A Case Study in Gamification

Geraldine Exton; Liam MurrayUniversity of Limerick,Ireland

Duolingo• www.duolingo.com • Freely available wherever there is

internet access• Inclusive/accessible• Translate the web• Crowdsourcing

Games in Language Learning

• Game types have diversified– Real-time strategy, MMORPG, social games,

FPS

• Focus on games in L2 learning– (Reinhardt)

– Games in the classroom– Games as leisure activities– Games to complement learning

What is Gamification?

• the use of game design elements in non-game contexts

Deterding

Why Gamification?• When looking for motivational

affordances to increase participation and engagement of learners–Game elements - gamification

• Connect gamification and motivation

Motivation• Self-Determination Theory

Ryan and Deci

• Three components to be fulfilled: Competence Autonomy Relatedness

• Skill mastery • Choice • Social connectedness

Gamification and Motivation• Taxonomy: –Linking specific game elements to

these components of motivation• Why?–Address criticism • gamification slaps elements all over the place

–Work the motivational needs into the design

Gamification and MotivationTaxonomyTakes 16 elements found in gamesLooks at their target behavioursLinks these to Competence,

Autonomy, RelatednessShows why this is importantShows when it occurs in gamified

system

Gamification and MotivationTaxonomy

Game Element Competence Autonomy Relatedness

Achievements ●

Avatars ● ● ●

Badges ● ●

Boss Fights ●

Collections ● ●

Combat ●

Content-Unlocking ● ●

Discussion forums ● ● ●

Gifting ● ●

Leader-boards ● ●

Levels ● ● ●

Points ●

Quests ● ● ●

Social Graphs ● ●

Teams ●

Virtual Goods ● ● ●

Application to Duolingo

Gamification in Duolingo• 11 out of the 16 elements present– Highly gamified

• Only boss fights, collections, combat, quests, teams not present

Gamification in DuolingoCOMPETENCE• Duolingo home

page: skills tree (achievements)

• High emphasis on mastery of skills

• 9/11 elements fulfil competence needs

Gamification in DuolingoAUTONOMY• Duolingo lingot

store• 4/11 Autonomy-

related• Choice re: avatars,

discussion forums, gifting & virtual goods (lingots)

Gamification in DuolingoRELATEDNESS• Duolingo

discussion page• Discussion

forums: communities of practice

• 9/11 Relatedness

Gamification in DuolingoFrom Taxonomy:• 14/16 Competence–9 in Duolingo

• 6/16 Autonomy–4 in Duolingo

• 12/16 Relatedness–9 in Duolingo

Gamification in Duolingo• 100 million users (as of June 2015)• Language learning always looking for ways to

motivate learners: gamification is key to Duolingo success

• Accessible, free, fun• Community of learners helping each other

ReferencesBogost, I., (2011) Persuasive Games: Exploitationware [online], available: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6366/persuasive_games_exploitationware.php [accessed April 7, 2014]Brathwaite, B., & Schreiber, I. (2008). Challenges for Game Designers, Charles River Media. Inc., Rockland, MA.Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., & Nacke, L. (2011). From game design elements to gamefulness: defining

gamification. In Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments (pp. 9-15). ACM.

Duolingo (2012) Duolingo: Free Language Education for the World [online], available: www.duolingo.com [accessed Feb 24, 2014]

Ferro, L. S., Walz, S. P., & Greuter, S. (2013). Towards personalised, gamified systems: an investigation into game design, personality and player typologies. In Proceedings of The 9th Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment: Matters of Life and Death (p. 7). ACM.

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Huotari, K. & Hamari, J. (2012). Defining gamification : a service marketing perspective. Proceeding of the 16th International Academic MindTrek Conference.

Llagostera, E. (2012). On gamification and persuasion. SB Games, Brasilia, Brazil, November 2-4, 2012, 12-21.Protalinski, E., (2015) 100M users strong, Duolingo raises $45M led by Google at a $470M valuation to grow

language-learning platform [online], available: http://venturebeat.com/2015/06/10/100m-users-strong-duolingo-raises-45m-led-by-google-at-a-470m-valuation-to-grow-language-learning-platform/ [accessed August 25, 2015]

Reeves, B., & Read, J. L. (2009) Total Engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete. MA: Boston,: Harvard Business School Publishing.

References

Reinhardt, J., (no date) Developing a Research Agenda for Digital Game-Based L2 Learning [online], available: slat.arizona.edu/sites/slat/files/page/gamesresearchagenda.pptxReeves, B., & Read, J. L. (2009) Total Engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete. MA: Boston,: Harvard Business School Publishing.Reinhardt, J., (no date) Developing a Research Agenda for Digital Game-Based L2 Learning [online], available: slat.arizona.edu/sites/slat/files/page/gamesresearchagenda.pptx[accessed August 18, 2015]Robertson, M., (2010) Can’t Play Won’t Play [online], available: http://hideandseek.net/2010/10/06/cant-play-wont-play/ [accessed April 7, 2014]Robinson, D., & Bellotti, V. (2013). A preliminary taxonomy of gamification elements for varying anticipated commitment. In Proc. ACM CHI 2013 Workshop on Designing Gamification: Creating Gameful and Playful Experiences. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American psychologist, 55(1), 68.Thom, J., Millen, D., & DiMicco, J. (2012). Removing gamification from an enterprise SNS. In Proceedings of the ACM 2012 conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (pp. 1067-1070). ACM.von Ahn, L., (2014) Duolingo turns two today! [online], available: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/3412629 [accessed January 28, 2015]Werbach, K and Hunter, D, (2012) For the Win: How Game Thinking Can Revolutionize Your Business, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton Digital Press