3 benefits of using gamification in your class
Thomas Courtley
Education Specialist
In recent years the term 'gamification' is used to define game-elements in a non-game context, in order to enrich your students' experience. LessonUp offers a toolkit and platform that facilitates the creation of gamified lessons and learning techniques that are extremely flexible and customisable. They engage students by providing game elements that trigger knowledge retention, intense focus, team-play, and engagement.
Pros and cons of gamification in education
It is widely agreed upon, by educators and researchers, that educational games are effective in motivating students and making learning more interesting.
The application of gamification in education, when done right, stimulates engagement for all students, but especially for the many students who have difficulty fitting into the traditional methods of instruction. Shyer students, students who need more stimuli, or children with special needs might find their voice and actively participate in a gamified learning environment. It might even provide a partial solution to the decline of learners’ motivation and engagement.
Many research studies in this area focus on non-customisable games that are designed for very specific groups of learners and subjects. In actual classrooms, however, non-customisable digital games often are not flexible enough to enable you to put gamification into practice.
1. Gamification increases student engagement
Gamification does not only improve the engagement of learners. Students also become more and more motivated to perform and excel. In 'Glued to games: how video games draw us in and hold us spellbound', Rigby and Ryan state that the constructive, friendly competition of games in the classroom 'has the potential to foster feelings of relatedness, thereby enhancing intrinsic motivation.'
Students are driven by the mechanics of the game they are playing. They become very focused and motivated to solve all the challenges and complete the tasks at hand.
2. Gamification improves collaborative skills
Gamified lessons are often designed for teams of students who work together to achieve a common goal. Why? Because humans are naturally hardwired for group dynamics. This sense of community motivates students to become emotionally involved and feel responsible for the group’s outcome.
Students working together in teams develop social skills while playing together towards a common goal. The interaction required encourages them to perform at their very best.
3. Gamification strengthens knowledge retention
Immediate feedback, a crucial element of gamification that feeds the learners’ need for connection, has shown to be 'among the most powerful factors in the relationship between educational interventions and learning in general' (Hattie, J., & Timperley, H., The power of feedback). Prompt and active feedback help learners spot and correct their own misconceptions, while improving knowledge retention.
The potential of gamification to enhance learning can be traced also to its appealing graphics, engaging nature, and its ability to actively involve learners while assessing their knowledge.
Boost student learning with customisable digital games
Each one of these lessons is customisable depending on what you teach and what your learning objectives are. There are no limits to the subjects you can teach your students in a gamified setting. Moreover, you can adapt these gamified lessons per classroom or group of students.
While your students are playing a lesson you can monitor what they are doing in the students’ reports, and provide them with instant feedback if you think they need some help. Once the game is concluded, all the results are safely stored in the students’ reports. You can look back at them whenever you want to monitor your students' engagement and the lesson’s results.
Increase engagement and knowledge retention with gamified lessons & learning techniques.
