Gamification

What makes us compelled to complete things?  Ever played a game and felt the need to finish it? Wanted to do something repeatedly to get that trophy?  Or... just finish... that... one more thing to get that level-up?

Or when you see a progress bar almost full do you feel compelled or a need to see it finished?  I stumbled accross an old video that has Seth Priebatsch, an entrepreneur whose goal is to "build the game layer on top of the world" has presented an idea at a TedxBoston conference.  He presents a concept called Gamification that adds game elements and processes into environments that do not contain game characteristics.  Although there are a few other presenters on the topic of  Gamification, Seth breaks down the concept into identifiable and tangible parts that an educator could use in instructional design that many educators still use today.

In education, would this game layer increase student motivation in learning?  It would seem plausible that this extra layer would give that extra incentive to get students to learn a new concept in Math (i.e.  Pythagorean theorem), Science (i.e. Bor's Law), Law (i.e. Double Jeopardy), etc.  However what about creating new ideas or solving problems that have not been identified or predetermine in a lesson?  There maybe some potential. A Gamification layer could possibly motivate learners to contribute more often to a discussion, try to connect other's ideas to their own, or help with organizing knowledge to help others to better disseminate the shared information.

Gamification could be that carrot on the stick for that brings people back to learn new things but it may not be for everybody unless the gaming elements are general enough.  It will need to appeal to people with varied interests and learning styles - a personalized approach.  Like all tools in teaching, it could certainly be useful for certain tasks but not in all learning scenarios. After all in many popular games, there is still an element where you need to solve the same type of tasks over-and-over again; which is a limited application for learning.