A quoi servent badges et gamification ? Pourquoi utiliser des badges pour l’ e-learning ? Est-ce la même chose que les jeux sérieux ? J’examine avec vous ces différentes notions et comment nous les utilisons dans nos cours en ligne.
Mis à jour le 19 juillet 2023.
Temps de lecture estimé : 9 minutes
Table des matières
- Badges and gamification are not synonymous
- What is gamification?
- Badges et gamification dans mes formations
- Les dangers du système « badges et gamification «
- La collaboration, une dimension souvent oubliée et pourtant essentielle de la gamification
- A necessary balance between gamification and educational quality
- Conclusions:
Badges and gamification are not synonymous
When we talk about gamification (or ludification or ludicisation), people respond to you 9 times out of 10 (and I'm being kind...):
" - ah, yes, the badges!"
C’est vrai que les badges sont un élément de la gamification. Mais ils ne sont qu’un seul élément parmi d’autres. La gamification, c’est beaucoup plus vaste et plus complexe.
What is gamification?
The " gamification » c’est l’application à un domaine (la formation, le marketing, le management, etc.) des principes du jeu. C’est-à-dire :
- les règles,
- le score,
- le plaisir,
- les éléments matériels du jeu comme :
- le plateau,
- les avatars.
- Mais aussi des principes plus abstraits comme :
- la compétition,
- la collaboration,
- le sentiment d’avoir accompli quelque chose,
- le fait de relever des défis,
- etc.
Badges et gamification, est-ce la même chose ?
Les badges sont un élément matériel de la gamification. Ils en sont une partie visible, une matérialisation des récompenses symboliques du jeu. Mais, ils n’en constituent pas l’élément principal.
That said, they are interesting. I took part in a MOOC on the challenges facing education in the coming years on an Australian platform. We received fun badges for each activity we completed. We could also see what badges the other participants had received. And that was stimulating.
Badges et gamification dans mes formations
In the SPOC Train online, At first I thought I wouldn't use the badges, but in the end I decided to use them.
Je les avais créés avec Iconion, un programme de création et de modification d’icônes. J’ai créé un jeu de badges différents pour chaque semaine. Chaque semaine a sa propre couleur. Les badges sont décernés lorsque certaines activités sont marquées comme terminées par le participant. Cela signifie que le participant a une possibilité de choix : il peut réclamer ou non son badge en marquant ou non l’activité. Certains participants cochent toutes les activités, d’autres seulement certaines, enfin, un dernier groupe ne les coche pratiquement jamais.
C’est évidemment un niveau très faible de gamification et j’en avais conscience. Voulant aller plus loin et scénariser nos formations en tenant compte de principes plus élaborés de gamification — comme la compétition, la collaboration (la coopétition, qui fait appel parfois à l’une, parfois à l’autre, comme dans la « vraie vie ») — j’ai décidé, depuis, d’adopter la plateforme Cours Networking, gamifiée d’origine. C’est grâce à cette plateforme que nous avons pu intégrer de la gamification (ou ludification) dans nos MOOC, le MOOC Dys et le MOOC DIMPA.
Les dangers du système « badges et gamification"
Contrary to what you might think, gamification is not a simple thing. You can be completely wrong about what motivates your audience. One of the gamification systems that disappointed me the most - and even annoyed me at times - was that of Kobo Books.
1 Rewards that mean nothing to the recipient
An inveterate reader, I discovered e-books a few years ago and as a result I read fewer and fewer paper books (less than 10 % of my current reading). Kobo Books thought it would reward me with badges. Badges for finishing a book in less than a week (I read an average of two a week), for reading between 2 and 3 in the morning (I only moderately appreciate this reward for «insomnia»), a badge for reading a «non-fiction» book (that's about half of what I read, the other half being novels, poetry and drama).
First of all, I didn't ask for anything. I'm given badges which I'm encouraged to share on Facebook (which I refuse to do, my reading habits are my own business... and now yours!).
Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, these badges make no sense to me I read one or two books a week? Yes, and that's how it's been for 45 years... Do I read at night? Yes, I don't sleep much... These badges don't tell me anything about myself that I don't already know. They don't show any particular progression or commitment. So I find them more boring than anything else.
2 Extrinsic rewards that end up demotivating people
Another danger of gamification is relying solely on extrinsic rewards. Thinking that offering a badge or a certain number of points will encourage you to get involved. In reality, these rewards constitute an external motivation, which runs the risk of conflicting with the person's internal motivations. A very significant example: scorecards.
