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Gamification

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Education and Information Technologies

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Synonyms

Edutainment, Ludicization

Gamification: A Definition

Coined in 2008, the term gamification has not yet reached a consensus from the academic community, and, depending on the considered authors, two categories of definitions are proposed. A first category of definitions is based on the etymology of the term. Gamification consists of “making or fabricating a game,” i.e., applying game mechanics and using game elements such as badges, points, bonuses, and leaderboard in order to convert a nongame context into a game-like activity. This definition is based on a point of view about what is a game that falls within “essentialism,” i.e., the functions of a game result from a set of attributes. A second category of definitions is currently emerging. This category of definitions considers gamification to be a process focused on the player experience. This process consists of the implementation of motivational affordances grounded in game design principles and aiming at fostering...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CERF, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

    Eric Sanchez

  2. Institute of Information and Computing Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

    Herre van Oostendorp & Jan Dirk Fijnheer

  3. Inholland University of Applied Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Jan Dirk Fijnheer

  4. IAE Lyon, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, Lyon, France

    Elise Lavoué

Authors
  1. Eric Sanchez
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  2. Herre van Oostendorp
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  3. Jan Dirk Fijnheer
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  4. Elise Lavoué
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eric Sanchez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Victoria University , Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Arthur Tatnall

Section Editor information

  1. CERF, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

    Eric Sanchez

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Sanchez, E., van Oostendorp, H., Fijnheer, J.D., Lavoué, E. (2019). Gamification. In: Tatnall, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Education and Information Technologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60013-0_38-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60013-0_38-1

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