Is gamification the new ‘nowness’ in education?

Written by Kavya W

Gamification in EdTech is a progressive approach that helps in introducing new education strategies that can be engaging and enjoyable.

Subi Chaturvedi, chief corporate and public affairs officer at Zupee India validated this claim in the Times Of India,“Game-based learning is especially beneficial in improving memory in kids by 90%. Children also experience 20% increase in self-confidence and 11% improvement in conceptual learning.” Even though the term "gamification" had its emergence in 2003, its history goes back to 1967 when Logo programming first opened doors to teaching programming and mathematical concepts to children. Technological advancements have aided this learning experience in education especially during the 2020 pandemic. From a broader perspective, online education in India had seen a wide increase with online paid education users that increased from 1.57 million in 2016 to 9.5 million in 2021.

The goals and benefits of gamification are huge. Surya Pradhan, a high schoolteacher in Bangalore explains, “Knowledge is wealth and education is a stepping stone. The tried and tested methods of education and learning always benefits but gamification is different. It is always more fun to teach maths through a Ludo game than the same-old blackboard teaching. It not only piques the interest of the child but also helps them warm up to an alternative method of learning that is not always boring.” Whereas Sandra Rodrigues, a mother of two thinks that while it is helpful it can also lead to too much dependence on technology. “I still prefer the old school method of teaching. The edu-games are great but they sometimes make the child lonelier. Both my children understand the concept better but the one-to-one student-teacher tutoring is sometimes lost in the process.”

Apart from personal growth, gamification also helps in incentivizing victory in genres apart from education, especially as motivation seems a real struggle in online learning as per a Poocho study, a consumer insights company.

‍

A Harvard Business Review article noted that successful completion of a task “delights” and even “surprises” users and motivates them to the next level. It also helps them collect badges that can be conquered at every step while completing each stage of the game. The article also indicated that gamification is quickly making its presence felt in corporate settings too. The 2020 pandemic has been instrumental in giving an impetus to a new lesson plan: online learning. Gamification, then, becomes an offshoot of it. According to Frontiersin.org gamification became an online teaching strategy during the 2020 pandemic and was greatly helpful in assessing students motivations and learning outcomes during the time. Perhaps that is the reason that gamification in education is so relevant in the current times.

It will be too early to say if there are any risks in the education-gaming category but the Frontiersin.org noted that future research on this is needed to include this strategy as a mainstream method in learning. The future seems bright and it is slated to find its application in adult education in the corporate scenarios; whether it is a trend or a future of education, only time can tell.

*Participant name is changed to protect identity.