Gamification may seem like a new trend, but it has been around for a long time. From the honor system to credit cards to Foursquare badges, we’re trying to find ways to turn our daily actions into opportunities. We want to earn rewards and compete with others—to learn by playing.
Today, students would rather write essay with DoMyEssay to offload such tedious tasks. This is because learning is perceived as something too difficult to handle on your own.
Gamification allows educators to change the situation for the better and engage learners. In this article, we will look at the essential elements of gamification and find out why it is so popular in education today.
What Is Gamification in Education?
Nowadays, more gaming elements are making their way into learning programs and activities. This process is called gamification.
Such an educational experience includes a few game design principles and rewards student participation. In addition, fun and informative strategies serve to increase learners’ engagement.
For example, you can ask trivia questions that students must answer before moving on from a lesson. Or you can give them points for completing homework and later convert these points to rewards.
Elements of Gamification
Anything that motivates students to learn in a way that makes them want to come back for more is a form of gamification. It’s like using a medical essay writing service and coming back for more services because you want to get a discount on the second order. You don’t want to miss out on anything, right?
Here are common elements of gamification in learning.
Engagement
To make a gamified educational experience successful, think about incentives to encourage students to participate. These incentives come in the form of
- unlockable rewards;
- perks for leveling up;
- badges for taking the initiative.
If you include rewards into a gamification experience, you’ll have a much easier time engaging your students.
Classic Game Mechanics
Some fundamental principles still work. Remember about classic game mechanics, such as
- dice throwing,
- tile-laying,
- moving objects virtually for points.
For example, Duolingo helps students learn a new language and manages to keep things competitive. The company achieves it by ranking students with their friends and giving them points for showing up every day and making progress.
Progress Tracking
One element essential to keeping learners engaged is giving them a sense of their progress and where they stand compared to their end goal.
Progress tracking should be part of any gamified system. You can organize it with the help of a leaderboard or by showing completion percentages within an education system.
Benefits of Gamification
Let’s look at the six core benefits that have made gamification popular today.
Connecting the Class to the Real World
The traditional learning experience is often tedious and unappealing when it’s irrelevant to your day-to-day life. Gamification connects learning to meaningful experiences, making it more effective and enjoyable.
In a gamified learning environment, students are motivated to learn because they’re making real progress. Moreover, they develop skills that will help them succeed in their careers or personal lives. Gaining hands-on knowledge is priceless. Thus, if your students can apply their knowledge to solving daily problems, their performance will exceed your expectations.
Providing Instant Feedback
Feedback is essential for better learning. You are increasing engagement and giving more value by providing feedback as soon as something is done. The real challenge comes in figuring out what actions should be rewarded or punished to achieve a positive outcome for all.
If a learner makes a mistake, an ideal gamification system won’t mete out punishment. Instead, it will present the individual with more resources to help them progress.
Improving Retention
If people have invested their time in something, they are much more likely to remember it later. This is a fundamental tenet of gamification. Thus, if you present your information in a game-like manner, people will remember what they’ve learned long after they’ve stopped playing.
Reducing the Fear of Failure
Many students dread doing presentations or taking an exam. But gamification reduces these fears with game-like tests that give students more motivation to do well. Removing some of the fear surrounding failure makes learning more engaging for everyone.
Additionally, gamification tests reward successful actions. It means students are encouraged to make good decisions and improve critical thinking skills.
Contributing to Cognitive Development
Gamification elements have proven to boost cognitive development and academic performance. Gamified learning allows one to enhance such cognitive skills as
- memory;
- attention;
- problem-solving;
- spatial awareness;
- decision-making.
These skills are transferable to other parts of the students’ lives, so it’s important to work on them consistently.
Boosting Overall Satisfaction
Learners who take gamified classes enjoy a more interactive and personal experience. Such classes make learning more fun, compelling, and ultimately more satisfying. Games trigger the secretion of serotonin and dopamine in the brain, which make students happier.
By associating learning with happiness, students
- develop better study habits;
- attend class more regularly;
- increase their attention spans.
All these factors contribute to better grades.
Conclusion
The genius of gamification in the classroom is found in its simplicity. Modern gaming dynamics draw the students into an exciting learning journey.
So, try to boost the intrinsic motivation of your learners by involving them in a project or activity that is important to them. This way, you can help your students gain knowledge faster and more effectively than ever before.