Taking Learning to New Levels: Gamification in Education
Gaming - long considered simply a leisure activity – is beginning to morph into something completely different. With software becoming more sophisticated and graphics more realistic, gaming is now being repurposed as a credible tool for enhanced learning. Knowing that students learn best in familiar environments, one ECPI University faculty member is taking gaming to a whole new level.
Working with the Players’ Club (Gaming Club) at the Virginia Beach campus, Associate Dean of Academic Technology Gerry White has created an ambitious class in game development. Meeting twice a week on their own time, students are learning and applying principles of game development. Through the process of “Gamification,” White is using the gaming concepts of rewards and punishments to motivate the students to succeed both as individuals and as a team. Using Classcraft, a role-playing game environment, they create their own characters and earn or lose points based on what they do in class.
The Effectiveness of Gamification for ECPI University Students
Thus far, the response has been tremendous. Students have turned in all assignments on time, performed extra work to gain abilities, and functioned well as members of a team. “The game makes the material much more exciting,” says Players’ Club President Sam Walton. “The ways that we connect our class concepts to other classes and to other games make it stick with me much better.”
Associate Dean White likes what he sees. “I’ve never seen students so engaged and genuinely happy to do be a part of a class,” says White. “They’re eager to build their games and know that they are gaining some valuable tools.”
Gamification Enhances Skills
The students are learning new skills and drawing on things they’ve already learned. For instance, basic game theory requires them to rely on things they learned in their Communications, English, Psychology, and Logic courses. From there, they work with a variety of programming languages, 2D/3D graphics, basic animation, audio production, and rich Virtual and Augmented environments. On the business side, they consider audience targeting, marketing, and publishing through popular market places such as Apple’s Appstore, Google Play, and Steam.
“Creating a 3D virtual classroom that can be anything we want it to be is so exciting, “says student Kelii Amstrong. “We are playing with and studying tools like the Oculus Rift, Leap Controller, and Google Glass which have opened up a whole new world of opportunities.”
Gamification is more than just a clever way to teach. It’s now being embraced by many sectors in the marketplace, utilized for such things as onboarding in HR departments, as well as serious gaming in the military and private sector. By participating in this program, these students can be better prepared for what is coming next.
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