Kevin Bell - Game On!

Game On!

Tech.edu

A Hopkins Series on Education and Technology

Game On!

Gamification, Gameful Design, and the Rise of the Gamer Educator

Kevin Bell

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS BALTIMORE

2018 Johns Hopkins University Press

All rights reserved. Published 2018

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bell, Kevin, 1968 author.

Title: Game on! : gamification, gameful design, and the rise of the gamer educator / Kevin Bell.

Description: Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017. | Series: Tech.edu : a Hopkins series on education and technology | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017009944 | ISBN 9781421423968 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 1421423960 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781421423975 (electronic) | ISBN 1421423979 (electronic)

Subjects: LCSH: Education, HigherEffect of technological innovations on. | Education, HigherComputer-assisted instruction. | Internet in higher education. | Gamification. | Computer games. | Educational games. | BISAC: EDUCATION / Higher. | GAMES / Video & Electronic. | EDUCATION / Computers & Technology.

Classification: LCC LB2395.7 .B45 20107 | DDC 378.1/7344678dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017009944

A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Calling out one person in no way diminishes my appreciation of the large number of people who have supported and encouraged me through the production of this work. However, I dedicate it officially to my dad, Michael Bell, who taught in some pretty rough inner-city schools in the UK, motivating students that others had given up on. Contextualizing through his loves of literature, music, and (proper) football, he gamified spelling tests in the 1970s with leaderboards, promotions, and relegations, intrinsically motivating kids steeped in the highs and lows of supporting Newcastle Unitedthe greatest team in the history of all sportsever

Dad claims to understand next to nothing of my writings yet embodies the spirit and principle of the very best educators: those who inspire and change lives. Thanks fatha.

Contents

Acknowledgments

As is traditional, way too many people to list here, but Ill give it a go.

Two people went beyond the call of duty or friendship to help me with this work.

My dissertation chair, Dr. Laura Perna, provided unreasonably prompt and helpful feedback on the executive doctorate program at the University of Pennsylvania. A gamefully designed, intrinsically motivating goal of mine was to get my work to a level where I would get feedback on a draft with fewer than 100 comments, tweaks, or suggestions from her. It never happened. Even from Kazakhstan when technically offline, she spent precious time bringing her laser focus to bear, sending me significant (as in p-value less than 0.05, causing me to reject the null hypothesis) support. Thank you, Laura.

Robert Rosenbalm, because of geeky interest in the subject area and by being what I would simply call a great bloke, tirelessly and again, punctually, reviewed chapter drafts with an editors eye, a pedants accuracy, and a friends sensitivity. His mantra for this work and the changes that were happening in my life at the timeYou got thisbecame my comfort blanket, my mulligan, and/or my incentive to keep going. Thank you, Robert.

The book would be nothing without the input and reflections of the practitioners whose work and energy drove the cases. Massive thanks to some of the most inspiring and generous educators I have ever metDrs. Neil Niman, Kevin Yee, and Gerol Petruzella and Fred Aebli and Greg Andres; I hope your work, even to a small degree via this book, gets you the recognition and unlimited quarters you all deserve.

I mention my dad, Michael Bell, in the dedication, and again here, for the balance and background he and my mum, Jean, provided: raising my brother and me with a blend of culture, academia, sport, music, love of reading, and a carefree, insulated start to our lives. Thank you both so much.

A shout-out to Cohort 12 at Penn, a supremely talented and intelligent group. Swimming in that gene pool was exhilarating, made more so by the unequivocal support, humo(u)r, empathy, and friendship provided along the waymany thanks and egszsgre.

Professionally, Northeastern University was a solid base, and people there were great supporters of the doctoral work that led to this book. Thank you to (former dean) John LaBrie, (SVP/CEO) Philomena Mantella, and, for cheerleading and the occasional pint, Peter Stokes, Bryan Lackaye, and Kat Hitchcock.

Finally, most importantly, thanks to my wife and family for allowing me the time and space to work on this book. Sorry I missed the occasional recital, show, or hiking trip, but I hope this work makes you a little bit proud. Diane, Shay, Tah, and Rhiannathanks for making my life so full and apologies in advance for the Gorf refurbished video arcade cabinet unit that will arrive soon to celebrate book completion day.

Stay in touch, old friends and new:

Twitter: @kbell14; blog: kevinbell@wordpress.com; other social media channels. Or just come in person and see the kangas outside my office at Western Sydney University, where I serve at the DVC-As discretion.

Game On!

Prologue

ASHTON TO APPLETHE BREAKOUT YEAR

The year 1978 was interesting for many reasons. Two popes, Paul VI and John Paul I, died within six weeks of each other, while, just before the pontifical passing, both Ashton Kutcher and James Franco were born. The Bee Gees, collectively and solo (Andy Gibb), dominated the US charts with six number-one songs, but without doubt the most significant pop-culture event of the year was Taito Corporations launch of Tomohiro Nishikados arcade game Space Invaders .

By way of a tribute to a popular Japanese song of the time, Nishikado titled it Space Monsters before his bosses at Taito made him change it to : Sup su Inb d transcribed into the Katakana used for imported western words in Japanese; Space Invaders in full-on western English. One, now somewhat debunked, part of the mystique around the games popularity in Japan was that it caused a national shortage of the 100-yen coin, forcing the government to triple production. Note for readers born in the last 20 to 25 years: everyone used to go to arcades and put coins in slots in the antediluvian days before PlayStations and Xboxes were invented. While the 100-yen shortage story is exaggerated at best, and very possibly a downright myth, the hype made it over to the United States, where Ballys Midway division licensed the game a year later. By 1982 it had grossed $2 billion, a figure that adjusted for inflation comes close to $7.26 billion in 2016 terms. As a culturally similar comparison point, the highest grossing movie of the late seventies was a little flick by the name of Star Wars. George Lucass first of three , six , seven , many Star Wars adventures banked a cool $486 million. Impressivebut somewhat less so when compared to the success of Space Invaders . The movie made less than a quarter of the revenue of the arcade game. Bear in mind that each game interaction generated one single quarteraround one-tenth of the transaction charge ($2.53) of going to the movies in the late seventies. Maybe it didnt quite cause a shortage at the US mint, but thats almost surely enough quarters to take down the Death Star.