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Educations Future
You probably played a typing game in your second grade class that taught you how to
type faster. Or maybe you played a point-and-click adventure game that taught multiplication
tables. If you did, first off youre a geek like me. Secondly, without knowing it, you just made a
game out of a task that otherwise would have been tedious. This transformation of an activity or
task into a game is known as gamification. Game developers and some educators today feel that
gamification can effectively be applied to learning. Unfortunately not everyone believes this, and
this essay is geared towards those people in an effort to convince them otherwise. Although
society asserts that the mature content of video games and media have caused violence and
antisocial behavior in children and teenagers, critics exaggerate these habits and fail to see the
positive value in playing games. Games have the potential to be further incorporated into
education to raise engagement and productivity of learners. But, gamification will only be
successful if the industry contains enough qualified developers who understand how to address
their audiences needs and if schools begin to take educational games seriously.
Throughout the majority of the twenty-first century video games have been infamous for
their alleged connection to violent and negative behavior in people. For example, one Monday
night an eight year old boy living in a Louisiana trailer park immerses himself in a well-known
video game named Grand Theft Auto. It is a role playing game where the user plays a virtual
character and creates an image for him or herself through how they dress and act. The game even
awards points to the player for killing people, promoting somewhat of a good job aspect to
homicide. After playing this game the kid finds his grandmas gun and begins playing with it to
end up shooting his eighty seven year old Grandma in the back of the head while she is watching
TV. As this situation may seem extreme and excessively brutal for this paper, it shows the most

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extreme of video game violence cases, and actually occurred in August of 2013. After
investigating the incident further, authorities stated, and CNN interpreted that while the motive
is unclear, the sheriffs department implied that the childs activities in a violent virtual world
(Grand Theft Auto) may have led to the
killing. The eight year old was an
immature and poorly raised child, who
had access to a gun. It is a unique
situation that is not common in America
today. But, when discussing and placing
blame for incidents of small acts of aggression on the playground to even shootings like this,
violent video games and media still remain at the center of discussion instead of other more
relevant factors. So now the question remains, do these games really affect how all people
approach situations and null their sense of violence?
When asking this question people often jump to conclusions without knowing the full
story. As a result, the most common answer is yes, violent video games lead to violence in
children and teenagers. What the news leaves out is the previous mental instability, depression,
anxiety disorder, etc. that the perpetrators were experiencing before the incidents. This is seen in
the largest shootings blamed on video games, such as the Virginia Tech and Columbine High
Massacre. Both perpetrators did play violent video games, but were also deemed mentally
unstable before the slaughter (Guardian, M). Unfortunately, this information was released years
after the massacre. So, video games were not solely responsible for the violent behavior of the
killers, it was their previous mental instability. But, the public had already placed the blame,
hence the current misled view of games in correlation with violence. IGN calculated that around

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33 million copies of Grand Theft Auto were sold since release. Attributing these incidents to
violent games is statistically insignificant. Out of all these users only a selective few committed
any acts of violence or crime. What about the overwhelming majority that have enjoyed the
game with no subsequent violent reactions? Violence is inevitable, and video games are falsely
accused as catalysts for these actions.
People often view violent video games and media in this negative light, and fail to see the
benefits of integrating video games with higher education through gamification. The premise of
gamification is demonstrated when a parent [gamifies] the process of getting a group of kids to
the car by announcing that it [is] a race (Arnold). This immediately constructs a fictional game
that has rules, an objective, players, and
competition. Labelling this monotonous
daily activity as a race, parents see their
children work harder and faster to
complete the task. The idea of gamifying
education in the same way that parents
gamify tasks for their children often increases productivity and makes learning certain
uninteresting subjects a more enjoyable experience.
One emerging technology that will help gamification is virtual reality goggles, such as
the Rift. Oculus, the creator of the Rift, is based in Irvine, California and was recently bought by
Facebook for 2 billion dollars, which reflects the potential Oculus has. The Rift product is
different than other virtual reality goggles of the past for two key reasons, realism and
affordability. Other virtual reality devices do invoke a sense of realism as the user puts them on,
but small problems with previous technology, such as latency and limited field of view did not

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make the virtual world real enough to the player. With the Oculus Rift, its new tracking
technology results in a low latency in the full 360 degree range. This means the player may turn
his or her head and feel the camera
essentially move at the same pace he or she
turns. Furthermore, the field of view of the
device allows for simulated peripheral
vision, adding to the sense of realism. As the
increase in realism is helping the Oculus Rift
succeed, its affordability also makes it a viable alternative gaming device.
The Rift will change gamification in education. Imagine sitting in an architecture class as
the teacher tells you to turn to page eighty four to review the structure of the Golden Gate
Bridge. As a class you listen to the professor ramble about the bridges foundation, expansion
joints, superstructure, and other
terminology that you cant quite grasp
without visual aid. Now rewind to the
beginning. Imagine if instead the
professor asked the class to put on their
Oculus Rifts. You do so, and
immediately find yourself in a 3D space,
standing on the very structure of the golden gate bridge itself. The professor walks the class
along as he or she points out how it is constructed. After the tour the teacher loads a bridge
construction game for the students. In the game, each student must use the information from the
tour in order to construct his or her own mini bridge out of the pieces given to them within the

