The Art of Gamification

http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/Journal/files/Play_Games_Gamification_Active_Learning.html#unique-entry-id-106

When I first entered Hybrid Pedagogy I was intimidated by its layout and substantial amount of information/links, but as I perused around I found that many of the articles weren’t dry at all and in fact very easy to read and helpful as a future teacher. I chose to focus on this article, It’s Time to Play: Games, Gamification & Active Learning by Lee Skallerup Bessette, based on the presentation done by the “Gaming” group in Tuesday’s class.
Bessette introduces his argument by telling a story of his two young kids who play board games together frequently, “Currently the conflict in my household is between the elder sister, who is obsessed with making sure everyone follows the rules, and her younger brother, who is still more interested in exploring and experimenting, happily making it up as he goes along.” He follows up by explaining that within game play, exploration and rules must be able to coexist productively in order to have an educational effect on the students involved. While his daughters ‘rule following’ is held in a high regard, it is important that his sons creativity and curiosity is regarded highly also- as he seeks to explore the ins and outs of a game he is unsure of. With the invention of a “hybrid” version of Candyland and Snakes and Ladders, his children put their skills together and used their own interpretations of game pieces, characters and strategy to create a resourceful and imaginative game of their own. Bassette recognized that the creation of this new game was very innovative in the learning process- that by establishing rules of their own but allowing room for flexibility his children were both able to use their skills without conflict- so he took this practice into his classroom. He asked his students to come up with a game that would actively engage the class as well as quiz their knowledge regarding the content of the course. A group of students came up with a Jeopardy type game where the class was split up, asked the same question and rewarded based upon who came up with the answer fastest. Although this type of game was fun and interactive, it lacked the substance and discussion of a typical, in-depth class review- in which students are provoked to learn by bouncing ideas off of their peers. But another group came up with a game that was much more comprehensive and educational for their peers: a “real-life” Farmville/Monopoly board game-
“The game provoked students in the class to think about sustainable farming and how we get our food. The students researched the actual cost of running a farm and integrated that into play. “Chance” cards included hurricanes, drought, sickness, and rises or drops in commodity prices. Students were given the choice to go organic or to go industrial. This game stirred discussion around issues of sustainability, cost, and exactly how much work goes into food production…My students’ Jeopardy game encouraged rote memorization and winning. The Monopoly/Farmville game play, on the other hand, initiated real discussion, investigation, and action.”
When looking ahead to becoming a future teacher, I would love to assign my students these kinds of assignments in which they are the teachers, a sort of “peer-learning” experience, but Bassette brings up a very good point: How do we hack the new rhetoric of gamification in order to get back to the values of play? In other words, how can we get our students passed the simplicity of game play and into a realm of conscious, educational effort of creative innovation? It is simple to click a button and win a game or to log on to a site and surf around, but how as educators do we integrate both creativity and technology into our classrooms? If there are no winners for the games, how do we encourage our students to want to play and be involved? These are questions I will continue to look into as a future educator and two very different educational styles that I will hopefully integrate into my future classrooms.