Explore with the BSC Library

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adventure, explore BSC, games, reading

Stop by the BSC Library to discover some amazing adventure stories and play a quick game with friends and family! Welcome to BSC!

Gamifying Higher Ed

Excerpt from “The Looming Gamification of Higher Ed” by Kentaro Tomaya, (The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 29, 2015)

“In 2011 there was a loud buzz about gamification — the use of game elements such as point systems and graduated challenges for activities not usually considered games. An online game called Fold.it allowed people untrained in biochemistry to decode the protein structure of an AIDS-related enzyme … The author Jane McGonigal wrote about Quest to Learn, a New York charter school whose entire curriculum is gamified ….

Gamification proponents argue that today’s students are different. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, video games … and all the other toys and tools of the digital age … They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards …

The problem is gamification’s premise. It suggests that we should capitulate to a generation of students who supposedly can’t muster interest and curiosity on their own … At the heart of this debate is a deep philosophical question about whether we should engage students where they are, or expect them to come with a well of intrinsic motivation.”  Read entire article …

Interested in reading Jane McGonigal’s book? We have it at the BSC Library:

Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World (Call number: GV 1201.38 .M34 2011)