Thought I’d share a great quote from Tom Kuhlmann of Articulate:
“Gamification is a trendy word. Marketers are always quick to chase the trends. Take away the trends and there’s a lot about gamification that adds value to the learning experience. Many of today’s tools already allow the creation of a gamified learning experience. It’s just a matter of adding that component to the course design. I’m sure that there will be some vendors who’ll sell “gamification” as a feature. But from what I’ve seen, most of those are either simple tracking systems with badges or lame games.” ~ Tom Kuhlmann
http://elearningindustry.com/gaze-into-the-future-of-e-learning-with-tom-kuhlmann
Unfortunately, I think Tom is right. Too many “gamification” features are just badges awarded as an incentive, as motivation to keep students’ interest in a course that isn’t all that interesting. What we need are more game-like courses, not “gamification” tacked on as an after-thought. I recall games from years ago like Where in the World is Carmen San Diego and the classic, Oregon Trail. These were games first and foremost. They just happened to be built around educational concepts. Kids played the game, had fun doing it, and didn’t even realize they were learning in the process.
Creative Online Learning 