Author: carolin.dasilvanasseri

The Octalysis framework is a method for designing and analyzing gamification. It is based on 8 core drives that are the underlying motivations for human behavior. I find it interesting to think about how this could apply for the gamification of nature for children.

For example, using the “Epic Meaning and Calling” drive, children can feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves, such as protecting and preserving nature for future generations.

The “Development and Accomplishment” drive can be tapped into by providing children with opportunities to learn new skills and improve their abilities. A possible way to approach this could be by creating activities that involve nature observation, such as tracking animals, or identifying different types of plants and animals.

The “Empowerment of Creativity and Feedback” drive could be about giving children the freedom to create their own projects and receive feedback on their work such as providing children with the resources and guidance to create their own nature-based projects, like building a birdhouse or creating a nature sketchbook.

The “Ownership and Possession” drive could be engaged by giving children the opportunity to (unofficially) take ownership and responsibility for a small piece of nature, such as a garden or a tree. This could be reinforced by creating activities that involve planting, nurturing and caring for a small piece of nature.

A possible way to tap into the “Social Influence and Relatedness” drive could be by providing children with opportunities to share their nature experiences with others. If we are thinking about an app, an option for this would be by having a multiplayer mode or a way of sharing their accomplishments on the app with their friends.

In this case the “Unpredictability and Curiosity” drive could mean providing children with opportunities to explore and discover new things in nature all while keeping their interest.

The “Scarcity and Impatience” drive can be engaged by highlighting the urgency of conservation and the importance of nature. This could mean focusing on endangered species, or raising awareness about the impacts of pollution and climate change in a child friendly way.

The “Avoidance and Loss” drive could mean emphasizing the negative consequences of not taking action to protect nature and encouraging children to act to prevent loss. A possible way of doing this would be showing what their local park could look like if the environment was neglected.

Overall, the Octalysis framework could be an effective tool for gamifying nature experiences for children. By understanding the 8 core drives that motivate human behavior, it may be possible to create engaging and meaningful nature-based activities that tap into these drives.

Sources:

https://yukaichou.com/gamification-examples/octalysis-complete-gamification-framework/

Forest kindergartens differ from other kindergartens in two main ways. Instead of being indoors, the children spend most of their time outdoors no matter the season. And instead of using conventional toys, they play mainly with the materials and objects that nature offers them.

Forest kindergartens and their teachers aim to take the different circumstances under which children grow up these days into account and want to compensate for the increasing lack of nature experiences and movement. In close connection with nature, the children experience all seasons and thus have the opportunity to learn holistically, to practice mindfulness with people and nature and to gain many fundamental experiences. Additionally, the fresh air and movement improves the kids’ physical and mental health and their motor skills and perception are great.

I think this is an interesting way of bringing the children closer to nature and comes with many benefits. But in order to form this connection to nature, the parents need to prioritize it and put their kids in forest kindergartens. This is a huge commitment and requires the full conviction of the parents. It would also be interesting to know how these children will be when they’re older and how their social skills differ from other kids’. Lastly, it is also worth noting that nature can be a source of danger whether that’s animals and the diseases they transmit or just the tree roots and uneven ground.

Sources:

https://www.herder.de/kindergarten-paedagogik/kita-leitung/handlungskonzepte-und-profile/waldkindergarten/

https://www.waldpaedagogik.at/waldpaedagogik/waldkindergaerten/?no_cache=1

I read up on learning behaviors and came across a lot of theories and myths on how to learn efficiently. I wanted to quickly summarize what I have learned so far to remember everything later.

1. Learning success isn’t greater under pressure, especially time pressure.
   
2. Learning is not like filling a jar in which the acquired knowledge accumulates. Connections between previous knowledge and new knowledge needs to be established to fully comprehend everything.
   
3. Learning cannot be planned. The learning environment (location, breaks, repetition phase, etc.) can be planned and thought through, but there is no guarantee that you will actually learn something.
   
4. There aren’t gifted and ungifted students. By the time children enter school, they have gone through years of socialization and learning, have developed certain interests, which in turn lead to individual and very different potentials. Not all children are lucky enough to receive adequate support from their family to further develop that potential.
   
