What is Gamification in Education: How is It Benefitting EdTech?

Introduction

Traditional teaching methods could be more engaging for students, leading to boredom and decreased motivation. Teachers need to solve this important issue, and the best way to do this is by introducing gamification in education.

The first instance of gamification is linked to Dmitri Mendeleev, the scientist who created the Periodic Table framework. He loved playing card games and wrote each element and its key properties on a card for easy retention.

If this technique is adopted in schools, it will help students achieve more in their studies. How? That is what we will discuss in the rest of this article.

What is Gamification in Education?

To understand the concept of gamification, it’s important to first define what a game truly is. A game is an interactive system that starts with players being assigned abstract challenges under specific rules and ends with a quantifiable outcome.

This activity is often accompanied by excitement and engagement because it stimulates both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in players.

Teachers want their students to feel the same way about their studies, but students don’t find the traditional teaching style interesting.

To address this, the stakeholders decided to take advantage of the rise of education software by integrating the fundamentals of gaming into the learning process.

The aim is to stimulate both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in students while learning. This Is called gamification in education.

Benefits of Gamification in Education

1. Motivational Boost

One of the problems in schools today is the lack of academic engagement among students. This is because the students have no motivation to participate in the learning process.

The role of motivation in the student’s success cannot be overstated, and teachers have an important role to play in this.

They have to ensure their students are motivated to learn, work hard, and push themselves to excel. One way to achieve this is through the gamification of learning processes.

With gamification comes grading systems like leaderboards, badges, and points that keep students engaged through the learning process.

One of the many tools used in the classrooms today to encourage active participation is Socrative. With its “Space Race” feature, teachers can divide their class into teams and have them compete against each other in a quiz.

Students are very competitive, but if the activity is conducted in a healthy way, it removes any form of pressure they may have, turning the competitiveness into an advantage.

2. Adaptive Learning

Adaptive learning is one of the main benefits of gamification in education. Gamification makes individualized learning styles possible in the classroom, making the learning process more inclusive for every student.

With tools like Socrative, Kahoot!, and Duolingo, a teacher can adjust the learning material’s content, pace, and difficulty based on the performance and preferences of each student.

Hence, a group of students who are yet to fully grasp the idea of series and sequences can get simpler questions while the other group works with questions that meet their level of knowledge.

The two teams or individual students will complete the course but at their individual pace, moving gradually between difficulty levels.

3. Improved Retention and Recall

Anyone who has ever played a game before understands the allure of trying to improve one’s “High score” because we know we have what it takes to do better. Gamification brings this allure into the classroom.

Like in games, this learning style offers replayability, encouraging students to keep practising in order to improve their scores on the leaderboard. This results in better retention and recall of the course content.

Brainscape, for example, uses a technique called “confidence-based repetition”, where a flashcard is given to each student, and the flashcard is upgraded as their scores get better.

The card is designed to be appealing and fun to use, making the learning process more enjoyable. Thereby promoting the retention of the learning material.

This approach taps into the human’s innate desire to be better. When done properly, teachers can dramatically increase retention among their students with gamification.

4. Improved Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills

Gamified classwork, quizzes, or homework encourages students to attempt questions in creative and critical manners without the fear of criticism.

This could be done by giving questions that require out of the box thinking, such as creating a virtual reality room and asking students to solve clues that would help escape the room.

According to the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, gamification improved students’ achievement by 89.45% compared to traditional teaching methods.

The most popular software used for developing this kind of quiz is Microsoft’s MimioConnect. MimioConnect is an online blended learning platform that allows teachers to augment instruction, making it easier for them to teach and students to learn.

With Mimioconnect, teachers can build game-like elements in quizzes or tests that can be scored and recorded as assessments.

By integrating gamification into education, teachers are discovering new ways to develop engagement, critical thinking, and collaboration among their students.

5. Real-Time Feedback

Gamification in education allows students to get real-time feedback on their performance and makes them understand where improvement is needed.

The feedback instills a growth mindset in the students, and when combined with a rewarding system like badges or verbal praises, it makes the learning process more engaging. It gives the students the assurance that their efforts and achievements are noticed.

There are many Edtech tools that serve this purpose and one of them is MagicBox, an online gamified learning platform that can help teachers generate multiple-choice quizzes and provide immediate feedback about the learning process of each student.

It was developed by MagicEdTech, the 2024 winner of the 1EdTech Power Learner Award. This prestigious award highlights how big a role they play in transforming the EdTech Industry.

Wrapping Up: Where Improvement is Needed

While gamification in education has many benefits to it, there are places where improvement is needed. Among them is a proper consideration of learning materials in the usage of the gamified tools. Gamification should be a thoughtful process, not a superficial engagement.

Education stakeholders need to put systems in place to ensure teachers are using these tech tools adequately. The usage must be properly integrated into the school curriculum so that it doesn’t become a distraction.

Lastly, the stakeholders should work towards making gamified Edtech tools accessible to all students, especially those with limited access to the technology.