From Tank to Healer: Gamifying Academic Teams Episode 432

Recently funded and aiming for sustainable retention? Intro chat (no sales pitch): professorgame.com/chat What if your research team worked like a raid party? Raul Mora shares how bringing gamer language and MMORPG structures into academia boosted clarity, motivation, and long-term commitment. This conversation explores community design, role-based engagement, and why listening to gamers is the most underrated retention strategy in education. Raúl is a professor at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellín, Colombia, now also teaching remotely from Trondheim, Norway. He's been in education for over 30 years, including time as a school and English teacher and as a college professor. His research explores second language literacy practices in the city, digital spaces, and schools. Rob Alvarez is Head of Engagement Strategy, Europe at The Octalysis Group (TOG), a leading gamification and behavioral design consultancy. A globally recognized gamification strategist and TEDx speaker , he founded and hosts Professor Game , the gamification podcast, and has interviewed hundreds of global experts. He designs evidence-based engagement systems that drive motivation, loyalty, and results, and teaches LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and gamification at top institutions including IE Business School , EFMD , and EBS University across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Guest Links and Info Webs: Guest: elpatronhimself.net Research Lab: lslp.org LinkedIn: Raúl Mora Instagram: @lslplegion TikTok: @lslplegion Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/elpatronhimself.bsky.social Book: Understanding Second Language Users as Gamers Links to episode mentions: Proposed guest: Antero Garcia Recommended book: What Video Games Have to Teach Us by James P. Gee Favorite game: Mortal Kombat Lets's do stuff together! Let's chat about your gamification project YouTube LinkedIn Instagram Facebook Start Your Community on Skool for Free Ask a question

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From Tank to Healer: Gamifying Academic Teams Episode 432 is an episode from Professor Game Podcast | Rob Alvarez Bucholska chats with gamification gurus, experts and practitioners about education by Rob Alvarez.

This episode is 28:33 long.

This episode was published on Feb 16, 2026.

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