Gamification startups are a dime a dozen in Silicon Valley and the surrounding high tech area. Kidaptive, which makes an educational app aimed at preschoolers called Leo’s Pad stands out for two reasons. The founders of this startup located across from Stanford University have incredibly impressive backgrounds and the company raised 18.2 million dollars in seed funding which is unheard of for edtech.
The numbers of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, have steadily increased in the last decade, figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show. Many of these children are prescribed pills for treatment. But pharmaceuticals come with side effects that parents may not want to risk. Some companies believe that technology can treat the disease and they’re doing it with games. Focusing the child’s behavior on a video game with a health care objective has helped some children alleviate the behaviors observed in ADHD.
Kids are told non-stop to put the video game controller down and go outside. Or read a book. Or play with siblings. Video games have gotten a bad reputation as a waste of time, but in the field of education, they just might redeem themselves. The incorporation of games in education has its benefits, including increased learning retention, greater…
The latest innovation in the mobile shopping space is Biddl, a U.S.-only smartphone application that hopes to make the experience more entertaining and visually appealing by “combining mobile game mechanics and gamification with easy-to-use shopping features…” according to PRNewswire. Developed and released by Biddl Inc. for both iPhone/iPad and Android platforms on October 14, 2015, Biddl invites users to compete for high-end branded items.
Resources and Further Readings on the Benefits of Video Games in Education Many recent articles have been critical of the computer games industry siting evidence of the negative effects of computer games on learning and even on physical and mental health. These studies raise the alarm about how video games lead to addictions, violent behavior, sexism,…
Boosting Civic Engagement With Gamification In Ovar, Portugal There are many approaches politicians use to try to encourage civic involvement and voter participation. Talking about government budgets is usually not one of them but the Portuguese town of Ovar took to a gamification approach to civic discussion, and to the politicians’ surprise, learned that it was a…
While automobiles have been part of the American landscape for a century, mobile phones only started becoming commonplace about 15 years ago. Today, the pairing of the two products forms a dangerous combination leading to distracted driving, and in far too many cases, car accidents. TextNinja, a gamification startup is trying to overcome the problems caused by the collision of these technologies with a new technological solution: a mobile app that helps keeps drivers’ focus where it belongs – the road.
