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Personalized learning through gamification: Getting the thrill back into education
Almost all Indian parents secretly aspire that their child emerges as a topper in his / her class and makes them proud of their achievements. Selecting the correct school / college, tuition class and new effective modes of learning are their efforts in securing a great and bright future for their child.
The flip side and to every parent’s anguish is that the attention span of humans is going down south at an alarming level. A nightmare indeed! Screaming matches to coax children to study are a familiar sight in most Indian households. In such a scenario, as parents/guardians, how can they expect their children to sit for hours to prepare for their academic/competitive assessments?
Effective learning methods:
Responsible parents are always on the lookout for better and effective learning methods for their children which will be a huge relief for all concerned. They want their children to enjoy what they learn and not see it as a burden meant to be over and done with. After all, learning is the foundation of life ahead.
Learning through Gamification:
Various studies by renowned scientists and universities suggest that gamification can have a great emotional and social impact on students, as reward systems and competitive social mechanisms are motivating for them. Gamification is a multifaceted approach which takes into consideration psychology, design, strategy, and technology.
The good news is that online games have always been very popular amongst students across most age groups, not only in India but globally too! Channelizing this favorable factor to another level, Gamified assessments which ask academic questions related to school/competitive exams aid tremendously in absorption of lessons. Taken repeatedly over a period of time, these games help students/learners prepare for their exams in a fun and engaging mode.
Gamification stands out:
What makes Gamified Learning stand out is that it gives students freedom to fail and try again without negative effects. Students continue to have fun while playing the game again and can also revise the answers for questions which they have attempted in the past. For even better outcome, making learning visible helps in retention aided by support from rich media including images, videos. Add to that the power of enabling children to do assessments in the form of 2-minute games alongside their friends, you have a sure-fire way of making their learning fun.
Implementing in schools/ colleges:
Parents and teachers alike should seriously consider Gamified Learning as certain elements of the games to motivate their children and facilitate learning especially in large classrooms.
Gamified elements not only provide a Progress mechanics for evaluation in the form of points, badges or leaderboards but also provides effective feedback system with rapid monitoring tools. Opportunities for collaborative problem solving and team work; Adaptive learning with increasing challenges can be great tools that can be leveraged by schools and colleges.
Ownership of learning:
In order to make personalised learning through gamification a new permanent order to reckon with, top technology providers in this space empower students with ownership of their learning where they can see their performance analysis on instant and regular basis. This helps students identify their weak areas and generate an individualized study plan which prompts the student to practice further on the required subjects in which he/she is weak.
Future of Education:
Times are changing rapidly and Education in India including its impairment methods has witnessed a sea change. The future of education lies in student- centric learning and creating a personalized environment for students to build each students’ core strength. Technology in learning through processes like Gamification will come to the aid of students not only in learning and retention but they will also enjoy and appreciate what they have learnt which will equip them towards a brighter future.
The article has been originally published in India Today.