The idea of gamification applied to the education space is not a new concept (Csaba et al., 2017). We see tabletop and board games present in the learning space like Chess and backgammon. Teachers play sing along, sports and educational – learning games with students, especially in the primary school sector. Gamification technologies build on this by not only utilising motion graphics and advanced visualisation, but also includes input or feedback like joystick controls, keypress operations and much more. Gamification sometimes rewards the user for correct results, (or punishes them for incorrect results), whilst simultaneously challenging them through a series of levels or tasks. This makes the whole learning experience fun, often quick and addictive - drawing the person back for another attempt for level progression and learning. These education-based games are referred to as ‘smart games’, with very defined knowledge and learning requirements prior to the game developers’ input. The key stakeholders of a smart game include curriculum designers, training providers, teachers, game developers, 3D modelling, scene and character designers, riggers, software providers, financial management and the end user i.e., students.
Reference
Csaba, R., Damsa, A., & Kristóf, G.-A. (2017). Gamification on the edge of educational sciences and pedagogical methodologies. Journal of Applied Technical and Educational Sciences, 7(4), 79–88. https://doi.org/10.24368/jates.v7i4.12