Gamification

    Gamification is exactly what its name implies: the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity, typically as an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service. While it can be applied to just about anything, we will be focusing on its potential to improve education by fostering such values as problem-solving, decision making, critical thinking, and storytelling. Proponents for gamification argue that games better engages students' attention and encourages them to use all of their mental faculties. Students who are normally bored and made lethargic by lectures and note-taking, become energetic and engaged through games, being able able to absorb more information and get more out of their time in the classroom. Their is real life evidence to support this. According to an ancillary language teacher on Jeju Island in South Korea, gamification lead to an increased amount of time students spent talking to each other and using the language they've been learning in the classroom outside of it. Gamification programs, like Classcraft, Class Dojo, and Rezzly have all received very positive reviews. Despite critisizm the concept faces from some pockets of educators, I predict gamification becoming an increasingly widespread phenomenon in the future. 


Links:

https://tophat.com/blog/gamification-education-class/

https://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/12-examples-of-gamification-in-the-classroom/