First of all, my apologizes for getting this out very late tonight. If there are mistakes please let me know and I will correct all grammatical errors as soon as my brain revives from a good nights sleep! Phoenix downs and caffeine are no longer working...
A lot of what is being called gamification these days is little more than star charts with a fancy name and high tech gadgets. For me, true gamification comes from meaningful use of technology and games to create an engaging environment for students to interact, question, and learn. This is why I was especially interested in this snippet of a high school ethics class in Norway. If you are hitting a language barrier (as I did) hit the caption button to get it translated.
While I doubt many schools are ready to embrace some of the darker moments in a game like The Walking Dead (this will be spoiler free I promise!) I love the use of a very character driven game to make people really think about right and wrong in ways that they might not have before. This is the power that video games and other interactive media have. It puts us in control in a safe environment where our choices have a contained effect. The player can make the tough calls and see how that changes lives without harming real people or themselves. I think of it like a science experiment for social learning.
And these ethical choices can be found in games that are more 'kid friendly' as well. Whether one must chose between building a hospital or a police station in SimCity, save a character or let them die in Dragon Age, or whether or not to put lions in the gazelle pen in Zoo Tycoon, the idea of ethics occurs in many games at many different levels. As teachers who game our goal should be to look out for teachable moments in our games so we can bring them into our classroom.
I am also curious if using games in learning social choices would help increase the success of anti bullying programs. If anyone has any information about games being used in that way I would be really interested to hear about it.