Gaming is all about being entertained and it cannot possibly be utilized for a serious pursuit of knowledge or

the process of learning in a formal classroom environment. While it may seem that college students who are
involved in playing a game during class time or their study time may not be learning, there are inherent
qualities in a well-planned game that can increase motivation and engagement, along with improved
cognition.

The use of games to promote adult learning is not new. Games, game-like activities, and simulations have been
used in corporate training classes and college classrooms for quite some time. What has changed is the use of
technology to improve the design and content of educational games so that it engages students in a way that
makes the learning process meaningful. Of course not all educators (or students) have embraced the idea of
gaming in education. However, once the underlying connection of games to intellectual development is
understood the potential to improve the students’ learning experience may become more evident.

The Essence of Gaming

Video games are the most popular form of gaming and are found on computers, laptops, and mobile
devices. Peter Gray, Ph.D., a research professor of psychology at Boston College, states that the essence of
video games involves “skill in which success depends on perseverance, intelligence, practice, and learning, not
chance.”• Earning a reward and moving onto more advanced levels within most games requires hard work,
improved skill, knowledge, and intelligence. When someone plays a video game on a regular basis they have
to learn from their mistakes if they want to improve their outcome.

Daniel Burrus, CEO of Burrus Research, has researched gamification over the past twenty-five years and in his
blog The Core of Gamification, he’s identified five core elements that can increase students’ learning in less
time, for both corporate training and academic programs.

1. Self-diagnostic. As the gamer accomplishes more or improves their performance, most games present new
challenges.

2. Interactivity. Burrus points to the traditional classroom structure where students passively sit and listen to a
lecture. Educational gaming changes or supplements this approach by involving students with interactions that
requires them to work with information.

3. Immersion. With advances in technology, most gamers find that they can play games on virtually any device
and the quality is almost 3D in nature, which means they are immersed in the experience and fully engaged in
the activity.

4. Competition. Another aspect of gaming that keeps the gamer engaged in the process is the adrenaline rush
of working towards a win. The more the gamer practices, the more likely their final outcome or result will
improve.

5. Focus. Because of the very nature of a game, the participant has to be focused on what they are doing. As
Burrus notes, “when you can focus, you can learn virtually anything…fast.”•

Cognitive Benefits of Gaming

There are benefits of gaming that extend beyond the activity being performed and level of attention that’s
required to be involved. In the article, The Gamification of Education and Cognitive, Social, and Emotional
Learning Benefits, it discussed the ability of an educational game to meet the intellectual needs of students
and create positive emotional experiences. It also mentions a research study published in 2011 by Joey J. Lee,
Ph.D and Jessica Hammer of Teachers College Columbia University in New York. The study, Gamification in
Education: What, How, Why Bother?, presented a strong case for the inclusion of games and one of the
reasons connected with me as an educator, and that was the emotional transformation that is possible as the
gamer or student learns about failure.

When students do not submit their best work or do not live up to their own performance expectations, they may
view it as a failure and give up. What this study pointed out is that “games involve repeated experimentation
and repeated failure,”• and more importantly, “for many games, the only way to learn how to play the game
is to fail at it repeatedly, learning something each time (Gee, 2008).”• A game provides immediate feedback
about their performance and they quickly learn that repeated attempts bring about an improved result. It is a
low risk approach to learning about feedback and failure; whereas, students are normally involved in a high-
stakes process where their performance is tied to a grade, which results in “anxiety, not anticipation, when
offered the chance to fail (Pope, 2003).”• The use of a game changes the cognitive approach to learning by
teaching that failure is not the end of the game but an opportunity to learn and improve with the next attempt.

Gaming in Education

Gamification has become a buzzword in education and a 2011 EDUCAUSE publication, 7 Things You Should
Know About…â„¢ Gamification, indicated that games do not have to involve a complex design or
technological platform. For example, points, badges, feedback, and rewards may be enough to increase
students’ motivation, creativity, and problem-solving skills. That’s how games have been traditionally used in
education; however, with the increase in the number of digital natives in the classroom and the growth of
online classroom platforms that may not be enough any longer to truly engage students in the learning
process.

