Gamification Learning the Fun Way

when i was in second grade

our school started a token system so

basically

you behaved well answered all the

questions

and kept your bench neat and you would

get plastic coins

with various colors and numbers that

looked something

like this once a term we got to use

those coins

to buy toys and stationery our formerly

unruly class

was now the most perfect little angels

in fact within three months we had been

so good

that we had actually earned more token

points than coins in circulation

our teacher had to start marking the

points down on a chart

and the physical coins were removed

i remember the first time i ever learned

to bake a cake

it was with my first grade teacher

together

the class made three cakes even after

six years

i still remember every detail of it at a

glance

you could say hey what’s this teacher

doing

she ought to be teaching kids maths but

in reality

the teachers had cleverly managed to

teach us a lot

calculations measurements and more

and at the end of that hard work we all

got the reward

of a delicious slice of cake it was

amazing

and most of the students performed well

in the next maths test

these were examples of gamification

so what exactly is gamification

it means to incorporate game elements

like rewards

scores points etc into something like

teaching what i’m trying to say is that

using this tool gamification we can help

students learn

in a better way gamification has been

around for nearly

a century but in terms of education

i believe that it hasn’t been used to

its complete potential

so i’m sure that nearly everyone can

relate to that tired

bored feeling when facts are just being

relayed to you

i know i felt the same the problems not

really

about the actual things that are taught

but more about the way that it’s

presented to students

picture this you’re a teacher in a

classroom

about to teach history if you started by

saying

we will be studying world war ii please

turn your books to page 74.

i guarantee you half your class would be

daydreaming

by the time you finish most likely

you won’t be able to captivate your

students or get them really interested

in the topic but think how their

reaction would be

if you said it was first september

1939 troops from various countries were

to be rallied

in preparation for the oncoming world

war

ii using another sub element of

gamification

storytelling you can grab people’s

attention

gamification allows children to have a

fun

and interactive education using this

tool

we will be able to help students to

understand concepts

and later solve real-world problems

by changing our current schooling system

in this way

we might be able to help everyone

everyone retain this knowledge

throughout life

for example i always love learning

history

and it’s really exciting to me i know

for a fact

that my friends don’t necessarily share

the same views

some of them have confessed that they

think it’s a drag

well maybe that’s because the way of

teaching

needs to be changed i remember my

friends

being reluctant to start a conversation

on the topic

but once i described it like an epic war

with protagonists

and antagonists they were really

absorbed

so why why is gamification that

important anyway have you ever noticed

that any char becomes a breeze when

we’re having fun while doing it

in one of my favorite books the

adventures of tom sawyer

tom makes the uber boring task of

whitewashing events

really exciting he even got his friends

to view things in favor of this argument

in the same way we can make learning a

fun

and fascinating adventure for everyone

one thing i’ve noticed is that when

people are actually

enjoying the subject at hand it lets

them see things

in a different light it gives us a new

perspective on things

games and practicals like projects and

experiments

are really important and i’m sure

everyone

wants to have a good time in school why

can’t learning

become an awesome adventure it makes

learning so much better

like adding sugar to an ice cream mix

you won’t enjoy it if it just if it just

tasted like frozen cream

right in the same way a spoonful of

games

can go a long way

another thing that i consider is

essential

for the betterment of the schooling

system is in interactive learning

in the past most people would consider

teaching

as a one-way transfer of information

with the teachers speaking

and the students being recipients of new

knowledge

but a new in fact a 21st century version

would be one where both the students and

the teachers

take equal part in an exchange of

information and ideas

in my class we always share new facts or

the current news with each other

and with our teacher adding inputs too

we start a class conversation

it was really fun and we got to hear

news from around the world

whether it was politics or a meteor

shower we kept discussing

various topics this kept us regularly

informed

about what was going on in the world

around us

we all tend to drift off sometimes when

we find the subject boring

and especially when we feel that there

is nothing

we can do with all that new knowledge in

subjects like science and i.t

because we can actually experiment with

things a lot of people find it

more interesting if only there was a way

to make

other subjects like say maths and social

studies

more interesting for every student

with this two-way interaction we can

form a collaboration

between students and teachers to learn a

lesson

we also impo we also learn the important

skill

of thinking outside the box instead of

being restrained

in the boundaries of a curriculum why

not share in the diversity

and cultures from around the world or

maybe

discussing current affairs can help in

understanding

both sides of a scenario rapid round

quizzes

were another thing that we did as a

class and i believe

it brought us a lot closer it certainly

broadened our horizons

the use of ar vr and mr

in our classrooms is an advanced form of

gamifying learning

with this tech we could bring forth a

whole new world of possibilities

what if you could experience history

blast off into outer space

dive into the deepest oceans all while

standing in your classrooms

teachers could take the students to

various locations around the world

or even see an atom spinning and

apps are another form of gamifying

learning which is incredibly

far-reaching

now anyone with an internet connection

and a device

can have access to good quality

education and contact

teachers people anywhere

in the world can learn the subjects they

want to without

even having to leave their homes we

students

we never missed a year of our schooling

thanks to a couple of apps

now one thing to understand is that

every student

is different they have different needs

and unique

unique abilities they all need

individualized assistance

to help improve their weak spots in a

class of children

sometimes their individual requirements

would be overlooked

but now with an individualized form of

learning

they will be able to excel with the

extra help

the use of flash cards pictures and

charts

also helps us to understand this is

because

up to 90 percent of the data processed

by your brain

is visual gamification has so many

benefits

like firstly it stays in a person’s

memory

for longer certain studies

show that seeing visuals while learning

can help improve your memory

of a subject by up to four hundred

percent

secondly complex concepts can be

explained in an easy way

can you imagine for me in your head a

purple colored plane figure with four

equal straight sides and four right

angles

yeah it’s a purple square but did

figuring out

what i was talking about confused you

for a second

what if i wanted you to understand what

a purple square was

but instead of saying all that stuff i

just showed you this picture

right away you can understand everything

that i just mentioned

without all the confusion thirdly

games let us experience things first

hand for instance

a play on a historical figure or maybe

a treasure hunt to find the material

that will conduct electricity

additionally a collaboration-style

education

helps kids with their social skills kids

learn the importance of working together

take it from me it’s not always easy

when you group with new people sometimes

those whom you’ve never met before

but at the end of it every group member

works in unison

to achieve their one goal i have a lot

of friends

who without these projects i would never

have even talked to once

i cannot stress how vital it is for

people to learn

how to cooperate with one another these

people

may no longer be in my class some of

them

not even in my school anymore but those

few months

that we spent researching brainstorming

and occasionally arguing and fighting

made us friends

for life it’s play that helps us to do

serious things better games add to the

educational experience

and helps improve learning by making it

more purposeful

to face the oncoming challenges of our

nation and of the world

we need young people with creative

thoughts

and ignited minds like dr apj abdul

kalam said

when learning is purposeful creativity

blossoms

when creativity blossoms thinking

emanates

and when thinking emanates knowledge is

fully lit

thank you