Gamification: An Interview with Daniel Livingstone

After the Learning Through Gaming event and my recent article about the need to define gamification, I stated that I wished to look further into the topic with research and analysis. Well, here's the first stage of that. After his talk on the topic, I asked Daniel Livingstone (lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland's Paisley campus) about his opinion.

Learning Through Gaming: Gamifi-why?

As the Festival of Dangerous Ideas 2013 draws to a close today, myself and Lee found ourselves at Dundee College's Gardyne Campus for the second-annual Learning Through Gaming event. Attended by personnel from the Scottish gaming and education (all levels represented) sectors, this proved to be a highly worthwhile array of presentations in regards to how games can be used to teach learners in multiple disciplines. However, what I did notice was the recurring term that many people love to use and give meaning to, but not a term I necessarily agree with. That term is "gamification".

If (PrimarySchool) {TeachProgramming();}

I thought we’d take a break from focusing on the Scottish Industry and discuss my views concerning video games and education. I got thinking about this subject because of E3. Although I’m interested more in the development process of video games, games are still my passion and I still get excited over new announcements, especially if these games are beautiful. While watching Microsoft’s press conference showing of their HAL 9000-- er, I mean Xbox One, we were shown a brief glimpse of Project Spark. This game caught my interest, not because of the gameplay or graphics but because of its rock.

What Can Scotland Take From E3?

E3 2013 is just around the corner, with the gaming industry firmly anticipating the news they’ve been expecting for months – and drooling at the surprises they never saw coming (Watch_Dogs, anyone?). Just like every year, I’ve been preparing myself for (essentially) leading a nocturnal lifestyle for the next week. 

Have a Bloody Good Time on The Ship!

Remember when I tried to appeal to Reloaded Productions to help them get APB: Vendetta off of the ground last month? Well surprise, I seem to be back at it with now a different case. A much more…depressing one.