{"id":7209,"date":"2019-01-21T21:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T04:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/?p=7209"},"modified":"2019-05-15T14:32:28","modified_gmt":"2019-05-15T20:32:28","slug":"has-gamification-jumped-the-shark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2019\/01\/21\/has-gamification-jumped-the-shark\/","title":{"rendered":"Has Gamification Jumped the Shark?"},"content":{"rendered":"Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>Badges, Points, and Leader-boards, oh my!<\/p>\r\n


I’m working on a book – a series, actually – about gamifying learning, only lately, I’ve really been struggling with the term itself.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

GAMIFICATION<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Hmmmm. It just doesn’t seem to fit anymore.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Is that because it is bullshit, as Ian Bogost said back in 2011<\/a>?
Perhaps. At least, SOME parts of what most people identify as gamification are indeed B.S. And the suggestion that much of this is ‘exploitationware” is right on the mark.
The notion that we can “motivate” (read: DRIVE \/ FORCE) people to do things thanks to reward systems like PBL (points, badges, and leader-boards) is a very attractive one both in the corporate world<\/a> and in formal education.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The more I think about it, the more I think that what I am doing in my classes deserves a label that is better than “gamification”.
What I am doing is so much MORE than “gamification”.
Like “Edutainment<\/a>“, “Gamification” implies a superficiality that can’t be sustained.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In addition, I also want to distance what *I*<\/em>\u00a0am\u00a0doing\u00a0from\u00a0what\u00a0lots\u00a0of\u00a0others\u00a0are\u00a0doing\u00a0in formal education<\/a>.
I am indeed using elements and concepts that are common on games:<\/p>\r\n