WIXLIB

GamificationDr. Deborah Healey

Dr.Dr. Deborah HealeyDeborah Healey is the2019-2020 President ofthe Board of Directors of TESOLInternational Association. Shehas taught online and face-toface teacher training coursesfor the University of Oregon,primarily focusing on technologyin education. She gamifiedboth her online and her faceto-face courses. She has alsotaught ESL and EFL at communitycolleges and language institutes.She is a contributor to twoTESOL Technology Standardspublications, as well as the TESOLEncyclopedia of English LanguageTeaching, the Routledge HandbookofLanguageLearningandTechnology, CALL Environmentsand A Handbook for LanguageProgram Administrators. She haswritten and presented extensivelyin the US and internationally,most recently in Uruguay, Tunisia,England, Indonesia, Georgia,Croatia, Serbia, the West Bank,Colombia, Chile, Argentina, andThailand. Her recent areas ofresearch include gamification,massive open online courses,and online teaching approaches.Her doctorate is in Computers inEducation.IntroductionFirst language learning is a natural human process for very young human children in the presence oflanguage users and sufficient language data. Second language learning, sadly, is not so straightforward.In addition to exposure to language users and language data, second language learners work best withstructure and scaffolding and need a reason to make the effort and persist – motivation for time on task.Educators and others have looked at the appealthat games have to induce “flow,” engagement sodeep that time seems to stand still while hours pass.Game designers deliberately incorporate elements– mechanics, dynamics, and emotional appeal – toencourage motivation, time spent in the game, andthe sense of flow. Research in business and now ineducation is exploring how to incorporate gameelements in order to create the same intensityof interest in areas that are not games, hence“gamification.”Nick Pellin first used the term “gamification” in2002 to describe a game-like interface that wouldmake commercial transactions fast and fun. As henotes, he was about 10 years too early. Since itsbroader use began in 2010, “gamification” has beenan increasingly common topic in a range of areas,with gamification of learning increasing in Googlesearches from 2011 on (Google Trends, 2018).The simplest and most widely-used definition ofgamification is “The use of game elements innon-game contexts.” However, a number of otherresearchers and writers prefer the term “gamefuldesign” because of its focus on thoughtful designthat uses game elements (e.g., Deterding, Khaled,Nacke, & Dixon, 2011; McGonigal, 2011; Bell, 2017).This paper will use “gamification” as the morecommon term while keeping in mind the centralelement of design.The paper will begin with defining games anddescribing types of games used in education, thendescribe fundamental elements of gamification.Approaches, psychological underpinnings, andresearch will offer a deeper understanding,concluding with the current state of the art ingameful design in education.Gamification 1

What is a game?Educators have long used gamesin teaching, so it may be usefulto examine a definition of games,then some common types ofgames for teaching and learningin order to contrast them withgamification. According to notedcomputer game creator JaneMcGonigal, “all games share fourdefining traits: a goal, rules, afeedback system, and voluntaryparticipation” (2011: 21). Koster,cited in Kapp, describes a gameas “a system in which playersengage in an abstract challenge,defined by rules, interactivity,and feedback, that results ina quantifiable outcome ofteneliciting an emotional reaction”(Kapp, 2012: 7). So fundamentally,games have a challenge of somesort, rules that people choose tofollow, feedback and interaction,plus an emotional reaction,generally that the game is fun.Players get caught up in a game.Without voluntary participation,it is work. With fun and withoutrules, it counts as “play,” not agame.McGonigal also talks about“hard fun” (2011:32). Challenginggames such as chess are hardfun. These can give players asense of mastery when theysucceed. Simple games that areeasy and that everyone can playsuccessfully are good occasionallyand for short times; the fun doesnot last if the game is too easy. fundamentally,games have a challengeof some sort, rulesthat people choose tofollow, feedback andinteraction, plus anemotional reaction,generally that thegame is fun.Games for learning“S. the game makesrepeated practice muchmore enjoyable thansimple rote learning.erious games” are designedfor something more thanentertainment, such as learningconcepts or skill-based training.Educational games are seriousgames. Concentration using wordsand definitions, an arcade gamewhere players need to shoot theletters in alphabetical order, andspelling bees are all educationalgames. Learning the vocabulary,order of the alphabet, or spellingall make winning the game easier.Players generally focus on theextrinsic motivation of winning,not on intrinsic motivation inlearning. However, the gamemakes repeated practice muchmore enjoyable than simple rotelearning.Most serious games, includingsimulations, are far more complexthan the examples above ofconcentration and arcade gamesfor education. They generallyhave a story that provides thebackground and motivation forlearning. A classic example isCivilization, originally createdin 1991 as a simple computergame. Players need to try toGamification 2

