Good answers. Conceivably notifications could be useful for someone who's unwilling/unable to schedule intensive study time; but in that case, that raises the question of why they're studying something they're not motivated to study, or why they lack organizational/planning capability; but there might be common cases where the adults say "fuck it, I'm not going to try to solve those underlying problems, I just want to make them learn this stuff in the short term"; but one might rightly say, this is short-sighted child-rearing for short-sighted people, and keep it the hell away from me and my kids.
There might remain a question of whether it's better than what's currently being done by the short-sighted. But if more humane approaches stand a chance of winning out, then it might be best to not give any support to the competition, and even discourage others from doing so. That type of conclusion one should hesitate to draw, but it might be right.
As for gamification, perhaps if you could gamify "reading books and having conversations"—but as you say, by default what you'll get is just what's easy to gamify.
Even if it's not harmful, I have absolutely no need for points and achievement badges for reading books and having conversations. The whole point of those sorts of activities is that they're not games. They have their own, different value they provide to my life. When I want a game, I'll play a game.
Wow, this is such a wonderful distinction. I am sorry I do not have anything to add on to your point, but I hope to bring your conclusion up in future conversations.
There might remain a question of whether it's better than what's currently being done by the short-sighted. But if more humane approaches stand a chance of winning out, then it might be best to not give any support to the competition, and even discourage others from doing so. That type of conclusion one should hesitate to draw, but it might be right.
As for gamification, perhaps if you could gamify "reading books and having conversations"—but as you say, by default what you'll get is just what's easy to gamify.