{"id":399,"date":"2017-09-17T17:44:20","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T00:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/j2hill\/?p=399"},"modified":"2017-09-17T22:57:31","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T05:57:31","slug":"influence-in-the-palm-of-our-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/j2hill\/influence-in-the-palm-of-our-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"Gamification: Influence in the Palm of our Hands"},"content":{"rendered":"

For some the word gamification <\/em>is almost a four-letter word: mothers\u2019 eyes roll at the thought of their kids spending hours on iPads, and their teens on PS4s and Xboxes (and\u00a0little kids too<\/a><\/em>); teachers clench their teeth in frustration at the hours students waste on Snapchat and Plants vs. Zombies; and the health and wellness sector conduct study after study<\/a> on the negative effects of digital game play.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Games, for many, are seen as huge distraction\u2014a way to disengage from the society and from the issues that affect our world.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t a new story.<\/p>\n

In the early days of the 20th<\/sup> century, issues like warfare, financial collapse, women’s rights, and race relations, which had previously sat static on a newspaper page, were now being reenacted in one\u2019s living room. The advent of commercially available radios (then televisions) hurtled current events, grim though they may be, right past pot roast and gravy dinners and into the homes of millions.<\/p>\n

Alongside broadcasting global news of the day, radio and television also brought professionally organized sports right into people’s homes\u2014and lo the the proverbial \u201carmchair athlete\u201d was born. For some, like Noam Chomsky, there was a belief that the western world\u2019s newfound access to organized sports, and subsequent \u201caddiction\u201d to, was nothing more than a distraction from the greater issues of the time.<\/p>\n