Gamification is Growing On Me

Gabe Zichermann gives a great Ted Talk on how our newest generation, which he terms "Generation G", but what I have learned in my studies to  have also been called the iGeneration, is being influenced by their number one hobby, video games. He explains the influence video games have on Gen G's lives, and how this is effecting their experience in the educational setting. To put it simple, students are bored, and they can't find motivation in the classroom because things don't move fast enough. He touches on our new student's ability to multitask, and confirms the belief that I have been forming recently about the need to incorporate multitasking into the classroom. His suggested method of incorporation, games.

I was challenged this week to wage a battle of defenses in the game Kingdom Rush for my DSM course. As I started this gaming experience, I was at first bored by the repetitious gameplay, and the slow pace of assault by the goblins and trolls. As the game progressed and became a true challenge, I felt my interest peaking. I felt that I was finally getting into a state of Flow. Feeling my sense of time slip, I ended up playing the entire assigned 3 hours in my first pass at the game. Finally, I hit a point of frustration as I reached a level that I could not conquer. I found myself falling into a pattern, getting to the final wave, and once again being defeated. I started setting things up the same wave over and over again. I got to a point where I decided that I needed to walk away, to return with fresh eyes the next day. When I came back, I was refreshed and ready to take on the challenge again, and at this point was finally triumphant in my battle.

This situation made me really think about my experiences in the classroom. Often we pose a problem to our students, then give them time to work on finding a solution. What we fail to recognize, is that some students will not be able to achieve this goal without walking away from the problem for a time. When our students express to us that they can't focus, or give a defeated sigh as a statement that they can't find the solution, we tell them to keep trying. Instead, we should give the students something else to focus on. A different activity, a new problem, or even the ability to collaborate with a group to find a solution. By giving the students a break, they will remove themselves from the pattern of defeat, and will come back with the ability to change their approach and solve the problem more efficiently.