These are all activities that resemble a game<\/strong> and looking to drive new business, retain customers, help them learn a skill or motivate people to exercise. Gamification is a strategy<\/strong> that makes all these activities much easier and more efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hundreds of brands, educational institutions and organizations<\/strong> around the world have implemented campaigns and strategies with gamification<\/strong> in order to improve all their work, get closer to their customers or users<\/a> and boost the performance and well-being of their teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But specifically what is gamification? Is it when we play to earn points at the supermarket or when we use a video game on our cell phones to get a discount in a store?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gamification encompasses a whole universe of possibilities and various adoptions according to the needs of those who use it. The term can refer to many tools, methods, techniques,<\/a> and platforms that may or may not be digital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this text we explain what gamification consists of<\/a> , how it is used to improve education<\/strong> in schools and universities, how it is applied for business<\/strong> and why it is so successful as a marketing<\/strong> campaign .<\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, gamification is taking an activity that is not a game<\/strong> (such as solving equations or monitoring sales) and applying game mechanics to it in<\/strong> order to improve<\/strong> people’s engagement<\/strong> with said activity, increase the expected results and even, make us happier.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although it’s a new word, gamification has been around for a long time. Playful tools have been used in children’s classrooms for decades. And we have all participated in game dynamics in commerce, such as earning points at the supermarket. Both are gamification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These three elements generate the gamified activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the last decades, gamification strategies began to be applied to digital environments,<\/strong> whether through computers, smartphones or smart watches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And since digital is our favorite environment, it makes sense that all these strategies are starting to be based on contemporary online dynamics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gamification is often applied to solve problems and obstacles within companies, institutions or personal life. Among many others, these are some benefits of gamification:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gamification works because it appeals to the basic mechanisms of behavior<\/strong> . With playful interactions, human desires such<\/strong> as reward, socialization, achievement of status, competition and individual expression are fulfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Educational gamification is about using the key principles and elements of games<\/strong> to achieve specific learning goals<\/strong> .<\/p>\n\n\n\n The education sector is one of the markets that has most welcomed gamification. In 2015, the educational gamification market<\/a> reached 93 million dollars and it is expected that this year (2020) the figure will reach 1.2 billion dollars: a growth of almost 68% in five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These figures show us that gamification for educational purposes<\/a> works and its adoption is growing. The use of game mechanics such as rewards, points, levels or ranks<\/strong> tends to boost the motivation and commitment<\/strong> of students and teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many times gamification in education is also applied in game principles for pedagogical designs<\/strong> in classrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, you can develop activities such as points for participation, math contests, medals for good grades or even change the traditional grades for scores or lives, as in a video game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All game-based learning strategies have one point in common and in theory we could call them all gamification, as we explained above. But for precision reasons it is recommended to identify them depending on their characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a possible classification of types of game-based learning for education, according to a report from Tecnol\u00f3gico de Monterrey, Mexico<\/a> :<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Image: Tecnol\u00f3gico de Monterrey).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regardless of its name, the newest gamification techniques today are undoubtedly in the digital environment. <\/a>And in the case of education, they are focused on video games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Video game designs for education include elements such as scores, ranks, medals, and tournaments are just the beginning. They are also created according to the specific needs of a course and gamification designers use complex elements such<\/a> as video game narratives and transmedia resources<\/strong> .<\/p>\n\n\n\n These components are also included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, college or university professors have the opportunity to take gamification courses<\/a> in which they learn to adapt their pedagogical methods<\/a> around the dynamics of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. \u201cQuest to Learn\u201d in Manhattan, United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Image: screenshot<\/a> ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quest to Learn (Q2L) is a fully gamified high school in Manhattan, United States. The concept was designed, in principle, by the Institute of Play<\/a> , a private institution that aims to introduce gamification to schools across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q2L uses a wide spectrum of gamified methodologies for its classes. Some are not in digital format, but they always revolve around game dynamics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the newest principles of this school is that it tries to identify which professions require the use of certain knowledge of the curriculum. Thus, activities are designed that encourage children to act as if they were professionals in these careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Educational game against malaria<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Image: screenshot<\/a> ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart Game Systems (SGS) is a company that designs educational training games for professionals that developed a game<\/a> to improve the decision-making of healthcare professionals when using pesticides against the spread of malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The game, called Resistance Sim, simulates various real environments to which all the variables associated with the use of pesticides to control mosquito and disease populations were added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A player is considered successful if he is able to prevent the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Gamification in Higher Education: Delft University of Technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n This university gamified two of its courses a few years ago: one for beginner students on computing and a more advanced one on cloud computing. In both, teachers used various game-based techniques to increase student engagement and engagement during the semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Classic techniques were applied such as: a points system, medals, ranks, levels that were being unlocked and an internal digital game with which the students organized the structure of the course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We explain everything you need to know about how to apply gamification for your brand or organization at Colombia Games<\/a> .<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As with education, gamification in business revolves around motivational design. <\/strong>There are multiple formats and applications of gamification in business depending on the area that you want to promote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The intention with \u201cgamified\u201d applications by a brand, for example, is usually to provide autonomy to users, clients, patients or workers, so that they make their own decisions<\/strong> and do not feel forced to interact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well implemented in the corporate sector, gamification helps increase <\/a>customer <\/a>interaction<\/a> and drive employee engagement with their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is achieved through a cycle made up of actions<\/a> , rewards, and motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are some of the advantages compared to users that gamification offers in business:<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the areas in companies that has best adopted gamification is human resources. Thanks to various platforms and methods, it is possible to improve<\/strong> employee engagement <\/strong>with the brands or organizations<\/a> they work for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gamification boosts employee engagement because it stimulates progress<\/strong> , gives work purpose<\/strong> , feels self-employed,<\/strong> and is fun<\/strong> .<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies are also using gamification to get the attention of potential candidates. In addition, it has been possible to replace traditional<\/a> recruitment processes<\/a> with digital alternatives that speed up procedures and help evaluate the performance of applicants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A large list of organizations, such as Marriott, Deloitte, Cisco, and Linkedin, have used gamification for years to hone<\/strong> their employees’ skills<\/strong> , solve<\/strong> internal obstacles<\/strong> , and recruit<\/strong> new talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, Marriott developed an online game a<\/a> few years ago ,<\/a> similar to Farmville or The Sims, to acclimate potential employees to tasks within their hotels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"gamification-02\"](\"https:\/\/colombiagames.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gamificacion02-2-768x400-1.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat is Gamification?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What are the basics<\/a> of gamification?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Gamification\"](\"https:\/\/colombiagames.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PIRAMIDE_WEB-768x447.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDigital or not?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/colombiagames.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gamification-big-min.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat are its benefits?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Educational Gamification<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"gamification](\"https:\/\/colombiagames.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gamificacion04-4-768x406-1.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n Gamification games<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"GAMIFICATION\"](\"https:\/\/colombiagames.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/GAMIFICACION_WEB-768x447-1.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3 Examples of Gamification in the Classroom<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Gamification\"](\"https:\/\/colombiagames.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gamificacion06-3-768x400-1.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Social](\"https:\/\/colombiagames.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gamificacion07-4-768x436-1.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Gamification](\"https:\/\/colombiagames.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gamificacion08-3-768x433-1.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nGamification in Business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"biz](\"https:\/\/colombiagames.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gamificacion09-3-768x414-1.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nHow do companies benefit from implementing strategies with gamification?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Gamification in Human Resources (and Human Management)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Gamification\"](\"https:\/\/colombiagames.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/gamificacion10-2-768x384-1.png\")
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