HOW CAN I GAMIFY EDUCATION IN MY CLASSROOM?

Educators have tested this theory and seen positive results. There are a variety of ways to introduce your classroom to the gamification of eduaction and we’re providing you with just a few ideas! 

1. GAMIFY CALIFICATION: One success story is Lee Sheldon, a professor at Indiana University, who gamified his course by abandoning grades and implementing an "experience points" system. Students’ letter grades are determined by the amount of points they have accumulated at the end of the course, in other words, by how much they have accomplished. Because of the extracurricular interests of the current college-age generation (games!), Professor Sheldon attributes success to the fact that “the elements of the class are couched in terms they understand.” Students are progressing towards levels of mastery, as one does in games.

2. AWARD STUDENTS WITH BADGES (insignias): For each assignment completed, award students with badges. This may seem like a regression back to Kindergarten stickers of gold stars, but it’s working for Khan Academy. As students watch instructional videos and complete problem sets, Khan Academy awards them with points and badges to track progress and encourage perseverance. 

3. INTEGRATE EDUCATIONAL VIDEO GAMES INTO YOUR CURRICULUM: The use of games allows students to fail, overcome, and persevere. Students are given a sense of agency—in games, they control the choices they make, and the more agency students have, the better students do. Instantaneous feedback and small rewards (or big ones, like winning) are external motivators that work. Case in point, Mr. Pai, a 3rd grade teacher on a mission to make learning fun. He disrupted the traditional classroom setting by introducing the Nintendo DS, among other technology, into his daily curriculum. Students practiced math and language through the use of computer and video games. In just eighteen weeks, his class went from a below 3rd grade level to a mid fourth-grade level.

4. STIR UP A LITTLE COMPETITION: Top Hat is adopting game mechanics by including a “tournament” module in our platform. Professors have found that the tournaments incentivize students to learn the material and practice. After all, everyone wants to see his or her name on the leaderboard, right? Celine Petsche, a teaching assistant in the School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University, uses Top Hat’s tournament module to engage her students. Previously using iClicker to quiz her students on the assigned reading, Celine found that the use of the tournament function egged on some competition, boosted morale and got her students excited about demonstrating their understanding. Celine additionally noted that the tool worked as a great equalizer among students. Introverts were able to demonstrate their knowledge of the material and participate without having to raise their hands. Most of all, “gamifying” the review of readings simply boosted the general energy of the class. Something that can be particularly challenging during the early morning seminars!

TOP HAT, BLOG. 4 Ways To Bring Gamification of Education To Your Classroom [en línea]. [Fecha de consulta: 20 de diciembre de 2016]. Disponible en internet: https://blog.tophat.com/4-ways-to-gamify-learning-in-your-classroom/