Abstract:

This article acknowledges the impact of gamification, which allows the application of elements burrowed from game design in contexts that are not originally gaming environments. The teaching world, in particular, has been influenced by the idea of gamification, and such a process has been underway for years. It presents itself as a way to attract a younger audience towards learning by employing colorful imagery, achievement points, flashy effects, and often reward systems. This article proposes to harness the gaming experience in order to improve the learning experience, through the usage of the latest learning technologies. We will focus on the positives and negatives of gamification, as well as on the challenges posed by this new, seldom-known reality.
There is some resistance towards the idea of making some aspects of life into digital experiences, but the impact of gamification today cannot be ignored or avoided; it should be embraced to foster a fruitful collaboration with students.

For our methodology approach, we will first explain what we mean exactly by gamification, and we will mention some applications and programs that support its employment. This is a necessary passage as teachers have varying degrees of exposure to it, and its role needs to be clarified. Afterwards, we will explore the many positive changes brought about by gamification from a general point of view, in the perspective of its usage in schools across the world, with special notes for different age brackets. We will focus on aspects such as the interaction possibilities offered by teaching programs, the real-time feedback that can be given following digital exercises, and the role of team-building during activities. Gamification is both a motivational boost and an answer to the steadily increasing usage of technology in our society.
We will then consider its pitfalls and shortcomings, which often come from its reckless usage. We will focus on aspects such as its addictive side, the problems stemming from technology accessibility in different areas of the world, and ultimately the potential repetitiveness of digital exercises. Such an instrument is an adequate tool in the hands of an expert craftsman, but it risks replacing a lesson entirely in the name of pure fun.

Our conclusions and finishing remarks analyze gamification as a beneficial experience, as it has the potential of keeping up with the demands of today's technological world. Gamification is a largely positive phenomenon, which can however be easily corrupted if used too liberally; teachers should be careful when creating and using online content. Students, for example, may lose sight of the purpose of a lesson, focusing too much on the fun aspects. This means that gamification is not an alternative to teaching, but a support system. It can improve thanks to skilled teachers, but it can not replace them outright. The line between useful and harmful is thin, and the best course of action would be to make gamification its own reward, a prize for a job well done on part of the students.

The goal of this paper is to create a compendium of information capable of presenting the main characteristics of gamification, and acting as a base for further research in this field. Observing our students through the cases presented herein will spark further interest in the topic, with more teachers contributing to a corpus of information to connect the digital world and the real one as allies in teaching.

Keywords:

Gamification, Language, Technology, Teaching.