5. Teachers aren’t among the most impactful influences in learning. Factors created by the teacher, which promote or hinder learning are of greater importance.
   
6. The theory that the ability to learn needs to be learned stems from our output orientated education system.

Some of these things took me by surprise and I’m interested in learning more about them. Especially the idea of the gifted and ungifted student or lack thereof is something I never looked at from that perspective. This is important to keep in mind when thinking about possible gamification of nature solutions.

Sources:

https://www.schulpsychologie.at/fileadmin/user_upload/190304_Lernen_verstehen-Unterricht_gestalten-final.pdf

Nature Detectives Mania is an app for iOS and Android and was developed as part of a big national campaign for Migros, Switzerland’s largest retail company. The Nature Detectives app is designed to educate children between the ages of 8 and 11 about Swiss nature in a playful way. The kids learn interactively, by solving fun puzzles and small tasks which habitats exist in Switzerland, which plants and animals inhabit them and how to recognize them. The children can roam through 8 Swiss ultra realistic 3D environments filled with true to life details. Each habitat can be discovered in at least seven different camera perspectives. With the help of an animated character called Minspector and the two protagonists Mia and Leon, users solve tasks and questions about Swiss nature and its flora and fauna to collect badges.

What I like

I think having the two protagonists and the Minspector makes the game more appealing to kids and they can get attached to them so children want to use the app more. I also believe that the quick mini games are a great idea to keep the children’s attention and in addition to that each win causes a dopamine release. Lastly, I like the reward system and it is a clever idea to combine it with the parents spending at the Migros stores.

What I don’t like

It may be a clever idea to incorporate the parents purchases at the Migros stores, but whether that’s ethical or not is debatable. It casts a bad light on the app and the intention behind it. Additionally, I don’t like that the entire game is happening in the app. Not only is the environment completely digital, but the interactions with nature are also close to none. Making the digital environment look realistic and modeling it after an actual place cannot replace the real thing. This app is essentially a game about nature, rather than a game with nature.

Sources:

https://demodern.com/projects/migros-nature-detectives-mania-app

NatureCollections is an app I found at the beginning of my research which really got me thinking about the concept of gamification of nature for children. Its approach to gamification is very different from the initial ideas I had and gave me a lot of food for thought.

NatureCollections was developed by a team of researchers at the University of Washington and even received the school’s 2017 Innovation Award. It is aimed towards elementary school children and tried to appeal to kids’ love for collecting things such as stickers, sports cards and shells. The goal is to encourage kids to spend time outdoors and discover their natural surroundings. The app lets children take pictures of nature, and curate their photos in categories such as birds, plants and landscapes. They can share folders with theirs friends and compare their findings. The developers also see this working in a school setting. Teachers can give the children the task of photographing certain things during an excursion to make sure they actually engage with what they are seeing there.

what I like

Sharing the collections with their friends is a good incentive for children to keep engaging with the app and brings out a competitive streak in them. I also like the idea of using the app for school excursions. That way, the children have a task to fulfill and stay focused.

what I don’t like

I don’t believe that simply taking pictures and putting them into a folder is stimulating enough for children to keep using the app. Especially if the app is aimed towards 6-10 year old kids. They will be bored after a very short period of time. They depend on the fact that the motivation comes entirely from the children and that is a big flaw. With a simple app like that, there needs to be another level of motivation and a sense of urgency coming from the app.
Lastly, I think that the entire concept of the app is built on the wrong foundation. Kids love to collect things because they can hold it physically and see them all at the same time. Their findings are prized possessions and a picture on a screen just can’t compare with that.

Sources:

Home

To determine whether the gamification of nature is a suitable solution to engage children with nature, we have to take a closer look at gamification in general.

The Goal
The goal of gamification is motivation. The user should constantly have the incentive to stay motivated. With game elements like points, levels, badges, quests, etc., gamification allows users to clearly see their own goals. The users are being guided down goal-oriented paths and given immediate feedback. Good performances are being positively reinforced and the content is simplified and broken down into smaller tasks. This allows for more manageable tasks, keeps the user from being overwhelmed, and gives them a sense of accomplishment. All of this leads to heightened user motivation, engagement, and satisfaction.

