Gamified learning has established itself as something super simple. One can now put an end to proceeding the boring way and sitting through heaps of information. Employees can experience information processing through game mechanics, including completing levels, progress bars, and points. The use of it is to help with engaging and motivating people to achieve their goals. Gamification is highly favorable in various activities, including education, marketing, and fitness.
Where To Use Gamification?
Gamification finds use in various settings, including education, to help students learn and retain information more effectively. Also, it finds use in marketing and customer engagement to encourage brand loyalty and increase customer satisfaction. Learning materials studied by solving quizzes, completing simulations, etc., can be assigned individual weightage to score their performance against each other.
The Benefit Of Using Gamification In Learning
1. Higher Levels Of Engagement
Gamification in the classroom has the ability to engage students more effectively than traditional coursework. Gamified e-learning modules are highly beneficial for promoting engagement by creating challenges and tracking users’ progress as they learn.
Students can master learning materials, receive recognition for their achievements, and gradually progress to challenging lessons. Gamification uses storytelling to guide students through the learning experience. Such techniques help students to engage with the course materials and promote focus.
2. Improved Retention
Gamified learning is useful for students to retain more of what they learn. Gaining skills with e-learning modules reflects how gamification increases knowledge retention. Gamification is an extremely effective strategy for ensuring students remember what they learn.
3. Connection Of Learning To The Real World
Besides making learning fun, gamification in education is an excellent way to connect lessons to real-world problems and applications. Gamified learning yields rewards and challenges of creating a risk-free environment, letting students learn how to apply the knowledge or skills they gain. Using these real-life skills helps the students understand how to apply them successfully.
4. Instant Feedback And Reinforcement
Students learning through game-like interactive play receive feedback on their answers instantly. So it becomes easier for them to correct the wrong answers quickly. They can also earn rewards as positive reinforcement for the right answers. Gamified learning is effective because students don’t have to wait to find out how well they’re doing or how to improve.
5. Getting Addicted To Learning
An important benefit of gamification in education is that it makes learning an almost addictive experience. Game mechanics include rewards and competition to trigger dopamine release in the brain. It is fruitful because it makes the learning process far more enjoyable. Students get the opportunity to become hooked on learning and mastering new skills.
Gamification Aligning With Other Educational Tools
Gamified education proves to be one of many useful learning strategies as it helps students learn most effectively. For more effectiveness of it, instructors should combine several strategies. Traditional classroom instruction is the best method for teaching less technical and skill-based subjects. Combining traditional instruction and gamified e-learning makes it easier for students to absorb and retain information.
Gamification also works very well with other innovative teaching approaches. One of these approaches is Skills-based learning, a natural complement to gamification. Against the information or test scores, this teaching approach focuses on specific, useful skills. Skills-based learning, combined with game mechanics, helps students rapidly improve their skills to remain competitive in the job market.
Gamification Aids In Cognitive Development In Adolescents
gamification aids in cognitive development and ensures an increase in the activity of the regions of the brain. This approach to learning allows adequate development. Games produced specifically for enhancing cognitive development are referred to as “brain games.”
These games have become increasingly popular and are based on various questions and problems to answer or solve. Brain games are highly effective in the manner that they help improve the rate at which the brain processes and maintains information.
Also, such games aid in physical development. Exercising with an interactive game turns out to be highly effective as normal exercise. This exercise will be very beneficial for adolescents who enjoy playing video games but don’t usually choose to be physically active. Gamification is impressive in its potential to increase the level of engagement in classrooms.
A game-like atmosphere proves favorable in the classroom and increases productivity. Gamification finds wide use as a teaching tool to educate adolescents. Gamification in the form of a video game is used to teach students diagnosed with autism as well. Also, such an education form is effective in teaching age-appropriate content.
Gamification can be used in learning outside the classroom. Break up your child’s math homework into sections, and you will notice that the child will level up after completing each section to get hints regarding solving a riddle. Another task the child can do is to create their very own periodic table with a few elements. Gamification at home is also a good way to get involved in your child’s education!
Gamification And Serious Games – The Difference
Though often grouped together, gamification and serious games have certain characteristics that set them apart. Both motivate online learners and enhance the eLearning experience. But it’s worth noting that gamification blends game mechanics with traditional eLearning activities and modules.
In this regard, it can be said leaderboards, points, levels, and eLearning badges add extra incentives online learners need to participate actively. Conducting in-depth audience research is necessary to determine what drives the gaming elements.
Serious games follow the typical game structure with some form of training value. Online learners are expected to overcome in-game obstacles to build essential skills. Serious gaming proves to be fun, entertaining, and interactive but aligns with specific learning objectives and goals.
Gamification involves the traditional eLearning course structure, but that isn’t the same with serious games, as the latter can exist independently. These games are ideally suited for positive reinforcement. Serious games should not serve as standalone eLearning activities but should serve as a great addition to comprehensive eLearning courses.
Final Words
Gamification and serious games offer the ability to track online learner performance and eLearning effectiveness. One can accomplish this using a Learning Management System with robust reporting and analytics. Also, one of the most important things to do is monitor online learners’ progress and completion times. Gamification has become more of a buzzword, and most don’t understand the benefits of gamification in enhancing the learning process for students at all academic levels.
