Gamefication

Gamefication is the process of turning something that is generally considered a tedious or difficult task into a game, at least in the minds of the people participating in the activity. Examples suggested or tried in literature and research I have read on the subject include using a leader board to keep track of water usage during rationing (specifically, the lower the per person water usage in a home, the higher that home scores), or putting video games in urinals that encourage users to aim better (ok, this is mildly distasteful, but it has actually been done with great success). The greatest benefit of gamefication is that it gives people incentives to perform better, even if that incentive is only bragging rights, and the research that has been done with gamefication has been extremely successful.

I would like to see gamefication added to education. In some small areas this has already been done, for instance spelling bees, academic decathlons, and the college I attend even does integration bees. These are generally limited to students that seem to have natural talent in these areas and are thus seen as "nerd" clubs. Most students are either not allowed to enter because they are not very skilled, or choose not to enter because they believe that they do not posses the skill (or because they fear the teasing that often comes with natural talent). What I want to see is all of education gamefied.

Wholesale gamefication of education may seem like a very difficult task. I do not believe that it is. Actually, it has already been done, for a limited range of subjects. I have previously mentioned the badge system used by Khan Academy. When a student performs at a satisfactory level in the exercises for a particular milestone, the student receives an electronic "badge" for that milestone. Again, as I have mentioned, Khan Academy notes that some fifth graders have begun to competitively learn on the website, in an effort to collect more badges. Some of these students have completed subjects equivalent to entire college level courses in order to increase their collection of badges. Khan Academy has already begun gamefying education. As the site continues to grow, we will have more and more subjects that are gamefied. As educational research, Khan Academy's results with its system are showing that gamefying education has great potential in encouraging students to educate themselves. I doubt wholesale gamefication of our education system would have less dramatic results.

Given the success of Khan Academy's gamefied education system, and the success of games in general, I believe that gamefying education could, by itself, dramatically improve the average education of US citizens. Admittedly, our education system does need other things as well, but the experience from Khan Academy shows that at least some students will educate themselves if they have even mild incentives. Our current system works entirely by forcing education down the throats of the students. Admittedly, some students adapt more quickly than others, but when the system is made into a game, many students will become proactive about their own education. It is true that they may be doing it for credit and bragging rights more than for the value of the education, but these students will remember what they learn far better than those who only work hard enough to barely get by and then forget everything at the end of the semester.

Gamefication of our education system, I believe, is an essential step in becoming the best education system on the face of the planet. I believe that this could even help us beat the education of oriental countries, if done promptly and correctly.

Lord Rybec