Games for Learning (cont.)create a long-lasting empire by balancing revenueand expenses on a large scale. The game still exists,now in multi-player form. Another current videogame style example is Stop Disasters, from theUnited Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction(http://www.stopdisastersgame.org/), where playershave to make choices in order to deal with a varietyof natural disasters such as a tsunami, wildfire, orearthquake. Players learn about risks, plan ways tobuild in order to reduce risk, and see the effects oftheir work when disaster strikes. Gamelearn (n.d.)mentions Dragon Box Elements as a video game whereplayers need to learn geometry to save Euclid’sisland, Pulse! where nurses can practice emergencyroom decision-making, and Pacific, where teambuilding techniques are required in order to escapefrom an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Allof these can also be used in language teaching, sincethey create a reason to collaborate when played inteams and communicate.“Game-based learning” uses a serious gameextensively to achieve an educational purpose. Ineducation, a course unit could be based on a seriousgame such as Civilization, with ancillary materialand attention to the learning coming from the game.Language teachers have used Minecraft, a gamewhere players can collaborate to construct a virtualworld using blocks, for individual, pair, and groupwork. York (2014) describes ways to use Minecraft’screative, adventure, and survival modes to build avariety of language skills. The game is a central partof the activity in game-based learning rather thanan occasional supplement.Fundamental elementsof gamificationD. The most commonlyused elements ingamification in allareas are mechanics:points, badges,and levels.eterding, Dixon, Khaled &Nacke (2011) carefully definegamification as the use of designelements characteristic for gamesin non-game concepts. Theyexplain the difference betweengamification, games, serious games,and play as follows: Gamificationrefers to the use of design elementscharacteristic for games in nongame contexts. The definitiontalks about games as opposed toplay. For the authors, games havecharacteristics that don’t applyto general play, for example,competitive elements and clearlydefined rules. The definition focuseson elements of games. Sometimescomplete games are used in nonentertainmentcontexts,theauthors see this as distinct fromgamification. Gamification useselements, not the whole game.The definition also focuses onthe way games are designedand not on the use of specificgame technologies or practices.Gamification focuses more ondesign features of games such asbadges, levels and leaderboards,which we will examine in moredepth later in this paper.Gamification 3

Fundamental elements of gamification (cont.)Hunicke, LeBlanc, & Zubek (2004)describe three basic principlesof gamification as mechanics(goals, rules, rewards), dynamics(player response to mechanics),and emotions (how players feelabout the experience), referredto as MDA. The most commonlyused elements in gamification inall areas are mechanics: points,badges, and levels. These are partof a reward system with feedback(immediate, if possible) designedto provide positive reinforcementfor performing step-by-step tasksand progressive challenges —following the rules, in other words.Leaderboards that list highestpoint-getters reward success.Competition is a frequently-useddynamic, and leaderboards orother ways of publicly sharingbadges and levels can encouragecompetition. Teamwork or otherforms of collaboration canpromote a different dynamicfrom competition. The gamifiedexperience should feel funand appeal to learners on anemotional level. Many gamifiedenvironments use storytelling toappeal to emotions. Design canaim for certain dynamics andemotions, but those are bothplayer responses that will varyaccording to the individual.Yu-Kai Chou (2014) uses an eightstep approach called “octalysis”to describe a framework for“human-focused design,” hispreferred term for gamification.As he says, “Gamification is thecraft of deriving all the funand engaging elements foundin games and applying themto real-world or productiveactivities. This process is whatI call ‘Human-Focused Design,’as opposed to ‘Function-FocusedDesign.’ It’s a design process thatoptimizes for human motivationin a system, as opposed to pureefficiency.” He identifies eightcore drives in human motivation:in their gamified experiencefor any discipline or targetmarket. Huang & Soman (2013)look specifically at educationand offer a 5-step model forgamifying instruction:1. Accomplishment2. Meaning3. Empowerment4. Ownership5. Social Influence6. Scarcity7. Unpredictability8. Avoidance1. Understand the targetaudience and the context.2. Define learning objectives.3. Structure the experience.4. Identify resources.5. Apply gamification elements. The gamifiedexperience shouldfeel fun and appealto learners on anemotional level. Manygamified environmentsuse storytelling toappeal to emotions.A graphic that includes all of thegame mechanics for each drive isavailable at sis-complete-gamificationframework/.Elements 1, 2 and 3 arepositive motivators. Elements 6,7 and 8 are negative motivators.Ownership and Social influencecan be positive or negative.Good design should take alleight motivators into account.The first two steps are basicto any educational design.Structuringtheexperienceincludes creating the stagesand milestones, which mayeach have their own learningobjectives. In order to be ableto gamify one or more of thepreviously-identified stages, thedesignerhastoidentifyresources. This includes findingtracking mechanisms, settingup the currency (the unit ofmeasurement, such as points),determining levels and howto meet them, setting clearrules for what learners can andcannot do in the environment,andestablishingfeedbackthat shows learner progress.Gamification elements arepersonal/self-elements (badges,levels, time constraints) andsocial (competition, cooperation,sharing achievements). Huang& Soman feel that a “mindfulapproach” using these fiveelements can help lead to asuccessful gamification strategy.Chou’s model can help designersenvision the elements to includeGamification 4