Yeah, I agree. Even if a tool is effective if you can't motivate the user it's all for naught.
I just wish that concentrating on this aspect wasn't so disproportionately rewarded by the market; after all an educational tool should primarily be judged by how effective it is in actually educating, and the "fun" factor should only be a bonus, where with the current state of affairs it kinda seems like it's the other way around.
But the point there kinda is that gamification is not a "fun" factor, it's what makes them more effective in actually educating. If you have the best learning strategy, but you don't actually stick to it, it won't help.
Indeed, it makes them more effective in actually educating, but the effect is multiplicative, and not additive. The tool that is gamified needs to be effective in the first place, so ideally you'd need both.
I just wish that concentrating on this aspect wasn't so disproportionately rewarded by the market; after all an educational tool should primarily be judged by how effective it is in actually educating, and the "fun" factor should only be a bonus, where with the current state of affairs it kinda seems like it's the other way around.