Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2014 | Page 47
Internet Learning Voume 3 Issue 1 - Spring 2014
Problems and Possibilities of Gamifying Learning: A
Conceptual Review
Hannah R. Gerber
This article presents a brief overview of the concept of gamification and examines
and compares gamification with edutainment and game-based learning.
The paper theorizes that gamification in its current industry-driven conceptualization
will not work when implemented in educational arenas, and
that to be examined and used within educational frames, gamification must
be re-examined and re-conceptualized.
The 2014 New Media Consortium
Horizons Report, Higher Education
Edition (Johnson, Becker, Estrada,
& Freeman, 2014) indicated that gamification
and games in learning environments
are quickly becoming an important development
in educational technology, positing
that these trends will become more mainstream
within a two to three year adoption
period. Gamification, the use of game
thinking and game mechanics, is used to
engage audiences and solve problems. As a
growing trend in industry, it is also quickly
gaining traction within educational arenas
(Deterding, 2011; Kapp, 2012; Zicherman,
2011).
Gamification, in its current conception,
is a relatively recent trend/phenomenon
emerging from the commercial
videogame industry, which is a billion dollar
industry that supersedes the music and
movie industries. Due to the major success
of videogames in today's culture, with as
many as 97% of today's youth reported as
playing videogames on a regular basis (Lenhart,
et. al, 2008) and the age of the average
gamer hovering around 30 years of age (Entertainment
Software Association, 2013),
scholars and industry leaders have begun to
examine what makes these environments so
engaging and have attempted to take these
elements and create experiences for their
customers, clients, or patrons.
Defining Gamification
As explained previously, gamification
is the use of game thinking and
game mechanics in non-game situations,
but what exactly is game thinking
and game mechanics? It is important to note
that many game designers and researchers
agree that gamification is more than points
and leaderboards, and that certain elements
and traits must be considered and included
when gamifying a system (Bogost, 2011;
Layne, 2011; Nicholson, 2012; Schell, 2010).
Too often, companies and entities go forward
with attempting to use gamification
and they end up putting a glossy veneer of
points and badges on a product (website
or idea) that is possibly an undeveloped or
underdeveloped process or idea, leaving
some of the best traits of gaming, such as
narrative and immersion, out of the experience
(Schell, 2010). Many games scholars
criticize gamification because of the simple
focus on the points and scoring system, and
lack of focus on the more nuanced meaning
and engagement that games can generate
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