Episode 740: Teachers Need Dopamine Too
Aug 2, 2026 · 1 hr 2 min · 13 segments
Jason chats with Eric Dittmore.
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Eric DittmoreGuestJasonHost
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Aug 2, 2026 · 1 hr 2 min · 13 segments
Jason chats with Eric Dittmore.
Eric DittmoreGuestJasonHost
So I just finished reading a book that some folks out there I'm sure have read called Games Agency as Art by C.T. Nguyen.
There's a lot of ideas out there about gamification in education and what that looks like.
And I have kind of bounced off some of the ways gamification manifests in education in the classroom.
As I've read some things about it, not everything has really resonated with me or seemed like it seems like sometimes we kind of learn some of the wrong lessons from games and bring those, uh, into other
aspects of life.
Um, and, and I'll get into more of what I mean there, but, uh, but yeah, so I read this book and I just had, I've had, it really inspired in me, uh, put words to many ideas that I was already had or made me think of some, think of gamification in new ways and, like what is special about games as an art form and how can we bring that into other aspects of life? Uh, for me, it's like, as a teacher, how can I bring that into the classroom?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That is a super interesting topic.
And yeah, I agree.
Like, you know, I think as game designers, we unfortunately are kind of, uh, I can't think of the word, but, you know, we're kind of stodgy, I guess, about like or finicky about what people how people gamify things.
Right.
Because we know as game designers, there is a way that is good and there is a way that is not good.
And I think that what we see a lot of and hey, anyone can design games.
Right.
I totally believe that.
that said I do think that what happens is people are like oh I'll just make this into a game you know and not know how they're going to do that and so they just kind of do it and I think that can work but I also think that you know designing games is a skill set and a tool kit that we learn and yeah when
don't have that you roll the dice and take your chances no pun intended yeah
That relationship is nuanced and complex and something that we can't always easily predict and And I think you need to be really thoughtful about your approach with that.
So I just finished reading a book that some folks out there I'm sure have read called Games Agency as Art by C.T. Nguyen.
There's a lot of ideas out there about gamification in education and what that looks like.
And I have kind of bounced off some of the ways gamification manifests in education in the classroom.
As I've read some things about it, not everything has really resonated with me or seemed like it seems like sometimes we kind of learn some of the wrong lessons from games and bring those, uh, into other
aspects of life.
Um, and, and I'll get into more of what I mean there, but, uh, but yeah, so I read this book and I just had, I've had, it really inspired in me, uh, put words to many ideas that I was already had or made me think of some, think of gamification in new ways and, like what is special about games as an art form and how can we bring that into other aspects of life? Uh, for me, it's like, as a teacher, how can I bring that into the classroom?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That is a super interesting topic.
And yeah, I agree.
Like, you know, I think as game designers, we unfortunately are kind of, uh, I can't think of the word, but, you know, we're kind of stodgy, I guess, about like or finicky about what people how people gamify things.
Right.
Because we know as game designers, there is a way that is good and there is a way that is not good.
And I think that what we see a lot of and hey, anyone can design games.
Right.
I totally believe that.
that said I do think that what happens is people are like oh I'll just make this into a game you know and not know how they're going to do that and so they just kind of do it and I think that can work but I also think that you know designing games is a skill set and a tool kit that we learn and yeah when
don't have that you roll the dice and take your chances no pun intended yeah
That relationship is nuanced and complex and something that we can't always easily predict and And I think you need to be really thoughtful about your approach with that.
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