While I’m accustomed to speaking before large groups, I must admit to being a bit more nervous than usual as it came time for me to give a little talk as a panel member at the Gamification Summit. But I guess that was only natural, since most of the people in the audience were about half my age and the rest of the panel members were all versed in scholastic disciplines, ranging from the Rosetta Stone language learning program to Pearson, a leading provider of educational materials. So I did what I usually do before a talk, which was to take a “moment of meditation” to reflect on the subject at hand, which was how “gamification” can work in education, and what personal perspectives and insights I might have to offer.
Immediately my mind went back to my fourth grade class at Sacred Heart Acadamy in Ocean Beach, California, with Sister Joselita standing over my desk rapping my knuckles with a wooden ruler for not doing my school work correctly. Then I saw myself chastising my own son to use less water or turn the lights off . And then it hit me how I have been using guilt and shame to try and change behavior, just like Sister Joselita did to me, and how really ineffective that is. And I suddenly realized that game mechanics are the key to changing our method of motivating kids. Instead of the traditional use of guilt and shame, we can now achieve far better results by emphasizing fun and fame – which is to say, the use of instant rewards and recognition, whether for solving a trigonometry problem or doing something to help save the environment, as in the program we have implemented at Greenopolis to promote recycling.
What I really would like to tell you, however, is not about what I said, but about the speaker who preceded our panel – a Minnesota 3rd grade teacher named Anath Pai, who gave a passionate talk that makes me want to send anyone that reads this blog to “An inspirational teacher’s story of making learning fun” . Mr. Pai, a former businessman and investor, got our attention by asking for our help, and while presenting his first slide he actually got teary over the fact that seven out of ten students today graduate at a 3rd grade level in math. He then showed us how he is using video games like “flower power” to increase students’ aptitudes in math and reading. The results are incredible, and I urge you to check out the presentation and video at his site.
Kudos also go to Gabe Zicherman for putting on a great and informative conference, featuring a lot of really smart people talking about everything from Maslows’ hierarchy of needs to B.F. Skinner’s theories on what motivates people and how people think. Somehow I feel there are going to be some really great things coming from this group of 350 people engaged in developing a whole new generation of games for an unparalleled range of applications.