Living in rural Victoria, and being the worst person to take on holidays anywhere¹ I didn’t have much of a take on gamification and tourism, but something struck an accord with me from the linked videos for this weeks work. Tourism is interesting but who to talk to about it… I phoned a friend, explained what I meant by gamification, and wandered round the bottom paddock, watching the Pied Currowong chasing a couple of Eagles, this is what came out of the conversation – big thanks to Jason² for the virtual tour of tourism!

Within the world of tourism we see many examples of the various gamification elements, just some examples include the Taronga Zoo’s, Royal Easter shows usage of Passports. Where entrants have to tick off places as the explore the event, collecting various items from locations, and generally having a great old time running hither tither across the event or landscape. Taronga Zoo’s App sells it best, I think, with:

“Discover Wild Squad Missions for kids through a series of fun, quick and interactive missions that will help kids learn more about conservation and the animals they are seeing at the Zoo”.

From this we see a real concrete example of how game like elements reward the user experience all the while having the user engaged more fully with park as they hunt for solutions. We see similar exploration within History sites and museums, where hunt for the clues, fill in the blanks and find the hidden…

But what about using game like experience to teach history. Many years ago now I was in a various historical reenactment groups with Jason. He’s kept it up and so have I but in very different ways. Jason portrays Roman History dressed in amazingly accurate recreations of clothing armor and gear they kit up for various events, some just for fun and others as a educational community work – highlighting life and conditions during the Roman Empire. We see very similar experiences offered by locations like the Royal Armoury in Leeds where mock battles, displays and events all add to the visitors experience. Now obviously this isn’t gamification but it can be and is used for the underlying method of effectively teaching history.

I’ve been employed in various roles over the years as a Blacksmith and almost always this has required me to tour guide my way through the “How, What, Where of Blacksmithing”. To the point where I have a standard speech I give whilst demonstrating. Again this isn’t gamified but it is about engaging an audience and making the learning come alive. Beyond that it could easily become gamified, as in the example below, why couldn’t guest interaction be more gamified, especially in learning environments where half the battle is getting a little mind to flick on in the first place, and having someone to quiz and interact with?

Lastly I want to turn this all on its head, in my conversation with Jason we got talking video games. He asked had I played Assassins Creed, I asked why? Then he stated asking had I seen the accurate layouts of the Greece and Roman locations, the recreation of Notre Dame masonry³ etc. the military camps, and game elements are all superb and there are cases of tour groups knowing where to go having explored in game the environment to such an extent they know where the next stop will be…

Food for thought in the educational crisis of engagement. Perhaps the brighter future of history education is traveling with an App and talking to real people telling past histories of life as you explore the landscape?

If anyone wants the have a go at being a roman soldier you can contact Legio VI Victrix – Sydney via Facebook.

1 – For holidays I like to… climb mountains, sometimes I go on holidays to get a week away forging, I like visiting collieries and other historical places where steam engines and plant exist all without ‘rewards’ – yes I’m all sorts of weird no you don’t want to come on holidays with me, I also don’t want you to come on holidays with me.

2 – For holidays Jason likes to… go skiing, do reenactment, and lot’s of other stuff. He traveled widely in his youth and lived in such amazing places as the Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Hence why I called him! he’s also clever enough to never invite me on holidays…

3 – I spent a while working in stone masonry it’s another one of those things I like looking at, if you ever want a really intersting walk around Sydney looking at stone work, I know a bloke.