Gamification: Friend or Foe \ stacker news ~FiresidePhilosophy

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73 sats \ 6 comments \ @cryotosensei 2 Oct FiresidePhilosophy

Gamification is not just the latest buzz word. I feel that it’s a trend that has sunk roots into the tapestry of our everyday living.

Even something as mundane as brushing your teeth can be spiced up by an app. PokemonSmile, no less. The eager child brushes his teeth determinedly to get rid of the virtual bacteria and snag a Pokemon. Something like this:

Ngl. Of course, I’m grateful for such innovations. Anything to make my life easier.

Gamification is also increasingly incorporated into education. My country’s learning management system certainly launched gamification with a bang, providing story templates, quests, points systems as well as incentives. Now, when teachers design their online lessons, they can tap on these features to enliven their lessons’ engagement level. After all, eager children and teenagers embark on quests, enthusiastic about garnering points to win one another.

These days, it seems to me that rote memorisation is given a bad name. Sure, it’s fun to acquire knowledge while having fun concurrently, but I think at some point, we ought to come to terms with the fact that learning is hard. And involves the discipline to sit down and drill various facts and formulae into one’s mind. I believe that the process of using my brain cells to come up with mnemonics and flow charts to internalise facts should be the core tenet of learning. Gamification is like the artificial sweetener that sweetens the deal for a bit but doesn’t do much to instill good habits.

I mean, how long can the dopamine rush last, right?

I need to think about how I can get my children to love hard work and working hard, when the flow of society values fun more.

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72 sats \ 1 reply \ @SwearyDoctor 2 Oct

this isn't exactly new. Schools and educators have tried to pour whatever their institutional goals were into "fun games" for their flock. It usually doesn't work very well, as a game that's made with the intent to "teach" isn't made with the intent to provide "fun".

Add to that that "fun" is not inherent in the game; it's something people have to HAVE with the game, and that depends on how they approach it. You know all these grind games that, after a while, just are 90% work to get to the part you still think is fun? Any complex game, really, is work is you don't approach it as diversion. I have a hundred board games that require taking a rules class to play them. Still fun. But others will consider this work.

This is the problem with gamification. a) it's made with another goal in mind then to entertain, entertainment is supposed to be a trick to get you there and b) people aren't as dumb as PR people, journalists, and administrators (of schools and otherwise) think them to be, and see through that rather quickly. In which case the game becomes a tiresome chore.

But a real tiresome chore is, at least, honest about being that. When the chore dresses up as a game, on top of it all, you fell like you're being had.

Let chores be chores, and let games be games.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 3 Oct

This is why those games that claim to reward people with shitcoins, such as Splinterlands, never gain traction!

24 sats \ 1 reply \ @DesertDave 2 Oct

My father always told me to make my work into a game. I still think about this every time I am doing something "hard". The game can be with myself. No need to have another party.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 3 Oct

I agree that framing challenges in terms of games boosts one’s motivation! Just not too convinced when we shove quests down young minds’ throats as a way of enticing them to learn. But having said that, I’m guilty of doing this myself

24 sats \ 1 reply \ @023ad18700 2 Oct

Meta verse is gonna bring more gamification

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 3 Oct

True, that