
Keeping students engaged on their learning journey consistently can be a challenge, from ensuring students maintain motivation levels and retain their knowledge, to the continuous disruptions from COVID to classroom learning during the last two years. At Odyssey, we believe the journey one takes to meet their learning goals is vital. Thus, finding new resources, such as Education Technology, that have been evidenced to increase engagement and motivation we know to be important for education providers.
Gamification is defined most aptly here as the application of game elements and principles into non-game contexts. For example, within educational settings, the aim of gamification in learning is to engage students by making learning more fun! Although similar by name to game-based learning, gamification integrates game-based elements into classroom activities, particularly e-learning, rather than playing or making games, to keep students engaged with their learning and retain their knowledge, which is a must for young students as they progress on their education journey. Game-based learning, however, is the use of educational games to motivate and inspire learners, and so involves competition. Adding gamification into lessons is an effective way of engaging students with their education as it can have social aspects, such as adding scoreboards so students can see and feel validation when they do well. It can be informed using several learning methods, such as Game Theory and Game Design Theory to increase skill, and it can also invoke feelings of excitement, intrigue and accomplishment for students, which are necessary for increased engagement with learning.
Click below to learn more about the effectiveness of gamification, and game-based learning, and just a few of the top examples to incorporate into your classroom: