IN a world where so much has changed in such a short time, seemingly every industry is struggling to keep up. One such industry is remote education, or online learning, which has recently been put under a great deal of stress due to abrupt changes as a result of Covid-19.
However, drastic times also call for new approaches to learning. Already, the world is seeing strides from teachers, schools, and remote learning platforms brainstorming and achieving dynamic ways of educating students from home.
One particularly effective method of learning that has arisen with better technology is gamification – adding typical elements of game play to lessons to make them more engaging and effective for students.
Gamification is the idea of applying elements of game playing to a particular subject matter to make it more engaging.
However, to create impactful gamification, both teachers and educational platforms need to have a clear definition and research behind what they’re trying to build and the outcome they want students to achieve. Additionally, to be effective, the game needs to meet three basic gamification principles: autonomy, value, and competence.
Autonomy helps learners feel in charge of something, making them more likely to stick to something and stay engaged. Value means ensuring that the game provides value to the users’ life, such as making someone smarter, helping them memorise a lesson, and so on.
Competence ensures that the user realises that if they keep trying at the game, they can get better and, hopefully, learn more each time they try again. All of these elements are of utmost importance for platforms and classrooms planning to adopt gamification.
Learning through gaming allows both children and adults to acquire and, most importantly, remember a large amount of knowledge.
R. Murali Rajaratenam
Petaling Jaya
