The Gamification of Life

I came across this article ( http://phys.org/news/2016-04-gamified.html ) describing how, in Malaysia, the Education Department are trying to improve higher education by emphasising certain principles of gaming in order to foster interest and improve standards.

I came across some software by a company called Lucid some years ago which did the same thing for assessing dyslexia and other learning problems here in the UK. Also, I remember when I was at college (quite a few years ago) one teacher achieved a bit of local fame by using a clip from an episode of "The Simpsons" in his dyslexia assessments. There was also a game available online to help people learning French language. In it you were a knight exploring a land, battling dragons and other beasts, and conquering other knights and castles (similar to 'Age of Empires' but very basic as it had been written by an individual developer as a hobby).



I don't think this idea is all that new, although I do think the technology for game development has improved to make the implementation a lot easier and more sophisticated. And it is such a popular idea, to make learning and development fun, that I think we will see a lot more of this, especially when the VR kits become more responsive (and cheaper). Maybe therapy through completing certain character quests in games, improving health with new and more entertaining mobile apps on your smart watch, improving productivity in the workplace, language learning, developing creativity - any area of improvement and development.

FOMO, FOBO and NoMo

For many of us, the idea of an 'online life' is simply an adjunct to our real lives - a bit like wondering how much time we spend watching tv, or reading, or in the gym. But the use of smartphones and tablets is becoming more and more a part of everything we do, from simply communicating to researching, entertaining, guiding and cueing behaviours. I recently came across this article which seems to be a step towards keeping it all in perspective.

'The Australian Psychological Society issued its Stress and Wellbeing in Australia report last year, which included a section on social media that found 56 per cent of teens were heavy social media users, connecting more than five times per day, with 24 per cent being constantly connected. Sixty per cent felt brain 'burnout' from constant connectivity of social media.

Ms Lishman, an Australian psychologist, said people were becoming genuinely addicted to their devices, because of the rush generated by positive reinforcements and messages from friends.

Another psychologist, Ms Thornton, said parents had a vital role to play in dealing with this situation. "It is critically important to create a household where you have guidelines about what is OK and what is not OK, and to limit use, restrict inappropriate sites and foster a family environment," she said. "And parents have the power because they have the money. Who is paying for the internet connection? Turn the modem off overnight, have a password on the account that only you know; unless we put boundaries in place there will be huge repercussions."

"We can't do without technology now. And there are good things on the internet, but a virtual relationship is no match for a real, physical relationship." '

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-03/psychologists-scramble-to-keep-up-with-social-media-addiction/7293862