Play is the natural way children learn. The passion for play has lead to people developing games in many different forms. We have physical and mental games. Indoor and outdoor games. Imaginative and intellectual games. The advancement of computers has led to new possibilities in the types and scopes of games.
We look at successful games to learn about motivation and engagement. Different people like different games. The important part is that the player is given the space to discover and select their own goals with the prospect to learn something new and achieve something meaningful. The game should give the player clear feedback in a way that facilitates mastery and celebrates accomplishments. It will show the progress towards the player-selected goals. It will adapt the level and pacing of challenges to keep up the interest.
Most traditional systems of educations has some of these things, like tests and degrees. But we can do more to use what we learned about the psychology of motivation to make learning stuff better. Computers also has the potential to personalize the material to each individual person. Combine this computerized gamified education with physical and social activity, creating and carrying out projects to solve real world problems.
