by Alice Keeler, Edutopia
Game-based learning (GBL) and gamification are hot topics in education. These terms are often used interchangeably, but they actually describe different phenomena. GBL is when students play games to learn content. Gamification is the application of game based elements to non-game situations. Playing games can give students context for what they are learning. When my students played Angry Birds in the classroom, none of them asked what the purpose of learning x intercepts was. Gamification applications do not necessarily provide a context for students, but they usually give students an indicator of their achievement and progress. There are different types of games that students can play on a device. Some truly fall under the category of GBL, such as CellCraft, which provides biology students with information about cells and then allows them to interact in an environment as if they were a cell. Other games provide reinforcement of concepts — these are playsheets.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/beyond-worksheet-playsheets-gbl-gamification-alice-keeler
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