Using game-based techniques such as scoring, images, videos, story, roles; and design thinking i.e. empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing to develop games in delivering capacity development programs facilitate innovation and increase comprehension and learning.

Game designer Jane McGonigal, in a recent Ted Talk, explained how game mechanics can be leveraged to tackle the problems of poverty, hunger, climate change, global conflict, and more. Gamification techniques offer a unique and engaging way to interact with their community to promote change that benefit individuals and the society.

In relation to this, CODE-NGO, in partnership with the Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA), conducted a learning session on Learning SHIFT through Gamification at the recently concluded Social Development Celebration on 06 December 2018 at the Ateneo de Manila University. The discussion was spearheaded by Louie John Aguila, Learning Solutions Head of the Center for Humanitarian Learning and Innovation.

The session focused on the use of game-based techniques and tools to quickly ideate, design, and develop contextualized online and offline learning solutions for the Philippine humanitarian sector. It provided humanitarian learning facilitators introductory knowledge in using game elements such as scoring, images, videos, story, roles; and design thinking i.e. empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testingto develop games for capacity development activities. Demo online and offline games developed for humanitarian learning were also shown to the participants.

HLA and CODE-NGO promote gamification as a game-changing strategy to facilitate transformative change in the way capacity development is designed and delivered in the Philippine humanitarian sector – enabling actors to save more lives through better learning.

John Joel de Guzman, Project Coordinator of CODE-NGO’s Blended Learning Approach to Strengthen DRRM (BLAST DRRM) Project, facilitated the learning session which was attended by participants from the BLAST program and students from various universities.