Media Ecology in Action: The Transformative Role of Gamification for Diverse Learners and Manufacturing Workers

Published 16 May 2025

Please watch the DW Documentary video "Can games make our lives better?" which sparked my interest in this topic prior to reading the journal entry below. Thank You!

Do you love to play games? How about video games? My guess is that your answer will depend on who you are, your age, your profession, and the way you see yourself. If you are teenager, my guess is that your answer will be, "Games are fun and they help me relax, so all of you should just relax about video games." If you a parent of this teenager, you might say, "games are a waste of time. Kids need to focus on learning job skills and earning a living and not on playing games!" But what if your teenager could learn life skills AND have fun? What if your sister with a disability could become more independent by playing video games? What if your manufacturing company could improve its' safety record AND your workers' job satisfaction at the while playing games? What if playing games could change our media ecology and our lives for the better?

First, for those of you unfamiliar with the term "media ecology," you are not alone! At my University of Florida Educational Technology Program, I recently learned that media ecology refers to a concept or field of study whose goal is to study "the changes and effects that have occurred in society as a result of the evolution of technology and media throughout history" and to observe "the impact of media and technologies on the culture and societies throughout the history." (Islas & Bernal, 2016, p.190, 193). Put another way, our media ecology is our ecosystem of information and media communications and our interaction with and within this ecological system. For those of you also unfamiliar with the concept of gamification (sympathetic eyeroll emoji), gamification usually refers to the use of game mechanics in a non-game environment in hopes of increasing learning engagement, motivation, and participation of students in a lesson or an activity.

After this not-so-brief introduction, let us discuss the observed and possible effect of games and gamification on the media ecology and lives of children with motor disabilities, high school students, and manufacturing industry forklift operators. If you watched the video (as I requested you to do), you have seen how introducing games and gamified learning into people's media environments can result in a meaningful change and can help considerably improve their daily lives. For example, let's consider Paula, a teenager with a motor disability who is shown in the video very eager to attain greater independence in her daily life and reduce her constant reliance on others, including her parents who, although fully employed outside of home, must help Paula with her daily muscular and speech exercises. As per the video, an introduction of a specialized video game results in Paula's ability to perform her daily fun and highly-engaging exercises independently, while her caregivers can focus on other tasks or activities, leaving Paula increasing her muscular abilities while acquiring a greater sense of empowerment and confidence in her individual abilities and her parents with a greater sense of hope for Paula's independent future and a feeling of relief from having to be constantly present at her side. The video game described in the video provides kids with disabilities with an immersive, fun, personalized experience, helps them achieve their personal ability goals without overreliance on others, and opens them up to a whole new world of possibilities filled with fun, autonomous activities. I think that this a worthwhile use of game media. Don't you? (DW German Public Broadcast Service, 2021)

The teachers who took part in this documentary think that role-playing in schools, or learning by playing, presents a better alternative or a complimentary approach to traditional schooling. One of the students in the video, Katrina, talks about how she used to skip school and would find school boring, but is now eager to participate in gamified role-playing activities that, she feels, help her interact more with other students, participate in student groups, and become a more social individual. The video illustrates that, by helping to facilitate learning via episodic memory, learning becomes a personal, transformative, and active experience that is available to each student. In the documentary, role-playing becomes an active learning experience that utilizes all five human senses and is certain to have a positive and profound effect on the students' time at school and potentially their entire lives. (DW German Public Broadcast Service, 2021)

To those of you still protesting the now common "forceful introduction" of games and gamified activities into our daily lives, let me remind you that games have been a part of our human lives since the Dawn of Time and we used gamified activities as children to "step into other people's shoes" at pre-school and the playground. Do you remember yourself transforming into a princess or a famous explorer while at the playground? I certainly do! The author of this quote agrees:

Gaming can allow players to experience various perspectives. In his framing of games as procedural systems, Bogost offers just such a consideration. "Video games are not just stages that facilitate cultural, social, or political practices; they are also media where cultural values themselves can be represented—for critique, satire, education, or commentary" (p. 119). (Salen, 2008, p.8)

In 1954 two scientific analysts from the Rand Corporation said this about games:

