Structural vs Content gamification

published by Mike Neumire on 5/10/2023

Gamification is a powerful instructional strategy to better engage students in learning by making it playful. Not all gamification is created equal, however. Structural gamification is the packaging of game-like rewards around instruction in order to motivate students to get through it. The instruction itself is not changed in any way, but students try to get through it so they can get rewarded at the end. Content gamification is the act of finding game-like opportunities within your content. This kind of gamification is harder to design but has a way bigger payoff in terms of intrinsic motivation.