GLASGOW, SCOTLAND / ACCESSWIRE / February 16, 2022 / Gerry Doyle, one of the founders of the bespoke learning solutions company Junction-18, is on the carpet playing with his son. Between them, a herd of small plastic animals moves around an imaginary farm. Gesturing at his son he says, “His love of animals makes him want to learn so much about them.” He explains that this is gamification in its simplest form.
Coined by Nick Pelling in 2002, gamification describes the inclusion of play in a given situation or environment to make it more appealing to the participant. Over time it has been used to make writing online reviews more socially rewarding and to make following sat nav directions feel like playing a video game. Since Pelling coined the term, psychologists have adapted the meaning to describe the fundamental learning processes built into children and adults. We are pre-programmed to learn through play. Borrowing elements of gameplay and transferring them to the realm of education and training might seem logical now, but in 2002, when Doyle founded Junction-18, this was revolutionary.
