Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2014 | Page 51

Problems and Possibilities of Gamifying Learning: A Conceptual Review
happens, students subsequently reject the
lessons that they are being presented. In
fact, Zichermann pointed out that the last
time that students and teachers agreed that
edutainment was enjoyable was in the early
1980's with the game Where in the World is
Carmen San Diego? and Oregon Trail. According
to Zichermann, four billion dollars
have been spent on edutainment since the
days of Where in the World is Carmen San
Diego? and not a one of the games has been
successful in capturing students' attention
as a valid gaming and learning experience.
He attributes this to teachers and parents
getting involved in the design of the products
and removing any of the elements that
made it a fun game-like experience.
Game-based learning
In a more recent trend, scholars have
examined how a concept called gamebased
learning, which is learning
through videogames, often commercialoff-the-shelf
videogames (COTS) such as
Minecraft, or serious games (games created
that serve as simulations of real world
events that have problem solving elements
embedded) can be used to enhance student
learning in class-related activities
(Abrams, 2009; Gerber & Price, 2011; Gerber,
Abrams, Onwuegbuzie, & Benge, 2014;
Steinkuhler, Compton-Lily, & King, 2011;
Squire, 2011), as well as have examined
how these games impact a player's learning
in out-of-school spaces (Gee, 2007; Gee &
Hayes, 2011).
In game-based learning experiences,
videogames, either COTS or serious
games, are brought into classroom learning,
or after-school spaces and tied in with standards
or learning objectives. In a study conducted
by Gerber, Abrams, Onwuegbuzie,
and Benge (2014), they designed a reading
intervention class in a low performing inner-city
school with students who were English
Second Language Learners. In their
18-week mixed methods study, they incorporated
a modified reading workshop, in
which students self-selected COTS videogames
from the classroom library, engaged
in game play of these games during class,
selected reading material and engaged in
peer and teacher conferencing. What they
found was students engaging in a constellation
of connections among various literacy
elements, leading them into inter-textual
and cross-literate meaning making. The
students exhibited growth in their reading
and writing habits, attitudes, and this was
evidenced by increases on their state tests
in reading and writing. Within game-based
learning environments students often exhibit
growth or increased engagement with
the topic of study.
While game-based learning and
edutainment are not synonymous with
gamification, as mentioned previously, they
all inform one another. However, one of
the barriers that educators must overcome
when considering bringing gamification
into classroom environments is that gamification
originally began as a method used
in business and industry to increase productivity
among workers, increase revenue
in selling products, to gain new clients, and
to retain existing clients. While there might
be parallels in using gamification in industry
and the classroom, educators, curriculum
developers, and policy makers must
exercise caution when bringing the same
gamification concepts into learning situations
that are used in industry situations,
and they must fully explore both the affordances
and constraints of gamification.
This next section explores the perils and
promises of gamification when concerned
with its adoption into education and learning
environments.
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