Gamification in Education
Gamification in education is a creative way for students to engage in their learning. Many students and teachers enjoy gaming in their spare time, this includes our phone games. If students enjoy gaming, why not try to incorporate gaming into the classroom to enhance our instruction? Gaming in education can be found on computers, tablets or in-person games (ex. board games, BINGO, acting out/role playing, etc.). As educators, we are always furthering our expertise in ways to enhance student learning. Gamification is another way to better our teaching practices and keep relevant to the times. Check out this blog on 5 Ways to Gamify Your Classroom!
Benefits of Gamification
- Fosters Student Creativity:
- As we gamify the classroom, we allow students the opportunity to dive into far-off worlds, either imaginary or real.
- When students face challenges in the game, they must use their knowledge and creativity to conquer the challenge.
- Some games allow students to design their own characters, choose their storylines or write their own story depending on challenges or quests they accept.
- Builds Teamwork Skills:
- If students work in teams during a game, they are learning collaboration skills. The purpose of a game is to meet an objective or goal by the end. As students work in teams, they learn how to work together to “win” the game.
- Students use their collective skills and powers of imagination in order to accomplish the challenge they face in the game.
- In Fully Engaged Playful Pedagogy for Real Results by Michael Matera & John Meehan, they introduce a “Curriculum Quest” that allows a teacher to create a unit of study into a living and engaging game. It is very similar to a Dungeon & Dragons style campaign that fosters teamwork, collaboration, engagement and learning outcomes.
- Top 10 Team Building Games for Students
- Student Innovation:
- Gamification allows student to experience solving problems, increases their engagement, develop collaboration skills by working with peers and critically think about the experience they face throughout the game.
- All of the above skills, allow students to prepare themselves for the real-world situations. These skills allow students to be successful in their future learning objectives and job experiences.
- Gaming is a form of story telling and our brains learn through stories.
- Educators can create engaging curriculum that has students face quests, create their own avatars, gain badges and role-play scenarios. Check out this blog How to Build Curriculum Units Using the Video Game Model
- Students become more motivated in their learning because they are invested in completing the game, missions or quests. Throughout their gaming experience, students are able to see the progress they are making. It can be extremely motivating to see your progress and realize that you are close to meeting objectives.
- Games provide instant feedback, which allows students to know how to meet objectives.
- Increases student problem solving skills & critical thinking skills by completing quests that are individualized based on their learning needs.
Things to Remember…
- When implementing games in a classroom is to ensure that the game is not too challenging or too easy, but just right. This means that the game is fully engaging, simultaneously speeds up and speeds down and completing the game is the reward. There are many ways to make games educational and purposeful within the classroom.
- Make sure the games you choose enhances the learning targets, students’ learning and their engagement levels. Be purposeful in choosing the game! Do not choose a game because it looks fun. We want the game to be fun and engaging, but we do not want the educational component to disappear within the game.
- Figure out what interests your students before choosing games to incorporate. Getting to know your students can help you decide which games will enhance their learning!
Gamification in Kindergarten
We are finishing up our Module of 5 Senses. During this module, students explored the essential question, “How our 5 senses help us learn about the world?” I decided to implement the Graffiti Page activity/game to wrap our unit. I chose this game because my Kindergarteners love to draw and recently learned how to label/annotate illustrations.
Implementation of Graffiti Page
As a class, we brainstormed their take-aways from the first module. Each student shared what they learned from this module and I wrote it on the board next to their name. I wanted to make sure that each student gave an answer in order to ensure that students’ wouldn’t all have the exact same response. This also allowed me to identify what each student’s graffiti page should look like. After brainstorming, students were given a blank page. On the blank page, they had to write 1-2 take-aways from the Module. Once they finished writing the words, students were asked to draw pictures that represented the knowledge they gained from the unit.
Successes
Overall, I found the game very successful. All students were able to identify at least 1 major take-away from the module. About 90% of students identified 2 take-aways. Some answers included: 5 senses help me be aware, I see with my eyes, I hear with my ears, I taste with my tongue, I touch with my fingers/hands, I smell with my nose, I can use lots of senses at the same time. Students were able to draw illustrations that matched their answers and the knowledge they gained from the module.
Challenges & Next Times
Challenges: Some students had 2 different answers, the one they brainstormed and one they drew on their Graffiti Page. Even though they were different, I still considered this completing the activity because they were able to give an answer that made sense. I believe most students probably forgot what they brainstormed on the carpet and chose another answer that still answered the question.