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virtual reality game. This type of hands-on learning is just a taste of what the Oculus Rift can do
for education.
As a result of this hands on learning, games in education will help our educational system
develop intrinsic motivation in learners instead of extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivated
students are going to classes because they have to for attendance, grade, or other external
[motivators] (Banfield 1). Contrarily, intrinsic learners attend class because they hunger for
more information, they want to be there, they are involved and their self-efficacy soars
(Banfield 1). The idea of playing games is simply fun and engaging for everyone. Games have a
tendency to build intrinsic learners by intriguing them in classrooms. The hands on learning
aspect of gamification creates aptitude and deeper understanding that can lead to an increase in
student intrinsic motivation (Banfield 2).
A study was done by The Clute Institute that proved the intrinsic motivation games
promote in students. It involved two classes, a computer networking course and a systems
administration course in which 96 students participated. They were taught how to solve subnet
problems, which involved calculations and problem solving. Another group was taught the same
material, but introduced to a tool named Nmap to help scan subnets. Students used the gathered
Nmap information to find clues hidden on the network (Banfield 3). There were seven different
web servers each with a different subnet. The teacher used a whiteboard to show the students
how many web servers they each had found as they were searching. Somewhat like a live
leaderboard. The competition pushed the class to find the clues and work hard. While the
terminology of the experiment may be confusing, the idea behind the experiment is simple:
Competition and hands on experience pushes students to participate and adds fun to an otherwise
monotonous task. After the experiment, researchers went back to ask the students questions

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about their experience and how the lesson related to their previous knowledge. They determined
that the course taught with basic teaching methods had only 2 students who found the exercise
fun and only 3 students who were able to organize knowledge and relate it to existing
knowledge (Banfield). Contrarily, in the exercises that were taught using gamification, 25
found the work fun and 56 were able to tie the work to previous knowledge (Banfield). This
demonstrates that students are more inclined to learning efficiently if they are taught through
means of gamification. A Chinese proverb summarizes the findings of this experiment
eloquently, Teach me and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and Ill
understand (Banfield 4).
As the incorporation of games in education is growing and will soon create hybrid
classrooms that increase intrinsic motivated learners, there are numerous problems that need to
be addressed before and during this implementation. After interviewing Tracy Fullerton, Director
of USCs Game Innovation Lab, I gained a sense of what she felt were the upcoming problems in
gamification. Firstly, Professor Fullerton doesnt like the word gamification. She doesnt truly
believe it represents what goes on behind the scenes and it overly simplifies the process of
melding games with education. She states that the real challenge is going from boring to fun.
Some academic content is simply difficult to make fun for students to learn in anyway. Professor
Fullerton says somewhat interesting content is easier to build into games while dry material is
almost impossible to make fun. She also discussed replacing textbooks with games. Like books,
educational games must be approved for curriculums. This means the material in these games
needs to be quality. Content experts will have to work with game developers to accurately teach
and update material for these games. Another barrier is the adaptation that schools and teachers
must undergo. Teachers must learn how to effectively use and integrate games into their classes,

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while schools need to take the time to work with both teachers and developers to make sure these
games are relevant to the course material. Like any change in curriculum, the process will be
slow and grueling. Education systems are not prepared to have fully gamified classrooms and
must be eased into gamification. Small hybrid classrooms that use traditional teaching methods
must begin to introduce and integrate games. This will help schools and teachers feel more
comfortable with games overtime to hopefully one day build fully hybrid classrooms.
As Professor Fullerton states some of the problems that need to be solved in the real
world outside of games themselves for gamification to succeed, Brian J Arnold, author of
Gamification in Education, points to the problems within the very games students will be
playing. Gabor Istvan Biro in his Ready, Study, Share article states, some particular
achievements for students in these educational games can turn into external aims, which may
increase the level of motivation and engagement, but not the motivation to acquire the learning
material. What Biro is saying is that even though games may motivate students to learn, the
motivation stems not from the material itself but the achievements and points a student may get
for learning something. This is not the definition of intrinsic motivation, but more of a score

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hungry type motivation. Brian Arnold solution to this issue is to hire developers who
[understand] game mechanics and have a clear grasp of gamer motivation (Arnold). He
states that there are four types of gamers that fit the acronym SAKE (Arnold). Socializers,
achievers, killers, and explorers. Each type of player has a specific motivation that drives them to
continue playing (see image). For example, imagine a clothing website decides to make a game
out of buying their clothes online. With each product you buy you also get points. When you
collect enough points you get the access to a specific piece of clothing that you can only buy
thanks to the points you collected. This makes sense and will most certainly gain the attention
of achievers who want to reach that goal, but what about explorers? Explorers may want to see
more of what the website has to offer. So, on top of getting points for buying products, what if
points were obtained by also exploring the website? This is just an example of how game
designers must think to make sure all their users are intrigued. To make a really good educational
game, developers must take into account the four different types of players and address each of
their specific needs as student gamers. This is why having experienced and knowledgeable game
designers is important to the success of education in gamification.
Gamification is a large topic and this essay only glazed the surface. While public views
of video games is often negative due to the violence, it is most certainly improving. People are
beginning to realize that games can be incorporated to change the interaction between people and
learning. It will help educational systems develop intrinsically motivated learners who find
learning more enjoyable and therefore will be more productive academically. With fewer barriers
in the way, gamification will soon become a more integral part of education in the near future.

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Works Cited
Arnold, Brian J. "Gamification in Education".02, ProQuest. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.
Guardian, M. (2008). Video games and violence in schools. ExtremeTech.Com, Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/213766100?accountid=14749
Banfield, J. & Wilkerson, B. (2014). Increasing student intrinsic motivation and selfefficacy through gamification pedagogy.Contemporary Issues in Education Research
(Online), 7(4), 291. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1613026859?accountid=14749
Biro, G. I. (2013). READY, STUDY, SHARE: AN INQUIRY INTO THE DIDACTIC
APPROACH OF GAMIFICATION WITH A SPECIAL VIEW TO THE POSSIBLE
APPLICATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION. European Scientific Journal, Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1525999028?accountid=14749
Macy, Seth G. "Grand Theft Auto 5 Sells 33 Million Copies - IGN." IGN. IGN, 13 May
2014. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.