(oxymoron= het -woord stijlfiguur bestaande uit de verbinding van twee tegengestelde begrippen, bijv. een levende dode)
Ofwel kán je wel een serious game maken? Spreekt het zichzelf niet tegen serieuze lol?
Vroeg me dit al vaker af, en las nu net het volgende in: Garris et al. / GAMES, MOTIVATION, AND LEARNING a research and practice model:
A second concern is as follows: When we attempt to harness the positive aspects of games for instructional purposes, at what point do we risk violating or corrupting some of the basic principles of games—that play is free and voluntary, nonproductive, and separate from the real world? In other words, play differs from work. Caillois (1961) has claimed that a game that one is forced to play ceases to be play. Huizinga (1950) argued that the “fun element” underlies the intensity, absorption, and power of games and that play is the direct opposite of seriousness. As we adapt games for serious purposes, we must be aware of this tension between the world of play and the world of work. Thus, in one sense, the term instructional game is an oxymoron. Game play is voluntary, nonproductive, and separate from the real world. Instruction or training is typically nonvoluntary, undertaken to achieve certain learning outcomes, and related to life or work skills. Moreover, the instructional games that we wish to design are not merely games in which learning is a by-product of play but games that are devoted to learning. The challenge is to adapt game features for instructional purposes, to engage the game cycle that sustains self-directed interest, without squeezing out what is enjoyable about games in the first place. If we succeed, we will be able to develop games that instruct and instruction that engages the student. If we fail, we end up with games that are dull and instructional programs that do not teach.
Dus:
– een spel “aankleden” met een serieuze laag is een slecht idee!
– een serieus thema “aankleden” met een spel is een slecht idee!
Dus conclusie: meer gamification dan serious gaming als term hanteren voor onze serieuze doelstellingen, of vooral goed erover waken en goede producten ontwikkelen! Een serieuze uitdaging.