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"Beth Blecherman is founder of TechMamas.com, a site that curates information on family technology. Her new book \"My Parent Plan\" applies her years of technology project management to helping parents make their own plans. Follow her at @TechMama.\nAs a mom of three boys, I see first-hand how making activities into a game suddenly turns stubborn stand-offs into engaging fun. \nMy boys were fascinated with baseball statistics and learned percentages and fractions by following the exploits of their favorite players. They insisted on being the banker in monopoly, only to be disappointed when they later learned all U.S. currency is just plain green and not all the colors of the rainbow they were used to. Today, there are gadgets like ibitz which turn walking and exercising into a fun, rewarding game-like experience. \nSome people refer to this as \u201Cgamification\u201D which means applying game thinking or even game mechanics into a non-game context. As an example, I have no problem if my boys prefer to use a Math Baseball iPad app to practice math facts instead of a printed worksheet. When I see my kids\u2019 teachers incorporating games into learning, I say \u201CBravo\u201D. Anything that inspires them to learn by making it fun is okay by me. \nWith new games like SimCityEDU \u2014 which teaches students STEM subjects in a virtual environment \u2014 I wondered if bringing games into the classroom would support or distract from learning. Here's what I found out. \nStrategy\nWhen my oldest son was studying Newton\u2019s Law of Physics, he needed to illustrate his understanding with a demonstration. He wound up using the game Minecraft, building train tracks and showing \u201Cbodies in motion stay in motion\u201D with train cars down hills and over lava pits. He enjoyed the assignment, as the option for creativity made it more fun and engaging.\nDavid Kleeman, President of the American Center for Children and Media says gamification, if done well, can work. \n\"I love and support the idea of tapping the engagement and strategic thinking of game play, but I've also seen very poor examples that are little more than gussied-up rote learning,\" Kleeman says. \nLearning through play\nWhen my kids were younger, they rebelled against using math flashcards. Practicing multiplication was boring. My sister-in-law, a high school math teacher, suggested we write simple multiplication facts in chalk on the driveway and ask the kids to race across on their scooters, calling out answers as they passed a problem. \nIt worked \u2014 they thought it was a fun game. Scott Osterweil, Research Director of Comparative Media Studies/MIT and creative director for The Education Arcade, says \u201Creal learning happens through (self-directed and self-motivated) play. Some games help players solve interesting problems, but playing games also helps kids build conceptual models that are the scaffolding for them to understand and engage in concepts.\u201D  \nEngagement\nEngagement is key. If my kids aren't enjoying a learning environment, whether it's in school, summer camp or a sports team, I hear about it very quickly. In our house, Little League is all about how the kids and the coaches all gel together, and not necessarily about the game itself. \nCynthia Liu, founder of K-12 News Network says sometimes the tech is the least important part of the equation in gamification. \"The platform is like a diving board, literally a jumping off point. Engagement is king.\"\nHow does this all translate to the classroom? It looks like the way to get kids to learn during \u201Cgame play\u201D is by engaging them to investigate a topic, not just play to earn points. It's also important to understand why. For some kids, this type of learning may be more effective than traditional classroom lectures. For my kids, the answer is \u201Cyes\u201D but it won't work for everyone.\nWhat do you think of the use of gamification in education, is this something that works for your family? Let us know in the comments. \nThis post is part of a series on the dilemmas of raising digital kids. We'd like to hear some of the parenting issues technology has raised for you. Please let us know in the comments, or on our Mashable Lifestyle Facebook page. You can also follow and tweet us @mashlifestyle.\nImage courtesy of Flickr,  flickingerbrad"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/03/08/games-classroom/>