Gamification in Education

 

 Gamification In Education

                     (Game Based Education)

Gamification in education is all about incorporating elements of game design into the learning process. It's not about turning every lesson into a full-blown video game, but rather using those engaging features that make games fun and motivating to make learning more enjoyable and effective.

Here's how gamification strategies can be used for students:

Points, badges, and leaderboards: These classic game mechanics provide a sense of achievement and progress. 

Earning points for completing tasks or quizzes can motivate students to keep learning, while badges can celebrate mastery of specific skills. 

Leaderboards can introduce a friendly competitive element, but it's important to focus on individual growth as well.

Levels and challenges: Breaking down learning into achievable levels with clear goals gives students a sense of accomplishment as they progress.  Challenges can add an element of excitement and encourage students to apply their knowledge in new ways.

Storytelling and immersion:  Imagine a history lesson where students become detectives solving a mystery from the past, or a science class where they design a colony on Mars. Gamification can incorporate storytelling and role-playing to create a more immersive and engaging learning experience.

Immediate feedback:  Just like in games, getting feedback on their performance helps students learn and improve. Gamified learning can provide quizzes with instant results or allow for self-assessment through interactive exercises.

Collaboration and teamwork:  Many games are social experiences, and gamification can encourage collaboration among students.  This can involve group projects with shared goals, or online learning platforms that allow students to work together on challenges.

By incorporating these strategies, gamification can make learning more fun, motivating, and ultimately more effective for students.

What is ‘gamification’ in learning & education: Understanding the term & its need

Ask around, and you’ll see what big issues lie around the term. Two people hardly share the same opinion about gamification. Many people mistake the term for anything slightly related to gaming, which is, of course, not the case.

Gartner redefined gamification in this research paper as "the use of game mechanics and experience design to digitally engage and motivate people to achieve their goals." The onus remained on the major elements-

1. Preference of digital engagement to personal engagement
2. Motivating learners to develop skills or drive innovation
3. Enabling the participants to achieve their goals

So, if you’re allowing your K-8 students to play chutes and ladders in the classroom to keep them quiet and thinking you’ve applied gamification, you sure are on the wrong track.

You must keep in mind the major elements stated above, and then, apply game-like features to an educational setting instead of letting students play just any game.

Gamification of lessons aims to build interest and motivation and make learning engaging.

If we look back, gamification has been there for a long time. Educators have always used creative contests and group activities to educate and engage students in a fun way. Only the term ‘gamification’ gained more popularity with technological development and digital revolution.

Learning through gamification: Two approaches

The gamification theory revolves around the most integral motive of helping learners build fundamental skills through fun and entertainment. To make that happen, educators approach it mainly in two forms:

1. Including games and activities that are designed purely for entertainment purposes but renders educational benefits by delivering certain learning objectives. This is popularly known as the ‘game-based learning approach’.

2. Adopting elements, mechanics and features of popular game designs in the educational setting to make monotonous lessons interactive and intriguing. This approach is what we mainly refer to as ‘gamification in education’.

Though educational institutes focus more on the second form, it’s imperative to recognize the first form too.

Indeed the classroom is for learning and developing innate skills. But, think about the need for building persistence, confidence, patience, critical thinking, competitive mentality, and skills to deal with failure— the virtues that one needs to acquire. A simple, fast-paced race game, puzzle game, or word game can help learners imbibe those virtues.

The second form gains more approval because in an online or digital learning context, educators can apply it in variety of ways and add a creative structure to their LMS. When implemented correctly, both forms of gamification encourage students to learn new theories, formulas and concepts on their own.

Best strategies of gamification in education

1. Point systems

Perks:

Build motivation

Track progress

Increase engagement

2. Leaderboards

Perks:

Builds team-work spirit

Develops a competitive frame of mind

3. Badges

Perks:

Students feel recognized

Drives more enthusiasm

4. Challenges

Perks:

Promotes critical thinking

Builds persistence

Evolves go-getter attitude

5. Surprises

Perks:

Channelizes enthusiasm

Reflects individual personalities

6. Avatars or Role-playing

Perks:

Induces creativity

Builds strong communication skills

Impacts overall personality

7. Quests

Perks:

Encourages collaboration

Teaches information gathering & sharing

Builds patience & problem-solving 

Refrences

Alsawaier, R. S. (2018). The effect of gamification on motivation and engagement. International Journal of Information and Learning Technolog_y, _35(1), 56-79.

An, Y. (2020). Designing effective gamified learning experiences. International Journal of Technology in Education, 3(2), 62-69.

Armier Jr, D. D., Shepherd, C. E., & Skrabut, S. (2016). Using game elements to increase student engagement in course assignments. College Teaching, 64(2), 64-72.