The Reward System
The reward systems in gamification differ from the traditional ones, i.e. money or grades, which are more controlling in nature and can affect people negatively. Gamification elements such as badges, points, trophies, or virtual gifts represent rewards that don’t have much meaning outside the game. Instead, they emphasize the relevance of a particular achievement, are more goal-oriented and aren’t a cause for additional stress. They can even connect the users with each other since they are all striving towards the same goal. The competitive nature of humans has to be taken into account here since it gives the users another incentive to keep working towards their goals and challenges them.

The Science Behind It
As mentioned before, gamification is centered on motivation, the desire and willingness to do something. This drive and ambition are fueled by dopamine. The body releases dopamine when experiencing something pleasurable or satisfying. While these can be a variety of things, receiving a reward is one of the biggest.   But the brain may give someone a chemical hit even before they’ve been recompensed for doing something. This is because dopamine neurons try to predict the rush someone will receive from certain actions. Over time, they’ll learn when something satisfying is about to happen and release dopamine. But this also means that even more dopamine will be released when receiving unexpected gratification. Therefore, the more the user plays the game, the more they receive, and the easier it is to stay motivated.

Sources

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106963

https://jeaninekrath.com/insights/how-does-gamification-work/

https://blog.wranx.com/the-science-behind-gamification-and-why-it-works

A Solution to Engage Children with Nature?

It is no secret that nowadays children often prefer screen time to playing outside, which was heightened even further by the pandemic. I was able to observe this change happening over the last few years, having worked with children between the ages of six months and nine years for almost eight years. I want to explore the gamification of nature to make children more aware of their environment and create something they are excited to use as an additional reason to play outside.

Children, especially only children were heavily affected by the pandemic since they had no other kids to play with. They were not allowed to meet up with other children and it was challenging to keep them entertained at home or outside. Therefore, they oftentimes resolved to screen time. Particularly single parents with an only child had a difficult time juggling all their responsibilities. This impacted those kids immensely since children’s experiences are heavily dependent on adults (Gundersen et al., 2016). Always having to play alone as an only child can get boring quickly which is why I want to find a way to keep kids entertained outside while also learning something in the process. This led me to question the importance of nature in children’s lives, how much they appreciate nature and how aware of their surroundings they are. Is there a playful approach to instill nature awareness in children and make them want to play outside?
The following three goals will be at the core of my research and should be reflected throughout the entire process, as this is an impact-driven project:

Inspire children to play outside.
I want children to enjoy being in nature and create something they are excited to use as an additional reason to play outside.

Playful education.
My goal is to create an enjoyable form of education. The information should not be forced on but be necessary to play the game.

Raise awareness.
I want the children to become more mindful of their immediate surroundings and nature in the long run.

Now to the role design plays in this project. None of the goals can be achieved if the design isn’t easy to use and appealing to children, since they wouldn’t want to interact with the final product otherwise. The most challenging aspect of the design however will be that not all users will be able to read yet. Symbolism, icons, and associations will be at the center of the design process to create a universally accessible experience.It is a complex topic with many different layers that I’m excited to explore and see to which results it will lead me.

References
Crawford, M. R., Holder, M. D. & O’Connor, B. P. (2016). Using Mobile Technology to Engage Children with Nature.Environment and Behavior, 49(9), 959-984. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916516673870

Cumbo, B. J., Paay, J., Kjeldskov, J., & Jacobs, B. C. (2014). Connecting children to nature with technology. Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interaction Design and Children. https://doi.org/10.1145/2593968.2610449

Gundersen, V., O’Brien, L. & Skar, M. (2016). How to engage children with nature: Why not just let them play? Children’s Geographies, 14(5), 527-540. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2015.1136734

Quay, J., Gray, T., Thomas, G., Allen-Craig, S., Asfeldt, M., Andkjaer, S., Beames, S., Cosgriff, M., Dyment, J., Higgins, P., Ho, S., Leather, M., Mitten, D., Morse, M., Neill, J., North, C., Passy, R., Pedersen-Gurholt, K., Polley, S., . . . Foley, D. (2020). What future/s for outdoor and environmental education in a world that has contended with COVID-19? Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 23(2), 93–117.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-020-00059-2