John A. Paravantis

Associate Professor, Department of International & European Studies

Motivation for this research was provided by the intriguing thought that

learning and playing are connected (Leo Buscaglia quote, cited by

Engler, 2012).

This talk:

outlines a review of innovation, gaming, and gamification research

globally

attempts to synthesize the above into a research and policies agenda

for gamification in education (for Greece and the EU).

Research literature is examined for

innovation (globally and in the EU)

(the) gaming (revolution)

gamification (in education).

is the practical application of creative ideas.

Sources of innovation mentioned by Drucker (1985):

process needs

industry and market changes

changes in perception

new knowledge

incongruities

unexpected occurrences.

Nations need a comparative advantage, so the (EU)

decreed 2007 to be the year of innovation, on the state of which

(https://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/innovation_en):

71% of Small & Medium Enterprises ( ) with between 1 and 9

employees encountered difficulties commercializing their innovations

due to a lack of financial resources, compared to 48% of companies

with 500 employees or more

of SMEs (with between 1 and 9 employees) introduced at least

one innovation since 2011, compared to of companies with 500

employees or more.

79% of companies that introduced at least one innovation since 2011

experienced an increase of their by more than 25% by 2014

so, companies that innovate make more money, but European SMEs

do not innovate enough.

European problems as presented by (engineer, banker;

MBA, Harvard, 2000),

(https://ec.europa.eu/commission/commissioners/2014-

2019/moedas/announcements/science-research-and-innovation-

performance-eu-2016_en):

EU has emerged from the financial , but is elusive

EU has a fundamental problem with (15% gap among

US and EU productivity; widened during the financial crisis)

without productivity growth, Europe will not succeed in creating

and raising living standards

the main reason for poor productivity growth is (what economists

call multifactor productivity) the low impact of innovation

and are fundamental to solving the productivity

problem in Europe.

More and more people are being drawn to the power of

, finding themselves engaged by them for longer and

longer periods of time, for greater and greater stretches of their lives

(McGonical, 2011).

A typical gamer plays for just an hour or two a day.

More than 5 million extreme gamers in the United States play on

average forty-five (45) hours a week.

More than 6 million people in China spend at least twenty-two (22)

hours a week gaming, which is the equivalent of a part-time job!

The planet is now spending more than 3 billion hours a week

gaming.

Nongamers still make up nearly half of the U.S. population and their

numbers are rapidly decreasing.

Across 8 major European nations

surveyed, have played

video games in the last 6 months, a total

of 79.2 million gamers (ISFE, 2010).

This percentage varies from in

to in and (

in the , according to new report).

Using these data, we estimate there are

adult Video Gamers across

all covered by the Gamer

Survey.

of and of are

Gamers.

of play video

games.

Market reports on gaming show that the gap between gamers and

nongamers is growing smaller all the time:

97% of play computer and video games.

69% of all heads of play computer and video games.

40% of all gamers are .

One out of four gamers is over the .

The average game player is and has been

playing for twelve years.

61% of surveyed , , and other say they

take daily game breaks at work.

Most gamers expect to continue playing games for the rest of their

lives.

Games do not watch television!

Games are , and us in ways that reality

cannot, e.g.

the Vespers text adventure, a surprising gem

(http://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/2krk8w0kseohyakssnaekq/v

espers) teaching us about life, death, morality and God

«Set in a 15th-century Italian monastery, it is chiefly a horror-

themed morality game, where the player takes moral decisions,

which then affect the ending. However, whilst playing the game, it

isn't obvious that these are moral dilemmas, and the game actively

encourages the player to take the evil path»

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespers_(video_game)).

Many of us use games to important , indicating a hunger

for more and better engagement from the broken reality of the world

around us (McGonigal, 2011):

more satisfying

stronger sense of

more engaging and meaningful .

Games can teach us about our true self:

what our core are

what really us

what make us .

Games bring together different findings from

(ToP).

The power of games may be leveraged to reinvent

government

health care

traditional media

marketing

entrepreneurship

world peace.

Large companies and organizations that have adopted game design as

an strategy:

World Bank

American Heart Association

National Academy of Sciences

U.S. Department of Defense

McDonald’s

Intel

Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CBC)

International Olympic Committee.

Types of games that have appeared:

games for and

games

games

games (this is what we are talking about here)

games (solving global climate change).

Games will help build hybrid industries and unconventional partnerships:

Game researchers, game designers, and game developers

Engineers, policy makers, and executives.

Types of gamers with different motivations, in game-behaviors, and

playing styles (Bartle, 1996; Dixon, 2011; Engler, 2012):

: choose a game because of social interactions, not

because of the game itself

: like gaining points, levels, equipment and other items

reflecting success

: enjoy discovering areas, creating maps, and learning

about hidden places

That’s me!

: aim to compete with other players.

Kallio, Mäyrä and Kaipainen (2010) determined the following player

behavior types:

mentalities:

gaming with kids

gaming with mates

gaming for company

mentalities:

killing time

filling gaps

relaxing

mentalities:

having fun

entertainment

immersion.

Klug and Schell (2006), presented nine player types used in the industry:

competitor

explorer

collector

achiever

joker

director

storyteller

performer

craftsman.

Likely directions of future gaming:

games that reduce our stress at and dramatically increase our

satisfaction

games that fix our systems

games that treat , , , and

games that help the feel engaged and socially connected

games that raise rates of

games that tackle global-scale problems like and

.

