Education, “Pointsification,” Empowerment?

Abstract

Gamification as a tool or procedure to add entertaining and motivating elements to usually non-entertaining environments such as schools or workplaces is becoming more and more popular. E-learning platforms like Moodle provide tools and sets of functions to add elements of gamification. An important factor especially in education is technology: individual achievements and progress can be recorded, measured, tracked and visualized and therefore identified and rewarded through bonus points, awards or rankings. This is where gamification can add some challenge and excitement to the learning. But can entertainment and education be combined by technical means at all? What are the possibilities and limits? What implications have to be expected regarding the relationship between teachers, students and a technological – gamified – environment?