Education is a journey, and it’s true that learning never stops. But is there a way to make learning as fun as playing games? You see when we play games – it keeps us hooked, and we don’t want to let go, whether it’s a video game or a fun round of board games with friends (at least for hours!), likewise, learning could be the same.
Teachers are always on the lookout for new fun ways to educate, but with our attention span going down each day, even they are struggling to propose new approaches. That’s when gamification comes in – a brand new approach for learning, actually, fun learning.
In this blog, we aim to define gamification in education, discuss its benefits for classroom learning, and discuss best practices and things to avoid:
What Is Gamification & How Is It Beneficial For Learning?
The process of incorporating game elements into non-gaming contexts is called gamification. The use of gamification for learning can be advantageous since games foster the development of transferable abilities including cooperation, critical thinking, societal awareness, problem-solving, and teamwork.
There are several reasons why gamified learning approaches are becoming more and more popular in the market, but the primary one is that fosters a blended learning environment. The process of gamifying a website or app involves more than just awarding points and badges. Making learning more interesting, participatory, and enjoyable for students is the goal of applying game design ideas. Gamified learning has many advantageous over traditional learning concepts like:
1. Boosts the Interest of Students
Gamification in the classroom works to raise student interest in their studies because a game’s mechanism ultimately produces a more lighthearted and dynamic classroom learning experience, causing players to seek up new talents or learn new topics without even realizing it.
2. Fosters an Emotional Connect
Emotions have the potential to be an effective learning tool. They help with efficient encoding and retrieval of information, which greatly improves learning efficiency. Students and the content become psychologically linked when a lesson is gamified such that it has an enormous impact on people’s attention, which increases their receptivity to learning, and can make the toughest subjects easy, like learning math.
3. The Hippocampus Regulates Recall
Our ability to recall and retain knowledge is regulated by the hippocampus, a part of the brain. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that gamification improves students’ retention of what they have learnt in class. The process of gamification activates the hippocampus, facilitating the retention of fresh knowledge in long-term memory.
Gamification In Learning – Mathematics vs. Language Arts
Implementing gamification is quite easy if you know the right gamification techniques. Here are a few techniques that we swear by:
Mathematics
Children often run away from mathematics, finding its concepts intimidating and challenging. When you gamify lessons, you provide your students with a fun experience of learning math, that retains the subject as the primary focus.
- Gamifying math lessons frequently concentrates on solving conceptual problems. The goal of implying gamification techniques in learning math is to make complex mathematical ideas interesting, and easy to understand.
- Games like Kahoot encourage problem-solving and active involvement through interactive quizzes and challenges.
- It strengthens critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, which is consistent with the logical structure of mathematical ideas.
Language Arts
Gamified lessons of language arts call for imagination, teamwork, and fun. Teachers can integrate games into English language art classes, promoting imagination and enhancing the overall educational experience. Whether it is using games like Kahoot for interactive quizzes or incorporating storytelling games, gamification in learning can significantly improve student engagement. This approach encourages a dynamic learning environment, making language arts more captivating and enjoyable for students.
- Gamifying language arts fosters creativity. Through cooperative writing, vocabulary development, and storytelling, students express themselves creatively.
- Games that involve literature-based games emphasize group participation and communication skills.
- It also promotes effective communication, and nurtures a love for literature.
Tips to Avoid Mistakes in the Classroom
Elearning Gamification is all fun and games until students actually mistake it for just fun. Below are some things you should keep avoid:
Prioritizing Fun Above Learning
It’s easy to prioritize exciting gameplay and graphics over practical abilities. However, students won’t remember pertinent information if activities aren’t explicitly tied to their lessons. Make sure the scenarios and questions reflect actual events.
Not Using Mistakes as Teaching Opportunities
During games, allow errors and then offer feedback outlining the proper strategy. This reinforces correct methods more effectively than simply providing instructions up front.
Not Monitoring Performance
Examine metrics over time, such as scores and completion rates. This makes it possible to optimize the game’s elements and verify that the learning goals are reached.
Final Thoughts
Numerous gamification strategies have been shown to effectively increase learning objectives and retention rates. Students can learn while having fun in this method, which enhances and prolongs their learning process.
