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Chapter 11 - Gamification and digital games-based learning in the classroom
- from Section 2 - Technological affordances: what’s so special about digital technologies?
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- By Sue Gregory, University of New England, Torsten Reiners, Curtin University, Lincoln C Wood, Auckland University of Technology, Hanna Teräs, Murdoch University, Marko Teräs, Curtin University, Michael Henderson, Monash University
- Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
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- Book:
- Teaching and Digital Technologies
- Published online:
- 07 February 2021
- Print publication:
- 25 September 2015, pp 127-141
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- Chapter
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Summary
Introduction
Teachers want their lessons to be enjoyable, immersive, productive and full of learning. In this regard, digital games have everything they want. Successful digital games maintain players’ attention, require them to solve problems, acquire new knowledge and learn new skills. Moreover, despite the considerable amount of learning, emotional investment (including frustration) and often monotonous labour (for example, working back through levels each time you ‘die’), players will not only persist but also call it ‘fun’. It is not surprising then that the idea of incorporating digital games into the classroom has taken hold of teachers for decades. More recently, educators have realised that they can also learn from the success of digital games and use game principles to ‘gamify’ learning activities. However, digital games are not a ‘magic bullet’ for education. Giving students a digital game does not ensure that they will be learning in the classroom; the teacher will still have to resolve behaviour management and motivation issues. This chapter aims to explain how digital games and gamification can be used in education, while also pointing out some related concerns.
Digital games and gamification
It is important not to confuse digital games and gamification. They are not synonyms. Gamification is the use of game design (mechanics and dynamics) in what is typically considered non-game environments such as the classroom. Some of the elements we might use when applying gamification to curriculum activities are: levels, badges, points, competition and status. There are many more but, importantly, gamification is more than simply changing the age old ‘gold star’ reward in a classroom to a ‘badge’ or changing the name of lesson to ‘level 1’. Time and ultimately iterative design need to be invested into the mechanics (for example, levels) and the dynamics (for example, when those levels are unlocked). In addition, deeper considerations of game play need to be imbued into the instructional design including notions of ‘permission to fail’ – in games students ‘die’ all the time. Students need to be able to have choices and strategies for success – in games they have immediate feedback on their success or failure and can hypothesise on how to succeed the next time. Another consideration is how to encourage curiosity, imagination and a state of flow (a state of full immersion in a feeling of energised focus).
Contributors
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- By Zachary W. Adams, Margarita Alegría, Atalay Alem, Jordi Alonso, Victor Aparicio, Rifat Atun, Florence Baingana, Emily Baron, Marco Bertelli, Dinesh Bhugra, Sanchita Biswas, José Miguel Caldas de Almeida, Edwin Cameron, Somnath Chatterji, Erminia Colucci, Janice L. Cooper, Carla Kmett Danielson, Diego De Leo, Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good, Marten W. de Vries, Maureen S. Durkin, Xiangming Fang, Julia W. Felton, Sally Field, Andrea Fiorillo, Lance Gable, Teddy Gafna, Sandro Galea, Patrick Gatonga, Sofia Halperin-Goldstein, Yanling He, Grace A. Herbert, Sabrina Hermosilla, Simone Honikman, Takashi Izutsu, Ruwan M. Jayatunge, Janis H. Jenkins, Rachel Jenkins, Lynne Jones, Jayanthi Karunaratne, Ronald C. Kessler, Rob Keukens, Lincoln I. Khasakhala, Hanna Kienzler, Sarah Kippen Wood, M. Thomas Kishore, Robert Kohn, Natasja Koitzsch Jensen, Sheri Lapatin, Anna Lessios, Isabel Louro Bernal, Feijun Luo, Laura MacPherson, Matthew J. Maenner, Anne W. Mbwayo, David McDaid, Ingrid Meintjes, Victoria N. Mutiso, David M. Ndetei, Samuel O. Okpaku, Lijing Ouyang, Ramachandran Padmavati, Clare Pain, Duncan Pedersen, Jordan Pfau, Felipe Picon, Rodney D. Presley, Reima Pryor, Shoba Raja, Thara Rangaswamy, Jorge Rodriguez, Diana Rose, Moosa Salie, Norman Sartorius, Ester Shapiro, Manuela Silva, Daya Somasundaram, Katherine Sorsdahl, Dan J. Stein, Deborah M. Stone, Heather Stuart, Athula Sumathipala, Hema Tharoor, Rita Thom, Lay San Too, Atsuro Tsutsumi, Chris Underhill, Anne Valentine, Claire van der Westhuizen, Thandi van Heyningen, Robert van Voren, Inka Weissbecker, Gail Wyatt
- Edited by Samuel O. Okpaku
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- Book:
- Essentials of Global Mental Health
- Published online:
- 05 March 2014
- Print publication:
- 27 February 2014, pp x-xiv
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