Suggestions for Linking Gaming to Education

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2985-Gamification

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/3167-Gamifying-Education

I found two interesting links on Gamification, how it can help students learn, how it can hinder people, and suggestions for how to start gamifying our way to better education by people that are experts in the video game world. The first video talks about what Gamification and its pros and cons. It talks about how we can get integrate elements of our "play lives" and our "work lives." It also talks about how Gamification as a con is starting to seep into society in the form of Monopoly games in McDonald's or leveling up for credit card expenditures.

The second video talks about suggestions for how teachers can start gamifying their classrooms through the use of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) and Plot Your Route Game (similar to the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" Game). The narrator also talks about the pros and cons of both and assumes that teachers need to keep within a budget and not take up too much time. These game implementations seem very interesting and can help to improve student performance.