GAMING IN 2020: With all the hubbub around Maker Faire back in May, we somehow missed this Pew Research Center report on the future of gamification. The qualitative study explores the attitudes of 1,021 experts and Internet users who took the Future of the Internet report conducted by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project and Elon University's Imagining the Internet Center. The survey, which gauges attitudes towards the Internet and gathers opinions on the future state of the Internet in 2020, revealed a virtual dead heat in the race to gamify all aspects of American life, including serious issues like K-12 education. 42% of respondents say gamification is a passing fad that will remain relevant only in niche populations; 53% expect the opposite, namely a proliferation of games for work, learning, health, and other everyday activities.
The real value of the report lies in the analysis of respondents' unstructured responses which include commentaries from Ms. Susan Crawford, former technology policy assistant in the Obama administration, and Ms. Dana Boyd, Senior Researcher at Microsoft. We appreciate the inclusion of educators, too. Here's a money quote from Mr. Ron Smith, bridge coordinator at LAUSD: "I am not convinced that there is a correlation between gaming and academic success in low-achieving students, and high achievers will thrive anywhere."
Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know: we typically find more gold in the trenches than from pundits in the clouds. And feel free to dig through the full collection of responses here.