Interested in the role which players could play in modeling the behavior of a complex system, upon closer inspection the two scientists found something more: "A virtue of gaming that is sometimes overlooked by those seeking grander goals . . . is its unparalleled advantages in training and educational programs. A game can easily be made fascinating enough to put over the dullest facts. To sit down and play through a game is to be convinced as by no argument, however persuasively presented." (Salen, 2008, p.2)

Games and gamified activities simply work in educational settings and there are many studies exist to support this, just consider some of the findings below. There is this quote:

Overall, the results suggest that gamification can have positive effects on student motivation, engagement, and academic performance at different educational levels. These findings provide evidence that educational gamification could be an effective educational strategy. (Manzano-León et al., 2021, p.9)

And another one by the same authors:

The other variable frequently analyzed in studies on educational gamification is academic achievement. The studies analyzed show quite encouraging results on the improvement of academic performance through educational gamification. This phenomenon can be explained by a greater motivation towards the subject [50], by an increase in classroom flow [51], or by a change in teaching methodologies, leaving behind the more traditional one-way transmissive teacher–student teaching for a more active teaching, where students learn through challenges and significant tasks [52]. It is assumable that when students, regardless of educational level, have tasks that they consider significant wrapped in a pleasant narrative for them, they can have greater motivation towards the task and reinforce desirable study habits. (Manzano-León et al., 2021, p.10)

And here is just one more quote in support of gamification for your consideration: "The systematic review identified several benefits of the use of gamified learning in students such as an improvement in their motivation, engagement, and academic achievement." (Manzano-León et al., 2021, p.12)

Whether it is learners with unique needs or local high school students, the gamification mechanics and strategies remain powerful. Games and gamified lessons in school change students' media ecology and their lives for the better. Games in a learning setting do not just entertain, but "Beyond their value as entertainment media, games and game modification are currently key entry points for many young people into productive literacies, social communities, and digitally rich identities. (Salen, 2008, 14-15)

Time to switch gears. Let us explore how gamification works to increase safety and powers up productivity on the warehouse floor. Games in the manufacturing industry, although new and still largely underutilized industry media, when introduced into the workers' media ecology have been shown to change workers' lives for the better. In the DW documentary above the seasoned forklift operator says, "It's really great and really fun!" after engaging in a safety training lesson via a forklift simulator. As described by the narrator, a warehouse environment can at times be quite stressful and a gaming simulator can help relieve some of the workers' stress and make safety training fun and engaging. The manufacturing safety trainers benefit as well via a decreased workload and a lesser number of safety trainees at a given time. (DW German Public Broadcast Service, 2021)

Let us level up again and review the quote below outlining the positive benefits of gamification in the manufacturing industry:

The most prominent benefits for GfM that are provided by the literature include improvements in (i) motivation, (ii) productivity and efficiency, (iii) engagement, interest, and focus, as well as (iv) encouraging and improving learning. Other notable benefits include increased enjoyment, flow, and social relatedness. (Keepers et al., 2022, p. 312)

In conclusion, in the above DW documentary, introduction of gamification into the lives of children with disabilities improves their outlook on necessary physical exercise and holds a promise of greater personal autonomy and independence. Introduction of role-playing gamified activities into a media ecology of high school students increases their lesson engagement and enjoyment of school. An introduction of a gamified forklift simulator for safety training is enjoyed by manufacturing workers and holds a promise of improved safety practices and reduction of forklift accidents on the manufacturing floor – a meaningful objective for any manufacturing employer. (DW German Public Broadcast Service, 2021)

By introducing play-based activities, games, or gamification into the media ecology of your school students, employees, or environments utilized by people with special needs, you are certain to reap many benefits of increased independence, motivation, productivity, engagement, and overall enjoyment. Media that either encourages play and exploration for the purpose of skill improvement, or to increase social interaction, or as a complimentary educational medium, or as an entertaining conduit to a relaxed learning environment, can change the lives of people in your care in tangible and profound ways. Whether you are an educator or a trainer, an instructional designer, an employer, or a parent to a child with a disability, I encourage you to explore games and gamification, to keep an open mind, and to always consider "alternative" methods of learning. You will never witness the impacts games may have on your students, coworkers, or loved ones unless you resolve to keep on playing!

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