To Gamification Of Education - Rotman School of …

1 A Practitioner's Guide To Gamification Of Education Wendy Hsin-Yuan Huang and Dilip Soman. 10 December, 2013. 2. Research Report Series Behavioural Economics in Action Rotman School of Management University of Toronto Rotman School OF MANAGEMENT. 3. Correspondence and Acknowledgements For questions and enquiries, please contact: Professors Dilip Soman or Nina Ma ar Rotman School of Management University of Toronto 105 St. George Street Toronto, ON M5S 3E6. Email: Phone Number: (416) 946-0195. We thank Poornima Vinoo, MinXuan Lee, and Audrey Tan for comments on pre- vious drafts. This report is inspired by the work of Jane McGonigal, Ray Wang and Gabe Zicherman. We also thank Ben Leong, Michael Wu, Peter Vasil, Kim Ly and Min Zhao for multi- ple discussions and insights. Our validation phase involved consultation with thought leaders and experts from Constellation Research and PlayMoolah.

2 Rotman School OF MANAGEMENT. 4. Table of Contents 1. Introduction .. 5. 2. What is Gamification .. 6. Gamification in Education .. 7. Step 1: Understanding the Target Audience and the 7. Step 2: Define Learning Objectives .. 9. Step 3: Structuring the Experience .. 9. Step 4: Identifying Resources .. 11. Step 5: Applying Gamification Elements .. 13. Recap .. 15. Limitations and Discussion .. 15. 4. Gamification in Education : Case Studies .. 16. Undergraduate Education JFDI Academy .. 16. Consumer Education Healthcare University .. 18. Corporate Training Education Deloitte Leadership Academy .. 19. Financial Literacy Education PlayMoolah .. 20. Social Responsibility Education Recyclebank .. 22. 5. Conclusion .. 24. Rotman School OF MANAGEMENT. 5. 1. INTRODUCTION. One specific goal that behavioural scientists have in helping people attain better outcomes is to design interventions that get people engaged in activities such that their likelihood of completion is increased.

3 In the world of nudging these interven- tions take the form of small changes in context that might have large outcomes. In addition, the effects of nudging can often be complemented with interventions that are longer lasting in nature interventions that increase longer term adherence to a task at hand. In this report, we focus on one such set of interventions collectively known as Gamification . Motivation and engagement are usually considered prerequisites for the completion of a task or encouragement of a specific behaviour. In Education , the reasons for drop-outs or low performance include boredom or lack of engagement, a pattern of escalating absenteeism where each absence makes the person less willing to re- turn to School , and most importantly, being distracted by technology such as smartphones and the Employee training programs face similar challenges, due to minimal interest and This situation is usually acerbated by compre- hension issues and group hostilities that lead to stress and unhappiness, which in turn hinder absorption of information and the effectiveness of training In today's digital generation Gamification has become a popular tactic to encour- age specific behaviours, and increase motivation and engagement.

4 Though com- monly found in marketing strategies, it is now being implemented in many educa- tional programs as well, helping educators find the balance between achieving their objectives and catering to evolving student needs. The intent of this report is to define Gamification , deconstruct the process of gamify- ing a learning program, explore the limitations, and review successful implementa- tions of Gamification . We focus on learning programs in this report for several reasons. They key reason, though, is that we see Education initiatives as a good companion to nudging programs in many areas of welfare ( , financial literacy, health educa- tion, consumer learning, disclosures) and hence a key challenge for policy-makers as well as those on the ground delivering these programs. However, as the reader will discern, the framework we have developed for Gamification of Education is fertile and can be extended easily to other domains where interventions to increase en- gagement and retention are desired.

