The fine art of gamification in learning

By Joe Triccas, Product Manager, Neve 

I have played video games since I was 9. I’ve seen the technology shrink, the resolutions get crisper and the storylines cut deeper and reflect reality increasingly over time. 

As well as all this, the creators of these games have been watching us. Learning what keeps us at the screen. I am sure there is an exceptionally large financial reason behind this, although the insights this industry has made into the neurochemistry of learning is a genuine contribution to science. 

We now know that our brain will release chemicals that are both addictive and induce feelings of pleasure when we overcome a previously difficult challenge. However, the brain is not so simple as ‘I did challenge yay’! There is nuance to this. If a challenge had previously felt impossible, and then is suddenly trivially dispatched, the brain will doubt the external feedback – the success is uncanny, and the dopamine hit we are all so eager for is unlikely to be felt. 

There is a subtle art in ensuring challenges are set at the right level of difficulty. When applying this principle to learning, the goal of the teacher is to enable the learner to be able to credibly visualise a path of growth from who they are now into a version of themselves that can do the thing.  

It is the pursuit of this growth, and the environmental feedback giving evidence of improvement, that results in the almighty dopamine hit; leading to new habits and changed behaviour. 

One of the cornerstones of Neve as a learning platform is to enable learners to learn at their pace. This is not just simply an intellectual pace, but also should respect the lifestyle of the learner. Not everyone likes to get up early and read a lengthy article – some like to watch a video instead or listen to a podcast on a run. Others have children and the only time is on the drive back from the school run. We are building Neve in a manner that enables each individual nugget of knowledge to be input into the learners’ brains in the way that suits them.  

We are applying the principles of gamification to bring learners back to Neve. Each step on the pathway brings them closer to the version of them that knows what they need to know and will be a challenge for them to overcome. 
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A long-term goal of Neve is for learners to become lifelong learners. ​

If you'd like to know more about Joe Triccas you can go to his Linkedin profile by clicking on his name. Find out more about our learning platform here.