The role of Gamification in Education
We have an old perception of a set standard of learning methods, and playing games has never been considered the ideal way for a studious kid. But science has shattered these perceptions and proved that gaming is more stimulative to the brain than conventional learning methods of reading and memorizing lessons.
Today, sports or games are a mandatory part of a school curriculum for the overall development of a student. Games have also made inroads in academic lessons and come as gaming elements incorporated in classroom content. Let us understand what it means with gamification in education and its various benefits.
What is gamification?
Gamification is a type of content that uses elements such as points, scores, badges, level unlocks, quizzes, solving puzzles, rewards to hold the student’s attention and encourage them to be continually involved in the lesson.
These game elements bring a competitive spirit to the students and ignite a passion for excellence. Most digital content can incorporate such game elements ensuring students are attracted to return for more.
These new learning methodologies can captivate the young minds, which evolve with more advancement in digitalization. The teaching and learning standards should be creative, practical, & progressive to keep up with the cognitive capabilities of the current generation of students.
Quick fact
Research done in this field to understand the impact of gamification in learning improvement clearly shows that it improves the quality & accuracy of learning, as reflected in the correct answers given by the students for most of the questions. Research finding also suggests that gamification increases engagement, user retention, knowledge, and cooperation.
What are the gaming elements in education?
There are multiple ways to bring games into the classroom lessons. Like, teamwork, scoring points, rewards, solving the mystery, or solving clues to keep the students hooked till the end of the chapter. Some other elements which can be part of games are;
- Daily task/ challenge of the day
- Rewards
- Challenging rules to follow to achieve goals
- Project works
- A narrative play
- Teacher’s feedback
Benefits of gamification in education?
- Gamification makes learning more engaging.
Traditional learning involves a passive style, where reading through lessons and memorizing important points becomes the central part. But with gamification, a student is actively learning. Teachers can assign students group or individual tasks which have multiple difficulty levels. Crossing each level assigns them points or rewards that help them access the next level.
Students learn through their experience in each level and their mind is attentively engrossed in the competitive spirit and longing for rewards. It keeps motivating them to improve and work hard to cross each section, making it fun, creative, & challenging for students to be more active learners.
- Motivates student to keep improving
A gamified content awards students; with points, badges, special access, lifelines. It keeps motivating them to move through each level with enthusiasm. Short term goals keep the attention of students high and engage them completely.
In traditional learning, a practice session at the end of a lesson becomes boring as young minds lose attention without active learning.
- Quick review that helps to learn
In gamified content, students receive quick feedback on their learning. So, they understand their mistakes and strengthen their knowledge.
A complete statistical analysis of student performance is possible with the help of AI and machine learning capabilities. It enables them to be aware of their shortcomings and work hard towards improvements to achieve the final goal of the lesson.
Traditional learning presents a gap in providing appropriate feedback to students, and hence they fail in motivating students from active learning.
- Improves acquiring knowledge and retention
Traditional learning becomes boring without much activity for the students. While, games immerse a student in its experience, which helps them retain knowledge in a better way. Research states that games bring an emotional connection to a lesson for the students. Games are a stress buster to stimulate a student’s brain in multiple ways compared to a passive learning style.
Strategically planned levels and activities make it possible for easy delivery of knowledge, which is retained strongly by learner’s making games one of the best ways for students to enjoy learning.
Conclusion
With the advancement in technology, there are new creative methods & tools for learning. Now learning is fun, engaging, & stimulating for children’s brains with these innovative tools. Realizing the needs of new-age learners’ educators and teachers have started creating content that steadily uses the elements of games for actively involving learners in a quality learning experience.
