What is gamification & game-based learning?... (53)

Humans spend 3 billion hours a week as a planet playing video games... 

Currently there are more than half a billion people worldwide playing computer and video games at least an hour a day -- and 183 million in the U.S. alone. The younger you are, the more likely you are to be a gamer -- 99% of boys under 18 and 94% of girls under 18 report playing video games regularly. The average young person racks up 10,000 hours of gaming by the age of 21 -- or 24 hours less than they spend in a classroom for all of middle and high school if they have perfect attendance. It's a remarkable amount of time we're investing in games. 5 million gamers in the U.S., in fact, are spending more than 40 hours a week playing games -- the equivalent of a full time job! 

Shouldn't we be thinking about ways to leverage this interest into the educational setting?

While it is true that gamification and the game-based learning movement has gained a higher profile over the last couple of years, a key factor for growth has been for the concept’s ability to tap into digital natives’ love of video games as a driver for increased engagement which also has great value in relation to developing problem solving, social skills and collaboration.

Gamification seeks to harness human motivation through the observation of why humans play games, playing on the idea that humans play games because they are intrinsically rewarding and entertaining. Points are an added bonus, a way of keeping score, but not necessary to the heart of the game.

A great infographic on gamification in education

25 things teachers should know about gamification

Gamification in education: What, how, why bother?