Innovation holds the keys to miracle solutions to some of the biggest

challenges facing our world. World challenges that need innovative

solutions (Brynteson, 2010). Regarding failing educational systems:

What products, services and processes can speed the learning

process while enriching it and making it more ?

What processes and systems can work for children of many

, , and ?

Research on positive psychology, or happiness, suggests that curiosity

increases happiness.

« discovered that people find genuine

satisfaction during a state of consciousness called . In this state, they

are completely absorbed in an activity, especially an activity which

involves their creative abilities. During this optimal experience they feel

strong, alert, in effortless control, unselfconscious, and at the peak of their

abilities» (http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-

happiness/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi).

«The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing

times … The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is

stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something

difficult and worthwhile» (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 1997)

«Creativity is so fascinating that when we are involved in it, we feel that

we are living more fully than during the rest of life» (Mihaly

Csikszentmihalyi, 1997).

Let us turn to gamification in education research.

Paper distribution by age of publication (Dicheva et al., 2014)

Paper distribution by age of publication (Caponetto, Earp & Ott, 2014)

(Caponetto, Earp & Ott, 2014)

Paper distribution by target (Caponetto, Earp & Ott, 2014)

Paper distribution by subject (Dicheva et al., 2014)

Paper distribution by type of application (Dicheva et al., 2014)

Paper distribution by gamification design principles (Dicheva et al., 2014)

Paper distribution by game mechanism (Dicheva et al., 2014)

Some thoughts on how gamification may be introduced as an innovative

tool in education.

Here is how different people enable innovation (Morris, 2007):

Paper distribution by reported results (Dicheva et al., 2014)

Points to take away from this presentation:

The world is changing, so is changing.

Although education has been a late bloomer, will be the

name of the game in 21st Century education, especially in an EU that

suffers from (SMEs) innovation and productivity deficits.

Entertainment will be the heavy industry of the 21st Century,

are the most important medium of the twenty-first century, requiring

multidisciplinary approaches, and addressing multicultural audiences.

A gaming is quietly taking place:

millions of gamers lead virtual lives

these gamers are from all walks of life

nearly everybody is destined to become a gamer.

When we are gaming (be that in business, everyday life, education,

entertainment), we are « », i.e. we are happiest.

Gaming research is peaking, but the is lagging (to North America

and the world). More is needed, more will be driven by market forces.

Educators may their classes, thinking of their students as

groups of (different types of excited) gamers.

Technology-wise, all students carry a personal computer with

them, at all times: their .

Academics ( , ) will need to

gamification by becoming innovation geniuses.

Education and will need to

gamification by becoming innovation enablers.

Educators ( , ) will need to gamification by

becoming innovation leaders.

We cannot go back: the past is another country.

More gamification research is needed, particularly in the EU.

1. Bartle, R. (1996). Hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades: players who suit

MUDs. Journal of MUD Research, 1(1), (1996).

2. Brynteson, R. (2010). The manager's pocket guide to innovation. Kindle

Edition, HRD Press, Inc.

3. Caponetto, I., Earp, J., & Ott, M. (2014, October 9-10). Gamification and

education: a literature review. Paper presented at The 8th European

Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL 2014), Berlin, Germany.

Retrieved from

http://www.itd.cnr.it/download/gamificationECGBL2014.pdf.

4. Dicheva, D., Dichev, C., Agre, G. & Angelova, G. (2014). Gamification in

education: a systematic mapping study. Educational Technology &

Society, 18(3), 75–88. Retrieved from

http://www.ifets.info/journals/18_3/6.pdf.

5. Dixon, D. (2011, May 7-12). Player types and gamification. ACM CHI

Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Vancouver, BC,

Canada. Retrieved from http://gamification-research.org/wp-

content/uploads/2011/04/11-Dixon.pdf.

6. Drucker, P. (1985). The discipline of innovation. Harvard Business School

Journal.

7. Engler, R. (2012). Serious games – gamification of education. Faculteit

der Exacte Wetenschappen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Retrieved

from http://www.cs.vu.nl/~eliens/serious/local/essay/12/08.pdf.

8. Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE) (2010). Video gaming in

Europe 2010. Prepared for ISFE by GameVision Europe. Retrieved from

http://www.isfe.eu/sites/isfe.eu/files/isfe_final_combined.pdf.

9. Kallio, K. P., Mäyrä, F., & Kaipainen, K. (2010). At Least Nine Ways to Play:

Approaching Gamer Mentalities. Games and Culture. Games and

Culture, 6(4), 327–353. Retrieved from http://uta32-

kk.lib.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/65823/at_least_nine_ways_to_pl

ay_2011.pdf.

10. Klug, G, & Schell, J. (2006). Why People Play Games: An Industry

Perspective. In Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and

Consequences, P. Varderer & J. Bryant (eds), 91-100.

11. McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken: why games make us better and

how they can change the world. Random House, Kindle Edition.

12. Morris, L. (2007). Creating the innovation culture – Geniuses, champions,

and leaders. An InnovationsLab white paper, InnovationsLab. Retrieved

from http://innovationmanagement.se/wp-

content/uploads/pdf/CreatingInnovationCulture.pdf.

Associate Professor

Department of International & European Studies, UNIVERSITY of PIRAEUS

Uses quantitative techniques (multivariate statistics, econometric

modeling, time series forecasting, game theory & computer simulation) to

(1) analyze the global energy impacts of technological systems (such as

buildings & transportation) on the natural & man-made environment, &

(2) synthesize policy directions

&