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GAMIFICATION AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL.
Nina MK, Ph.D.
All the world is a stage, and all the people are merely players. To play a role, to use games in everyday life is in the human nature. It is no wonder that using games in education is a subject which keeps cropping up, to the extent that a new term, gamification, was coined circa 2002; it has been floating around ever since. All work and no play makes Jack and Jane dull children. All play and no work makes them ignorant children. As a teacher, I believe the topic deserves discussion on several levels.
* Not every adult likes or wants to play. If using games at a lesson is contrary to your nature, if it does not enhance your lessons, and if you achieve good results with the simple traditional methods which include the usage of textbooks, ICT, conferences, audios and videos, international projects, you should probably not worry about plays and games.
* Children play games. If we decide to use any game at a lesson, we should choose carefully and check that we have our own answers to the questions: what, when, why, how often.
* One of the most popular recent movie franchises is called "The Hunger Games"; the title itself draws our attention to the popularity of games in the modern world. The main characters are young and very attractive, the story line is intricate enough to keep up the suspense, and the visual effects are impressive. I watched the first film to see for myself what it is that makes many teenagers like it - and I was deeply disturbed by its main idea. A group of youngsters is chosen to find and kill another group of youngsters... It is not the traditional fight of Good versus Evil. This is just a condition imposed on the heroes by adults in power: kill or be killed. Simple. No, this is not a game I would use at a lesson, but I have listened to adolescents' debates about it, and expressed my own opinion which made them think about the values offered in the story.
* Primary school pupils love any element of play or game. We can teach anything using either an existing video game or introducing a few elements into a topic. We may also find a game which breaks into short fragments easily and use it throughout the academic year or term on a continuous basis. Again, I would not use any game which has a lot of senseless violence in it.
* All the children enjoy role-playing. We can use an existing video game or play and help them choose or distribute the roles; or we can invent a game, or write a play if we are artistically inclined. When children of all ages come to school and pour out their news, they also talk about the TV shows and films that they watch at home. At times, the information not only opens up a window into their family world, but makes me wonder: do their parents ever supervise their activities? My class of eight-year-olds was playing a complicated game during every break, and I could see that something was off. I asked, and they willingly explained to me what they were doing. They called the game "Freddy". As in Freddy Krueger of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" notoriety. It was a classic situation, with just one child in the class who had actually watched the film and was badly scared. Now he was obviously taking it out of his system by sharing with his peers. I listened, we discussed the story, I explained the genre specifics, though I could not answer their main question. Why are such films made? They were too young to understand the concept, I believe. I compromised by telling them that I got scared and so never watched horror films, which made everybody feel better. We gradually moved to a different game which became a part of our weekly brainstorming sessions.
* When students bring in a game and ask if we could play it at a lesson or lessons, I stipulate just one condition: we do everything in English. It is a well-known truth that if we try to forbid something, anything, children will become more and more curious about it, and try to get their information anywhere. The younger they are, the more effective adult guidance and help may be.
* Gamification, using games for educational purposes, is quite a serious subject. When used sensible and with moderation, it can be a good tool which can help students enrich their language skills. Just like any other tool we use at our lessons.

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GAMIFICATION AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL. Nina MK, Ph.D. All the world is a stage, and all the people are merely players. To play a role, to use games in everyday life is in the human nature.

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Children play games. If we decide to use any game at a lesson, we should choose carefully and check that we have our own answers to the questions: what, when, why, how often.

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Not every adult likes or wants to play.

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Gamification is about making something potentially tedious into a game. Gamification is effective because it taps into people's natural desires for competition and achievement.

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Image credit: chuckchee | Getty Images

7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Gamification is turning a task into a game in order to motivate yourself to do it. The beauty of gamification is that the difficulty of a task (or how dreary it may seem) can be offset if you feel rewarded for completing it.

Gamification works because it creates a feeling of being rewarded each time we complete a task -- however small it may be. It makes our progress feel tangible, and this spurs us to keep pushing.

Whether you realize it or not, you're probably already using some form of gamification in your life. Let's take a closer look at how gamification works and how you can use it to boost productivity, set and accomplish big goals and find the success that has been eluding you.

1. Understand how gamification works.

Gamification isn't a gimmick -- it works because it triggers powerful emotions. By using game mechanics in a non-game context, gamification makes tasks more fun and engaging. Think of how it feels when you're transported to another world via an online video game. You find yourself immersed in a storyline where you're conquering amazing challenges.

Along the way you're incrementally rewarded as you build skills and achieve small, steady wins. This feeling of "winning" gives players a constant feeling of gratification and enjoyment. When we experience something we enjoy, our brains light up with a pleasure-producing chemical called dopamine. This is the brain's version of a carrot -- it keeps you motivated and focused.

At its core, gamification is a motivational technique to help people engage, feel motivated and stay on task. By providing a reward or incentive, gamification mimics how you might interact with a computer or online game.
Related: How to Accomplish More by Doing Less
2. Know the elements of gamification.

