{"id":5034,"date":"2013-02-02T20:07:22","date_gmt":"2013-02-02T20:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltchat.org\/wordpress\/?p=5034"},"modified":"2013-02-02T20:07:22","modified_gmt":"2013-02-02T20:07:22","slug":"gamification-a-useful-innovation-for-language-learning-or-just-a-fad-eltchat-summary-191212","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/2013\/02\/02\/gamification-a-useful-innovation-for-language-learning-or-just-a-fad-eltchat-summary-191212\/","title":{"rendered":"Gamification \u2013 a useful innovation for language learning or just a fad? \u2013 #ELTChat summary (19\/12\/12)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This post is a summary of an #ELTChat. If you know what it is, I hope you enjoy reading this and take a while to contribute or share. If you still don\u2019t know what ELTChat is about \u2013\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eltchat.org\/\">head over to the project\u2019s website<\/a>\u00a0and give it a go. You\u2019ll be glad you did!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 1.5em;\">1. The name of the game: What is gamification?<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"attachment_6979\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/eltchat.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/file1301235377109.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6979\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6979\" src=\"http:\/\/eltchat.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/file1301235377109-1024x556.jpg\" alt=\"Royalty free image courtesy of  www.morguefile..com\" width=\"1024\" height=\"556\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6979\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Royalty free image courtesy of www.morguefile..com<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>This was the first question to answer \u2013 and an important one, as several participants didn\u2019t feel\u00a0<em>au fait<\/em>\u00a0with the concept, or at least with all its shapes and guises. Several definitions, examples and questions followed in this part:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Gamification \u2013 the application of elements of games (esp. video games) to other walks of life, like the classroom (@Shaunwilden RT @DaveDodgson)<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Think about having levels, lives, goals, aims etc \u2013 all part of the gamified classroom (@DaveDodgson)<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Here is a definition of sort from wikipedia\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/1Q1VaPnR\">http:\/\/t.co\/1Q1VaPnR<\/a>\u00a0(@Marisa_C)<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0I think gamification isn\u2019t about playing games in class, but using the mechanics of game play to change how we teach. (@theteacherjames)<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Gamification is the use of game design thinking in non-game contexts (@grahamstanley \/ @eannegrenoble)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There were many more questions and problems related to defining the term (you can definitely read them all in the discussion\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/eltchat.pbworks.com\/w\/page\/62184158\/Gamification%20a%20useful%20innovation%20for%20language%20learning%20or%20just%20a%20fad\">transcript<\/a>). But one of the first questions to handle came straight afterwards:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>2. Gamification: a useful addition or a passing fad?<\/h2>\n<p>This one looked like it would divide the house, and there were a few doubts over how resilient and useful the concept would turn out to be \u2013 along some enthusiastic voices:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0If gamification refers to using games in class then it certainly isn\u2019t a passing fad! (@naoimishema)<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0I really like the idea of using \u2018lives\u2019, \u2018bonuses\u2019, \u2018power-ups\u2019 &amp;amp; \u2018rewards\u2019 with my classes. Not sure how but I like it! (@theteacherjames)<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Wikipedia article mentions reward points and badges \u2013 not my cup of tea so that part seems fad-ish to me\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.16kinds.com\/wp-includes\/images\/smilies\/icon_smile.gif\" alt=\":-)\" \/>\u00a0(@cioccas)<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Like anything, there is great potential for misapplicaiton e.g. simply renaming units as \u2018levels\u2019 or just focusing on rewards (@DaveDodgson)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>3. \u201cWho got game?\u201d \u2013 gamification in a language classroom<\/h2>\n<p>This part seemed to be a lot more varied, as doubts, ideas and approaches were shared back and forth \u2013 we were very lucky to have Graham Stanley with us on the night!