Comments for play think learn

Comment on Principles of motivational badges 1.0 by nicola

nicola — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:59:04 +0000

Thanks Both.

Katie – I agree that there’s some tension between achievability and suprise, but perhaps they are simply different types of badges, and may we just need to say that badges that are known in advance need to be percieved as achievable? Your project sounds excellent and timely and I look forward to seeing the results.

Pete – Thanks for the thoughts on collecting. As a ‘non-collector’ it’s good to get some insights into the motivations of collectors, and I wonder how many of these aspects could be relevent (or applied) in a gaming context? However, I still do not – nor will I ever – regret donating your Mojo collection to Oxfam.

Comment on Principles of motivational badges 1.0 by Katie Piatt

Katie Piatt — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:21:58 +0000

I think your principles make a lot of sense, although I’d question how 5 and 6 work together….hard to see something as achievable if you don’t know what you are supposed to do.

The interesting question for me, as you raise at the end and as your colleague pointed out, is how many of the ‘some people’ do badges actually appeal to? This is what we’re exploring through our InfoBadges project at Brighton. Taking a group of 100 second year students (average age 19), how many are actually motivated in any way by the desire to collect badges? Our main measurement is how often they visit the page to check on their badges. At the moment is seems around 60% have checked at least once, but only 20% have looked more than twice. Early days for this project but watch this space!

Comment on Principles of motivational badges 1.0 by Peter Whitton (@pete_wh)

Peter Whitton (@pete_wh) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 10:45:45 +0000

Re Collections, kind of off topic
Collectors have a range of motivations:
1. The thrill of the chase/hunt – trying to track something down that you really want can be difficult if the item is rare. The internet has ruined this!
2. The idea that a collection can never be complete. Collections that are too easy to achieve are pointless (IMO)
3. Collections often have emotional resonance rather than physical value and remind the collector of a certain time, place or feeling
4. Arranging, cataloging, sorting and organising – some collectors love to show off their stuff
5. Comparing collections. Sometimes for interest, sometimes to find out who has the most or best or rarest item.
6. Camaraderie amongst collectors being able to speak at length with someone who shares your passion is always exciting
7. Feeling connected through the collection (e.g the autograph hunter may feel closer to the celebrity because he/she owns the signature)
8. As memento of events

Comment on Tools for game building by nicola

nicola — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:43:16 +0000

Thanks for this, Sam. Definately one to play with

Comment on Tools for game building by Sam Stokes

Sam Stokes — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:28:41 +0000

Great thinking on your part. There is a great tool that works completely on line and you can see it at http://touchdevelop.com . This tool can work on most platforms and will generate code that can be submitted to the Microsoft Windows Store for Windows 8.

Microsoft Research produces this tool for a number of research reasons, one of which is to get students and hobbyists excited about technology. This tool is completely free and fairly easy to use, it does take a little getting used to since it is designed to work on iPads, Android Phones, Windows 7 Phones, Windows 8 Phones, Windows 8, Windows 8 Surface, Vista, Windows 7, which as you can see is quite a few devices. No downloads required.

Comment on When is a game not a game? by Fiona Trapani

Fiona Trapani — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 07:31:33 +0000

I have been pondering your point, Nicola. I think that if the blood typing game were stripped of it’s ‘gamification’ that you are right, it would still be a good educational activity. In and of themselves, the game elements add little more than a temporary motivator for younger students (12-18 year olds), encouraging the ‘ludic’/ playfulness Katie identified. As it stands, this would be a good homework activity/ class activity, but I doubt that it would be used for an extended period. I would also still assert that it is a game, albeit a simple matching one (once you understand the blood typing rules) and would equate it to concentration or snap card games…. working at the knowledge building end of the educational spectrum.

Comment on When is a game not a game? by Katie Piatt

Katie Piatt — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 20:34:04 +0000

Trying to think of an example of something less playful than this one which you would classify as a game, maybe the card game Snap. That’s a game right? I assume games have different amounts of the elements that make them games…and some are less ‘gamey’ that others in different respects. It might make them poor games, but games all the same…?

Comment on The Future of Games and Learning by Annabelle Howard

Annabelle Howard — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:10:36 +0000

Thanks for the summary. It has reassured me that I’m going in the right direction.
I am a Brit living in the US. The image of “brilliant potato” is playing in my head from a UK and US point-of-view! In the US, potatoes are normally on couches and pretty dull
Do you know of a flexible quiz-making tool?
Best wishes,
Annabelle

Comment on PlayThinkLearn Redux by nicola

nicola — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 07:38:44 +0000

@Katie I’m sure there’s a paper in here somewhere… there’s a fair bit written about the ‘grind’ in World of Warcraft, and how players will put up with it to get the eventual rewards (xp, cool stuff, etc.) But it’s not like there are even any worthwhile rewards in TinyZoo!

Comment on PlayThinkLearn Redux by nicola

nicola — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 07:36:27 +0000

@Yohmoh Happy days ;o)