Humans have evolved to be stimulated by problem-solving and learning, and gameplay is great at doing this, in part by doling out small rewards for incremental progress. This keeps our brains engaged and keeps us on our quests, said Tom Chatfield, an author and tech philosopher who has studied gamification and is an avid gamer himself. He breaks gamification down into a few key components:

Experience bars -- These measure our incremental progress and help us visualize how far we've come and how far we have to go.

Multiple long- and short-term goals -- These are our main quests and side quests, which are broken down into smaller tasks.

Rewards for effort -- Every bit of effort exerted in a game is rewarded through credit, such as gold, loot and experience.

Rapid, frequent and clear feedback -- This clearly links actions to consequences, which makes learning easier and faster.

The element of uncertainty -- This is the neurological gold mine: we keep going because we want to find out what's next.

Windows of enhanced attention -- Gameplay helps boost memory and confidence. Game players are more willing to take risks and pursue difficult tasks.

Other people -- Gameplay gives us a chance to connect with multiple players online.

3. Create your own gamification system.

There are simple, low-tech ways to gamify your life and work to supercharge your motivation and get more done. The first step is to define your goals. These should be specific, so you know when you have reached each one. Then attach a certain number of points to each goal correlating to how important (or difficult) each goal is to accomplish.

For example, if you're hoping to run a marathon or write a book, you might assign 500 points to accomplishing that goal. You'd then break this larger goal into smaller "missions," which you work at daily or weekly, such as accomplishing three to five runs per week, which steadily increase in mileage -- and each run is worth 20 points.

Track your progress by writing down your daily accomplishments and then comparing your progress over time. Reward yourself once you reach a set number of points. Maybe you'll treat yourself to a dinner out after you've earned 200 points, or take a trip to your favorite store after 300 points, or a day at the spa after 500 points.
Related: How to Accomplish More in 4 Days Than Most People Do in 4 Weeks
4. Boost productivity through "mini-games."

You can use gamification to increase your productivity by making "mini-games" while doing chores or ticking off daily tasks. Try assigning a point for each dish washed, or 5 points for each page completed for a report or for each email sent. Time yourself going through the grocery store -- can you beat your old record? Or how quickly can you fold and put away a load of laundry? By keeping track of these things, you incentivize getting through the work more quickly, and you'll be amazed by how much more productive you can be.

Checklists are another form of everyday "mini-games" you can play to stay on task. Ticking off checklist items triggers the same dopamine release as achieving a game objective, and if you give yourself a small reward after each item is checked, you'll reinforce your motivation to keep going.

Come up with a list of small rewards, such as a snack you enjoy, taking a 15-minute break or watching a favorite show or YouTube channel. Try rolling the dice when you complete a task and check it off your list. Whatever number you roll, give yourself the corresponding reward.

5. Use gamification apps and tools.

One of the most popular ways to use gamification is through online tools and apps that are designed to use the principles of gamification to help you improve your life. A variety of tools and services are available.

Like a video game, an online tool can create intrigue and excitement. Using these programs gives you a sense of achievement, which is an incredibly powerful psychological force behind human behavior.
Related: How Gamification Is Engaging Customers and Employees Alike
6. Gamifying the workplace.

We're in an era where companies must continually innovate and find ways of being relevant, or risk being sidelined and ineffective. In order to do this, you need employees who are working at the top of their game, who are motivated and focused, day in and day out.

More than 70 percent of business transformations fail due to lack of engagement. Gamification may be a solution. It can help amp up employees' engagement, getting them invested in their projects and increasing their motivation to do the work assigned to them.

The idea is to make work fun and make difficult tasks feel easier to complete. You can do this by setting up work projects like game levels. When you level up, you're essentially hitting a milestone. You can earn badges for tasks accomplished and track your progress. Some employers have found success using a role-playing game (such as the abovementioned Habitica) that allows you to set recurring tasks and one-off tasks, and build good habits. You will be rewarded with gold, new skills and in-game spellcasting abilities.

7. Gamification to help you learn.

Gamification has also been shown to be beneficial to learning by creating experiences that more fully engage learners, hold their attention and motivate them to keep striving to reach a goal.

Gamification can make learning more informative and fun, and because you're more actively involved in the process, the information is more likely to be committed to your long-term memory. Gamification also lends itself to interactive learning elements, which creates feelings of immersion, so learners feel more integrated into the learning process.

When you break it down, gamification can spur innovation by creating unique ways for people to be more invested in their performance and feel more motivated and focused on their goals. At its core, gamification is our ability to harness our psychology to improve ourselves.

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Gamify Your Life and Become Massively Successful

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7 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Gamification is turning a task into a game in order to motivate yourself to do it. The beauty of gamification is that the difficulty of a task (or how dreary it may seem) can be offset if you feel rewarded for completing it.