Next time: When I do this activity next time, I need to be more clear on the illustrations supporting their big take-aways. A lot of my students wanted to draw everything that they have learned in the module. Which is great, but I wanted them to showcase their big take-aways. One way I could improve this is review and clarify what major or big take-away means. The term I usually use is ‘essential’ and I should’ve used that term instead.
TCE Thresholds Concepts Connected to Gamification
Threshold Concept #1: Curriculum is more than standards, textbooks, or courses of study.
- Gaming provides another avenue for students’ learning that goes beyond using textbooks. Implementing engaging activities leads students to a deeper understanding of materials and activates their memory. If we continue to stay with instructional strategies of the past, the educational system will not evolve into the system it needs as the times change. As educators it is our responsibility to continue making education fun, engaging, meaningful and memorable. We give students opportunities to enter a world that allows them to accomplish different goals and at the same time learn.
- One thing to be cautious about is the purpose of the game. Once we decide to implement gaming into the curriculum or the classroom, we need to make sure that the games we use are beneficial to a students’ learning. Yes we want it to be fun, but it must be purposeful to their learning and future.
- Through gaming, students are given a chance to work in teams and role play. This goes outside of the normal group project. It is a creative way to get students engaging in activities that go beyond textbooks and works on collaboration skills.
Threshold Concept #2: Both teachers and students have empowerment/agency.
- As games are incorporated into the classroom, we give students an opportunity to create their own learning paths. Students are given opportunities to choose different paths, accomplish missions and work in teams and simultaneously meet grade-level learning objectives.
- Gamification allows a time for teachers to step away from the lead role and transfer that lead role to their students. Students’ games allow them to work at their own pace and creates an individualized path that both challenges and scaffolds their learning experiences.
Hi Brittany,
I loved reading about the game you used with your kindergarteners. As a kindergarten teacher, you already know how much moving around is needed for the younger students. Writing down the students’ answers on the boards shows not only you what the students should be drawing but also shows the students how much you listen and take note of what they are saying. The game you chose provides autonomy and creativity to the students. Although you mentioned that a challenge was that the responses were different, the students seemed to be involved and enjoying the game. Your responses always amaze me because of the way you work with the students to get their creativity and young minds flowing.
Hi Brittany!
I always enjoy reading your posts because we teach similar ages! I like what you shared about “things to remember” when implementing gamification in the classroom. It’s so important to consider these points when planning lessons for our students – making sure that it’s ‘just right’ and engaging.
Thank you for sharing your successes and challenges with the implementation of your game. I also used Graffiti Pages with my students. There can be a lot of misunderstandings with the grades that we teach, it can lead to trial and error and that is ok! It sounds like your students were able to share their takeaways with the module and that you will choose a more specific way of explaining what you expect from them next time. I can completely relate to the, “I should have said ______ instead”. It’s a learning process, but it also shows how reflective you are after your teachings! Thank you for sharing!
I really enjoyed reading about your implementation of the Graffiti Page activity/game in your Kindergarten class! It’s such a creative and engaging way to wrap up the 5 Senses module. The way you had the students brainstorm and share their take-aways as a class before creating their own pages is a fantastic approach to ensuring diversity in responses.
I especially appreciated your reflections on the successes and challenges of the activity. It’s great that the majority of students were able to identify two take-aways, and I agree that the dual answers from some students can still be considered a success, given their ability to provide meaningful responses. Your commitment to continuous improvement is evident in your consideration of how to better guide students in illustrating their major take-aways. Your plan to use the term ‘essential’ to clarify the focus is a thoughtful adjustment.
Moreover, your connection to the Threshold Concepts is spot on. The idea that gaming goes beyond textbooks and allows for a deeper understanding of materials resonates well with your implementation of the Graffiti Page activity. Your emphasis on the importance of purposeful gaming in education is crucial. The insight into empowering both teachers and students through gamification is also well-articulated. The notion of students creating their own learning paths and teachers stepping back to allow for individualized learning experiences is a powerful concept.
Your dedication to making education fun, engaging, meaningful, and memorable truly shines through your post. It’s evident that you’re not just teaching your students about the 5 senses but also instilling in them a love for learning. Keep up the fantastic work, and I look forward to hearing more about your creative approaches in future modules!