Gamification in Education

I wanted to share this infographic with you this week, which gives a good overview of what gamification is all about.  You may have read my article in March: ‘Gamifying the Classroom: 10 Inspiring Articles’.  Well since then I have come across many more interesting pieces of reading about gamification and games based learning in education.  As gamification is such a hot topic (in colleges and universities as well as for young children), I have formed a list of ten articles, below the infographic.

Image from An Ethical Island Blog

1. Gamification, Super Mario and STEM: Notes from the Games + Learning + Society Conference - does pretty much what it says on the tin.  The author offers insights and reports on the events of the conference.  
2. Research shows play-based outdoor learning improves ‘school readiness’ – because not all games based learning has to revolve around a computer. 
3. A College Professor’s Perspective of Gaming in the Classroom – including how games can allow for self-paced learning, collaboration and greater motivation 
4. Gamification isn’t about “Slapping Badges on Everything” – while not entirely education-specific, this article offers good counter arguments to people who do think gamification is all about badges.
5. Video Games Hit Higher Level of U.S. Education – the merits of video games at varying levels of education, including an engineering professor who teaches using video games that expose students to computational math.
6. Apps for Computer Science – a good list of Apps (lots of which are free) for use in the ICT / Computer Science curriculum.
7. A Paradigm Shift in Education – a good overview of gamification in education and why it is so important.  Also includes some very interesting ideas about gamification for teachers.
8. Emotions, Feelings and Colours!  Educational Games for Kids in Preschool and Kindergarten – a review of an educational app designed to teach children about emotions. 
9. KidDIY: 2013 National STEM Video Game Challenge Aims to Shape Future of Innovation – discusses a course for children that teaches things from game design to business sense through a project-based learning style weekend of workshops.
10. Games Grow Up: Colleges Recognise the Power of Gamification – several case studies of how games based learning and gamification are being used with college students. 

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