Wired: The irrationality of cheating at gamified learning

Game mechanics can make the learning process more sticky, but they can also encourage cheating. How do you make sure that the logic of the game doesn't overtake its intended educational purpose? Mentions Ian Bogost's HOW TO DO THINGS WITH VIDEOGAMES.

Bogost_HowFor theorist Ian Bogost, author of How to Do Things with Videogames, the problem is not with gamingper sebut comes from mistaking games for "points-machines" rather than what he calls "experience-machines". As Robertson puts it, games are "safe spaces we opt into"and a good game will circumvent the temptation to cheat by "preparing for it and embracing it" much as many of the classic console games did. Both Cooke and von Ahn told me about plans to incorporate more competitiveness and more gameplay into their respective platforms, so perhaps the cure for gamification's excesses is simply more gamification.

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Published in: Wired
By: Robert Barry