5 Rotman School OF MANAGEMENT. 6. 2. WHAT IS Gamification . Fun can obviously change behaviour for the better 4 is the statement that surrounds The Fun Theory initiative by German automotive company, Volkswagen. Whether it is encouraging drivers to buckle their seat belts or citizens to recycle and lower the rates of littering, Volkswagen puts a twist on these mundane tasks to make it fun. One of their initiatives that went viral, was the Piano Staircase at the Odenplan sub- way in Stockholm, Sweden. Each step of a staircase in the subway was setup to play a musical note when it was stepped on. At the end of the campaign, the results showed that 66% more people used the musical stairs over the This is a prime example of Gamification , and is a common tactic that companies are using in their marketing strategies. A quick look at the video game industry over the past few years shows explosive growth as a result of increased access to Internet and smartphones.

6 According to ESA's 2013 Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game Industry, 58% of Americans play video games, spending a total of $ billion dollars in 2012. 6 Gam- ers have a distinct characteristic where they strive to be on the verge of what Jane McGonigal mentions as an epic win' during her TED Talk in 2010. These gamers have four common factors: urgent optimism, social fabric, blissful productivity, epic mean- ing, and that ultimately makes them super empowered hopeful individuals. 7. You create these communities around the game that do an incredible amount of intellectual work, and when they're done with the work, they will leave the game and go to another game that's more challenging. Can you imagine if we had that kind of environment in classrooms? . Constance Steinkuehler Squire Associate Professor in digital media at the University of Wisconsin-Madison In real life, individuals do not feel that they are as good as they are in games.

7 When confronted with obstacles, people may feel depressed, overwhelmed, frustrated or cynical; feelings that are not present in the gaming environment. They also prefer in- stant gratification to keep themselves engaged and motivated. And this, is where Gamification steps in. In fact, Gamification guru, Yu-kai Chou defines Gamification as the craft of deriving all the fun and addicting elements found in games and apply- ing them to real-world or productive activities , while Ray Wang, CEO & Principal An- alyst of Constellation Research, Inc., describes it as a series of design principles, pro- cesses and systems used to influence, engage and motivate individuals, groups and communities to drive behaviours and effect desired outcomes. 8. Rotman School OF MANAGEMENT. 7. 3. APPLYING Gamification IN Education . While the concept of Gamification may be simple, effectively gamifying a concept isn't.

8 However, it can be simplified, by following a five-step process: Understanding the Defining Structuring Applying Identifying Target Audience Learning the Gamfication Resources Elements and the Context Objectives Experience Step 1: Understanding the Target Audience and the Context Who is the target audience, and what is the context that surrounds the Education program? A key factor that determines the success of an Education program, is a good under- standing of who the student is. This combined with the context in which the program is being delivered, will help in designing a program that empowers the student to achieve the objective of the program. While an analysis of the target audience will help you determine factors like age group, learning abilities, current skill-set, etc., analysing the context can provide you with details of the student group size, environment, sequencing of skills, and the time frame.

9 For example, if the learning program is held right before lunch, students may lack focus due to hunger. If the course is a prerequisite to another course that the student is really interested in, s/he may have more motivation to accomplish this pre- requisite course. Some other questions to be considered include: Rotman School OF MANAGEMENT. 8. What is the duration of the learning program? Where is the program being conducted? classroom, office, home, etc. Is it a group or a one-on-one setting? If it's a group setting, what is the group-size? These questions help the instructor define the possible pain points' in the learning program, and work around them. A pain point is defined as a factor that prevents a student from advancing through the learning program and/or achieving the objectives. Pain points can differ de- pending on the student's age, background, or the field they are in.

10 For example, the poor quality of assignments being submitted, could be attributed to a number of pain points: the delivery method of the course (the student is a visual learner, while the course was deliv- ered orally), low motivation (as the assignment didn't count towards the final grade), inability to balance office and course work, pro- crastination, etc. Understanding these cause-effect relationships are key to determining the gamifica- tion elements (described in Step 5) that can be used in the design of the Education program. Rotman School OF MANAGEMENT. 9. Step 2: Defining Learning Objectives What does the instructor want the student to accomplish by completing the educa- tion program? Every instructor should have an objective that s/he wants the student to achieve at the end of the learning program. This could include: General Instructional Goals such as having the student complete an assignment, a test/quiz/exam, a project, etc.