Preparing the Report

Gamification

Justification

Our project is about the gamification methodology, as we think it is a good way to create active students that have fun while learning. We have also chosen this project because gamification in education offers many possible benefits. One of the benefits is that students feel ownership over their learning. With this methodology we create a more relaxed atmosphere in regard to failure, since learners can simply try again. Gamification applied to education will create more fun in the classroom, the learning becomes visible through progress indicators, students may uncover intrinsic motivation for learning, they also can explore different identities through different avatars/characters and often they will feel more comfortable in gaming environment.

Organisation

Our project is divided in two blogs, one for the information we have looked for and the other for the important information we have selected.

In this document we will develop a summary of the information we have found that appears in our blog.

     1.     Gamification

Gamification is a way of incorporating game strategies that are able to help and increase the motivation of the work of students and teachers in the classes, as well as in other areas, such as business and psychology.

It started in the digital media industry over the year 2008. 

 a. Origins

Gamification is a new practice, but we can see some similar cases for years where you can identify aspects of generating surprise, reward, attractive and entertaining.

The concept of gamification begins to be used from 2010-2011, when number-sas talks, articles and books begin to refer to this concept and to try to analyze and structure it. 

Games have the advantage of motivating and attracting attention. In addition, there are real examples that have proved effect.  

     b. Types

• External gamification: They are gamification practices focused on marketing, sales, engagement, etc. The target audiences for these strategies are customers or potential customers 
• Internal gamification: It can be used internally in an organization to motivate its employees. These campaigns are usually focused on Human Resources, productivity improvement or crowdsourcing. 
• Gamification to change behaviours: Gamification can also be used to reorient the customs of social groups in favor of a social cause or a business objective.  

                     c. Gamification applied to education

We can say that the gamification in education consists in applying concepts and dynamics of game design that stimulate and make more attractive the student's interaction with the learning process, in order to acquire certain results appropriately. Concluding, gamification describes the process of applying game-related principles to non-game contexts such as education. It operates under the assumption that the kind of engagement that gamers experience with games can be translated to an educational context.

Game elements: Narrative, Immediate feedback, Fun, “Scaffolded learning", Mastery, Progress indicators, Social connection, Player control. 

A classroom that contains some or all of these elements can be considered a “gamified" classroom. The most effective gamification systems make use of other elements such as narrative and connection with fellow players/learners to really capture the learner’s interest.

             Benefits to Gamification in Education

• Students feel ownership over their learning.
• More relaxed atmosphere in regard to failure, since learners can simply try again.
• More fun in the classroom.
• Learning becomes visible through progress indicators.
• Students may uncover intrinsic motivation for learning.

                        Application

There are three main ways that gamification can be applied to a learning environment:

• Adapting grades.
• Changing the classroom language.
• Modifying the structure of the class.

          2.     Aims

Gamification is a technique that is used in order to improve the education and learning of the students using the mechanics of games.

By the use of this methodology, we achieve an easier and deeper comprehension and internalization of contents in a more funny way, we get thestudents to be more stimulated and motivated, and we improve other abilities such as self-improvement and agreement between them.

        There are different and more specific aspects in which the gamification helps the students. These are the use of the dopamine, the learning by making, the continuous evaluation, the motivation and feedback and the individualized education.

The objective of the gamification is to improve the education in all these aspects in order to get a more specialized and with better results learning.

          3.     How it works

Gamification has got its own operating rules. These mechanics allow students to acquire a commitment to overcome the different challenges to which students are subjected. Among the most accepted mechanics are:

• Collection: It is based on the importance of achievements and rewards for students.
• Points: Very used to achieve the loyalty of your students in the task assigned to them.
• Ranking: A classification or comparison is established between the students.
• Level: The levels attest to the progress of the students in the activities to which they have been assigned.
• Progression: Completing 100% of the activity that has been entrusted.

It is essential that students have perfectly assimilated what game dynamics will be carried out, so their interest in the activities is aroused. They stand out:

• Reward: To awaken interest in the game in the student.
• Competition: To attract the interest of the student for an activity.
• Status: To achieve and carry out the activity entrusted.
• Cooperativism: It is competing, but pursuing the same goal as a group.
• Solidarity: Mutual help is fostered, without expecting any reward in return.

          4.   Tools

• Classcraft: quests that include the objectives and activities of the units.
• ClassDojo: it helps to create a community with parents and the teacher.
• TeachThough: to get information about gamification.
• Ribbon Hero 2: for learning how to use Office 2007 and 2010.
• World Peace Game: for exploring the connectedness of the global community.
• Zombie based Learning: to know geography to escape from the zombie apocalypse.
• Goalbook Pathways: to create different pathways for different students.
• Socrative: it allows the teacher to create tools for tablets and smartphones.
• Open Badges: Its aim is to recognise the knowledge acquired by a person.

          5.   Examples

• Teacher vs. Class: Anytime a student follows the rule the teacher sets, the Class gets a point, but if he/she doesn’t, the teacher gets a point. If the Class wins, use a sustainable reward, such as a 1-minute dance party, extended recess time, or fewer homework problems.
• For shortening the time, it takes to check homework, 2 points can be given to all students who have their homework out ready to be checked.

          6.   Our proposal

We have thought about a class dynamic to improve the students’ behaviour in class and motivate them, so we are using the type of gamification to change behaviours. This class dynamics will be developed along the whole year.

Students can get or lose points depending on their results and behaviors in class. For example, the students may lose points if they have a negative behavior in class, like bothering their classmates, arriving late to classes or if they do not complete the tasks that are given. On the other hand, if they have positive attitudes, such as answering correctly the questions asked by the teacher or being in solidarity with their classmates, they can acquire points.The student as he acquires or loses points, he will go up or down in level. If the student goes up on the level he/she will acquire some real privileges. For example, the possibility of asking a question to the teacher during the exam, or going out to the playtime 5 minutes before, or extending the delivery of a project one day.

When they get 10 points they will reach the following level and get the correspondent privilege or reward.

Evaluation

By making this blog, we have had the opportunity to search information about gamification, about which we didn’t know anything at first. We discovered that it is an essential practice to carry out in class if we want our students to find learning fun. The search of information for making the blog wasn’t easy, as there are a lot of information and we had to synthesize everything we found. It was very interesting to see during the process of carrying out this project how the mechanics and dynamics commonly found in games can be applied in the educational context to improve educational outcomes.

Conclusion

Gamification is a useful practice to carry out in class or any other situation. Many web platforms are available on the internet to help teachers, students and parents to gamify the classroom. ¨As a new mode of teaching and learning, the principal appeal of gamification is the liberty that it provides pupils and teachers, as encapsulated by the four freedoms: the freedom to fail, freedom to experiment, freedom of effort and freedom to self-express. These freedoms represent a welcome pedagogical shift for those students whose educational potential is being hampered by conventional teaching methods¨.