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This #gamification thing is more about classroom management than I realised (@teacherphili)<\/li>\n<li>Think about it \u2013 when you start to play a game, you fail a lot and slowly figure it out\u2026 (@DaveDodgson)<\/li>\n<li>[It] certainly builds tolerance to error and failure and a try again mentality (@cerirhiannon)<\/li>\n<li>[Gamification] for me\u00a0 can have a role to play in behaviour management , motivation and assessment in ELT (@Shaunwilden)<\/li>\n<li>Games are also such a big part of YLs lives \u2013 I asked a class to describe their favourite games &amp;amp; they came out with tons of vocab and structures they had acquired from games. Using those terms in class for a non-gaming topic helps me connect with them (@DaveDodgson)<\/li>\n<li>Instead of pass\/fail students earn experience points and increase in level\u00a0 \u2013 interesting twist on assessment (@grahamstanley)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>4. The losing game \u2013 pitfalls of gamification in ELT classes<\/h2>\n<p>This, for me at least, was a really interesting part \u2013 for all the exciting and enjoyable things to be said about the concept, the participants did mention and discuss several problems associated with it. (I wonder if you can find solutions to these?)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>gamification has lots of pitfalls \u2013 it\u2019s not just about PBL (points, badges, levels) \u2013 also \u2013 too much focus on extrinsic motivation, demotivating some students (@grahamstanley)<\/li>\n<li>when tapping into competitive streak (\u2026) [it&#8217;s] good when they\u2019re competing against the game and not each other (@ceirirhiannon)<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019ve seen far too many games and not enough focus on purpose in the classroom of late (@Shaunwilden)<\/li>\n<li>true, &amp; Students (esp young learners) pick up the \u201cfake game\u201d awfully quick \u2013 \u201cit\u2019s not fun, just pretending to play\u201d (@Wiktor_K)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>5. Pick up your game \u2013 gamification-related links and resources<\/h2>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gamification\">The definition \u2013 from Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coursera.org\/course\/gamification\">Gamification \u2013 a free online course (Coursera)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/speakers\/jane_mcgonigal.html\">Jane McGonigal \u2013 the game design guru \u2013 on TED.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/2010\/10\/28\/education-internet-scratch-technology-gamification.html?boxes=Homepagechannels\">The \u2018Gamification\u2019 Of Education \u2013 on Forbes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/mindshift\/2012\/12\/what-teachers-really-think-about-game-based-learning\/?_tmc=btDKPpap1eVDDWeRLhyUTfF32CDUZZqs2l-Fj0NepJM\">What Teachers Really Think About Game-Based Learning \u2013 on Mind\/Shift<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/issuu.com\/britishcouncilportugal\/docs\/inenglishdigital3\">\u201cThe Irony of Gamification\u201d (flick through the PDF until you reach the article) \u2013 In English Digital<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/learningthroughdigitalgames.wikispaces.com\/gamification\">Graham Stanley\u2019s collection of articles on ramification<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/learningthroughdigitalgames.wikispaces.com\/gamification\">Classdojo \u2013 a classroom management app<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Teachers: would you use gamification in your language classes? Learners: is your language learning in need of some serious gaming-upping? How to go about it? Let us know. And see you all on #ELTChat!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4d10375f9fc9f25561864695734a6f90?s=70&amp;d=&amp;r=G\" alt=\"\" width=\"70\" height=\"70\" \/><\/p>\n<h5><em>About the author:<\/em>\u00a0<a title=\"Visit Wiktor K.\u2019s website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.16kinds.com\/\" rel=\"author external\">Wiktor K.<\/a><small><br \/>\n<\/small><\/h5>\n<div>I&#8217;m a passionate language learner and a keen-to-improve teacher and educator. I currently live in London and work for a language learning publisher. I love sailing, traveling, jazz, coffee, good company and new discoveries!<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This post is a summary of an #ELTChat. If you know what it is, I hope you enjoy reading this and take a while to contribute or share. If you still don\u2019t know what ELTChat is about \u2013\u00a0head over to the project\u2019s website\u00a0and give it a go. You\u2019ll be glad you did! &nbsp; &nbsp; 1.&hellip; <br \/> <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/2013\/02\/02\/gamification-a-useful-innovation-for-language-learning-or-just-a-fad-eltchat-summary-191212\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-summary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5034\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}