Education is changing in ways no one has thought possible. We have come a long way from chalkboards, hefty textbooks and other features that depicted school earlier. Over a specific period, the learning process has gravitated from its known design to something different, more specific and specialized.
This is not surprising. The 21st century has been a period of revolutionized upgrades thanks to the influence of technology. Every moment, something new is created that helps to improve the human experience in different ways. From automated home and virtual systems, now gaming is the next element set to be rebranded to totally change how our children learn in school. Known by everyone as one of the powerful elements of entertainment, gaming is now being proposed as a learning assistance tool to improve the rate at which children assimilate new and complex topics.
What is the concept of it?
Perhaps the most appealing aspect of most games is their interactive nature. Usually, an app of this type encloses in itself a competition-based objective, either with the computer or friends online. This feature of being interactive is one that helps students learn better. Pupils have been shown to understand concepts that are presented to them in an interactive setting.
The new concept is being referred to as gamification. What it entails – as the children engage in these games, they get to learn important aspects of the particular subject while never stop enjoying their lives.
Although some teachers had voiced out their skepticism over the fact that many pupils already had gaming consoles at home, and adding this feature might look a tad too much, their doubts are gradually being allayed. This is because gamification comes in a totally structured way, complete with appropriate quizzes and no time constraint. This also implies that the kids are allowed to complete sections at their own pace and speed.
What are the general benefits?
1. Improved concentration levels among pupils
Teachers would testify to the fact that it’s most difficult to keep a child’s attention for long periods of time, as they tend to get bored fast. This means that they are likely to lose out on important things taught in class.
For a long time, teachers kept designing new strategies to keep pupils engaged in the in-class activity. And this worked, albeit for a while. Now with the introduction of this concept, students tend to focus more on what is being taught, as the themes are embedded within eye-catching gaming elements.
The advent of these play apps in class also provides an opportunity for teachers to create incentives for completing certain tasks, leaving kids more motivated to learn. Incentives are generally known to appeal to people of all ages.
For instance, if you tell a kid “Do your homework and I’ll pay for your essay lessons” their response might not be so excited. But tell the same kid “Get good grades and you will play one hour of FIFA 2016 (or any other game)” and the response would be very active and spirited because they are looking forward to the game.
This kind of response would be of great benefit if this kind of approach is applied in schools – students would no longer see learning as a boring activity, but something to look forward to.
2. Improved learning outcomes
It’s easier for people to take in new information when it’s presented in creative ways to them. One more addition that would help gaming achieve this is the use of virtual technology. By creating an avenue of interaction with the material being taught, children tend to absorb what is taught faster than if they are taken through the ‘talk with chalk’ approach that we all know.
Faster levels of absorbing and understanding school work would result in improved learning outcomes. Children have extremely creative minds; they tend to remember visually colorful scenes better than written text. The same actually applies to people of any age. Visual content is appealing, and it gets even more interesting when you can interact with what you are being taught.
Gaming is here to stay, no doubt. The positive effects, however, would take a bit of time to fully reflect across the educational sector, and in the lives of all students.
