Games are fun. Most people would rather spend their time playing games than working, doing chores, recycling, exercising or helping out at a community centre. However, if there was a way of incorporating the fun elements of games into these mundane or unpleasant activities, it is believed that we would achieve much greater results in our activities, and perform them with more enthusiasm and enjoyment – a win-win situation.

Children tend to learn much more quickly than adults, and this can partly be attributed to the fact that they often learn through practical play and fun, stress-free games. When the mind is engaged, relaxed and focused on attaining a goal in an entertaining medium, learners become more motivated, pick up skills more easily and gain confidence by shedding inhibitions – all essential processes to learning.

“Gamification” is a new term that describes the process of adding game elements and processes to real-world work, education and social activism. These elements could be as simple as awarding high scores and badges for completed tasks, or as subtle and complex as designing an entire project like a multiplayer adventure game.

Either way, adding game elements should focus on three elements: adding an achievable goal, introducing challenges and obstacles to overcome, and encouraging teamwork or competition. These factors, present in virtually all games, are what make them so enjoyable: players get a sense of validation and achievement from completing tasks despite the obstacles along the way. The key is incentive: the players must be motivated by the feedback, rewards and stakes provided by the game or they will lose interest.

Gamification can be applied to an almost unlimited number of situations and environments. Some applications are purely commercial: game elements designed to get customers to engage with brands. Points-based loyalty cards or frequent flyer miles, for example, offer simplistic goals and rudimentary challenges and rewards. Group buying websites encourage social collaboration and proactive sharing challenges to achieve the goal of a discount. Even limited-time offers, like a two-hour flash sale, create a sense of urgency as customers strive to meet the requirements on time.

Gamification theory can also be used to raise work productivity and encourage people to strive towards the “greater good”. A game called “World Without Oil”, developed in 2007, encouraged participants to pretend that there was a petrol shortage in their region and to find simple, collaborative and innovative ways to circumvent this problem. Research later found that the participants not only developed good habits and came up with ingenious ideas, they also continued to practise their responsible behaviours long after the game concluded.

When it comes to education, games can play a valuable role too. Even though most students have the best of intentions, many find it hard to motivate themselves to engage fully with their learning – conflicting responsibilities, boredom and lack of self-confidence are the main culprits. Including a game mechanism overcomes this hurdle because the student gets instant feedback from the learning system – rewards, new challenges, new opportunities to help or collaborate, encouraging progress reports and constantly nearing goals. There is always something to do – a small step to get closer to achieving a goal or becoming the best in the class.

In the future, entire courses – or even degree programs – could be designed as giant cooperative games. For now, however, incorporating meaningful elements of gameplay into curricula is one good way to stimulate students’ interest and increase both motivation and engagement.

Visit www.GetSmarter.co.za for more information about online learning.

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