Some light-hearted approaches of educating through simulating have been interesting, like the Killer Flu game, for example. But a new collaboration by Electronic Arts and GlassLab is aiming to take management sim education to the next level, with SimCity EDU.
Coming this March, SimCity EDU will be a special version of the beloved SimCity game designed to teach STEM Education in classrooms.
In their common endeavor to engage its employees, enterprises have been slowly embracing the concept of gamifying employee training programs and handmade cosmetics firm Lush is no exception.
Lush’s training program, Lush Quests bears the markings of a gamified training system where employees are introduced to Lush’s brand and products through an interactive story filled with challenges and rewards. Upon completion of the narrative, users are then given a 10 minute quiz to reaffirm what they have learned from the material. Thus far, over 2,000 Lush employees have completed this online training program.
The moment a discussion about gamification dips into a deep discussion about game mechanics and what constitutes proper design, it seems inevitable that Jesse Schell’s book, The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses becomes mentioned as the official reference to prove someone’s point. Jesse’s long history of working as a game-designer has earned him numerous accolades and his position as the CEO of Pittsburgh’s largest videogame studio.
The only thing more engaging than effective gamification is the incredible power of cat pictures on the internet. Combine that with, well gamification, and you get over 21,000 cat photos and videos shared in a single month by the new gamified cat-media platform, Catmoji.
Born out of Startup Chile, Catmoji is a platform dedicated to users who want to purruse through vast quantities of cat pictures and videos.
We recently covered TrueOffice for their gamified approach to gamified approach to compliance training in the financial services sector and today, they’ve announced a $3 million Series A funding from investors including Rho Ventures, the Partnership for New York City Fund and Contour Venture Partners.
POKEDU is a gaming method involving poker card decks which utilize a concordance of facts within the four suits to complete poker styled hands. Standard shared and draw poker games (i.e. Texas Hold’em and 5 & 7 Card Draw) can be played using these decks; as well as many other popular youth and family games.
Gamification is a powerful tool that is poised to change the world. The old Gartner adage that predicted that by 2014, 70 percent of the world’s top 2000 companies will be using some form of gamification…but they also had a report that stated 80 perfect of gamified processes will fail in 2014.
Naturally, there is some backlash from those who think gamification is a fad that doesn’t really work, or that it can even be harmful. And you know what? Some of those critics make good points. The problem, however, is not gamification itself. The problems are FAKE gamification and BAD gamification.
Coursera was a very integral part in growing the gamification community in 2012, largely due in part to Kevin Werbach’s class on gamification. However, Couresera’s ability to have effectively delivered a strong massive open online course (MOOC) is a testament to its ability to appeal to everyone’s intrinsic desires to learn. Its hard to believe how a system could appeal to 12 thousand students interested in gamification and have them complete 7 weeks of lectures, homeworks, and testing to receive a small certificate of completion. Coursera is doing something right and Julia Stiglitz is part of that team making it happen.
Earlier today, Gabe Zichermann had an Op-Ed go live on The Huffington Post entitled The Hard Truths of Gamification, in which he addresses most of the misunderstandings revolving around gamification and lays down all of the gamification’s clear triumphs in during the last two years.
Gabe describes a number of significant gamification successes in business, education, and health to support his arguments and lays down a strong foundation for an anyone dealing with a gamification skeptic. Although, not everybody was convinced and in true gamified fashion Gabe was awarded a particular badge.
This defense of #gamification wins maximum hubris badge. Frames critique as factless. cc: @ibogost & @dingstweets huffingtonpost.com/gabe-zicherman…
— Evan Selinger (@EvanSelinger) January 23, 2013
What do you think? Is gamification the future of motivation or do his arguments fall flat? Read the full article and decide for yourself.
If you’ve never attended one of our gsummitX meetups before, now’s your chance to experience some of the great speakers we sign up for our events. Watch the video below to hear some great sessions from our last gsummitX meetup at Tel-Aviv this past December. Some of these sessions include, talks on marketing gamification, the IDF Blog’s gamification story, and the brains behind Freshbiz, the Entrepreneurship Game, that we covered this past summer.
As the world evolves into a massively digital age, the publishers producing print media need to adapt in order to stay relevant. While it might be true that some children will always vehemently oppose the very nature of books, it doesn’t mean that new techniques and gamification could assist in making the classic book more engaging for others.
Using gamification in HR to engage with employees is becoming increasingly prevalent in modern enterprise, especially when it comes to training – see Deloitte’s Leadership Academy, for example. The speakers at GSummit 2013 recognize the power of games in this context and there’s a strong number of sessions devoted to this topic.
Check out my top sessions for HR gamification that you’ll want to make sure you see this year.
If asked to describe a typical gamer, most people would probably describe a teenage boy playing games in his parents’ basement. Stereotypes do not always match reality, however. Most game players engage in social play by playing either with another person or online, and girls make up 47% of all gamers. What research has shown is that girls are drawn to games for different reasons than boys and that the factors that motivate girls to play are also important aspects of learning. Researchers are investigating how to create games in education that motivate girls and encourage all students in learning.
According to this GigaOM article, Redbox has started beta-testing for their upcoming Redbox Instant service to rival Netflix’s streaming service. What’s interesting about this beta-testing campaign, called Redhead Nation, is the gamification elements in the system.
Last week we had a special episode of the Gamification Revolution, the only live gamification webcast featuring Gabe Zichermann and fellow gamification experts happening every Monday at 1PM ET/10AM PT/1800 GMT. We were lucky enough to have Asi Burak, Co-President of Games for Change, and speaker at GSummit SF 2013 for a little Games for Change special episode.
Watch this week’s episode to get hear Asi’s approach towards social impact games and why he believes games are the best medium for affecting change. In essence, games are a unique medium to convey stories. Traditional medium simply tells you what to believe and what is or isn’t right. Games are unique in that they enable a player to experience multiple perspectives on an issue and allows them to make a personal conclusion through player choice and actions. Learn more about Asi’s approach below:
Be sure to check out the Gamification Revolution next week to see legendary designer, Jesse Schell, as our next guest.