Education specialist Laura A. Sharp published a very thorough research report this year titled, Promoting
Community Service and Global Awareness Through Gamucation. Within this report Sharp addressed the
potential that games have to promote important functions such as critical thinking and social interaction. She
has developed the term gamucation as a “fusion of digital gaming and education that promotes, attracts,
engages, motivates, and helps student retain information to increase learning.”• This is especially important for
digital natives (students born after 1980) who are social in nature and find it necessary to keep in touch with
everyone close to them. These students “are learning through games to read news reviews and frequently
asked questions, post to discussion boards all while becoming critical consumers of information (Shaffer et al.,
2004).”•

In addition, Sharp noted that “digital natives are impatient and have enough portable electronic devices that
they can listen to iTunes, talk on the phone, share photos, surf the web, Twit, post on Facebook, and text a
friend at the same time, while reading an electronic book for homework (Carlson, 2005; Prensky, 2007).”• In
other words, these students expect a high level of interactivity and may become bored quickly in a traditional
lecture-based classroom setting. Educational games can bridge this gap and at the same time meet the
needs of students with a variety of learning styles, including visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. The use of
games can also influence students’ motivation because they are provided with a challenging task that
encourages them to be fully engaged in the activity. As Sharp states, “games help make learning fun and light,
while remaining challenging (Aldrich, 2009).”•

Arguments against Gamification in Education

The EDUCAUSE publication, 7 Things You Should Know About…â„¢ Gamification, noted that there are several
potential disadvantages to the inclusion of games in academic classes. From an educator’s perspective, they
may believe that the learning process is trivialized. This is a resistant thought to the idea of learning as being fun
for students, which I have also heard from some educators. I found early on in my career as a corporate trainer
that the inclusion of a game helped to break the ice with participants and through a relaxed approach to
involvement in the class many students became more engaged and willing to participate. This translated easily
for me into the college classroom and something I still use. Now with the growth of digital games there are even
more options for educators to use.

The EDUCAUSE article also discussed the students’ point of view and that “students may see game elements as
condescending or feel disappointed and frustrated when their application is not successful or does not yield
the kind of satisfaction from winning that they expect.”• This is an important consideration for the use of
educational games as students may not be interested in or want to be involved in games – either as a personal
preference of due to a belief that it will not contribute to their learning. In addition, students who are not digital
natives and not technologically-savvy may feel intimidated by the complexity of many games.

Sarah Smith-Robbins, Director of Emerging Technologies and a faculty member at the Kelley School of Business
at Indiana University, shared a similar perspective in her article, “This Game Sucks”: How to Improve the
Gamification of Education. Smith-Robbins indicated that if you were to “ask students why they’re in college,
and they’re likely to answer that earning a degree will bring them more money after graduation, and it is
“extremely rare for students to say that they enrolled simply for the intellectual stimulation.”• Smith-Robbins also
noted that “many in higher education think of games as frivolous and will say that the job of faculty and
administrators is to deliver a quality education, not an entertaining experience.”• Over time, this opinion is likely
to change as students demand a more interactive experience. I don’t believe it’s possible to discount the
nature of digital native students or necessary to try to alter their perspective since technology is so engrained
from a societal and cultural perspective.

With growing support for gaming in education, students are likely to find that they will have an opportunity to
become an educational gamer. The majority of my work as an educator is done in an online classroom and
while this is a technologically-based environment there haven’t been a lot of games included into the curricula
of many schools – yet. I’m one of numerous educators who support a student-centered approach to learning
and adapting teaching to meet the changing needs of students. If there are new methods of increasing
students’ engagement and motivation, I’m willing to try it. Are you willing to discover the potential benefits of
gaming?

Share your thoughts via Dr. Bruce A. Johnson on Twitter @DrBruceJ and Google+.June 18th, 2012 by Dr. Bruce
Johnson