Many people believe that scorecards are an essential element of motivation. In fact, they are used to stimulate salespeople. However, a scoreboard will only work if you are likely to be in the top 10 % players. If you post a score of 5,400 points when the leader has 12 million points, what's your reaction? You'll give up. You'll say to yourself: I've got no chance of joining the leading pack, so I'd better give up...
Daniel Pink, in his book The truth about what motivates us, souligne les dérives de ce type de compétition et de course à la récompense. Sa conclusion rejoint ce que je disais sur les badges de Kobo Books :
Ce qui nous motive, c’est ce qui fait sens pour nous, ce qui nous permet de diriger nos vies, d’apprendre, de créer de nouvelles choses et de progresser au niveau personnel.
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(Cliquez sur l’icône en forme de document dans le bas de la vidéo pour afficher les sous-titres en français).
3. An insidious system of control over players, and even citizens
Gamification is not universally accepted, far from it, and the arguments of its opponents make a lot of sense.
The essayist Evgeny Morozov, in his book « Click here to solve everything: the aberration of technological solutionism« criticises the excesses of gamification. He emphasises the significant change represented by the replacement of moral imperatives by stimuli of competition, mutual surveillance networks, etc...
These fears are far from unfounded. The Chinese authorities have put in place a system of gamification of its citizens to increase their rate of obedience.
The video below shows how the principles of gamification can be misused to gain control over citizens and their willing cooperation in their own enslavement. La Boétie and his voluntary enslavement are still relevant today...
Collaboration, an often overlooked yet essential dimension de la gamification
D’autres critiques de la gamification et de l’emploi des jeux en éducation soulignent l’aspect compétitif de ceux-ci.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In an interview with Bing Gordon, one of the games industry specialists interviewed by Kevin Werbach during the Gamification MOOC on Coursera, he states that :
" Dans le jeu, la collaboration l’emporte sur la compétition dans un rapport de 1 à 3. "
And he's not talking about serious games or gamification, but about games in general, i.e. those that the companies he advises sell millions of copies of...
Les quelques exemples de gamification que je vois mis en place dans les MOOC ou les formations en ligne sont surtout de type individuel ou de compétition. Les éléments les plus sophistiqués sont les tableaux de scores, les badges et les points. On retrouve dans ce schémas, celui des notes de l’école que pourtant de plus en plus de parents et d’enseignants rejettent…
I dream of training courses where gamification consists of bringing together groups in which collaboration and cooperation are encouraged while they prepare for fierce competition with the other groups. With, why not, transfers from one group to another, temporary alliances and so on? Exactly as in all the human groups we come into contact with: schools, companies, sports or cultural clubs, etc.
A necessary balance between gamification and educational quality
La #gamification a beau être un système encourageant la #participation et l’#engagement, elle ne suffit pas à les garantir.
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Only the pedagogical quality of your training will really make the difference First and foremost, your learners need to find a solution to their problem, a manageable learning progression and a learning environment that is conducive to the acquisition of new skills.
But intelligent scripting, a balance between cooperation and competition, game levels that correspond to a learning progression, tests that make sense for the participants... All these factors will enhance the quality of your course or training.
But, once again, the most important thing is what you want to convey.
Conclusions:
1. Play on both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations
Les formations qui réussissent sont souvent celles qui, en-dehors du fait qu’elles répondent aux problèmes des apprenants, correspondent à la fois à des motivations intrinsèques et extrinsèques.
Because not all learners are motivated by the same thing: some will want to progress in terms of personal development, others are aiming for career advancement, and still others are there out of obligation, summoned by their hierarchy to take X training course...
These different categories of learner will not respond in the same way to the same stimuli. And if gamification is imposed or too manipulative, it may even put off those for whom intrinsic motivation is most important.
2. Be clear and respect a rigorous work ethic
Be clear with your learners: they need to know what «game» they are playing and what is at stake. Will they be penalised if they refuse gamification? They need to know the rules so that they can accept them in good conscience and abide by them.
N’utilisez pas la #gamification comme un moyen d’exercer une pression supplémentaire sur vos apprenants. Le tout doit conserver une dimension #ludique, non-intrusive et qui ne place pas les apprenants dans des situations fausses.
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3. Don't forget that you're there first and foremost to teach and pass on.
The pitfall of gamification, as with all the technological innovations we are currently witnessing, is forgetting that the initial aim is to teach, to transmit and to train learners.
That all the fun and/or technological features integrated into our platforms are at the service of education and not the other way round.
Let's start by asking the question: if I adopt this method or technology, will it enhance or facilitate participants' learning?
If the answer is no: leave it at that!
Good work 🙂
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