Gamification: turning learning into a game

Gamification is the “application of typical game elements and principles in other contexts and activities outside the game”. So, when we talk about gamification in education, we mean to transfer the mechanics of the game to educational or professional environments to improve learning and achieve better results. This educational method manages to turn difficult challenges into much easier ones, boosting the curiosity and motivation of those who participate. In addition to being applied in education, it is increasingly used in the business world.

Ferran Teixes, in his book Gamificación: fundamentos y aplicaciones (Gamification: fundamentals and applications), explains that it should not be confused with turning anything into a game, but that it is about using its main defining points, that is, having rules, objectives, feedback, and voluntary participation. For example, Course Hero is a platform where teachers distribute materials to their students. The platform has a system of rewards in the form of badges, each time students pass a challenge, they are rewarded with a badge.

Although the advantages of gamification in education are abundant, teachers have to be careful when presenting their activities, as these forms of learning cannot be approached from the premise that education is boring. Poorly thought-out gamification could also lead the child or student to perceive play as the most important thing, leaving activity and knowledge aside.

Gamification applies to all kinds of educational activities. For example, museums are increasingly presenting culture in an interactive and digitalised way, moving from being transmitters of knowledge to facilitators of experiences.

Online courses: towards game-based education

In recent months, as a result of covid-19, online education has gained ground in most parts of the world. Although gamification is not only occurring in online activities, the digitalisation of education facilitates the use of these educational methods. At TBS in Barcelona, due to the sanitary measures, we have adapted all of our programs to online education, for example, our Bachelor in Management or our Masters Degrees.

Gamification in the corporate world

Gamification is also used in corporate training, as a way of motivating employees. Gamma training provides companies with an increase in performance and productivity. It motivates employees to train and improve themselves, increasing their commitment to the projects they carry out.

An example of gamification used in companies from a human resources perspective is the Omnium Parks game, a game where employees – organized in teams – manage their own online amusement parks. With Omnium Parks, every time employees take new training or review old training, their amusement park grows. In this way, companies get permanently trained and motivated teams.