was in K-12 I wouldn't have had to get that Algebra tutor. An algebra related car racing game for my Playstation would have probably made things easier as well.
I have never had a gift for math or met a math teacher that I could understand, resulting in my tenuous grasp (at best) of mathematical concepts aside from the basics. I wonder what could have been if I had had the teacher described in the talk who bought his entire 3rd grade class game systems and improved their achievement levels to 4th grade levels. He sounds awesome!
ReplyDeleteThis TEDxKids talk offered interesting insight on Generation G, for whom video games are the primary form of entertainment. This group's impatience and boredom with slow and understimulating reality and extreme preference for fun, multiplayer, gamified experiences looks like attention-deficit from the outside, but may actually be highly-developed fluid intelligence that real-world environments fail to engage. It's interesting to note the intersection of methods to develop fluid intelligence / problem-solving ability (seek novelty, challenge yourself, do things the hard way, and network) and the characteristics of successful video games - I have never considered this but it makes sense from my experience.
I recognize some of the games mentioned in the talk, but my experience with gaming is relatively limited. I was addicted to Mario Bros., Tetris, Metroid, and Legend of Zelda on Nintendo when that was new, but stopped playing after high school. Now I am frankly mortified to visit my young neice and watch her immersed in Call of Duty. I am personally appalled by a game that rewards throat-slitting and assorted other violent actions, but to each their own.
In light of the Griego case in New Mexico which made the headlines recently, the statement that games are effective training tools that can reinforce reading skills just as well as they can reinforce and exacerbate an individual's predisposition to violence, and we need to admit it and address it, resonated strongly with me. Later reports on the N.M. case linked the 15 year-old murderer with an unhealthy obsession with violent video games. I agree with the speaker and was impressed with Zichermann's realistic attitude on that aspect of games' effectiveness as training tools.