Level 1: Gamification

Gamification refers to the process of adding game elements to non-gaming activities. In practice, this typically means giving non-standard awards or evaluations in non-gaming environments. For example, a teacher might give a badge or a level to a student rather than a grade. The process is often more about creating a new conceptualization of the non-gaming environment, to effectively make it seem more enjoyable.

Traditionally, Gamification is most widely used in the business world, but it is also beginning to spread to classroom situations. One of the earliest cited gamified systems is Frequent flyer programs--the customers accrue valueless points for flying which they can use to obtain rewards. After they gain enough points, customers are upgraded (level up). The basic idea is to give these customers a motivation for flying with a particular airline—a motivation that is entirely aside from the actual purpose of flying (getting from one place to another quickly).

The most common modern example is the mobile app Foursquare. At its core, Foursquare is simply a social application for people to share information on where they like to go. But in order to encourage users to consistently "check in" at their location, the app includes badges for reaching certain benchmarks

For example, the "Crunked" badge is earned if a person checks in four times on one night between 8 p.m. and midnight ("The Full List of Foursquare Badges").