In the past 20-25 years, there have been no major blockbusters in educational software/ games—the field otherwise known as edutainment. Software focused on children, the demographic with the biggest claims on fun, are not getting it where they arguably need it most—in learning. Does this mean that it’s impossible to educate by having fun? Is school forever consigned to be boring?
The famous geography game Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (here) was the last blockbuster hit in educational games. It was inarguably a tremendously fun way to learn about country and province capitals, as well as the major exports and waterways of places far removed from the classroom. Since then, thousands of educational software companies have attempted and failed to create another sensation.
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“Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?” is among the best-selling educational games of all time, and was popular among teachers, parents, and students alike.
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The gamification of learning is an educational approach to motivate students to learn by using video game design and game elements in learning environments. The goal is to maximize enjoyment and engagement through capturing the interest of learners and inspiring them to continue learning.
Gamification, broadly defined, is the process of defining the elements which comprise games that make those games fun and motivate players to continue playing, and using those same elements in a non-game context to influence behaviour. In educational contexts, examples of desired student behaviour which gamification can potentially influence include attending class, focusing on meaningful learning tasks, and taking initiative.
Game elements of games that may be used to motivate learners:
1. Progress mechanics (points/badges/leaderboards, or PBL's)
2. Narrative
3. Player control
4. Immediate feedback
5. Opportunities for collaborative problem solving
6. Scaffolded learning with increasing challenges
7. Opportunities for mastery, and leveling up
8. Social connection
Benefits Of Gamification In eLearning:
1. Better learning experience.
The learner can experience “fun” during the game and still learn if the level of engagement is high. A good gamification strategy with high levels of engagement will lead to an increase in recall and retention.
2. Better learning environment.
Gamification in eLearning provides an effective, informal learning environment, and helps learners practice real life situations and challenges in a safe environment. This leads to a more engaged learning experience that facilitates better knowledge retention.
3. Instant feedback.
It provides instant feedback so that learners know what they know or what they should know. This too facilitates better learner engagement and thereby better recall and retention.
4. Prompting behavioral change.
Points, badges, and leaderboards would surely make training awesome. However, gamification is about a lot more than just those surface level benefits. Gamification can drive strong behavioral change especially when combined with the scientific principles of repeated retrieval and spaced repetition.
5. Can be applied for most learning needs.
Gamification can be used to fulfill most learning needs including induction and onboarding, product sales, customer support, soft skills, awareness creation, and compliance.
6. Impact on bottom line.
On account of all these aspects that touch and impact learners (better learning experience, higher recall and retention, catalyzing behavioral change, and so on), it can create a significant performance gain for organizations.
Examples of gamification of learning:
1. DuoLingo: Learn a language while translating the Web.
Duolingo is a massive online collaboration which combines a free language-learning website with a paid crowdsourced text translation platform. The service is designed so that students can learn a given language online, while helping to translate websites and documents. Beginners start out with basic, simple sentences from the web, while advanced users receive more complex sentences. As one progresses, so does the complexity of the sentences they are asked to translate.
2. Ribbon Hero: Epic game that teaches you how to use Microsoft Office.
Ribbon Hero is an add-in game, available as a free Microsoft download, to help educate users of Office 2007 and 2010 on how to use the tools available in the new ribbon interface. Wow, what a creative use of Education Gamification!
3. ClassDojo: Turns Class into a Game of Rewards and Instant Feedback.
ClassDojo is a classroom management tool to help teachers improve behavior in their classrooms quickly and easily. It improves specific student behaviors and helps engagement by issuing awards and recording real-time feedback.
4. GoalBook: Brings student teams together around their individual Learning Plans.
Goalbook is an online platform that helps teachers, parents and students collaboratively track progress. Blending qualities of social networking and Individualized Education Program (IEP) tracking software, the program makes it simple for students and teachers to set goals and for all involved parties to watch everything unfold.
Links:
- lynda.com offers online learning course of Gamification of Learning.
- Play to Learn: 100 great sites on Gamification of learning.
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